Review: Battle Angel by Scott Speer (Immortal City #3)

The Immortal City series didn’t quite go the way I hoped it would. I’m not sure if it was necessarily a bad, ending—it just wasn’t the ending that I wanted. Because of that, I’m not left with particularly fond thoughts of the book.

The #1 problem for me was the love triangle. This was introduced in Natural Born Angel and it continues in Battle Angel. I thought this whole triangle was a joke. It felt like a completely unnecessary element of the story that was just being used as a plot device to introduce conflict. Because when things are going well, you have to throw a wrench into it to make them more “interesting”. Bleh.

I thought it was particularly stupid how View Spoiler » [Tom died, then Maddy just immediately went back to Jackson and had sex with him. I never felt like she was actually into Tom at all. It was more like she was mad at Jackson and wanted someone else to turn to (that “someone” could have been anyone). Also, the sex Maddy and Jackson had was hilariously bad. It’s extremely vague, as it is in YA, but it’s basically like they’re making out for 10 seconds, Jacks is like, “Do you want to?”, Maddy says yes, and then BAM he’s inside her. She cries out, he says, “Are you alright?” and Maddy says yes.. So, onward!! I mean… LOL! I’d almost prefer fade to black to this. I understand not going in detail, because it’s YA, but LOL. 10 seconds of making out, then he’s inside her? No wonder she cried out in pain, she wasn’t “ready” yet if you know what I mean… « Hide Spoiler]

On the good side, Battle Angel did have a interesting twist! It seems sooo obvious in hindsight, but I didn’t see it coming AT ALL! So I really enjoyed being surprised like that!

But then we get to the ending where I was disappointed again. View Spoiler » [As I said before, it wasn’t necessarily a BAD ending. It’s just not the ending that I wanted. When I first read Immortal City I fell in love with the angels, but mostly the romance between Maddy and Jackson. Then at the end of Battle Angel, Jackson decides to take the angels back to Heaven, but Maddy chooses to stay behind. I guess it makes sense, and the ending does work, it just feels like a bitter sweet ending. I’m more of a “happily ever after” type girl. I wanted them to get married and have angel babies together. « Hide Spoiler]

So I don’t know… It wasn’t really a BAD book. I enjoyed parts of it—especially the twist. But there were a bunch of parts that didn’t go “my way”. And god, that love triangle was a total joke.

The Verdict