Noora Elkoussy Elkoussy itibaren Baigna, Bihar 855101, Indija
Narrated by Justine Eyre - Narration 4.5*s Reviewed for AAR's Speaking of Audiobooks - http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/?p=6147 Archangels Consort, the third book in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, continues in the interesting world where Archangels rule the vampires they make, other angels, and humans in general. Raphael and Elena are back in New York, facing painful family dynamics on both sides and escalating threats with the help of Raphael’s Seven and Elena’s Guild Hunter friends. Despite my criticism in the final paragraph of this review I really enjoyed this addition to the series. Raphael is learning that love may weaken him physically, but the benefits are life affirming. Elena is gaining in strength as an angel while slowly earning the respect of Raphael’s loyal Seven. The story lines developing underneath all the pretty words are cleverly done and continue to be intriguing. Justine Eyre narrates and I like the accents she uses for Dmitri, Illium, and Aodhan based on their backgrounds. Her voices for Elena, and the rest of the peripheral cast, continue to work well but I don’t hear the "thawing" in Raphael's icy demeanor that has begun. I enjoy her narration but it could be even better if more of the emotion written into the stories (I read and listen) was fully expressed. Singh has a beautiful way with word pictures. That being said, I could do with a lot less of them. One example – after a search on Kindle, I counted 20 different ways used to describe the blue of Raphael’s eyes. I get it, they’re blue! Now give me more background on the Seven and more dialogue in general with the word count that could be saved by deleting all the repetitive flashbacks and descriptions. I only need Dmitri’s sex on a stick scent and its effects described one time per installment.
You have to read each story twice, becauase the end reveals what the begining and middle were talking about. Very sneaky. Very good.