Oh I absolutely loved this! Everything a fantasy romance should be! The main characters were amazing and the pining!! Slow burn to the extreme.
I liked how the author dealt with the MMC PTSD and depression following on from past traumatic events.
The only quip I would have is that the flashbacks within the flashbacks was a bit confusing.
Otherwise a solid 4.5 stars!

This story started slow for me. But, once some world (and character) building was established I slowly but surely got sucked in. By the end I was obsessed and so mad that it was just over and I will have to wait WHO KNOWS how long for the second book.

I loved Dianna and Liam. Dianna basically eats people and I’m here for it. Their banter provided comic relief without it every derailing the story and setting. They provide balance to each other. I also loved the way the author explored the age old question, “What makes a monster?”

More than anything though… I need more Kaden. I might be alone in this but his origin intrigues me and honestly, so does his obsession with Dianna. I feel like his character wasn’t fully developed in Book 1, but I just love a dark and twisty antagonist.

Ok firstly this book had a playlist!!! I loved this feature so much as I love listening to music that rallyes to the book I’m reading and usually have to hunt to see if someone else had made one. It was also great to see which songs the author thought fit their book. Also there was a map which is really helpful in fantasy books - and just cool in general.
I really enjoyed the book but I really had to concentrate reading it for about the first half so it took me longer to get through - it was worth every second though. I was really happy to see a tall and slightly muscular main female character as too many are described as petite. The story had really good depth and the world was very well thought out. We were given the right information about everything but not overloaded with history. It was a proper enemies to lovers - I really struggle to find these as most of the time one side was only pretending to hate the other. I’ve not quite read anything like this book and I really can’t wait for the rest of the series. I expected it to end on a cliffhanger - which it did - but it still ended differently to how I expected to so it wasn’t predictable.
My only annoyance with this book was the constant description of the female character as “crass” (and rude, although this wasn’t used quite as often) which very quickly became repetitive and a lot of the time seemed unnecessary as it was the same character calling her this.

SO SO SO GOOD

This is exactly what I needed in my life today. It was grumpy/sunshine reverse in the best way possible.. The enemies to lovers story line with the battles, the tension and the ANGST. I really should have been born in one of these books lol.

Inhaled this book. Absolutely BRILLIANT. Strong characters, a superb plot and a slow burn enemies to lovers romance. I need the second book immediately please and thank you.

While this definitely isn’t one of my favorite books of the year, it was still pretty good. We got enemies to lovers, one bed trope, forced proximity, TONS of world building and Some very interesting characters. That being said I think this could have been cut down to half its size and stop been too big.

This book is incredible.

Great world building in a Romeo and Juliet type setting, but with so much more plot and detail.
I absolutely fell in love with the characters, especially Dianna, and I got so attached to them and felt their emotions as if I was there with them.
I loved how the characters were all ancient and powerful beings, rather than the main character being young and defenceless, as it bought a whole new element to the story.

The writing style was beautiful and it kept me hooked throughout.
Highly highly recommend, I can not wait to see where the story goes!

Thank you for giving me an arc!

I loved this story it has all my favorite elements;
Enemies to lovers, banter, good plot, and strong female lead.

Amber Nicole's writing style is fantastic. I didn't want to put this book down. She hooked me from the first chapter. Then hooked me again with that ending. Eek.

I need more Liam and Dianna. Not sure I can't wait for book two in 2024?? Please release soon.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I had such high hopes for this book. I'd seen this title circulating on Book Tok and the reviews seem mostly decent no matter where I check. Maybe all of that hype pulled an uno reverse card on me.

The premise for this story was interesting. The world building (while overwhelming and info-dumped sometimes) was pretty good. I enjoyed the characters and felt that the main characters got decent development, both individually and as a couple. There were some plot twists that I really appreciated, since they were nice surprises, but not so out of left field that I felt that the twist was improbable.

So what was the issue? For me, it boils down to the fact that this book felt FAR too long for the story it contained. One or two more rounds of editing could have easily boosted this book to a three or four star read for me. The first 1/4th of the book felt slow, with out two main protagonists not even meeting until the second quarter. This wouldn't be a huge deal in a more moderately sized book. But when 1/4th is 200 pages? I understood that there was a need to establish these characters separately before throwing them together, but it felt like things could have been reined in to a smaller number of scenes that were individually more impactful. Additionally, there were other small things (like detailed descriptions of outfits when they were not relevant to the scene or repeated thoughts/feelings of the characters), that could be trimmed in order to cut back on some of the "fluff".

In short, I feel like I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the focus of the story and the characters had been honed a bit more.

Please read this book! I'd spent weeks struggling through books on my tbr and picked this one up determined to finish it. Once I started I didn't want to stop. So many unique characters and non stop excitement!

Loved this book! Could not put it down! One of my favs by far this year! Will definitely buy!!! I want it on my bookshelf!

This ARC I would rate 5 out of five easily. This ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This book was so good! I was a bit intimidated by how long it was, but it was worth the journey! I was SO invested in this story and these characters. "I didn't remember how long we talked, but somewhere admits her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her" i mean COME ON. the best trope. I can't wait to continue this series and learn more about this world!

The ending of this book has left me desperately wanting to read the next one! That cliffhanger!!
I loved the characters (especially Liam) and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I’m hoping we will get to know more about the other characters in the next book too. I loved all the twists and turns in this but my favourite part was the enemies to lovers. I really enjoyed seeing how the characters developed and I think the world building in this works really well- it doesn’t feel like information overload at any point.
My main criticism of this would be that it does feel like it needs a bit more editing as I picked up on quite a few areas which pulled me out of the story but overall this was an enjoyable read!

Fans of ACOTAR, this book is for you!
If there's an enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, fantasy series, I'm usually here for it, hence why I've been wanting to read this for a while.
I liked the writing and the world-building and found the characters and different species interesting enough. I'd say though that the book's main focus was the romance, rather than the plot. Everything that happens in the story seems secondary to the relationship between Dianna and Liam, which in my opinion turns from hate to love almost overnight, I enjoyed the slow-burn at first, but their feelings towards each other switched too quickly for me to be able to feel the angst that I craved. Hopefully, the next book will be more plot-focused and will provide a deeper exploration of the world-building and other characters. Particularly Gabby and the members of The Hand, who we barely got to know in this book.

I have no words to describe it, especially the end. Such a creative story, where we have all type of mythical creatures (some of them I never even heard before) and showing us that it doesn't matter what others think of you or what others expect of you. Loved all the interactions between Dianna and Liam (by the way loved to have both point of views, helped to see characters grow). Felt every betrayal in this book and how to see through every scene - it was mostly never what we were expecting it to be. I really hope there's a second book because otherwise you just broke my heart.
I felt there was always something happening but because I was expecting something different to be the cliffer edge on the book I felt it was a slow paced write - but it was because I was focusing on the wrong goal here.

Plot- 4.5/5
Spice- 1.5/5

"I didn't remember how long we talked, but somewhere amidst her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her.”

What to expect:
- Enemies to lovers
- Slow burn
- FMC as a villain
- Epic world building
- one bed trope
- Forced proximity
- Forbidden romance
- Action sequences that leave you wanting for more
- a freaking cliffhanger!

The world-building and story are so unique! I
genuinely haven't read anything like this before. The best part is that there are areas of boredom, absolutely no lag! The story kept me on my toes the ENTIRE TIME! So many plot twists I did not see coming! And that cliffhanger... I am unwell.

Thank you Netgally for providing this eARC for my honest review.

The world building in this book is absolutely insane; never dense but completely encompassing at the same time. Honestly, Dianna is everything I aspire to be (minus the diet choices), and the side characters were so well written, I couldn’t help but root for them as soon as they were introduced. This is definitely a solid fantasy read.

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would - didn’t love it as much as others but still enjoyed reading it!

There is a LOT of world building and a very slow start but was good once I finally got into it.

Looking forward to the second book

I'm blown away by the world that Amber Nicole has created. I have never read anything like it and it was so good and entrancing. The time and effort taken into creating this book can be seen clearly — it's obvious that Amber crafted this world with a lot of research and ingenuity. The magic is fascinating, the folklore of the world is riveting, and it was all in all, something new and refreshing to read. The plot is heart wrenching and thrilling. I enjoyed that the female MC is morally gray, borderline unhinged, it's not often you see strong female leads that are unapologetically theirselves while also covering that gray area morality. I'm in love with Dianna and Liam, their storyline is actual true enemies to lovers, and I love that they complement each other and have found confidence and trust in each other. Their romance is a slow burn enemies to friends to lovers, and it made me giddy every time they got closer and closer to each other. That cliffhanger is going to haunt me for the end of my days and I will probably think about this book 24/7 365 until the next one comes out.

Welcome to book 1 in the Gods & Monsters series! Epic dark fantasy time. I'm in! Welcome to Onuna.
So, we have Dianna. A thousand years ago, she called out to anyone who would listen, to save her dying sister. When the monster, Kaden, answered, Dianna gave up her life to serve him. But she is hunted. And her current task is to steal an ancient relic from her hunters. Spoiler: the relic is the Book of Azrael!
Meanwhile, once Samkiel, now Liam, always the World Ender, has been hidden from this realm for eons. He ignored his crown until he became at most a myth, at best forgotten. But ancient enemies stir and he must return. Somehow, these opposite sides must come together to defend all of the realms.
Dianna is 'Ig’Morruthen'. Supposedly these were all killed in the ancient Gods War (after which Liam locked himself away), so she's quite the surprise to everyone who believe no new ones can be created because the ones that could do so are all dead or locked away forever in another universe entirely. Dianna herself is something of a rarer one as well, being previously mortal. She has an interesting trick of being able to taste someone's blood and sink into their memories. This is called a 'blooddream'. She can also make fire, and shapeshift - making flying a thing - and teleport.
Kaden owns her, because he dangles the life of her sister, and being able to visit her hangs on Kaden's generosity (spoiler: he doesn't have any). She wants out. But there is no way out. Not unless...things change.
Enter Alistair, also an Ig’Morruthen. Seems to be quite the sadist, as well as a scary-ass warrior. He has a black mist that can rip apart the brain of a celestial and put it back together again (after getting any useful info they have) in the same configuration, but with an added bit of malware: they are now his eyes and ears in the world, and he can even take control of them directly (giving me memories of Harbinger from Mass Effect 2)
Also, apparently some Ig’Morruthen like to eat humans. So that's a fun thing. They seem to be little more than ferals. Dianna seems to be the only one Kaden has successfully turned into an Ig’Morruthen and retained her actual sentience in, well, at least a millennia because she was the last success.

This is great, then. Whave vampires and werewolves and banshees and politcians and shadowy creatures. It's a great big grab bag of the supernatural, and Kaden rules over them all.
Philosophically, ethically, it's an interesting question. Does the life of the one person you love, balance against all the others you kill? What tips that balance?
Also I have serious questions about timelines. Dianna has been doing Kaden's bidding for centuries, but her sister - a standard model human - is still alive? There's some vagueness about her being mostly human just living a longer life, also she may have some sort of empathy power–that’s thrown in a couple of times but never explored.
Dianna feels a lot like a Mary Sue...she's got all the powers and all the skills and she always wins and is the best at everything and is feared by everyone. She's the perfect one. There's even some super secret mystery about how extra mega powerful she really is. And as she's our narrator, I'm calling her unreliable - but in a meta kind of way: the author is unreliable as her narrator.
But! That doesn't make the book even a smidge less enjoyable. It was a lot of fun to read. Lots going on but not too much. A lot of interplay between characters, which I always enjoy.
With Dianna as one narrator, we get to follow her through the pain, the torment, the sadness, and the mysteries the other non-feral Ig’Morruthen–Tobias (a total ass) and Alistair (slightly less of an ass)--are in on. Her lack of knowledge disturbs her. She knows there is danger but cannot tell where, or what, and she is forced blind into situations where she doesn't have the details. She must obey, that is all.
For her sister she will do anything. And so, she does as she is bid, as everything threatens to come crashing down.
When Liam gets his turn narrating, we get into deep wells of self-pity and regret and refusal to deal with his ginormous issues. He basically retreated in a tantrum, and never emerged. So when he returns, it's in a mega snit. And he's shocked that in the hundreds of years he's been away mortals have lost their respect for him, and that the guy he left to rue isn’t totally super 100% jumping for joy at his return. Liam quickly messes up the relations carefully built over the centuries he has been away sulking by, well, sulking, tantruming and being in a snit.
The guy has serious untreated PTSD as well as a literal God complex. It's a heck of a combination. So much angst.
I found that Nicole can't quite decide whether to describe a person or a location in full, or simply not bother. There’s a lot of haziness to a lot of people and places, then suddenly she’ll describe something in minute detail. It’s a bit jarring!

The book has the right size to be an epic fantasy, and it has the cast of characters for it, too. It's also a nice departure from the main character being a traditional 'good' hero, or even really an antihero. The things she does, despite her mortal heart, are often horrific. But she does them so Gabby can live, and that excuses these acts - at least, she tells herself it does.
The story walks a thin line, trying to balance action and consequence, exploring the limits of morality. It's not exactly an unpredictable tale, but it is an enjoyable one. However, I have 3 main issues.
My biggest gripe was the outpouring of toxic masculinity that happened every time something masculine appeared near Dianna (and often when she’s nowhere around but the dudes are posturing about her anyway). Blech. Unhealthy masculine role models. No thank you.
My second biggest is the lack of coherent rules to the magic. I can’t figure out how or what or why or when or anything actually controls it. Plus the characters seem to forget what they can do. Teleportation! Flying! Shapeshifting! But it's plot convenient if they don't do that right now so just pretend they can't, and watch them flail around instead. This might not bother others, though, I just love to delve in and see how things work, but I can’t do that here because it’s always shifting based on what Nicole wants/needs. It means lots of deus ex machina, though, which is always amusing.
Third is the wavering ideas of how the entire system works. What a Celestial is and how they were made? Still have no idea, and coincidentally only a God can do that, and there are no more Gods. But also Liam is called a God? And the history is so confused! It just feels slapdash, as if Nicole found her own plot inconvenient and just wanted it put of the way (so there could be more male posturing).
It's a shame, and these make application of the word 'epic' a little bit of a stretch. It's a YA romance disguised as an adult epic fantasy. If the author had faith in her story and characters, she could have created a much more powerful tale. Hopefully she'll boost up the learning curve for the next book, which I am looking forward to!

If you like your fantasy epic and troubling, your setting not of this earth, and your magic without any rules whatsoever, this is for you!

Buy The Book of Azrael at Amazon US or UK, or order from your favourite bookstore or library.