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Branded (Fall of Angels #1)

by Keary Taylor (Goodreads Author)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 4,207 ratings · 408 reviews

Jessica’s had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she’s a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.

But when two men she can’t ignore enter her...more

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Published January 3rd 2010 by Keary Taylor

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Nov 22, 2011 Myvampfiction rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

review by Megsly

*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*

Branded follows 20-year old Jessica Bailey, who is a teenage run away who never sleeps. She can usually reach almost 100 hours with no sleep before her body starts caving in on her. The reason she doesn't sleep is because she has night terrors, extreme night terrors. In her dreams, she finds herself locked in a room, awaiting trial. An angel she calls Adam, with gray eyes (which is apparently indicative of whether or not they are fallen or not?...more review by Megsly

*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*

Branded follows 20-year old Jessica Bailey, who is a teenage run away who never sleeps. She can usually reach almost 100 hours with no sleep before her body starts caving in on her. The reason she doesn't sleep is because she has night terrors, extreme night terrors. In her dreams, she finds herself locked in a room, awaiting trial. An angel she calls Adam, with gray eyes (which is apparently indicative of whether or not they are fallen or not? Gray means he's neutral territory), retrieves her from her cell and takes her to face a jury of ten; five condemned angels, and five exalted angels decide her fate. If she passes, she is thrown upwards into the heavens, and if she fails a hot bar of metal shaped like an X is pressed into the nape of her neck, branding her before she is hurled down to the pits of hell by the condemned. She's never tried as Jessica Bailey though, it's always someone else's name that is called out.

Sometimes she's tried as a man, sometimes as a woman. Sometimes she's young and sometimes she's old. Every once in a while the good list far outweighs the list of bad things the person has done and sometimes she is lifted to the heavens, but most of the times she's thrown down. Every time, however, she feels the excruciating agony of wings bursting forth from her back, no matter if she's being sent to heaven or hell. Funny thing is, the nightmares aren't just nightmares. Every time she wakes up, Jessica finds a fresh brand on the back of her neck and an outline of wings tracing her shoulder blades and down her side, raised ever so slightly from the rest of her skin. Not surprisingly, because of these nightmares, Jessica has an intense fear of angels. She hates them, despises them with a passion that most people reserve for murderers and child abusers (at one point she has a melt down over someone making snow angels. I did kind of laugh there. I love snow angels. #randomobservations)

After finally giving up on a strained relationship with her mother, Jessica runs away from home at 16 and makes her way north, where she quickly finds a job caring for a house in a small, wealthy community in a town in north western Washington state. At 20, Jessica savors her alone time. She's awkward around others and doesn't want anyone living near her, for fear that they'll hear her screaming at night. She socializes with only one person: Sal, her reclusive neighbor who is barely able to live on her own after suffering extensive injuries from an abusive husband years prior. So when the owner of the house she cares for randomly shows up in the middle of the night, she is less than pleased (not but unhappy enough to overlook the fact that her "boss" is a hottie.)

One thing leads to another, and Jessica is forced to deal with the company of Alex, her young employer who enjoys having her around. She stays in her apartment, but as time progresses the two begin to spend more and more time together. It's a rather cute relationship development, especially considering it's near impossible for her to hide her nightmares from him with only thin walls separating her basement apartment from the rest of the house. Once he knows the truth, she lets it all come tumbling out and surprisingly, Alex never questions her claims of the trails. In the meantime, a new neighbor has moved into the house next to Sal, which has disrupted the woman's way of living. At the same time, in an attempt to find some form of normalcy to balance her relationship with Alex, Jessica has begun attending yoga classes in town which leads her to become friends with Emily, and introduces her to Cole, who is Sal's new neighbor.

Strangely enough, everything seems to tie together very neatly. There are literally only 5 characters. Jessica, Sal, Cole, Alex and Emily. The way these 5 characters wrap up into one another is a little too neat of a package for my liking. It seems a little too ideal, however, I still enjoyed each of the characters. Cole is seemingly obsessed with Jessica, and shows up at all the right times to help her in times of need when Alex is not around. Emily and Jessica find a common connection that I was never anticipating, and Emily holds the answer to ending Jessica's nightmares but will she tell her? And then there is Cole, who both Jessica and Emily find vaguely familiar but neither can figure out why. And then Sal, who's so disrupted by Cole's presence that she attempts suicide, is a dark shadow of worry in Jessica's mind. In the meantime, while Jessica's previously quiet life is becoming more fulfilled with the presence of others, her nightmares are growing worse, her scars burning longer, and strange, perfect feathers are appearing in unexplained places, such as Sal's hospital bed and the edge of Jessica's windowsill. The way this story unfolds is very enjoyable. The author writes very well, there are minor errors in the print, mainly having to do with tense changes (which really annoy me, so perhaps that's why I always zone in on tense errors) but for the post part, the plot carried me past that. I enjoyed the resolution to the story, I thoroughly enjoyed the twist on angelic lore and the way Taylor depicts angels as nothing purely innocent or purely evil. I also found it fascinating the way she handles the judgment of sins against humans. It's a war between good and evil until the very last second before an individual is casts up to heaven or down to hell. The character development is believable, and it's easy to understand why Jessica ran away from home and why she chooses to live in solitude. The changes she makes in herself after meeting Alex are also believable, because of the way the author presents them to the reader. Over all, though I probably won't be going out to add this book to my physical bookshelf, I'll enjoy it on my Kindle and will be looking to add the second book in the series to my Kindle soon as well.

Below is my rating of Branded (Fall of Angels) by Keary Taylor. These are reflective strictly of my opinion of the novels I've read and reviewed, and are not necessarily reflective of the other staff members of MVF.

-Story Elements (plot) – 7
-Character Development - 7
-Grammar & Punctuation - 8
-Prose – 7
-Paranormal Element - 8 Total Score: 7.4/10 (total score is derived from the average of the 5 individuals scores)(less)

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Mar 14, 2011 Elle Beauregard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story and the characters definitely kept me reading.

I purchased this book on a whim--I love to read the work of local authors and jumped at the chance to help support a local up-and-coming when I saw this book at a bookstore near my office, in Seattle. I read every day on my way to and from work on public transit, and sometimes, while reading this book, I'd almost forget where I was! Once, I almost missed my stop!

The story is compelling, the scenery and set-building very full without dragg...more

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May 20, 2013 Ciara1973 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angel-and-demons

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm not sure what to think of this book. The writing was slow paced and the ending was too fast.

Somehow, I had no feelings or sympathy for Jessica. The romance was way too rushed and totally umrealistic.

Alex was perfect, too perfect. )He's loving, caring, rich amd a fantastic cook. I mean please! He knows Jessica for about four days and gives her his dead grandmother's diamond bracelet. There was absulutly no flaw about Alex. He was so unreal, I actually thought I was reading a fairy tell abo...more

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May 06, 2013 J. Lynne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, gave-up-on

>>>WARNING SPOILERS (SLIGHT)<<<

Initially I was really into this book. I loved Jessica's character. The premise intrigued me. The writing was decent. Then Alex happened.

I did not like Alex, at all. He was too chipper. Too eager. At least, he is in the beginning. He and Jessica fall in together way too quickly for my piece of mind. I mean, Jessica hasn't known him a day and already she's okay with him walking in on her in the shower. Not only that, but he thinks its okay to invad...more

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May 02, 2013 K.G. C.J. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

C.J. from Book Nerd and Proud
http://booknerdandproud.blogspot.com/

3/5 stars
This is another free book by an independent author I had downloaded in the Kindle Store. The story line was about angels was creative. In this world, angels weren't beautiful or perfect, but instead, they were scary beings who would decide your fate after death.

I must admit the characters weren't memorable. Twenty year old Jessica Bailey is the main character of this book, and she's definitely had plenty of problems in he...more C.J. from Book Nerd and Proud
http://booknerdandproud.blogspot.com/

3/5 stars
This is another free book by an independent author I had downloaded in the Kindle Store. The story line was about angels was creative. In this world, angels weren't beautiful or perfect, but instead, they were scary beings who would decide your fate after death.

I must admit the characters weren't memorable. Twenty year old Jessica Bailey is the main character of this book, and she's definitely had plenty of problems in her life. Her mom had written her off as psycho and planned to send her to a crazy house before she ran away to live on her own. (Isn't that illegal when you're sixteen?) She had dreams where she would stand trial as different people and they would be branded to go to hell or go to heaven, so she didn't get much sleep. The twist is, if the person was branded, Jessica would wake up screaming with a brand on her back. That's got to hurt.

The book went downhill after Alex was introduced. I really didn't like the fact Alex, her love interest, and Jessica fall in love quickly and their relationship moves fast. It was practically love at first sight, which is definitely unrealistic. Alex also happened to be the perfect guy with tons of money, he works with children in Africa, he's hot with a perfect body, and he can cook. There was never a moment when he felt "real" to me and was basically a cookie cutout. Within a week of knowing each other, if Jessica wasn't with him for like...two seconds, she would freak. I found that weird considering she was a hermit with no social contact living in an old couple's home as their caretaker, though they were never home. Sad they had more of a social life than she did! The only times she did go out was to take care of her neighbor, Sal, who was abused during her marriage and that did all sorts of things to her head. The biggest problem in this book was it being predictable. As soon as a character was introduced you could tell who was going to be the problem, and that actually led to a pretty poorly-executed love triangle. There was never the question of who she was going to choose since there was only one guy she would ever think about.

To end on a good note, this book did show the quality of sacrifice. Even though Alex had only known Jessica for a short period of time, at the end of the book he makes a huge sacrifice for her, and vice versa, Jessica was planning on doing whatever was necessary in order to keep her friends and family safe. I thought the book was decent, it had interesting moments, and it's worth reading whenever you have a chance. Oh, and the cover was pretty cool.

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” -Jane Austen
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Mar 23, 2013 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A girl, forced to stand in for people as judgment is placed by a board of angels, half condemned, half exalted. She feels the brand and bears the mark of wings from these nightly occurrences. While the storyline is promising, and it did pull me into finishing the book, there are a couple points that make me want to give this book a 2.5 instead of a 3.

First off, the author portrays angels of light as wimpy timid things who allow most people to be dragged down to Hell even once they were declared...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Thea rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jessica Bailey is tormented. Every time she falls asleep, her nightmare begins. The first chapter got me into reading the book. It was different. It started where most books end… on judgment.

However, after a couple of chapters, the story goes downhill. FAST. The author tends to overelaborate on everything, leaving nothing to the imagination. There are a few pages full of just descriptions of surroundings, and feelings. I gets boring fast when every detail is explained and explored.

The book fee...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Kyleigh Trott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, so if you want a different spin on angels, this will be the book for you.

But ye be warned, it also goes downhill very quickly, unfortunately. Spoilers ahead, so if you want to preserve the book's story, I'd watch out.

So Jessica is a girl who constantly has nightmares where she stands trials for the sins of others in front of a council of angels. Every time she falls asleep, she dreams this scene, over and over again. She has scars in the shape of wings on her back and a brand on her neck...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Dava Stewart rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is based on a really interesting idea, and after the first chapter or two I was set to like it a lot. Alas, it foundered. The main character is a tortured individual whose life is steeped in the supernatural - not exactly the kind of character you would imagine would be interested in shopping at the mall or painting her toenails. The idea gave the author a great opportunity to explore some deep, philosophical questions about religion and humanity, but she shied away from it. There was...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Sellaphane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Based on the description of the book, it sounded incredibly interesting and hit all of my interests: tortured protagonist, creepy dreams, and of course ANGELS. It started out very strongly, with a great description of the terrifying dream the heroine must experience every time she falls asleep. It's very unsettling and the way it's written makes you realize how awful it would be to dream something like that every night and you understand why Jessica has been fighting sleep for so long. It's good...more Based on the description of the book, it sounded incredibly interesting and hit all of my interests: tortured protagonist, creepy dreams, and of course ANGELS. It started out very strongly, with a great description of the terrifying dream the heroine must experience every time she falls asleep. It's very unsettling and the way it's written makes you realize how awful it would be to dream something like that every night and you understand why Jessica has been fighting sleep for so long. It's good stuff.

And then Alex shows up. That's not a good thing.

The biggest problem with "Branded" was that it falls into the same problem that pretty much every young adult book I've ever read has. The shoe-horned romance. Don't get me wrong, I love a little romance in my stories, I just love when they're developed in a way that's natural and not annoying as all get out. And I especially like it when the love interest resembles a human being and not a lust object for the tween/teen girls to pine over. Alex is an idea, not a character. He's perfect in every sense of the word. He's hawt, he can cook, he's sweet, he's protective, and he's BORING. And unfortunately, he's the one Jessica falls in love with. And I hated every page of them together because it was like every teen romance cliche wrapped into one. "Oh, he's so hot and awesome, there's no way he'll ever love me." "Oh, I've closed my heart away ever since my previous boyfriend broke it and I'll never love again-- WAIT, WHAT IS THIS FEELING? Oh, I'm so confused and scared, woe is me!" It's obnoxious and it really took away from the incredibly interesting story.

Oh, and of course another boy named Cole has to show up to give us YA novel cliche #13: the poorly executed love-triangle. You know, the ones where the heroine tries to convince herself and the reader that she's in love with both these hot boys but we all know that in stories like this, first come first serve, meaning the first boy pretty much always wins. Anyway, Cole is basically for the girls who love bad boys. He's a tall, dark, and handsome brooding stereotype whose every pore just SEETHS with brooding darkness and danger, oooh. For Christ's sake, he listens to screamo. If you couldn't tell already, Cole is bad news.

All in all, I did enjoy this book when it wasn't so focused on Jessica's romance between Alex (Cole didn't stand a chance). Which was pretty much 12% of the time. Toward the end of the book it got really intense and awesome when Cole started showing his true colors (I'll avoid spoilers, but it's pretty flippin' obvious what Cole is when you first meet him) and it started to get a little crazy. But I would've liked this a whole lot more if Jessica and Alex weren't so predictable in their relationship and if we focused more on the crazy dreams Jessica's been having. (less)

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Jun 12, 2012 Missy LaRae rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise of this book was really exciting. I loved the beginning when Jessica is counting, I love little quirks like that in characters because it makes them seem so much more interesting. But as soon as the "love interest" is introduced this little idiosyncrasy of hers is gone. No more counting, not even telling us how many hours she'd been awake. I dislike when an author gives a character a quirk but abruptly stops it and no longer continues to use it to further the character development. H...more The premise of this book was really exciting. I loved the beginning when Jessica is counting, I love little quirks like that in characters because it makes them seem so much more interesting. But as soon as the "love interest" is introduced this little idiosyncrasy of hers is gone. No more counting, not even telling us how many hours she'd been awake. I dislike when an author gives a character a quirk but abruptly stops it and no longer continues to use it to further the character development. However, my interest in finishing this book slowly waned because nothing happened.

The book starts out with us being introduced to Jessica who is tortured when she sleeps by angels who are as far from cute and welcoming as they could be. The ritual that she goes through is explained well and I definitely got a feeling of how she might have felt. She stands trial for those who have recently died and when she wakes up she records their name in a book and then figures out how they died. I would have liked to see a little more fight in her and that's what's wrong with this book.

Jessica is boring. She's really really boring. She doesn't really DO anything except bemoan her fate and her life and her sleeplessness and how everyone thinks she's a freak etc.

That's a cop out to me. Jessica had so much potential. Why doesn't she seek out others who are like her? Is she searching for an answer as to why this is happening? No. She's just going about her life trying to while the days away while doing absolutely nothing to change her own fate. I'm sorry but if I had nightmares like she did I'd be doing a butt load of research and finding other people with similar experiences. However, one of those people is dropped right into her lap. Conveniently the first time she makes an attempt to have a "normal" life.

Jessica is also attracted to the owner of the house she's the caretaker for. He's gorgeous (of course) understanding (of course) and thinks the world of her in a matter of days although she's not very attractive and she always looks worn out and tired.

Then we have the mysterious neighbor who just happens to move in right before she goes on "trial" and the leader of the condemned angels is mysteriously present. He's unbelievably gorgeous and she doesn't know who to pick.

The obviousness of the plot at this point made it difficult to read because nothing really happens. There's no real conflict to resolve, and no real story line other than who she should have more feelings for, Alex or Cole.

I awarded it two stars because the writing was good, it wasn't overly descriptive and flowery, it flowed nicely, there were few if any grammatical errors that I found, and the author did a nice job of pulling me in at the beginning. Overall I think it was an okay book with a definite audience out there who will like it, it just wasn't interesting enough for me to really give it more than two stars. (less)

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May 26, 2012 Ayana Raine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I came across this book on authonomy and enjoyed both the premise and the beginning, mostly because the story line is original. Angels that aren't the fluffy, love-obsessed wimps that we're used to seeing these days, but strong, scary beings with serious power, and a young girl, Jessica, who every night she goes to sleep is put on trial for another person's crimes. The story line is different, intriguing and definitely pulled me in.

But that's pretty much it.

The further you read into the story,...more I came across this book on authonomy and enjoyed both the premise and the beginning, mostly because the story line is original. Angels that aren't the fluffy, love-obsessed wimps that we're used to seeing these days, but strong, scary beings with serious power, and a young girl, Jessica, who every night she goes to sleep is put on trial for another person's crimes. The story line is different, intriguing and definitely pulled me in.

But that's pretty much it.

The further you read into the story, the more bored you get. Jessica doesn't have much of a personality, and neither do the other four characters. Yes, FOUR characters. One customary cute guy, one neighbour, one friend and one bad guy. There was so much potential here and yet the author didn't use it to her advantage. The dialogue is a little stilted, the descriptions long and unnecessary a lot of the time and the romance between Jessica and said cute guy is obvious and without any of the sweet, slowly falling in love romance or the drama and fireworks love that romance does so well. Jessica is pretty boring herself, wandering around, with no real friends and nothing to do all day expect try and stay awake so she isn't horribly tortured at night. There's nothing memorable about her either. She's not particularly funny or smart, sarcastic or brave. Not particularly interesting at all, except for her scars and the weird phenomena with the dreams. But a character needs more than that to grow within a readers mind and to fully come to life.

There is some intrigue with the bad guy, Cole, when it becomes obvious who he is. But, again, Taylor doesn't execute it well enough. Even the cute guy, Alex, is nothing special. He's the stereotypical 'perfect guy' but has no flaws that make him real. He doesn't really make you love him or hate him and indifference is the worst feeling you can have about a character; you have to connect with them is some way.

My personal opinion is that this book is mostly coasting on the idea of a great story line, but not living up to it. I kept reading anyway, hoping the story would improve but it didn't. I definitely won't be buying the next one in the series either, since this one failed to keep me entertained.

If the idea had been executed better, this book could have been amazing.(less)

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May 15, 2012 Meaganr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was not the stereotypical YA book about angels, and definitely in a good way.

Jessica has lived on her own for a while because, since she can remember, she has been plagued by horrible dreams of angels. She stays up for days at a time just so that she can avoid being sucked into her crazy subconscious. In her dreams she is guided down a hall by an angel with gray eyes (meaning he is neutral)who she has named Adam, to a council of angels to judged. The council consists of half exalted (...more This book was not the stereotypical YA book about angels, and definitely in a good way.

Jessica has lived on her own for a while because, since she can remember, she has been plagued by horrible dreams of angels. She stays up for days at a time just so that she can avoid being sucked into her crazy subconscious. In her dreams she is guided down a hall by an angel with gray eyes (meaning he is neutral)who she has named Adam, to a council of angels to judged. The council consists of half exalted (with blue eyes) and half condemned (black eyes) angels who judge her based on the actions of her life. However, when she is being judged, it is not for her life; she is standing in for other people. At the end of every ruling, she is either branded or lifted, and either way two angel wings sprout painfully from her back. She wakes up from every dream screaming in pain. These dreams might be somewhat bearable if when she woke up, she didn't have the permanent scar of the brand on her back as well as two scars in the shape of wings running down her back that appeared on their own, and if the people she stood trial for didn't end up in the obituaries a couple days later. She house sits for a family at a house in the middle of nowhere as a way to hide from her parents who think her crazy. Her only friend is the next door neighbor Sal who has brain damage and who is worse off than Jessica. Everything is... well not fine, but routine until the grandson of the house owners comes back to live in the house. How is she supposed to hide her screams when there is a person on the other side of the wall? And what is she supposed to do when her dreams start to change?

This book was very interesting. I thought it was cool that the angels weren't portrayed at these heavenly beings but instead as something to be feared. I don't want to go into all of the reason why I liked this book because I feel like I'll accidently give something away, but I definitely did find this book an interesting read with some original ideas that I enjoyed reading through.

Jessica and Alex are quite a pair. He gives her the companionship that she hasn't felt for a long time and accepts her for who she is. He is always taking care of her and I thought he was just such a sweet heart which made me love the relationship so much more. The relationship got really interesting though when Cole gets added into the mix, but you can read all about that for yourself. :P

One thing that I didn't like about this book was that I pretty much figured out who the new mysterious guy was as soon as he showed up, but it took Jessica FOREVER to even get a slight hint. It just bothered me a little that there were so many obvious signs and she didn't connect any of them until way later. I also felt like some of the solutions to the problems were a little bit too easy, but who am I to say what's possible in a world filled with angels?

Other than that though, there's not much to complain on. The characters were interesting and relate-able, the story line was original and compelling, and the relationship was really quite adorable. The plot was developed well and I liked the conflict with her family and how it came into play with the story. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book. (less)

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Apr 28, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Somehow I was expecting a completely different story, perhaps one of the formulaic plots that seem so prevalent in this genre, and am so glad I was wrong. Taylor's angels are not what one would consider to be the norm - they are scary, they are judgmental, they torment Jessica nightly in her dreams to the point where she foregoes sleep to avoid their horror. Alone and deemed crazy, she tries desperately to escape her fate of horror filled dreams believing she cannot possibly have contact with ot...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Katinki rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angel-books

I'd like to give this more than 2 stars, but I can't see it when I compare this book to some of the other "angel" books I've read.

Basic premise is that Jessica has been haunted by terrible nightmares since a young age. Her nightmares are really more than that, however. In them she stands trial before a panel of angels on the behalf of others, and upon their decision, she suffers the pain of these souls' ascension or worse, damnation. Oh, and she wakes up with proof of it. Enter Alex, the perfec...more I'd like to give this more than 2 stars, but I can't see it when I compare this book to some of the other "angel" books I've read.

Basic premise is that Jessica has been haunted by terrible nightmares since a young age. Her nightmares are really more than that, however. In them she stands trial before a panel of angels on the behalf of others, and upon their decision, she suffers the pain of these souls' ascension or worse, damnation. Oh, and she wakes up with proof of it. Enter Alex, the perfect guy, and Cole, the perfect yet creepy guy, and voila, life begins to change for Jessica, in both wonderful ways and terrifying ones.

What I liked:
- Overall premise isn't bad at all. It's fairly original in a genre inundated with copy cats. I was very curious what the author would do with it. More below.
- I liked Alex from the start. From the descriptions of him and his behavior, I speculated that he was one of the "good" angels. More below.
- Cole is a pretty good bad guy. Don't judge but for some reason, I kept picturing him as Ian Somerhalder - hot, a little too perfect, dark, and a little creepy.
- There was a scene between Alex and Jessica where I actually teared up a little because I felt her fear of telling him the truth. I really liked that scene. I put this as a positive because it was really well done. And it stands out because of well... read below. :/

What I felt needed work / didn't like:
- The plot needs a lot of tightening up. To be frank, not much appened in this book. It's a little too simple. There's just not enough complexity here. This book could have probably been told as a novella.
- I just didn't buy Alex's and Jessica's initial attraction. It happened too fast, which were he an angel, I could toss off as some supernatural effect of that. And I didn't understand / believe that he could so easily accept Jessica's "issues". And I just didn't get why he was so drawn to Jessica to begin with. She didn't exhibit any characteristics that would make me think she's this overly desirable creature that both Alex and Cole want so much.
- More on Alex. While I liked him, he was *too* good. It was almost as if the author had drawn up a character "perfect boyfriend".
- More on Jessica. Where I don't think she's a "terrible" lead, it's mostly because I couldn't figure out her personality at all. She's a blank slate, almost devoid of personality. She's awkward, ugly/rough looking (her own admission due to lack of sleep), distant, and just... not very cheerful. Why do these men love her????
- Need a lot more background. Questions were left too open. I get building mystery in series, but some things needed to be answered. Like WHY someone has to stand trial on behalf of these souls. That makes no sesne to me. To me that's a huge question that should have been addressed. I get that that's the way it is in this universe, but WHY?
- The ending. Yeah, again, more background was needed. I didn't understand why/how Alex could just volunteer in her place to save her. I don't know the rules in this world and it makes for a puzzling reading experience.
- Needs an editor badly.

I'll probably give the second book a shot just to see if some of the issues I had are rectified later on in the story. This was a quick read for me. I think I knocked it back in around 2 hours or so.
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Dec 18, 2011 Stella B. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: angel-lovers

Shelves: pdf

Yeah I read it over summer. I liked it, even do the book has it flaws.

*Here is the spoiler I wrote in Croatian, times ago.
(view spoiler)...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Etough rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I did enjoy the story in this book, but I am not sure I liked how it was executed. The idea was fantastic and very original. I am not sure if this was the writer's first book, but the flow of the book was off. There was so much build up and not enough character development to fill the pages. While I liked there characters in the book okay...I didn't feel like I knew enough about them to love them. There was so much room to get you emotionally involved with the characters but since you didn't...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Annie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Good:
Branded has a very interesting premise: angels are not the glorified beings they're hyped as. Instead, they are the cause for the main character's torment. Neat.
The story line is decent as well. It kept me guessing until the end. It's not all that predictable (except for the romance bit) and the author keeps some semblance of suspense up until the very end.

The Bad:
For one thing, the ending seems very rushed. Taylor manages to cram the entire resolution of the story into pretty much a pa...more The Good:
Branded has a very interesting premise: angels are not the glorified beings they're hyped as. Instead, they are the cause for the main character's torment. Neat.
The story line is decent as well. It kept me guessing until the end. It's not all that predictable (except for the romance bit) and the author keeps some semblance of suspense up until the very end.

The Bad:
For one thing, the ending seems very rushed. Taylor manages to cram the entire resolution of the story into pretty much a paragraph. Wow. That's amazingly bad.
The other thing is that Keary Taylor is in dire need of an editor. The writing is unsophisticated at best, with awkwardly stilted sentences and cheesy dialogue. There are some typos as well, such as "tough" instead of "though" and so on. Speaking of which, the mindless repetition of certain words (sometimes, though, etc) made the writing style even clumsier.
The kindle edition is also formatted badly. I don't know how much of this reflects on Taylor as I've never published anything for the kindle. However, it's rather distracting to have random line breaks and indentations in the middle of sentences.

There were a few indescrepencies as well. Not huge ones, but noticeable: after one nightmare, Jessica notes that her skin is almost as flawless as an angel's. Then Alex walks in and says that she looks awful, and she agrees. What? I thought her skin was flawless! Her father also sends her a letter in the mail asking where she was, as he apparently has no clue where she is. If he has no idea what part of the country she's in, how did he send the letter?

The romance was not fleshed out well at all. Paramour "Alex Wright" is blatantly Keary Taylor's wet dream Mr. Right. He's gentle and understanding to a fault, gorgeous, has a good sense of humor, filthy rich but doesn't have to work, tolerant of Jessica spending time with other gorgeous men, adaptable, an excellent kisser, enamored with her, single, and an excellent cook. And is so infatuated that he's willing to lay down his life for Jessica after only knowing her for a few months. Wait, haven't I read this romance before? Oh, it's Bella and Edward without the stalking.
Speaking of which, there's no reason given for why Cole and Alex (both beautiful wet-dream men) are so infatuated with Jessica. Her awful appearance brought on by a lack of sleep is mentioned multiple times per chapter, she's unbelievably socially awkward, and is essentially a hermit. Oh, and she acts very distant with both of them. Hm. Jessica Bailey, thy name is Mary Sue.

Overall, a good idea, poorly executed.(less)

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Dec 01, 2010 Novels On The Run rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

MICHELLE'S REVIEW:

I shall start by saying, why has no publisher picked this book up yet???!!!! I was looking around Smashwords trying to find myself some reads and I came across 'Branded' , so glad I did:D

What a refreshingly original story. I would have read it in one sitting if I hadn't been sitting at my computer on my not so comfy chair. Started last night, finished short while ago.

There are in my personal opinion a few little things that need to be tweaked in this book, but once tweaked..wow...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Lindsey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was ok. I really liked Jessica as a main heroine and Alex was your typical swoon worthy love interest. There was some insta-love going on, but it wasn't to bad for which I was grateful. It got worse towards the end of the book. Alex was completely, unquestionablely devoted to Jessica. He never had a freak out or break down moment, but took everything in stride attending to Jessica's every need. It was sweet, but incredily unrealistic and I found myself losing Alex's voice-the one I had...more This book was ok. I really liked Jessica as a main heroine and Alex was your typical swoon worthy love interest. There was some insta-love going on, but it wasn't to bad for which I was grateful. It got worse towards the end of the book. Alex was completely, unquestionablely devoted to Jessica. He never had a freak out or break down moment, but took everything in stride attending to Jessica's every need. It was sweet, but incredily unrealistic and I found myself losing Alex's voice-the one I had been introduced to in the beginning of the book and that took away from my reading experience.
My favorite parts of this book were when Jessica was directly involved with the angels. The mystery that started to unfold in the very first chapter, but took till the end of the book to be fully unraveled was what kept me turning the pages. Why did she have to stand trial? Why does she have scars on her back from something that happened in a dream? These and many more questions were answered slowly over the course of the story.
Cole was an ok evil bad guy. I didn't feel his evil until the thing with Sal(< she was an amazingly done character btw!) and that detracted from the suspense I thought I should have been feeling during certain points in this book. Also I had to shake my head at Jessica. Perhaps it was just me, but I found it painfully obvious who Cole was and who had attacked Sal. Sal completely bugged out when Cole moved next door and then she says a man with dark eyes tried to hurt her!? Ding ding!! That frustrated me quite a bit because I had to wait a while before Jessica finally figured it all out.
Again an ok book. It had enough of an ending that I don't feel pressured to get the second book due to a major cliffhanger which is a welcome relief. I probably will have to contemplate whether or not I wish to purchase the second one...this wasn't something that stood out of the crowd but it definitely wasn't going to let itself go on the back shelf either so I guess only time will tell. (less)

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Nov 07, 2012 Erica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had heard some great things about Branded since it was released, so I picked it up on ebook. I was sad to say that while I enjoyed the enticing plotline, overall, Branded was not a favorite for me.

I think it really came down to instant love in not only one but two situations. There are two boys who almost instantly fall in love with Jessica. There was no development before and afterwards I felt like the relationships between them didn't develop at a pace that I would have liked. I wanted more...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Maureen Hoar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fantastic series! It is very original, frightening and captivating! I love stories with angels in them, wether good or bad. This is a story of survival, love and loyalty! The life this poor girl (Jessica) leads is only a half life. She never wants to fall asleep and will do anything to stay awake. When she does fall asleep she is carried away to the judgement of someone who has passed and she takes the branding for them. She is scarred physically and emotionaly from this experience. Sh...more

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May 26, 2012 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angels, chic-lit, paranormal, romance, ya

I was going between 2 and 3 stars, but 2 star, "It was okay", it is.

I enjoyed this more than I wanted to, but too many things irritated me. This book was free, also, on Amazon, so I don't feel as let down by it.

The Bad:
•Repetitive sentences. Sometimes in the same paragraph. It seemed Taylor (author) wanted to get across an idea, but forgot she said it the same way just 2 seconds ago. Happened often.
•"Oh, look! This thing just happened! How strange!!! I bet this isn't important, I will brush it o...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Gemma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Branded" has an interesting concept - still in the realms of the fantasy world but refreshingly different. A major plus for this one is that the protagonist doesn't have sex on the brain, which gets a little boring book after book.

The narrative is simply written and pleasantly undemanding, which makes for a relaxing read. The protagonist and other characters are well-drawn and believable without being over-described.

Unfortunately, the appalling punctuation and the frequent typing errors ruine...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Aubrey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-paranormal-romance

This was such a good story, very different take on angels. I loved the characters; I felt they were well-developed. Jessica is a twenty-year old woman who has to go through judgments on behalf of others who have recently passed, whenever she falls asleep. The story is about her trials, her trying to create and maintain friendships and relationships while dealing with these strange "nightmares" that leave her branded with an X and wings. I liked Alex, her main love interest. He was sweet, patient...more

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Apr 19, 2013 Kailey Peterson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jessica is not your "normal" girl. Ever since she was 5 she had nightmares about angels, except her nightmares were real. Every time she fell asleep she was put in a trial for someone who has died based off of what they have done in life, they are either condemned or exalted. The council is made of 5 exalted angels and 5 condemned angels. Most of the time Jessica had been in the place of someone who was exalted, and had an "X" branded in the back of her neck, problem was she always woke up with...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Donte-aro rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Based on the synopsis,I figured this book would be different...boy was I satisfied. The concept of a innocent young woman standing trial for crimes/deeds she didn't commit seemed like an intriguing story, and I was absolutely taken aback by the different perspective angels were portrayed. It took a hard left from the usual, "angels are beautiful creatures of love and compassion that don't deal out but heal it," instead allowing them to be quite the opposite at time.

Another thing that drew me to...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Luce rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don’t think I have ever been more pissed off with a book…

so theirs the guys, I mean what makes a perfect book other than a love triangle? Apparently this is what all authors think.

and its a load of bull fucking shite, so yeah i don’t agree.

In love triangles I always seem to have one guy I really want to be together with the girl, and then the other just ruins the book for me by getting in the way.

1st guy is Alex, and my swoon was in full view when he entered a page, he's the nice one that y...more I don’t think I have ever been more pissed off with a book…

so theirs the guys, I mean what makes a perfect book other than a love triangle? Apparently this is what all authors think.

and its a load of bull fucking shite, so yeah i don’t agree.

In love triangles I always seem to have one guy I really want to be together with the girl, and then the other just ruins the book for me by getting in the way.

1st guy is Alex, and my swoon was in full view when he entered a page, he's the nice one that you just want to hug and if he cried would make you instantly start crying to…yes I voted for Alex ;D

Guy deux is Cole, I don’t know how other people feel about him but his first discussion with jess and I already thought he was and arrogant, egotistical knob. Even though he probably wasn’t from first impression I just automatically disliked everything he did.

The way this book is written is kind of relaxing from a perspective, keary Taylor spreads events out throughout the book which makes it seem slow paced. I for one pretty much only read fast paced books to keep my interest but this one the book seems well organised even though its spread out.

The book starts with the main character describing herself and life and then you are given enough time to develop your feeling toward the character and time to try to predict what will happen before the next event takes place. You constantly try to guess how it will turn out.

Jessica the main character doesn’t exactly grow on you throughout the book, I think it’s a case of you like her or you don’t. Some people may get bored of the dreams she had because every time she sleeps we are told about them so it’s kind of repeated.

but there was that moment where thee main character finds something, so I'm sat there going 'yup i predicted that shit'….the main character didn’t realise what was happening with the situation…and unlike other books I wasn’t even having an f-bomb waterfall at this stage for the next five minutes, I just sat there, dumbfounded, thinking ‘how is she not getting this?’

but 3/4 through the book was an intense stage, besides the fact there were some definite tstl moments but between the middle and 3/4 it all properly starts to build up and i swear to god i was an emotional wreck. i just felt sooo bad for jessie, literally was reading this for twenty minutes with tears in my eyes drowning my pillow. the thing was i wasnt even crying for stuff that had happened i was just crying for all the stuff i thought might happen

but i really wasnt a big fan of this book, besides cole ruined it anyway, there were a lot of repetitive points. with dreams i get they will be repeats before they start changing but like when she was talking about her appearance its constantly the same wording. and if i feel anything now its just pure depression, i feel like ive wasted a day, been drained of energy, had my happiness robbed and just feel like ive been puking up a landfill site.
(less)

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Jan 22, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

An awesome and captivating story! This was a different take on the "Angels" story, than other books that I've read, and that was fantastically refreshing. (even if somewhat dark and scary at times) You can all read the synopsis by the author, but I will say this story doesn't disappoint. Sure, there are a few editing mistakes, but no one is perfect, and i didn't find it as distracting as other readers apparently have. If you're going to critique that, then perhaps you're reading the wrong genre....more

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Nov 02, 2012 Brandy Jeffus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard a lot about Keary Taylor in the indie world and I've been anxious to read her work. The storyline for the Fall of Angels trilogy sounded amazing. I was not dissatisfied in the least bit.

This is an impressive story that is intricate and complex but not confusing for the reader. It is unique and not the same old song and dance about angels. I really enjoyed having such a unique story in my hands.

I enjoyed the characters immensely. Alex seems like that knight in shining armor every girl...more

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About Keary Taylor

Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, EDEN...more

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Quotes from Branded

“I rested my chin on my shoulder, not quite fully looking at his face. "They don't disgust you?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
He rested one hand on my other shoulder and the other on my arm and leaned forward, gently pressing his lips into the center of my brand.
"Nothing about you could disgust me," he whispered against my neck.” — 16 people liked it

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Branded (Fall of Angels #1)

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