The Book of Azrael – Amber Nicole

Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Independently Published
Pages: 841
Release Date: June 26, 2022

World Ender meets Ender of Worlds…
A thousand years ago, Dianna gave up her life in the deserts of Erioa to save her dying sister. She called upon anyone who would listen, not expecting a monster far worse than any nightmare to answer. Now she does what Kaden asks, even if that means securing an ancient relic from the very creatures that hunt her. 

A King thought long dead and long forgotten.
In the old world his name was Samkiel. In the new world it is Liam, but one title remains true throughout time. He is the World Ender, a myth to his enemies, a savior and King to those loyal to him. After the Gods War, he locked himself away, hiding from the world. He denied his crown and responsibilities, leaving the very ones who needed him most to deal with the fallout of the death of their homeworld. Now an attack on those he holds dear sends him back to the one realm he never wished to visit again and into the sights of an enemy he thought imprisoned eons ago. 
Now enemies older than time must put aside their differences and work together in hopes of saving both their world and every realm in between.

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I’ve had my eye on The Book of Azrael since I discovered it on Goodreads a few months back, so I jumped at the opportunity to review it. Unfortunately, The Book of Azrael’s clunky dialogue and messy world building greatly hindered my enjoyment of the novel.

The Book of Azrael’s dialogue ruined the novel for me. The dialogue is cringy, stilted, and clunky. The dialogue is clunky because of Nicole’s inconsistent use of contractions. The lack of contractions are glaringly obvious when a character begins their dialogue using contractions, but finishes their sentence without them. This ruins the flow of reading as I often found myself stumbling over the dialogue after a few pages without. The dialogue pulled me out of the story completely. There is an argument to be made regarding the lack of contractions for a specific character, however the lack of consistency contradicts the argument.

The world building and magic system are confusing and not well explained at the beginning of the novel. The world Nicole has created is massive and complex, yet incredibly confusing. It feels as if Nicole bit off more than she could chew. 

The Book of Azrael primarily follows Dianna and Liam. Liam has infinitely more depth than Dianna. Dianna, for the entirety of the novel, has one driving force: her lover of her sister. I’m not saying this is bad, however when it’s the character’s only motivation it gets old quickly. On the other hand, Liam is a well-fleshed out character with depth. Readers learn a lot about his past, which gives insight and explanations for his actions and motivations in the present.

What I enjoyed most about The Book of Azrael was Dianna and Liam’s relationship, specifically the progression of their relationship. Nicole takes her time teasing out their eventual coupling as they get to know each other and overcome their preconceived notions about each other. The novel is long, arguably too long, however Nicole makes use of this time by developing their relationship.

Overall, The Book of Azrael’s clunky dialogue and confusing world building made it difficult to read at times despite the well developed relationship at the core of the novel. Will I read the sequel? Unfortunately, no.

*** I received an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Will you be reading The Book of Azrael?