Beloved of the Fallen - Savannah Kline

Title: Beloved of the Fallen
Author: Savannah Kline
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: 2010
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

To be honest, "Beloved of the Fallen" isn't a book I would normally read as I try to keep as far away from Paranormal Romance as possible. However, as I won this book in a giveaway I decided to give it a read anyway and see if I could finally find something to really enjoy within this genre. Now that I have finished reading it, I am sorry to say that I was left disappointed and underwhelmed.

The story is based around the actions of Valentin, a former angel who was ejected from heaven due to disobeying one of God's decrees. Now working for Satan, he is tasked with steering a young woman named Kira Castlemain towards becoming a member of congress prior to voting in legislation that could lead to a Nuclear War. And so, Kira and Valentin hold the key to either redemption or Armageddon.

The first comment I need to make is that the book is a really quick read. I couldn't believe how quickly I completed it even when I wasn't that engrossed. I suspect the quick speed is due to the author's lack of exposition in her storytelling, the reader is pretty much given the facts required to move the plot on and nothing more. Sometimes I quite enjoy that type of thing in a novel, but I don't think it worked that well in this case due to the plot itself being rather weak.

The weakest part of the plot in my opinion was around Kira's vote being important in deciding the future of the world. It just seemed silly to me as I couldn't understand why her one vote would matter more than anyone else's. Surely, if Satan and his followers wanted to ensure the vote went in their favour they would have been working on other targets as well? The entire thing just felt ridiculous and I just felt sad that the chance to create a good mix of political intrigue and paranormal influence had been missed.

The ending wasn't any better either, despite the build up to the crucial vote, it is over in a few pages and suddenly the reader is faced with finales for both characters that just seemed like a rushed afterthought. It really did feel like Kline had run out of steam and just threw together a positive outcome that lacked any real depth. It quite simply epitomised the entire plot as being one that was lacking in substance and exposition.

Sometimes, novels can be saved by interesting and dynamic characters that pull the reader in despite issues with the plot. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those cases as I found both Valentin and Kira to be rather juvenile in how their relationship works and in the decisions they take. I found it really hard to treat either of them seriously when they seemed to act and rationalise as I imagine a 10 year old child would.

Overall, I think that this novel has missed out on the opportunity to develop what was a really intriguing plot line. The entire story is played out in a rather weak and shallow manner by some rather childish characters. In all honesty, unless you are really interested in seeing an attempt at mixing politics and angels then you are probably as well just skipping this book.

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Challenges Book Counts Towards:
Ebook Reading Challenge (Workaday Reads)
Free Reads Challenge
Speculative Fiction Challenge