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The Book of Eternity
Fans of nostalgic young adult angel fantasy novels will find themselves engrossed in the world of The Fallen and a human teenage girl.
The Fallen plan to destroy the world. Only she has the power to save herself and the dark leader before they do.
When sixteen-year-old Grey, a shy loner, moves to Sleepy Key for the summer after the death of her father, she finds herself exploring deep in the woods with her twin brother when an ancient manuscript—The Book of Eternity—falls from the sky. Grey curiously touches it, unknowingly opening up a mysterious, undiscovered world and igniting the fight for her life between two groups of powerful The Surge, who keep order, and The Fallen, who wreak havoc in the world.
Zale, the dark leader of The Fallen, tells The Surge that Grey’s soul is his.
What started as a game, when he visits her on her balcony, quotes Romeo and Juliet, gives her clues to what he truly is, turns serious when he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, and leads him to do what he is eternally forbidden to do.
Unknown to Grey, Zale can only touch or be touched by humans once a month when the Copper Moon is out. When she accidentally touches him while trying to protect him from one of The Fallen, death begins for Grey and the centuries-old Zale. He is then forced to tell her what he is and that he thought she was “The One” whose soul he needed to open up Hell and begin the Almighty War.
Only Grey can save them both while the Seven Orders of Angels are gathering to see who will take over Zale’s reign, sending the earth into chaos and disorder.
Can Grey save herself, Zale, or their love before it’s too late?
The Fallen plan to destroy the world. Only she has the power to save herself and the dark leader before they do.
When sixteen-year-old Grey, a shy loner, moves to Sleepy Key for the summer after the death of her father, she finds herself exploring deep in the woods with her twin brother when an ancient manuscript—The Book of Eternity—falls from the sky. Grey curiously touches it, unknowingly opening up a mysterious, undiscovered world and igniting the fight for her life between two groups of powerful The Surge, who keep order, and The Fallen, who wreak havoc in the world.
Zale, the dark leader of The Fallen, tells The Surge that Grey’s soul is his.
What started as a game, when he visits her on her balcony, quotes Romeo and Juliet, gives her clues to what he truly is, turns serious when he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, and leads him to do what he is eternally forbidden to do.
Unknown to Grey, Zale can only touch or be touched by humans once a month when the Copper Moon is out. When she accidentally touches him while trying to protect him from one of The Fallen, death begins for Grey and the centuries-old Zale. He is then forced to tell her what he is and that he thought she was “The One” whose soul he needed to open up Hell and begin the Almighty War.
Only Grey can save them both while the Seven Orders of Angels are gathering to see who will take over Zale’s reign, sending the earth into chaos and disorder.
Can Grey save herself, Zale, or their love before it’s too late?
276 pages, Paperback
Published February 24, 2026
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
First of all, thank you Netgalley and the author for gifting me this ARC :)
Rating: 3.5⭐️
Genre: YA fantasy
Noteworthy: Book 1 of an incomplete series. Third-person POV.
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2026
This book starts off with Grey and her family moving to Sleepy Key to house-sit for the summer. A way to get away after her dad passed away. We then see Grey and her brother find a weathered book in the forest, and Grey is so drawn to it she feels the need to touch it. This causes a curse, unbeknownst to Grey, to be unleashed which in turn causes two angel factions to be at odds. The Surge, the good, and The Fallen, the bad. Grey finds herself drawn to one of the angels in particular, Zale the dark leader of The Fallen. Zale has been cursed for centuries and Grey is his key to freedom, but at what cost to Grey?
My Thoughts:
I really liked the pacing of the book, it was fast enough for me to keep my interest. The main character is very easy to relate to or at least easy to see why she reacts to some things the way she did. Her actions and thoughts definitely aligned with how I think a teenage girl going through the death of her father would.
Watching Grey and Zale relationship was so fun to watch. The first time they officially meet at the beach and he calls her beautiful <3, it's so cute! (or I'm too easy haha). I loved seeing how they are drawn to each other and how they connect through Romeo and Juliet.
I also liked to seeing a pretty realistic brother and sister. Grey and Michael have these cute and funny sibling moments that make me thinks this would be how siblings would actually act with each other. I also liked to see how they always had each other's backs.
I how the author showed Grey's experience with handling her grief about her dad dying, and how it can cause people to push away the people closest to you. We see how Grey reacts to some things that happened that reminded her about her dad, which is very realistic on how people usually handle grief. Some normal things can become infinitely sad after losing someone you love.
One thing I didnt like was that I couldn't always be emotionally invested. The grief and sadness was shown well when talking about Grey's dad but I feel like some things happened too fast and I didn't have time to get emotionally invested in what was going on. It felt too abrupt at times or didn't get enough description.
Overall though this was a good story and the ending cliffhanger was crazy too. I can't wait to read the next book!
Rating: 3.5⭐️
Genre: YA fantasy
Noteworthy: Book 1 of an incomplete series. Third-person POV.
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2026
This book starts off with Grey and her family moving to Sleepy Key to house-sit for the summer. A way to get away after her dad passed away. We then see Grey and her brother find a weathered book in the forest, and Grey is so drawn to it she feels the need to touch it. This causes a curse, unbeknownst to Grey, to be unleashed which in turn causes two angel factions to be at odds. The Surge, the good, and The Fallen, the bad. Grey finds herself drawn to one of the angels in particular, Zale the dark leader of The Fallen. Zale has been cursed for centuries and Grey is his key to freedom, but at what cost to Grey?
My Thoughts:
I really liked the pacing of the book, it was fast enough for me to keep my interest. The main character is very easy to relate to or at least easy to see why she reacts to some things the way she did. Her actions and thoughts definitely aligned with how I think a teenage girl going through the death of her father would.
Watching Grey and Zale relationship was so fun to watch. The first time they officially meet at the beach and he calls her beautiful <3, it's so cute! (or I'm too easy haha). I loved seeing how they are drawn to each other and how they connect through Romeo and Juliet.
I also liked to seeing a pretty realistic brother and sister. Grey and Michael have these cute and funny sibling moments that make me thinks this would be how siblings would actually act with each other. I also liked to see how they always had each other's backs.
I how the author showed Grey's experience with handling her grief about her dad dying, and how it can cause people to push away the people closest to you. We see how Grey reacts to some things that happened that reminded her about her dad, which is very realistic on how people usually handle grief. Some normal things can become infinitely sad after losing someone you love.
One thing I didnt like was that I couldn't always be emotionally invested. The grief and sadness was shown well when talking about Grey's dad but I feel like some things happened too fast and I didn't have time to get emotionally invested in what was going on. It felt too abrupt at times or didn't get enough description.
Overall though this was a good story and the ending cliffhanger was crazy too. I can't wait to read the next book!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The overall storyline of this book was intriguing, but the writing lacked attention to detail and it did not seem like much took place over the course of the book. I feel like everything that happened is explained in the synopsis and there was only one intriguing part and it was in the last few sentences.
This is a YA fantasy novel about warring angels. You have 16 year old twins, Grey and Michael, who are brought to a beach house in a town called Sleepy Key for the summer by their mother following their father’s death. The twins witness something weird in the woods one day and they see this ancient looking book that Grey feels compelled to touch, and when she touches it a dormant curse awakens and basically begins a war between these two separate groups of angels. On one side you’ve got the “good” angels (called “The Surge”), and on the other side the “bad” angels (called “The Fallen”).
The twins have no idea this is happening throughout the entire book and they meet people from these two opposing angel groups and become friends with some of them. Grey feels an unexplained attraction to this guy, Zale, who is actually the leader of The Fallen angels. I was getting Edward Cullen Twilight vibes from Zale but not in a good way. He keeps watching her while she sleeps and creeping on her. I did not really feel a connection between Grey and Zale…he basically quoted lines from Romeo and Juliet to her and fell in love with her without even really talking to her or being with her at all I feel like maybe I missed something? I wanted to see more interactions between the two of them.
The most interesting part is the ending. I would recommend reading this if you liked Twilight the movie (but not the book) or if you liked the movie “Fallen” from 2016 which had a similar premise: young angel guy was in love with a classmate at school and loved her for over 1,000 years in different lifetimes. A bit different but if you liked that movie try this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Indigo River Publishing for a gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
December 12, 2025
ARC from Indigo River Publishing.
I sped through this book pretty quickly, mostly because I was very interested in the background lore of what the Surge and the Fallen were and how they interacted. I felt the beginning was a little slow and I was confused because a lot of the time, the characters are bringing up lore that isn’t fully explained until the last few chapters. I found it more frustrating than climactic to have most of the lore explained in the last chapter.
I enjoy YA books that are written in a way that makes the younger characters mostly believable that they are, in fact, young adults. However, there are times in this book where it sounds like a parent trying to write a story about what they think their kids would think and act like.
Lastly, I find it a tad bit problematic that all of the characters, the Surge, the Fallen, and Grey and Michael and their Mother are all described as having pale or “flawless white skin” and “piercing blue eyes”. I think angels of different skin and eye colors probably get to go to heaven as well…..I find this book to have a lack of diversity that reflects the reality of the world in its current diverse state. Not saying every story needs to include a representation of each race to check a list, but every story should be realistic and not only describe pale skinned people.
I sped through this book pretty quickly, mostly because I was very interested in the background lore of what the Surge and the Fallen were and how they interacted. I felt the beginning was a little slow and I was confused because a lot of the time, the characters are bringing up lore that isn’t fully explained until the last few chapters. I found it more frustrating than climactic to have most of the lore explained in the last chapter.
I enjoy YA books that are written in a way that makes the younger characters mostly believable that they are, in fact, young adults. However, there are times in this book where it sounds like a parent trying to write a story about what they think their kids would think and act like.
Lastly, I find it a tad bit problematic that all of the characters, the Surge, the Fallen, and Grey and Michael and their Mother are all described as having pale or “flawless white skin” and “piercing blue eyes”. I think angels of different skin and eye colors probably get to go to heaven as well…..I find this book to have a lack of diversity that reflects the reality of the world in its current diverse state. Not saying every story needs to include a representation of each race to check a list, but every story should be realistic and not only describe pale skinned people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Review of an advanced copy received by NetGalley.
Grey and her twin brother Michael are spending the summer in a house that their mother is house sitting for the summer. When they go to explore the end of the key something strange occurs and a book falls from the sky. Grey touches the book but then it disappears and she notices a figure watching them from the trees.
Zale is a fallen angel who now has the right to Grey’s soul because she touched the Book of Eternity.
The concept of this book is interesting, but I didn’t enjoy the writing. There is a lot of repetition and it feels clunky at times. I had to go back and re-read sentences multiple times to understand what was being said.
I also didn’t find the characters very interesting. They felt flat and generic. Zale was cringey and gave me the ick.
This book just wasn’t for me. It’s possible that it is just a little too much young adult. It might appeal to a person who is younger than me. I did not finish this book. I stopped reading at 36%.
Grey and her twin brother Michael are spending the summer in a house that their mother is house sitting for the summer. When they go to explore the end of the key something strange occurs and a book falls from the sky. Grey touches the book but then it disappears and she notices a figure watching them from the trees.
Zale is a fallen angel who now has the right to Grey’s soul because she touched the Book of Eternity.
The concept of this book is interesting, but I didn’t enjoy the writing. There is a lot of repetition and it feels clunky at times. I had to go back and re-read sentences multiple times to understand what was being said.
I also didn’t find the characters very interesting. They felt flat and generic. Zale was cringey and gave me the ick.
This book just wasn’t for me. It’s possible that it is just a little too much young adult. It might appeal to a person who is younger than me. I did not finish this book. I stopped reading at 36%.
May 10, 2026
⊹₊✎⋆.𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆.⋆⊹₊
"The Book of Eternity" by: Jacqueline Pennewill
★★
Thank you to Wunderkind for sending me this digital ARC.
𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
The vibes in The Book of Eternity were definitely very classic YA with mysterious angels, a coastal summer setting, family dynamics and a broody fallen angel constantly appearing out of nowhere. There were also groups of good vs bad angels. Zale gave off "Edward from Twilight" vibes, where he'd be super cryptic about everything... which got a bit tiring. I did enjoy the relationship that our FMC, Grey had with her brother Michael. You could really get the sense of how close they are with one another from the writing.
For me, the pacing felt a bit slow and dialogue-heavy at times and I wanted more showing instead of telling. Not a lot really happens in the book but it seems they're setting up for the next installment. I think maybe really young readers would enjoy this book.
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"The Book of Eternity" by: Jacqueline Pennewill
★★
Thank you to Wunderkind for sending me this digital ARC.
𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
The vibes in The Book of Eternity were definitely very classic YA with mysterious angels, a coastal summer setting, family dynamics and a broody fallen angel constantly appearing out of nowhere. There were also groups of good vs bad angels. Zale gave off "Edward from Twilight" vibes, where he'd be super cryptic about everything... which got a bit tiring. I did enjoy the relationship that our FMC, Grey had with her brother Michael. You could really get the sense of how close they are with one another from the writing.
For me, the pacing felt a bit slow and dialogue-heavy at times and I wanted more showing instead of telling. Not a lot really happens in the book but it seems they're setting up for the next installment. I think maybe really young readers would enjoy this book.
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April 10, 2026
I went back and forth on what I wanted to rate this book and finally settled on 3 stars, close enough to the middle ground, because I felt like this was an middle of the lane type of read.
What I enjoyed: The FMC was likable and relatable for the most part. I felt like the author did a really good job of writing a teenage girl going through the grief of the loss of a parent. I felt that the relationship between the brother and sister was well written as well because sometimes these types of relationships can sometimes be written poorly. And I have to say that I enjoyed the relationship of the FMC and Zale and how it grew and changed.
What I did not like: although the pacing felt right for most of the book it also felt like things were rushed or sometimes underdeveloped. It took me longer than normal to finish this read; not sure why other than it didn't capture my interest and make me super invested in it.
Overall I think it is a good YA book for a teen reader.
What I enjoyed: The FMC was likable and relatable for the most part. I felt like the author did a really good job of writing a teenage girl going through the grief of the loss of a parent. I felt that the relationship between the brother and sister was well written as well because sometimes these types of relationships can sometimes be written poorly. And I have to say that I enjoyed the relationship of the FMC and Zale and how it grew and changed.
What I did not like: although the pacing felt right for most of the book it also felt like things were rushed or sometimes underdeveloped. It took me longer than normal to finish this read; not sure why other than it didn't capture my interest and make me super invested in it.
Overall I think it is a good YA book for a teen reader.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I had the great honor of being able to read this book a little early. It is a lovely book about twins who recently lost their father. Their mother take them to Sleepy Key for a refreshing break from mourning. That's where Grey meets Zale, a fallen angel. This book is quick paced and grabs you from the beginning. Jacqueline did a fabulous job on her debut novel. I look forward to reading more from her.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Truly such an amazing novel!!!
This story pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you interested the entire time. I think I read this book in under a day because I truly couldn’t stop thinking about it! Every twist and turn is so shocking, yet perfectly thought out. The ending left me speechless! Such a great debut novel from Jacqueline, I can’t wait to see what else she writes!!!
This story pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you interested the entire time. I think I read this book in under a day because I truly couldn’t stop thinking about it! Every twist and turn is so shocking, yet perfectly thought out. The ending left me speechless! Such a great debut novel from Jacqueline, I can’t wait to see what else she writes!!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews