Fallen

by Alyssa Rabil

The Black family trap and kill angels and demons, and Andy Black loves being in the family business. But when she goes to a job expecting to find a dead angel and instead finds a very alive and very angry one, Andy’s world is flipped on its axis. Yeah, about that trapping and killing thing? Turns out Andy’s sister and aunt have been rehabilitating monsters instead of killing them…

Oriana is used to human cruelty, and trusts none of them. Half human, half angel, she’s been held captive by a trapper for most of her life and now she’s finally escaped him, she finds herself held by more humans. But the unexpected kindness of the Black family, and one in particular, brings her human instincts to the surface.

Before Andy and Oriana can move forward, they must face the past and conquer their own monsters.

Genres: Fantasy

220 pages, ebook

Published September 14, 2023

About the author

she/her
When Alyssa Rabil isn’t experiencing a full-blow existential meltdown, she’s writing. She likes to put her characters through Hell to see if they can survive. Most of the time, they do.

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fallen by Alyssa Rabil is a novel that left me with mixed feelings.

The premise of this narrative is good. I’ve come to really like paranormal stories with Sapphic romance mixed in. I also like reading about characters that in some way are damaged, but find their way to healing and/or redemption, especially with the help of another in the tale. Fallen addresses both of those really well. I pretty much fell for the main characters, Oriana the half human, half angel, and Andy Black the trapper. Some of the secondary folks needed more work on their characters. They seemed a bit one dimensional.

The book needed to give the reader more backstory than was mentioned. I got a bit confused with the angels and demons in the story and how they were able to exist in our world. This might have been explained with more history.

The romance between Andy and Oriana is sweet, though I would have loved to see a bit further into their future. The novel has a bit of an open ending which does give the author the chance for future books with these characters in this world. I would be happy to read more of Andy and Oriana’s story if another one is written.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this ultimately ended up at like a 3.5ish for me, but instead of my usual rounding down, I’m rounding up, bc there was a lot to like, here.

It started off great and I was throughly invested; it gave me similar feelings of how I felt back when I first watched Supernatural and Wynonna Earp, and I wanted very much for it to run with that vibe, and in ways, it did, but it did leave me a little wanting.

I liked both MCs, but I reaaaaaaly wanted more development with Faith and Andy, in particular, and was bummed that Faith is hardly part of the story, despite her relationship with Andy being one of Andy’s driving forces. In general, I think the potential of the world, the characters, and the love story were all there, but for me, I wanted all of them fleshed out and expanded on just a little bit more. I’d have loved more sister stuff, I’d have loved a more honest look on Andy’s alcoholism (they hide the booze and she barely blinks abt it, which felt incredibly weird to me) and I’d frankly have liked just a little more development with Andy and Oriana’s relationship. It’s hard to explain, but something abt it felt maybe too fast? A little surface level, somehow? It felt a little too instalove for my tastes (Andy’s turnaround, in general, towards her feelings abt being a trapper, felt a little rushed to me). I wish the time frame had been longer and we’d got to sit with them both a bit more. All that said, I rlly loved the world and just wanted MORE, ultimately, from everything. I’d love to see this as a series and expanded upon further.

[Emily Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, there’s a lot of story in such a short book! This book started with its foot on the gas and didn’t slowdown. Parts of it reminded me of the tv show Supernatural, but Fallen is very much its own story.

I really enjoyed the main characters and how their individual personalities were two parts of a bigger whole. Ana and Andy both had emotional and physical wounds that needed to heal. They cautiously started on that healing throughout the book and grew greatly as people by the end of the book.

The only thing I didn’t particularly like was some of the human side characters felt two dimensional to me. I would’ve liked to know a bit more of their backstories. They weren’t the point of the book, however.

I’m not sure if/what the author plans to do with the story in future, but it would make one heck of a series!

[ReneeReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just “ok” for me. The story had a lot of potential but I was left feeling like “that’s it?” when it ended. It does have a cute romantic storyline with some good character progression and the story was complete. I just wish a bit more happened as there wasn’t much action.

Thank you NetGalley and Alyssa Raybil for the ARC.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with a story about love between angels and demons. Rabil does an excellent job of creating full characters in an ever twisting world. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to Bella Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

[Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aspects of this narrative did require a healthy suspension of disbelief to get past. The world presented was interesting. The inclusion of a more detailed history between humans, angels, demons, and the war that is alluded to would leave readers with less questions that distract from the primary narrative. Oriana and Andy were compelling characters, but the supporting cast felt a bit flat and one dimensional. I appreciated that this narrative attempted to subvert expectations by addressing the to common trope of a character falling in love and becoming devoted to the first person to show them kindness. It does circumvent any concerns about this applying to Oriana in a less than convincing way as soon as Andy raises the point, but an attempt was made.

[Leigh McGrory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallen is a paranormal sapphic romance set in a world filled with angels and demons.

I enjoyed the plot of this novel, I felt that it kept you intrigued. However I wasn't a fan if the writing style, personally it felt like it didn't flow however this didn't impact my enjoyment.

The characters are great, I loved Andy and the journey that she went on through the book. Her relationship with Oriana was very well written and made me want to read more about them.

I would definitely read more from this author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bella Books for providing me with this arc

[Jaymi Brampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good

Read this book on a whim and finished it in one sitting. Recommend to people who like to see people heal from trauma and become better versions of themselves.

[Alese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute!!! I'll definitely be reading more!!

[Devorah A. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending was smhw too fast, but the character development and interplay thruout the bulk of the novel was *fantastic.*