Author: Skyler White
Title: “and Falling, fly”
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Released: March 2nd 2010 by Berkley Trade
An edgy, erotic blend of fantasy and romance-from a debut author whose star is on the rise.
In a dark and seedy underground of burned-out rock stars and angels- turned-vampires, a revolutionary neuroscientist and a fallen angel must pit medicine against mythology in an attempt to erase their tortured pasts...but at what cost?
Olivia, vampire and fallen angel of desire, is hopeless...and damned. Since the fall from Eden, she has hungered for love, but fed only on desire. Dominic O'Shaughnessy is a neuroscientist plagued by impossible visions. When his research and her despair collide at L'OtelMathillide- a subterranean hell of beauty, demons, and dreams-rationalist and angel unite in a clash of desire and damnation that threatens to destroy them both.
This book was a real challenge for me. I´ve ha it waiting on my TBR shelf for quite a while now, always postponing to read it. But when the release od the second book “In Dreams Begin” drew near, I finally started it.
At first, I struggled a bit with it. This may be due to the fact that I´m not a native speaker and the fact the the writing of this book is different from the usual Urban Fantasy and Paranormal books I usually read. It´s much more poetic and intense and there is so much going on between the lines that I really had to concentrate to read it. But once I´ve gotten used to the book, I was compelled by the beauty of Skyler White´s writing.
“The angel of desire is damned.”
The angel of desire or Olivia is such a multi lyred character that I find it difficult to describe her. She´s a vampire, who hungers for love and salvation, trying to find both at the same time, but is always failing. In this book, Olivia and her sister are rather sad and unfortunate characters: Olivia doesn´t know what she looks like for example. She only sees her how some guy imagines her to be perfect. And even though she feeds on lust, she actually can´t have sex.
Dominic, the male lead character is a Reborn, someone who remember his past lifes, along with everything that happened in them. However, he thinks himself and others like Olivia sick, mentally ill and spends every waking hour to find a cure.
The two fo them meet at L`Otel Mathilide, sanctuary for all vampires, demons and Reborn. The story that then unfolds is a treat. It´s also dark, lyrical, utterly absorbing and challanging. I was really slow with reading “and Falling, fly”. At the beginning I tought of stopping (greeting to Anna here!), but the beauty of this book kept me hooked!
I recommend this book for every reader who is not afraid to dare to read a more difficult book. I enjoyed my visit to Skyler White´s world more than I initially thought!
All in all, I guess “and Falling fly” deserves more than the 3.5 stars I´m going to give it. When you´re a native speaker without the language troubles I had, I suppose it´s 4 stars!
