With the pain of the past behind them, Jessica and Alex are ready to move on with their lives. But moving on is hard when it involves reconnecting with the family who wanted to send Jessica to an institution. And living life isn’t easy when someone who doesn’t belong is watching her, threatening her life, determined to take Jessica back to the afterlife she should have joined months ago.
And every day becomes a little harder for Alex. Time is ticking and if it runs out, Alex won’t be returning to the world of the living. It all boils down to Cole’s final words to Jessica: What are you willing to do to save him?
The answer to keeping Alex lies in Jessica returning to the place he saved her from.
Keary Taylor is the USA TODAY bestselling author of over twenty novels. She 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 splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah, with her husband and their two children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night.
Please Note: Keary does not check Goodreads very often, so the best way to get in contact is directly through email: me@kearytaylor.com.
I hate this series almost too much to joke about. Almost.
Spoilers from books 1 & 2.
I am pleased that my first book series of the year has taken the initiative and already found me my most unlikable protagonist of 2016. Because I really, *really* genuinely hope that I never read another series where I am stuck in the head of such an unlikable creature. In the first book Jessica was pretty sympathetic, what with not being able to sleep without literal torture. Then came the second book and every shred of sympathy or likability was stripped away at lightning speed as she spent the entire book moaning about not getting married. Like this man literally saves your life at the cost of his own and your response is "waaaaah I know you're dead and not permanent on Earth but marry me or I'm going to pick fights constantly and emotionally shut down". Way to repay his sacrifice. And speaking of Alex... I spent the first book expecting him to be an angel because of how inhumanly perfect he seemed. Nope. Nothing supernatural about him, he's just an average guy willing to go to insane lengths to keep someone he barely knows happy. Because proposing to someone you've known a month and a half is certainly a good idea. I mean it's not like marriage is meant to be a lifetime commitment over which you will mature and grow and change into different people and it's almost impossible to know if someone will be compatible for that in barely more time than you get as a free trial for World of Warcraft.
So our characters are unlikable and too inhuman to relate to. Is the world building good? Eeeeh. It's an interesting idea, the whole angel judgment thing, except that it falls apart if you think too hard about it. What do the angels base their code of morals on? There is no God present and in the bible it is only God who can judge so we must assume that this is removed from Christianity. So then why are their weird rules against things like prostitution? Who gets to decide what is morally good and bad? Which leads me to my biggest problem with this series...
This series hit my rage button. And by "hit" I really mean "played a drum solo on it". Let's talk about suicide and mental illness. This series (and by proxy I must assume author) makes it abundantly clear that they consider committing suicide to be a guaranteed trip to hell. In response I'd like to tell the author to go fuck herself. This is compounded by the fact that the protagonist views being sent to a mental institute as the worst conceivable crime a mother could commit to her child. Allow me to add some context. Imagine you are a mother. At age 5 your daughter nearly dies from a sickness and shortly after begins having nightmares every night in which she says angels are judging and condemning her over and over. Over the course of 11 years you try many things to help your child but at age 16 she is still having the nightmares and has largely stopped sleeping. In a desperate attempt to do anything to help your child you decide maybe sending her to a place where she can get 24 hour treatment from professionals is a good idea. Your child's response is to run away and refuse any contact with you ever again. Also inside the universe everyone agrees with the protagonist and no one tries to defend the sanity of the mother's choice. Yeah that's totally relatable. /s This book is (possibly unintentionally) very opinionated about mental health and always in the worst ways. Being "crazy" is the absolute worst thing possible and a terrible insult, unless of course you're the main character judging the old woman she cares for. So yeah, to keep the rest of this rant short, the series was bad but the disgusting views on mental health pushed it into irredeemable territory.
Oh and the ending was a bullshit cop out. Just sayin'.
Omigod! Omigod! I freaking loved this book...what am I saying I freaking loved this series!!!! This is the first series since I read Twilight that I have given all the books in the series five stars. This series was just so emotional. I really thought that we were going to lose one of the main characters at the end of the book. I was just so hysterical. Usually I would fling my book at the wall but I was reading my Kindle and if I threw that at the wall...let's just say my parents would not be the happiest parents in the world. I really thought I would end up giving this book a four because the ending would end up being a flop. Thank god it wasn't! I think I would have died if it was. This book was very bittersweet. Jessica had to go visit her mom who after seeing her scars still didn't believe her about the whole angels deal, and then she actually somewhat got along with her after that got out. I was bawling my eyes out when Alex's time was up. I literally crying, and I rarely cry when it comes to books. Keary Taylor I salute you! Then when Jessica switched places with Alex I was just shocked. Like I expected it to happen but I didn't know that it would happen like that. This book just had o many ups and downs I just didn't know what was going to happen, what to feel when reading certain parts. It was just so emotional! I just really love this series. I just really want copies of the books. I'm just waiting for Ms. Taylor's reply to my email about a signed copy. Hopefully I get it soon! *fingers crossed* but I do have to stay within budget range. *sigh* Either way, all of you people need to go read this book. It's not an option. If you read this your life will not be the same. Go READ IT AND ENJOY! =)
Vindicated continues to follow Alex and Jessica in their quest for a normal, happy life together. Alex is still an angel, and the call from the other side is getting stronger. Jessica now knows that she can’t die, that she is more angel than human, but she’s still at a loss for how to use this fact to her advantage. Will the two of them beat death and find their happily ever after or will Jessica be forced to spend an eternity without Alex as he finishes his job on the other side of life?
WOW! Really, just wow. I loved how this series ended. I really felt like the characters really grew from the beginning of the series to the end. Jessica is so much stronger in this book. She is no longer the scared, neurotic girl she was in the first book. Alex has finally manned up and asked Jessica to marry him, which made me uber happy.
What I loved most though was Cole. I know, I know, he’s the bad guy. But even he’s grown from the first book. He’s shown that he has a heart and even a conscious. He even takes a huge risk for Jessica, which shows just how deeply he loves. I found myself almost willing to be the queen of hell with him, since Jessica passed up on the offer, lol.
Vindicated also ties up all the loose ends in this series. You find out why Jessica got sick as a child. You see some healed relationships, and one of my favorite characters, Emily, even finds some peace in her life. I also adored the very ending of the book. I loved how things just kind of fell into place.
There were, however, some things that I think could have been improved – the biggest being the stating of the obvious. As you’re going along in the book, Jessica points out her own personal observation of how she’s grown. That was a given. If you’ve followed the series, you know that Jessica has grown. There are still some noticeable typos and confusing paragraphs, but it’s not as bad as it was in the very first or second book. Keep in mind these are all still minor issues, but not enough to deter me from recommending the book or the series. I also felt that while all of the books in this trilogy had great characterization, I felt as if this one was the strongest in this area.
Overall, I enjoyed the series and felt it was well-thought out. I enjoyed the interesting journey that it took me on and fell in love with the characters, even the bad guy. I’d recommend the series to anyone interested in paranormal books but tired of vampires as well anyone interested in love stories with angels.
What a repeat of the last two books this was. I knew right away that Emily was going to give her kidney to Austin's sister. I don't know why that was left hanging as long as it was, it was not a surprise. Nor was Sal being on the council. I have to say I was actually pissed that Alex was sent back. I think it would have been better if both Jessica and Alex ended up in the afterlife. I mean, Jessica already had two life extensions. I really didn't like Jessica in this book. She was not mature enough to get married and she was right when she said she did not deserve to marry Alex. She didn't trust him at all, even after everything he was going through for her. Shame on her. I will read Afterlife, but I must say I will be glad to be done with this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was a good closing the Jessica and Alex's story. The characters grew in their experiences, and while the outcome was what I had expected, the process by which the characters reached that ending was a twist that I hadn't seen coming. Again, the main reason I cannot give this book five stars is because of the spelling and grammatical errors that ran rampant throughout the novel. These errors ("you're" instead of "your," as one example) were so avoidable if even one person had gone through this book with a fine-tooth comb, but it seems that either the author or the editors were too lazy to do so, or did not do so carefully enough. A few more read-throughs would've done this novel a lot of good in the long run.
This book & the rest of the series where I seriously cannot believe i had never heard to this until a few days ago when i picked up the first as an amazon freebie. It is the most fantastic take on angels and books have so much too them! Absolutely stunning series. I highly recommend them.
TheFall of Angels trilogy has been by far been the most "different" Angel series I've read. :) I was a little hesitant at first but I really enjoyed this read. I loved the character development and all of the twists and turns in the story. I just love Alex and Cole! The ending was great! Not perfect but perfect for the characters!! I definitely recommend this book it certainly had a different take on Angels.
There r only so many novels that leave me smiling and speechless in the end. The whole Fall of The Angels trilogy was brilliantly written, and summing up all the three books..a wonderful story! a well deserved 5/5 star book... or rather , 5 million stars.
I really loved the way this book ended. I'm very pleased with how the characters ended up however at the end....Jessica's eyes.....that was just stupid. In my opinion the author should have left her eyes alone. Other than that it was really good!
This was a good final book to one of my new favorite trilogies. I was very happy that of course Alex and Jessica got their happy ending and that Emily is not alone and is on the road to redemption which was confirmed by her having the nightmares again. Sal's death completely devastated me and the moment Alex was pulled back to the afterlife, I was crying buckets. Excellent writing, especially on that part. I felt everything Jessica was feeling and I have to give her credit, I would have probably broken down but instead she kept her focus on saving Alex and she fought for them. I was very impressed with how she took that on even though it was killing her to a certain extent in the process.
I was very happy with Cole's characterization in this one. It's interesting how he went from being the absolute villain in the first book to being the supporting antihero to an extent in this last installment. I was surprised when Jessica saw Jane there. I wonder if she had been there all along if Jessica and Alex would have been saved all of this hellish drama. But then again, it was obvious Cole had his own feelings for Jessica and I think that was cued in throughout certain parts in the book, so....maybe not.
As much as I loved the happy ending, I have to admit, it felt a bit....short. I don't know how else to describe it. The part in the afterlife was very fulfilling and how Alex was able to return as well as her. But when they got back, it sort of felt, I'm not sure, rushed I guess is the best word to use. Granted, their fight had been with the afterlife and they had both miraculously survived the battle but I felt incomplete by the end if that makes sense. I was glad we got to see Jessica's parents again but I almost felt like Amber's and Rod's story, while being a small one in the background, was just tied up quickly and we were just supposed to assume they got their happy ending as well because they were engaged to be married. Sal, I wish she and Jessica had had a last conversation with one another. It was awesome that Sal got to come in at the end and help to save the day but I just felt like Jessica really didn't get any closure on that relationship. I know Sal died suddenly and that happens to people unfortunately every day and some people don't get to say goodbye, but with Jessica constantly going back to the afterlife and then being there the final time, I just thought it would have been nice to see them say goodbye especially with Sal being completely healed and lucid. Emily, while her story was tied up beautifully, I have to admit, I kind of yearned to see something of her and Austin, if not of her, down the road. Which leads me to my biggest yearning, to see Jessica and Alex down the road, even say a few months down the road or a year or two later. I think it just would have cemented the end if you know what I mean so that's why I put four instead of five stars, only because I felt a bit stilted at the end there. But otherwise, this was a fantastic book and I couldn't have asked for a more appropriate end to such a great story.
If I could rate the whole series, I would give it five stars completely. The characters were very well written and the plot was well thought out. The author executed this story line beautifully while also giving us a look into the endless possibilities of the supernatural while also giving us a portrait of Washington as well as other locations in this last one. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the story. I have to say Cole was another, I'm a sucker for the bad guy redemption theme, what can I say? Lol. But the author made it happen at a very realistic pace while also remaining true to the idea that Cole was the leader of the condemned for a reason. He didn't just suddenly put on a white hat, throwing his black one away, and I admired the author deciding that for his own story line. Jessica was another favorite part. After many Bella/Anastasia Steele portrayals in books lately (aka setting women back a couple of centuries), this was a refreshing change. You loved her yet sometimes got frustrated with her but then when she decides to fight, you are right there with her, proud of her and cheering her on. It was refreshing to see the woman save the guy for once, even though I know they really saved each other, but still, I loved it. Jessica had a good level head on her shoulders and it was so nice to read for once. Especially, in this story line with these situations. The same goes for Emily. Yes, she made her mistake in the second book by going after Cole, but I had to admire her willingness to fight after Cormack told her not to give up. She simply could have after he was gone, but she kept fighting no matter how much it hurt. Sal, while yes, she wasn't exactly as strong as Jessica or Emily, she had her own strength in a way. She'd been through hell but she was still there, allowing Jessica in bit by bit and even letting her pull her out of her protective shell a couple of times for a quick peek around. To have her show up in the end to help was a great choice and I don't think it could have played out any better for the end of her story line. I just hope she still has access to her books, somewhere up there. ;-) Alex I was very impressed with. Again, not to sound judgmental or biased but, after so many Edward Cullen/Christian Grey's, it was nice to see a guy who yes would do anything for the girl he loved, including trading his life for hers, but at the same time, give her space to be her own person and help her through the tough times, not always needing to jump in and save her right away; instead, he would give her time to try and save herself first and usually she would figure it out on her own. he was supportive, and even a best friend to her in his own way I want to say, but he never tried to control her or change her or anything. He just accepted her for who she was and even though Jessica constantly talks about his perfection, it's not nauseatingly so. You actually see Alex through her eyes and he is indeed beautiful, inside as well as out. So, their relationship as well as their separate characterizations were definitely a highlight of this story for me. There's just so much that could be said about this trilogy: it's refreshing, original, modern (meaning it's not the typical women can't do anything without a man type story) and extremely engaging. It's earned its spot on my bookshelf at home and I look forward to what this author comes out with next. She definitely has a dedicated reader and supporter in me. It's sad to say goodbye to these characters but I'll be visiting them again soon. ;-)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I feel so disappointed because I really wanted to like this series. It had such a fresh new take on Angels and I feel like there was so much potential there. I obviously enjoyed the storyline and was kept just interested enough to read the 3 books, but something was missing.
I also feel like it could have been condensed into one book, had there not been so much repetition.
Jessica was such an unlikeable main character (in my opinion), she was just such a sad sack all the time, with a bad case of the "poor me's". The characters all seemed to lack in their depth - they did slightly build throughout the series, but still fell short.
The final book in the Fall of Angels series about Jessica and Alex, takes you down a twisty, turny and a bit bumpy road to a satisfying outcome. I enjoyed the series, as each book was a great story, but would appreciate more editing and a little less repetition. However, overall, it was an enjoyable series about angels from the writer's unique perspective worth your time if you enjoy YA PNR. If you haven't read the series, I recommend giving it a go. Enjoy!
I'm gonna copy and paste my review onto each, I devoured this story so fast it was literally two weeks for all 4 books, and I don't know which is which. All I can say is that this story is fast paced, addictive, and pulled at my heart the whole time. I cried for the hero, I cried for the villain, I cried when it ended.
Keary Taylor has easily become one of my fav authors. I’ve read now, 26 books by her and I’m headed to the 27th when I finish writing this review. Book after book, regardless of the subject, thriller, vampires, angels, EVEN SPACE WARRIORS, I have loved them all. Yes! Can’t possibly say enough good stuff about this author!
Wow I really got into this book and was in tears towards the end. I was so upset I had to put it down. Couldn't believe all they went through and were so much in love to lose it all in days. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to read more. Onto book #4. Can't recommend you to read them more than this.
I feel like this book had a really cheesy ending.. it felt like i wasted my time reading three books just to lead me back to where it started. I dont understand why they had to make Emily so damn needy non the less the whole happily ever after feeling i got from the end was very unsatisfying
I can't explain how spectacular this book is. I am not good at describing why and what I enjoyed the most in a book, and it has never bothered me as much as it is right now. This is one of the best series I have read.
This was a really good ending to another great series by the author. There did seem to be a lot more errors in this book than the previous two so better editing would be advisable.
Somewhat better than book 2, but there are so many errors it is distressing. You'd think someone who's written over 30 books would have a better grasp of the difference between "pique, peak, and peek".
I read this year's and years ago and just came across it again. I really did enjoy this series and read the three books in two days. Think Book 3 is my favorite.
I really enjoyed listening to this series. The narrator did a very nice job! I loved Alex and Jessica and their storyline in this book. Great characters, great narrator, overall great series. Was enjoyable and fun to listen to.