Teaser

“Nate why didn’t you tell me this was The Medusa? You knew I thought she was a
quack!”
I did a double-take at Marge in a matching pant-blouse set, her hair styled, her lipstick
fading from its bond with the tea glass. She held a fly-swatter in one hand and I was
not entirely sure that it was there to hit flies. I didn’t want to get in range while it
punctuated her statements at any rate. Medusa’s snakes snapped at the plastic when it
got too close during the last one.
“I didn’t tell you because I honestly thought you wouldn’t believe me, Marge. I mean,
what was I suppose to say? ‘I made friends with a famous gorgon who’s not actually
from Greek mythology and gets a bad rap’?”

Blurb

It all started with an inexplicable slab of marble.

And now I can’t get her out of my head. It’s more than inspiration. It’s compulsion.

I see her in my dreams. And I wake up covered in marble dust, her statue more complete in front of me.

I can’t stop sculpting, and I can’t save the angel girl.

Now iconoclasts, a quartet of archangels, and a voodoo queen—along with the plague of little old ladies running my life—are all far too interested in the outcome.

I miss normal New Orleans. (Yeah, I said it.)

But there’s no going back until I free her and get the literal heavenly host out of my life. And maybe there’s no going back then.

“When we are asleep in this world, we are awake in another.” – Salvador Dali

My Summary

Haven’t we always looked up to angels to save us from deathly calamities? What if I told you one of God’s angels was in mortal danger and only a human could help? Would you be up to it? Well, Nathaniel or Nate, the hero of this book, certainly was. An orphan living in foster homes, Nate grew up to be wiser than his age. Now, this sixteen-year-old is caught in between two worlds, literally, trying to save his favorite angel Mara, from eternal imprisonment inside a stone sculpture.  Only no one believes him.

My Review

I can’t help but compare Where Angels Can’t Follow to Harry Potter books. There’s a similar dystopian world, only no wizards, but angels. There’s the chosen one, Nate, his atypical friend, Kiah, there’s Marge (his elderly affectionate guardian, like Mrs. Weasley in HP) he-who-must-not-be-named, and there’s Nate’s love interest Mara who needs rescuing. Nate can switch between the mortal world and the angel world, he can teleport with the help of potions, talk to other Angels, and the most important, he has the urge to do what’s right even if the task doesn’t. It seem capable for a 16 year old.

The story is set in New Orleans. The book starts with a good surprise, a vast marble slab delivered to Nate by a mysterious person. It’s an excellent setup, and the story is powerful. The writing was well-paced. I generally don’t read many YA books, and so I found it a unique read. It has all the makings of a good novel, with mystery, humor, romance, and thrill sprinkled throughout the story.

I loved the unique quotes at the beginning of every chapter by talented, famous people.

Final verdict

I enjoyed it, and then Jessi Kallison, the author, mentioned a far-fetched idea for how World War II began, and then I lost interest again. Then the Archangel Gabriel’s fall and the coveted staff's finding was compared to a chicken and egg problem. How can something so profound be compared to something this silly, I wondered. It was referencing like these that seemed ridiculous to the story while reading an otherwise compelling read. Also, I felt like the romantic sojourn for Nate and Mara happened too quickly to be believable. IMHO, Kiah, would’ve been a better love interest.  

And that’s why I cannot give this a perfect score and rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I did find a few editing errors too.

Who Should Read This

Nevertheless, I recommend this book to young readers, the content is suitable for YA fantasy readers.

Thank you YA Bound Book Tours for organizing this tour and the digital copy of this book.

Happy Reading!

Other Books like Where Angels Cant Follow you may like