Angels Before Man

Angels #1

by Rafael Nicolás

Angels Before Man: Revised and Extended

A Queer Retelling of Satan's Fall

In an eternal paradise, the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, struggles with shame, identity, and timidity, with little more than the desire to worship his creator. It isn't until the strongest angel, Michael, comes into his life that Lucifer learns to love himself. Along the way, their friendship begins to bloom into something else. Maybe the first romance in the history of everything. But this God is a jealous one, and maybe paradise is not paradise.

Genres: Fantasy, Queer, LGBT, Romance, Mythology, Retellings, Fiction

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2022

Reviews

[jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want them to cut me open and replace my organs with pages of this book. i NEED to be one with it, you don't understand. i'm gonna buy a physical copy and rip it apart page for page like it has ripped me apart page by page, and then i will eat it. i will highlight all the quotes, all of it, and then i will put them on my body until every inch of skin is covered with this beautiful prose. when i die burry me with it, i will use it to fight god if i go to heaven, and if i go to hell i will buddy read it with lucifer. how can one read it and stay normal, this has completely altered my brain chemistry, i'm both less and more depressed, it has healed only to ruin me again. angel of beauty, angel of worship, angel of love, angel of sin. how do i think about other things ever again

"This, this here, could be worship."

"This could be religion."

"Create with me and let's call it sin."

[Rafael Nicolás · Rating 5 out of 5]

HELLO - updated content warnings that are about the same but updated anyway —

Blasphemy, graphic violence, graphic animal death, sexual content, self-harm, use of terms with incestuous connotations, grooming, mental instability, off-page sexual assault, on-page sexual trauma, abuse.

These themes are lighter, or absent, in the first half of the book but still worth keeping in mind. Also, this list is likely not all-encompassing, so please take care reading.

Bon voyage

[roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re everything to me, the stars and the moons, the heat and the cold, the earth and the seeds, the waters and the flowers, but you are not God.”

ANGELS BEFORE MAN is truly unlike anything i’ve ever read. jesus christ (pun intended). rafael nicolás’ prose and descriptions are really some of the best things i’ve ever read, with unique lyrical prose that over time will make you question if you’re reading a real book, because how the hell can someone come up with something as insanely beautiful and unhinged as this? i had to take breaks to just sit down and process what i’ve read (/positive). rafael nicolás will definitely be an insta-buy author for me now, i can’t wait to see what he publishes next :)

—

pre reading: this will be my joker

after reading: i’ll give a full review soon im so sick

[Jay H (Hiatus)]

On Hold

Hey guys I’ve decided not to finish Angels Before Man right now. While the book seems amazing, I’ve got a lot of personal religious stuff I’m working through, and it’s hard to fully enjoy the story with all that in my head. I want to give it the attention it deserves, but for now, I’ll have to come back to it later. Sending love and good vibes to everyone!!💋 💖✨





_________________
Pre-Read:

After reading the first few chapters I just know am not ready for all the shit that’s goona go down in this book😭😭

[Iman (hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond compare. Questioned my sanity. I am a changed man. Nothing else I would say to describe this masterpiece. One that burned into the core of my mind.

“Create with me, Michael, and let’s call it sin.”

[splendour hyaline · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I daydream of you, of loving you."
"How do you love me?"
"Like this."

i have a lot of thoughts about ANGELS BEFORE MAN! above all, i do really commend the novel for what it is: a self-published work, and a labour of immense love. i appreciate the vision, and i adore the author's demonstration that catholic stories are not exempt from queer interrogations.

however, i had a little trouble getting into this book: the first half was a bit slow-paced and unwieldy for my tastes, and i would have really loved to see more thorough world building in the study of heaven. while the second half did pick up the pace, i think it was somewhat let down by the introduction of perspective changes - as they were often split by paragraph rather than chapter, and occasionally weren't clear about the change, i did at times struggle to follow and think that it might have instead been a lot more intriguing to follow along with other angels in whole chapters between lucifer's gradual corruption (which definitely should have been featured in-text rather than as retrospective asides!), for longer moments of pause. in the same vein, i wasn't personally a fan of the major turn to inner thoughts in the second half of the novel, which became confusing especially when situated right next to dialogue.

i also think that too much of michael and lucifer's relationship - especially in its early stages - was relegated to off-screen encounters. i would have loved to see the development of their dynamic for myself, rather than hearing from lucifer + other characters about how close they had both become over the last millennia.

spoiler para: i'm not personally offended by the depiction of god, but i do think that there could have been more nuanced ways to depict lucifer's corruption than situating sexual assault (?) as his major moral turning point, and i'm still unclear on why asmodeus tried to sexually assault rosier.

this is not a perfect book. there are some lines/dialogue that didn't work for me, and some ideas that i wish were a little more fluidly integrated into the text. nevertheless, i am glad that ANGELS BEFORE MAN exists, and i think it's a creation to be genuinely proud of, particularly as a debut. the dream sequence in the interlude was beautiful to read (it was probably my favourite part!), and made michael's final decision feel all the more poignant. the first chapter was gorgeously written and evocative, and i really liked this interrogation of god as a benevolent creator, as well as the idea that original sin was borne from love; from the desire to be close to someone in ways unfathomable to even angels.

[aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Queer retelling of Satan’s Fall? Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Even though I expected more madness, rage and chaos from this story, I still very much enjoyed it. I was a bit bored at times, but overall I can highly recommend it.

[Elin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biblically accurate joker

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾/5⭐️

Rafael Nicolás is made of magic.

In the beautiful build up to a gut-wrenching fall, we watch Lucifer be brought into existence, find himself, and find love that he is punished greatly for.

We meet him moments after he is born and watch him gain consciousness in real time before entering his new home and community, struggling to find his place, and fall in love in the first coming-of-age half of this book. The second half of the story is dedicated to his anger, the hypocrisy maintained by his fellow angels, and a corruption fueled by fiery rebellion and a deep-rooted desire to love himself and love the angel Michael in peace.

The prose are lyrical, stunning, and all-consuming and this book is my everything.

We watch Lucifer go from an innocent, hopeful, and earnest angel to a disillusioned and spiteful individual attempting to overthrow God.

When I described this book on tiktok, someone aptly commented:

“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

Wowowowowowow

CW: abuse (physical and emotional), self harm, blasphemy, homophobia, animal death, explicit sexual content (brief), violence, off-page sexual assault and mentions of event, body horror

[A Literate Doofus · Rating 1 out of 5]

' In wrath, you will still love me, won’t you? You will
always love me.’

the only review i trust on goodreadian wastelands- and it's a mess-:

one heavenly shy demonic star.

first thing first, i must say i love the premise of the book, it's fascinating. everything about it sounded up my alley, and the cover? augh i bet Lucifer isn't as beautiful as THIS cover, would totally hang it on my wall.

i was this close to dnfing my first book of 2023, my brain cells? don't ask about them, *sigh* i really wanted to love the book, well damn me to hell someone write another retelling of Lucifer please.

the reading experience: i was reading the first 100 pages waiting for something to happen but no, it was just filling pages of Lucifer being beautiful and ashamed. the book drags on and on, daily routines and shit. i was waiting for world buildings, bc whatever snippets i got was soo cool like when uriel was remembering what was before paradise. but no let focus on the teenage-esq infatuation.

the language/ writing: this book reads like a ya, which is hilarious, i was reading and thinking this's basically the new boy in school got the hots for the popular senior, except boys angels, school to heaven. also i noticed the writer in the first half of the book is "telling" me what is happening, and it stuck out like a sore ass thumb.

- characters: no one was fascinating to me except uriel and Raphael, for some reason i always care about side characters, okay it's my fault i find them more interesting. anyway i couldn't with Lucifer this bitch was unbearable in the beginning, middle, AND end of the book. more like angel of quirkiness, cringe is real. but when he started going crazy, i was like finally some good shit.
and the archangels yeah? the princes are dumb assess and it pissed me off, what a waste of characters. and micheal being dumb himbo *rolling my eyes of my head*

but when uriel showed up surrendering to Lucifer's forces without a scratch and told the others "Excuse my absence, I was reading.” I C O N I C. slay king, best character, end scene, Lucifer babe the exit is right there~


-relationships: Michael and Lucifer: other than being ermmm really weird, creepy, and ew, with the whole " younger brother" thing, and the writer keeps hammering it, their love was not developed well for my taste. and then the yandere vibes from Lucifer like...sure bro, and till the very end it didn't convince me at all, rosier and asmodeus did more than they could ever do and then asmodeus assaulted rosier and i was like fuck no.

Lucifer and god: i found that terrifying relationship very important to explore, and intriguing like why did the writer treats it like jealousy? i really wanted some insight and fresh perspective but nah, and why would he rape him? jealousy again and punishment? also damn god is a rapist now? did i read that right? the religious are quaking



-the plot: erm i don't know i haven't seen her, but after 236 pages when finally god told Lucifer he's the beast i was excited finally there's drama, and no it wasn't executed to be fun, the pacing of the story wasn't to my taste AT ALL. i wished it begun or hinted at earlier.

i laughed SO HARD when lucifer said he invented saying dick and cunt and wanting to give Michael a blow job, there aint no way bitch what!!! literally the only good thing about this book loool

-the only thing i liked is Lucifer going crazy and honestly i wasn't paying attention, but apparently he was a beast all along right?


final thoughts:
-so in the book it was stated that god was Omniscient, and it made the whole book foreboding, to me at least, when i think that god would've known from the very beginning -even before the beginning- what Lucifer is and everything he'll do and his fate, or maybe I'm just throwing credits.

𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 consider this concept itself terrifying and absolutely sadistic -and pretty cool-, like "𝐢 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥�� 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭", this is real horror right there, like it's all a game, already planned out, and now just to be observed playing out. and it made me wonder was god ever wrathful? or was it just another role to play.

- of course there's so many things to uncover here, god, belief, trauma, fate etc...but if I'm talking entertainment wise: this book isn't fun, and it should have been shorter, and i'm never leaving my reading comfort zone ever again :)

[Kalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

both me and my religious trauma are crying — 10/10 stars

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Glorious, searing, and sacrilegious in the exact way I wanted, Angels Before Man is a tragedy told in two acts that acted like a balm to my queer, former-Catholic-kid soul.

[Shane Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

CONTAINS INDIRECT SPOILERS:

If I could give every star in the sky to ANGELS BEFORE MAN, I would. What is there to say about this book to be put eloquently? To even attempt to write a review for something so monumental, something so grand and all-encompassing that I devoured it in two sittings.

ANGELS BEFORE MAN is the queer retelling of the fall of Satan that every person with religious trauma needs to read. It's unsettling, it's intense, it's heavy. It's not a book to be managed lightly, nor distractedly. If you're wanting a light read, this perhaps isn't for that time. Rafael Nicolas has spun a poetic, stunning prose, describing Heaven, God, and all his angels, and creation. With a plot that follows Lucifer, God's "Favourite", his "Most Perfect Creation", along with his friends, dealing with shame of his own beauty and body, and the growing fondness he has for Michael. However, when he stops worshipping God to worship Michael instead, and his devotion's eyes swing elsewhere, God becomes jealous, punishing Lucifer over and over.

ANGELS BEFORE MAN is an intense, jarring study of religion, worship, self, tragedy, and the villain story everybody deserves who grew up being taught only one lesson: to obey without question. Lucifer was a beautiful character who deserved every inch of what he created for himself. Falling in love and falling to Earth, respectively, was a slow decline, of deceit laid into words given by his Father, echoed by brothers, and Lucifer, although surrounded by friends and angels, felt more alone in his own truth of not believing.

As a trans man growing up a teenager in an all-girls Christian Church of England school, forced to sing psalms and pray for everything and study the bible for religious and ethics exams, I needed this book. Teenage me needed this book. I needed to see how Lucifer went from the golden angel who could do no wrong to being the budding Lucifer the world knows who skinned an angel's face off and handed it to a friend. I delighted in him creating words like "c0ck, 3unt, 4ucking" (idk if Goodreads would censor that, so pls excuse!), and creating sin. The angels had been forced under uniformity, forced to kneel and bow under the sole of their Father, without question. Good on every angel who followed Lucifer, even if they were deprived for it. I cried when Lucifer's wings were cut, I was open-mouthed at the observatory 0rgy scene, I yearned for Michael to return every inch of Lucifer's feelings, screamed when Lucifer was dragged so brutally back to the Garden of Eden, when he was silenced. But most of all, this book spins a beautiful scenery that's so achingly perfect it can't ever be real. Paradise, eternity. Blasphemy does exist, and this book spins it so honestly. The blind believing of faith and religion when nobody thinks to question it around you, so you don't either. Innocence taken advantage of, questionless mouths kept shut because they haven't thought to ask yet, and one tyrant God above all, playing his angels like chess pieces, creating devotion, wrapping blind belief around them to make his own paradise. Mingled in with backstories that were achingly beautifully told, Lucifer takes in the world around him as he grows, shapes, and forms friendships with those around him, as he tries to please God and find his place in Heaven.

This book is a staple of hope, blasphemy, revenge/villain arc that needs to withstand the test of time. Everybody needs to read this book. I can only eagerly await what more Rafael Nicolas creates with his beautiful, poetic prose and endless imagination full of depth and wonder. If you ever had the urge to fight God, pick up this book: it'll only want to make you do so more.

[Littlebookterror · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me for 300 pages: "I am sure it will happen soon.“
(I am delusional.)

this is barely a review cause I am angry at how much I wanted this to be good and what I got out of it instead.
This reads like a fanfiction (the style of writing and plot development in particular) of a story whose characters I don't yet care for, including the numerous descriptions of clothes, gratuitous descriptions of food and song lyrics.
Lucifer - was such a weird protagonist. I was not a fan of him in the beginning but even the later shift in his character made no sense to me. I don't understand why people are fawning over Lucifer at every possible moment. So many of those scenes of people complimenting his beauty add nothing to the story.

The setting does not feel like Heaven, it's like a vaguely historical/Roman small town.
The angels were also very male-coded – I was expecting a more ambiguous gender presentation but instead, it feels like the women are just... missing as they sometimes are in fantasy books. [The author has since revealed that all his angels are apparently trans and that will be explored more in the sequels, but, uh, I did not see that in the text.]
Totally unnecessary new POVs in part 2.
The sudden introduction of inner dialogue that is worse than the normal one.


What romance? What tragedy? What the fuck.

[⋆˚✧ sabrina ✧｡⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

˗ˏˋ 4.5 ★ ˎˊ˗ [spoilers below !! (i guess? it’s a retelling so?¿?¿?)]

okay so this book is Art. haunting, sacrilegious, beautiful Art. the writing style is so unique and genuinely interesting to read; it reaffirmed for me all the fun you can have with the creative writing medium. i loved the slow, measured descent of lucifer into madness. i loved seeing the world as he did: with wonder, with awe, with love, then with resentment, with rage, with vitriol. i loved the way this was intertwined with the myth of adam and eve, the creation of man; i’m not sure how extensive the parallels between that and lucifer’s fall are in the bible but sheesh. and perhaps most of all, i loved the torment of michael having to act against his beloved lucifer, never having known the extent of abuse god subjected lucifer to. the transition from god to the god!!! the flower symbolism!!! the yearning, a hundred million years of it!!! the monotony of the first half to instill the existential boredom of lucifer’s existence!!! uri-kimah!!! i mean this really is just the og villain origin story, huh? (side note, but the dynamic between lucifer and god reminded me a lot of the dynamic between seth and osiris in ennead. ennead mention is so brave of me honestly.)

bars:
✧ in vain, i love you; in vain, the dawn streaming onto you, beside me; in vain, i want to be yours, your angel. angel of love, angel of michael.
✧ i waited for your touch to save me.
✧ this, this here, could be worship. ‘this—’ lucifer pressed an innocent kiss to the prince’s sweet, divine mouth. this could be religion.  
✧ i waited for your touch to save me.
✧ complete, He said, but i don't want to be complete; i'd rather be split and become full with you. [ . . . ] split me, here.
✧ i waited for your touch to save me.
✧ all i have ever wanted to know is why.

soundtrack:
♫ gibson girl — ethel cain
♪ ptolemaea — ethel cain
♫ sun bleached flies — ethel cain
♪ knuckle velvet — ethel cain
♫ hard times — ethel cain

[libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars 🤍

I'm speachless.

I don't think I can give this book a proper review because I can't describe how actually feel after finishing. This is now, for sure, one of my all time favourites.

I started this without any idea of what would happen, and to be honest I didn't expect it to be this way. It healed and destroyed me at the same time and the end left me staring at my wall for 5 whole minutes trying to process all.

The writing style, the development of the characters, the feelings, the hard scenes, I feel all is in my soul now because it really hit me hard.

I don't know what to say more because I'm literally speachless LMAO. Just that it was unexpected how much this affected me and I wish I could tattoo the whole book in my soul bye

[Rina Pride · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. Foi a melhor história com Lúcifer que li. Entendo um pouco da bíblia porque cresci em família religiosa e lia muito quando era mais nova, se tem uma história que me chama atenção até hoje é a história de Lúcifer. Acho que Rafael Nicolas fez uma versão bem interessante da história de Lúcifer "baseado em fatos reais" 😅 Acho que ficou muito boa essa versão.

[Krys (spicy.spine.breaker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*2025 UPDATE* still chasing this high. To date, no book has ever topped this. My favorite piece of literature, changed my life & rearranged my brain.

*2024 UPDATE* 18m later - this book is my religion.

*2023* FIRST READ I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

”What was that? What we were doing?”
“Sin.”
“What’s sin?”
“I created it. Do you like it?”

Let me start off by saying I would def be one of the angels raining down on earth behind Lucifer. Bend the freaking knee. But that’s about all the sass I have left in me after finishing this book… TBH I’m mostly a puddle of ugly sobs not equipped to make a single decision or coherent thought.

Angels Before Man *DESTROYED* me.
This retelling the fall of Lucifer, starting with his moment of creation following his life up to the fall - holy literal hell - I. Can’t. Stop. Sobbing. 😭 not exaggerating.

The last time I was this emotionally wrecked by a book was TSOA, but this book has the added assault of leaving you angry & unsettled. At least, for me it did. And going in knowing the whole story - exactly how it ends and what you're working towards with every turn of the page - did NOTHING TO LESSEN THE PAIN. Not a thing. If anything, it only increased the pain, made it hurt more as I got to know Lucifer & Micheal & Rosier knowing the end was coming.
Man did it hurt. So bad. Two months later, it hurts still.



THE STORY

Obviously, it’s the fall of a corrupted angel. But unlike other retellings which tend to focus on the Lucifer that is Satan, Angels Before Man doesn’t paint Lucifer in the one dimensional frame of a fallen Angel. He is very much an Angel on high, pure, and genuine in his goodness… until he’s not. But getting to that point is a long, windy road of friendship and learning about life, of corruption and venom, poison from the hand that made him .... and more than I can even put into words.
So… moving on.

Let’s talk about the Angel himself. LUCIFER!
Right off the bat Lucifer pulls you in. Made specifically to be pleasing to the eye, God adorns him all sorts of jewelry, fancy robes, his insides are literal flowers (lots of symbolism here guys). And that’s what he is & created to be. Pretty. A visibly beautiful creation living in paradise among other (but none as pleasing to the eye) perfect angels. In harmony. In monotony. In a seemingly purposeless but ever present state of worship (of God, aka Father, aka master asshole). And Lucifer is among the worshippers, literally the angel of worship, & favorite of the leading asshole - I mean, Father. Being praised and held as the fav creation does nothing to help him deal with the fact his worth is in his appearance.

”Are you sure it’s safe?”
What was he supposed to say? ‘Michael, you see, I’m terribly ashamed of my body, so much so that it’s transferred to being ashamed of all bodies.’
“Of course it is. Is something wrong, Lucifer?”
He didn’t want Michael to think badly of him.

Lucifer is ashamed of his body, feels purposeless with no meaning outside of attractive appearance. And that body horror transfers to other bodies, as mentioned in the quote.

With all these chaotic shameful feelings though Lucifer doesn’t quite understand how that’s effecting him outside of his own internal musings- in regards to his mental health, how he interacts with others, how he feels himself - and it’s not until Michael puts it into words that I was like OMG YAS. Someone gets it 😭

”But I thought ‘How terribly lonely that must be, to be so beautiful that others think of you a thorn. And how worse it must be to think that of yourself.”

Outside of my crushed soul, the other thing of note, and it’s no small thing - was the writing style. I just cannot. The way this book was written was so poetic I could sob from the feelings behind the words alone. If I could turn these words into a drink and gulp them down as literal life blood every single day I would. Poetic beautiful tragedy in every sense of the words.

He opened you like a mandarin and planted a garden of budding flowers inside. He weaved your hair, I think, from the streaks of three bursting stars, and your wings out of four wandering crescent moons. Your hips came from the tides of a sea, and then He carved your hands and feet from marble and pearls. I watched Him breathe life into you, then cradle you as if you were His first angel.

Not to mention the fact that underneath every sentence, lay an undercurrent that can only be described as sensual, in a way that was effective without ever so much as an explicit word or implication (well… until there was 🫠).

A neck tenderly held a head with plump, cherry pink lips and wide, blameless eyes cradled by long lashes; he held the blaze of all the stars in his face. All his skin was silk smooth and kissed tan as copper, he was clouded by wisps of muted flaxen hair that tumbled past his shoulders, and he was graced with various jewelry of every gem, more than the walls of the city.
There were sweet dips to his body, soft curves and edges all where they ought to be, and the smoothness with which he moved — it was utterly unbearable. The angel was so beautiful it ached him in the chest.

Like… that description?? Heart was pounding and I’m sweating a little… also kinda wanna cry. Just me? Idc. I also don’t believe you.


FULL disclosure here I had one critique. My one and only issue. The thing I can’t stop thinking about. AND I WAS WRONG ABOUT IT. Leaving the critique below in case anyone else has the same, incorrect, thoughts but TLDR there is no gender binary bc this is BEFORE MAN. THEREFORE GENDER IS NOT YET INVENTED AHHHHH BURY ME WITH THIS BOOK.

THIS BOOK IS ALL MEN. Or maybe not all men, but there is certainly no feminine hints. So…. Religious trauma #triggered & I don’t mean to make light of it, but it’s hard to say a book as beautiful as this that I loved and touched my heart so much remained founded in the implied depiction of women having no place in creation. Or religion. Or history. That women had no purpose until procreation began. As in that is the sole purpose of the female. As in Paradise is a place when He/Him beings are on high & the She/Her’s simply do not belong. There is no seat.

BUT, I could be totally off base here because this retelling through a queer lense, & the author has specified NONE OF THE ANGELS ARE CIS. b> If humans don’t exist yet that in turn means there is no gender binary…. no he / she. The gender of these beings is ANGEL. The use the pronoun HE as that is how they refer to the Father, and there is not reason to designate any other.

I may very well be projecting my own specific feelings on a larger matter …. In which case It hurts that even in reimagined mythology turned fiction, some still find no need for a sticky she/her figure. BUT MAYBE IN THIS WORLD THAT ISN’T YET A THING?!


Time will tell as the author has also stated there will be more from this world. And I look forward to anyone’s opinion on this whether in discussion or digression for insertion of my cis projections in a world that it has no merit. THIS CONFUSED RANT BROUGHT TO YOU BY A LIFETIME OF THE CISHET AGENDA. AND GOODNIGHT.


Overall this was amazing and I am predicting it will be in the top, if not *the top read* of 2023 for me.

[giada · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve never defended the Bible as strenuously as I did while reading this book. First of all, I’ve read it with the book club and I’m one of the few survivors that read it until the very end and that should count for something - but I’m still so very grateful that the ones that (very reasonably) gave up even tried reading it, because they kept me company when I was trying my hardest to tie up the loose ends.

I’ve already complained extensively about this book and I don’t want to spoil it in this review, so I won’t go in too much detail (especially because in that case you’d need a version annotated by yours truly - there isn’t a page that is safe from my judgment); I’ll try to make this quick and painless.

(For context, I’ve read the 2022 version.)

Let’s talk about Lucifer, the Morningstar, God’s perfect little angel, who one day decided that he wanted free will for all the angels and become God. God, who in this book is portayed as a puppeteer who creates angels for his own pleasure and for Heaven upkeep, shows no personality beyond that of ye olde common gaslighter, and as that he doesn’t like it when Lucifer starts to show signs of insecurity towards what his role in Heaven might be.

The story of rebellion and betrayal as the first sin, especially if paired with the words “queer retelling”, made the commentary of the book seem very clear: I went into this expecting it to be a futile uprising against the status quo (because I know how Lucifer’s story ends…) but a hopeful one at the very least, about the righteous fight for agency and power of the oppressed, which is always very relevant - I don’t want to tell you what happens but by the end I very much ended up rooting for God because what the fuck was that? What was the author trying to say? Because to me it sounded like the premeditated nature of angels makes them exploitable and easy to influence AND not only gay sex is a sin but it also makes you violent and irrational.

These are only a few of the very harmful stereotypes flung at queer people and used to denigrate and separate them from society, and to see these dogwhistles reproduced in a queer book by a queer author gave me whiplash - I want to believe the author didn’t do this on purpose, because otherwise i’d have to believe we have a homophobic plant in our midsts.

My other main complaints about the book have less to do with the plot and its motives and more with the form: I wasn’t a particular fan of the writing style, but what I couldn’t go past was the lack of imagination when it comes to Heaven and the angels. Why is Heaven a roman city with latin american vegetation (and like yeah I get it, the author is Mexican, but at this point I would have accepted much more quickly a Heaven that looked like a Mexican village rather than this weird fusion), why is the only place of worship a Gothic cathedral? Humanity on Earth doesn’t exist yet, so one is to assume everything that ever was and will ever be exists on Heaven already: so why are they stuck with roman society and fourteenth century buildings? In the words of Martina, they should be able to go to a McDrive and watch Netflix. Also since angels are present in all abrahamitic religions, I would have expected to see at least a mosque or a synagogue - but no, it’s all very catholic in here. And for some reason they use time as it is conceived on Earth (but not by humans because they don’t exist yet), based on the rotation and revolution of the planet, to count how the years pass on Heaven. Which is famously NOT on Earth. I honestly thought that the constant mentioning of time would be a relevant plot point but no, it was just put there to piss me off.

And then! The angels have multiple countless forms (I counted two. Just barely.) but for some reason they strut through Heaven in corporeal (so Heaven is tangible?) humanoid forms. They don’t even explore this physicality with cool accessories like different animals for their countless different purposes and hobbies - no! If you told me they all looked like the little cherubs from the Sistine Chapel I would believe you. And the reason why they use this form instead of the one they’re created in? God likes it better. God, that guy that created them. In another form. Why not create angels that already look like humans instead of having to fashion an extra body later? I feel so stupid because I keep not getting it.

The book kept bombarding us with interesting concepts and ideas worth a discussion, but all thoughout the novel the author’s apparent intentions kept changing, to the point that, as I said before, I’d rather ignore where the signs point me towards, since they seem to reiterate catholic talking points, which make the idea of a retelling a bit redundant, and to sweeten the deal also incredibly (accidentally?) homophobic.

The most interesting characters where Michael and Uriel and both lacked agency and personality (it seems to be the theme of the book); Michael’s struggle between his love for Lucifer and that for God isn’t explored enough in my opinion, and Uriel’s backstory gives us a view of his past that negates all that he is all thoughout the book: not a prince of Heaven and one of God’s archangels, but a prisoner of war, an indentured servant with Stockholm Syndrome.

I think the biggest betrayal is how I had such high hopes for this book only to see them crushed as the weeks went by.

[lesbianreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart has never felt this heavy.

[liv ❁ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really great concept that really needed some editing.

This was one of my most anticipated reads and became one of my biggest disappointments. I loved the concept of a queer retelling of the fall of Lucifer. But, I found the characters to be incredibly shallow, the plot to be poorly paced, and the writing immature. I don’t think I enjoyed a second of this and found myself cringing at parts that were supposed to be poetic. I really wish I could’ve loved this one.

[gemma · Rating 1 out of 5]

to my friend who loaned me this book: thank you, and apologies for this review.

this book had so much potential, yet dropped the ball in every possible way. the fact that it has such a high rating makes me feel like i'm being gaslit on a mass level. there is not a single thing done well in this story - whether that be the characters, relationships, world-building, general plot, or simple grammar/formatting. i could go on for hours but at the end of the day all i really want to say is this: john milton sweetie i am so fucking sorry

[Alex Lakej · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book ruined my life and it was glorious

[Lars · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

After finishing “Angels Before Man” all I feel is hollowness. I knew where it was going and yet… my heart hurts. Never thought I would feel this way about Lucifer😭

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In vain, I love you; in vain, the dawn streaming onto you, beside me; in vain, I want to be yours, your angel. Angel of love, angel of Michael.”

Painfully beautiful. Flowery and lyrical. Eventually haunting, conveying subtle horror and a rage so deep it feels tangible. A million ways to describe this book, yet none of them feel sufficient. I usually expect biblical retellings to evoke strong emotion, though Angels Before Man accomplishes much more than just that; here, the fall of Lucifer unfurls in a way that makes the initial brightness of his creation feel blinding, while his gradual fall from grace evokes sympathy that later morphs into something dark and ugly. Binge-reading this book made it feel as if I was going insane with Lucifer’s punishments and the turning of his thoughts; it was impossible not to be sucked in by the gorgeous storytelling, and the terrible fate that Lucifer would pave for himself because of love and hatred. What a stunning book.

‘I feel aged. I feel as if you’ve aged me with your own hands, Michael. Ripened me, like a red fruit, at the edge of a branch, hanging at it’s peak. Beautiful—and just about to fall.’

The portrayal of Lucifer’s emotions in this retelling truly pried at my heart. The author takes their time describing the great splendor of Heaven so that it feels bright and cozy, with the timid and eager-to-please Lucifer fitting right in as the most newly created angel. It was hard not to grow attached to Nicolás’ depiction of the angel in his innocent early years, since Lucifer’s initial insecurities and slow learning to love (both Michael and more importantly, himself) felt painfully human.
Of course, Lucifer’s slow descent into madness was also stunningly written. The author’s take on God harbouring jealousy towards Lucifer finding love was an interesting twist. Lucifer’s initial punishment was terrible, so witnessing the angel’s sadness morph into an ugly hatred became simultaneously terrifying and cathartic. After enduring the brunt of God’s wrath, it was expected that Lucifer harbour some genuine rage in his heart. The way the slow bubbling over of those emotions was written took my breath away. Such vivid depictions of hate, and the sprinkling of sin whispered throughout heaven to the rest of the angels by Lucifer's lips. Nicolás’ writing is truly some of the most incredible I’ve read in a while, and certainly well suited for biblical retellings or that of ancient mythology. I'm eager to read their future works.

“We could do it, everything could be ours—the most perfect of the host. I want to make new things with you, build something bigger than this mirage of eternal pleasure. Haven’t you ever wondered why Father is so strict about out subservience? It’s because disobedience is creation,” a shivering breath, “create with me, Michael, and let’s call it sin.”

Lucifer’s relationship with the archangel Michael was so innocent and beautiful in the beginning, it hurt all the more to see their bond crumble alongside Lucifer’s corruption. Michael was such a sweet character, and his initial efforts to help the young Lucifer love himself really resonated with me. While Michael weighs on Lucifer’s mind throughout most of this book, their relationship is largely unspoken, with some on-page affection, and a lot of obsession on the younger angel’s part. As someone who didn’t really know much about Lucifer’s fall from Heaven, I was completely enraptured in the horror of the angel’s mind, and the destruction of his love for the archangel as punishment for all that he’s done. Even the side characters were great, with Rosier (the angel of fruit) being a favourite of mine. This was, undoubtedly, a stunning retelling with a fantastic sense of atmosphere, and beautifully tragic portrayal of the fall of God’s favourite angel.

[Morgan ♓︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ugh, that was intense and had me feeling bad for the devil himself 😭

I have a deep affinity for biblical mythology, so I was basically guaranteed to like this. I grew up closely to these stories and really appreciated all of the creativity in this interpretation of Lucifer’s damnation.

This was sold to me as a queer retelling of Lucifer’s fall from grace and, while that is true, the romance in here mostly happens off page. I’d call this less of a romance and more of an existential horror. There were moments where I was truly chilled to my core with the type of gore and violence that could have only been inspired by the bible.

Because this takes place over of the course of millions of years, the pacing sometimes felt either a little too slow or a little too fast. I wish Michael and Lucifer had a bit more time on page together because I think the ending would have been all the more devastating. But even with the pacing issues, this story still makes quite the impact.

Overall, Angels Before Man makes for a compelling read that I will be thinking about it for a while. If you love biblical mythology like myself then I definitely recommend this one to you.

[heishui · Rating 1 out of 5]

this feels like bad supernatural fanfic

[dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: My rating and review have nothing to do with the fact this is Christian fiction aka fiction rooted in Christian beliefs/religion/culture. I view all religions as equal and it is my belief that, if some are capable of being used for fiction, so can all the others. The depiction of deities and/or religious entities in fiction doesn’t bother me – as long as it is respectful.

I’ve been picking up books with some of m/m representation that are poorly executed.

Synopsis:

It claims to be a queer retelling of Satan’s fall, supposedly cozy and fast-paced (bro, where?).
It follows the birth [of creation] of Lucifer Morningstar, his life in Heaven and his downfall into the ruler of Hell and the title of Satan.

Review:

One sentence to describe: The premise was amazing but the execution was mediocre.

I’ll address the positive things right away:

The author either spent so much time creating this world or has the ability to create these kinds of worlds with ease; either way, the amount of worldbuilding, visual stimulation and details poured into the worldbuilding and in each and every surroundings/space is astonishing. Regardless of it was a product of a long creation or easy imagination – and regardless of my rating or review of the ‘not-so-positive’ things, this is something I will stand on.

The synopsis promotes it as a cozy, fast-paced retelling but it has nothing of cozy or fast-paced.

Regarding to cozy , people seem to be confusing the term ‘cozy’ which, being a relatively new term in the “online book world” is more than understanding and everyone has the right to have a slight difference in the concept, depending on each person’s taste. However, a cozy read doesn’t necessarily have to have unnecessarily long and boring detailed descriptions of every single fucking thing.

Which correlates to fast-paced promise it never fucking delivers. The author really goes into depth in every single scene, constantly describing every single thing, every single motion, every single person into lengths of paragraph and so on. No one can sneeze or take a shit without the author letting you know. At first, when you’re meeting a new setting, it is perfectly normal for descriptions to be slightly longer but it comes to a point enough is enough. The author leaves nothing to the imagination and, frankly, often what the author writes is bloody boring.

I caught myself skimming through the paragraphs only to get to the point of the fucking scene. That is not what you want in a book.

The second part is slightly more fast-paced but it is sold as an absolute lie because the book is long – not in page numbers but as in content. The long, detailed paragraphs leave you bored and, if you’re suffering from a slump, it worsens it.

The characters are basically carbon copy of each other. There is slight differences in their personality that is told to the reader rather than showed. Everyone sounds like everyone. There was so many side characters (angels and archangels) and, although some of them had distinctive personalities, most of them felt two-dimensional, flat and basic characters whose personality was either none or generic.

All except Lucifer, of course.

I don’t really understand the idea of turning what could be potentially empowering gay figure (in this book) and turn it into the possibly most annoying character ever. Lucifer spent all his time fucking crying ; every damned chapter, he wept two or three times – out of joy, out of sadness, out of confusion, out of being overwhelmed, out of desperation. Whatever it was happening, I grant you Lucifer was crying about it.

I understand Lucifer was said to be the most beautiful of all angels created by the Abrahamic God but I don’t need to be told that every. fucking. page. Every time a new character was introduced, several lines of dialogue and narration were spent in speaking how beautiful Lucifer was and how:

“Father really took his time with you, brother.”

Do you know how many times I had to read that? Too fucking many.

Another thing is the themes. So many interesting themes that were picked and approached that were poorly developed or could’ve been approached/developed in other way that would’ve gotten a better result.

One of the things I fucking hate in books is the usage of sexual assault of a plot point for either a turning point for the character or character development. Apparently, this book has two sexual assaults: one succeeded and one attempted.

I know a lot of people had an issue with the way God was perceived and depicted in this book. That is not my issue. It is fiction for a damned reason. My problem was that, out of all the choices the author could’ve picked for the corruption of Lucifer, they chose the cheapest, fastest choice. There is so much in religious – in this case, Abrahamic religions and Christianity – to pick, so much contradictions, hypocrisy, paradox, misunderstandings and misinterpretations. The list is so damn long and the author chose the most unnecessary thing to serve as a turning point in Lucifer.

TV Lucifer is ashamed.

Exploring homosexuality in a world such as this could’ve been one of the best things – this could’ve been one of the best books I read this year – but there is too many things that could’ve used improvement and were poorly executed. So many other themes could've benefited so much more of a better execution.

As far as debuts goes, this is not a bad one. It was not my cup of tea but I wouldn’t be opposed to read something else from the author in the future. I’m guessing this was self-published which can explain the negative aspects I’ve mentioned. It is clear the author has a bright, vast imagination and they’re not afraid of picking up difficult themes. Their creation can be truly amazing if there might be capable editors, more constructive feedback and trustworthy beta readers.

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

“all i say comes from a place of love.” ‘is love meant to pierce?’

there literally isn’t any words to describe how amazing this book is!!! i laughed i smiled i cried i hurt i laughed some more i cried some more. all i know is that book deserves to be read by more people because holy SHIT. this book is UNBELIEVABLE

[Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

i really wanted to love this book, all of the hype i saw surrounding it seemed like it would be right up my alley. but i guess blasphemy is one word you could use to describe this book.

it’s in painful need of an editor. the pacing was just horrible, the first 100 pages dragged on for so long i considered dnfing several times (which i now wish i did), and the ending was so rushed it left me wanting more of a book i couldn’t wait to put down and never think about again. it felt like the author wanted all of the shock factor of the second half of this book but didn’t want to properly wrap things up. in addition, there’s so many grammatical and spelling errors that i wanted to scream. the writing style itself as well was just so unbelievably frustrating to read i found myself rereading the same passages several times over and still struggling.

i initially was going to give this two stars for 1) the beautiful cover and 2) the potential the story had before i realized that the second was groundwork from christianity and i couldn’t give them any more credit than they already get. still, i have a few redeemable moments that i can remember so, two stars it gets.

no shade to anyone who loved this, i just was deeply disappointed.