Easy 4.0, maybe even a 4.5. In a million years, I never would have thought I’d find myself cheering for someone as contemptible and duplicitous as Lucifer, but West has made it possible.
Plot:
As she awaits her wedding to Malcolm, Anna visits Hell to find answers about her God-given mission of getting the seven seals and returning them to heaven. Lucifer does everything he can to keep that from happening, telling her that she will become more and more evil if she does collect the seals. Unsure if her father really cares for her or if he just wants to maintain his position of power, Anna makes several more trips to Hell, despite warnings that Hell could have a negative effect on her. During her visits, she learns more about her parents’ relationship. She also realizes that Hell has become too powerful for even Lucifer to control.
Characters:
Anna is as sweet and likable as she has been throughout the series, and she truly does just want to see other people happy. She does begin to change throughout the book because she not only continued her mission of collecting the seals, but also made frequent trips to Hell. I did find it a little annoying that she refused to listen to the warnings that everyone (Jess, Lilly, Malcolm, Lucifer, etc.) gave her to stay away. Looking back though, it really was within character for her to do that because she was so caring and protective of others.
Malcolm has become so much more than the skeevy perv we met in Forgiven (The Watchers #1), and while I didn’t really like him in the past books, I am actually starting to warm up to him. He’s really loving and sweet to Anna and even tries to support her when he doesn’t agree with what she’s doing.
Of all the characters, I would have to say that my favorite in the book is Lucifer. As the book progresses, we continue to find out that he is just very misunderstood, and I’m a sucker for the misunderstood. We find out that Lucifer is still reeling over the loss of Amalie and that he has loved Anna since she was a baby, so we really want to trust him. While his credibility remains to be seen, it was funny to picture him standing around in slacks and a sweater while attending a dinner party.
The rest of the characters we have come to know and love have returned, including Lucas, Jered, Brutus, Millie, etc. The princes are also back. However, the biggest villain in Lucifer was Helena, the personification of Hell. It will be interesting to find out what happens to her in the final book of the series.
Writing:
There were a few grammatical errors here and there, but the story was so compelling that they were barely noticeable. In terms of content, Lucifer included lot more sexual situations than the other books in the series, and some were pretty detailed. However, West does an excellent job of setting those scenes up and justifying them, so they don’t just seem gratuitous. There is also quite a bit of violence, some graphic, but if you’ve read Malcolm and Anna, you know that is to be expected.
The Bottom Line:
I love all of the Watchers books (Watchers, Watchers Chronicles, and Caylin’s duology), and Lucifer is no exception. I can’t wait for the next book to find out what happens to Lucifer (and Anna and Malcolm of course); in fact, I put off reading this book, so I wouldn’t have to wait as long for Redemption.