Review ~ The Faith and Fate of David Ghent by Maren Dille

ebook received from the author in exchange for an honest review

ASIN - B00AVQKDLY

Description
In the Lucen city dwell the descendants of Righteous and Fallen angels. Kept hidden from the rest of Earth and governed directly by Heaven, each descendant is given a chance to prove themself loyal to Heaven, and obtain salvation. For most, the task is encouraging and fair, but for David, it’s devastating.

David Ghent has waited twenty-one years to fulfill a prophecy foretelling the destruction of Lucifer’s power on Earth and Heaven, saving himself and the entire world from Hell’s power.
His training is complete, the city prepared.

As the battle commences, the city’s most beloved daughter, Layla, suddenly appears at the Hellgate. David is then faced with an impossible choice: fulfill the prophecy, or save her life.

The consequences David faces after choosing Layla force him to question his entire life, and his loyalty to Heaven. As the aftermath of failure unfolds, David discovers that the real battle against Lucifer has just begun.

My Opinion
OK, so I'm going through an angel phase right now so I jumped at the chance to review this book. I wouldn't class myself as being religious but I just can't get enough of angel books right now, especially when they have a strong romance. This book had an interesting plot line as it followed the question of whether David would be able to fulfill a prophecy or not and I liked the fact that this book wasn't the standard "angel comes to Earth, falls in love with a human, then has to leave or decided whether or not to fall." It did separate itself from the other angel books I have read, especially with the character development and how the story focused on defeating Lucifer rather than a love triangle or another romance between human and angel.

Although I found points of this book quite slow and at times and due to its length found myself skimming pages here and there the action was described well and when things did kick off I loved it. The imagery was clear and the structure Maren used helped heighten the tension and suspense I felt as to what the outcome would be. It became more obvious as the book went on what would happen in the end but this didn't spoil the quality of the writing.

My biggest problem with this book was the main character David especially during the first three quarters of the novel. He was just so whiny and sometimes came across like a petulant teenager rather than someone who would defeat Lucifer. I understand that he had to undergo a change before this could happen but during the start his constant conversations about wanting to end up in Heaven and not Hell became irritating and I almost wanted to stop reading at points (I did have to take a few breaks). He had a bad attitude, sulked and wallowed in self-pity which is OK to a point but not to the extent it came up. It was repeated in every chapter at least a few times and even though this torment made up the basis of the story I feel it would have been easier to read had it not been repeated so much. By the end I was cheering for David and I like how he changes, especially when with Layla however this makes up a small section of the end.

Overall this is a well structured book with a solid storyline. Yes, the main character irritated me to the ends of the Earth at times but it was an enjoyable read that is different form the many angel books I have read. Even if your like me and get annoyed by David, I guarantee you will love him by the end so if you're looking for a different angel book you may want to check this out.