#plus when else am i going to be able to write a vampire mc!!!

[seoafin]

Following your advice I ended up catching up to the latest available chapter of VNC and i’m dying !!!! Murr best character of all times. Roland and Noé are my two big favs with Domi following close behind but everyone is so good, there’s no one I dislike. Mochijun’s power is atounishing,,,,, I love all the researches that have been done about French history and whatnot, it shows in the manga that they’re not going in with a subject they’re ignorant about. The Chasseurs being based on Knights of Charlemagne/Matter of France, I pray that Roland and Oliver won’t die like as in The song of Roland because of Ganelon/Gano ‘s betrayal but 😭 with Gano’s character introduction it is not looking good for them 😭😭

(Admittedly, I started reading Pandora Hearts because VNC was my first time reading Mochijun’s work. I was that swoon though I’m also curious if Mochijun is the type to kill off their characters HAHA)

The church absolutely sucks but Roland’s Christianity is so refreshing, I think VNC and Vinland-saga are the two rare stories in which it makes me take Christianity/Religion a bit more seriously. If you were ever to write that Roland fic please know I’ll be your most excited reader!! Esp given the lack of VNC x reader content (Tho of course don’t force yourself, only if you want to ect ect)

I think your interview is/was today so GOODLUCK I hope everything goes well for you!! Capitalism and work sucks but at least we can travel. Please have fun in Cuba/Italy whenever you get there (I think those were your current destination?) !!!

yes!!!! you caught up!!! mochijun is so good....i'd trust her with my life. i get upset when ppl talk about female mangakas and leave her out considering PH did extremely well in japan. all her characters are >>>> even the antagonists are vv compelling and even then there's never a outright villain bc mochijun likes to play with perspectives and unreliable narrators/narratives a lot and it's great to see that in vnc too!!

fortunately! mochijun isn't as trigger happy as some other mangakas (cough) but there's a reason why all her series are marked tragedy 😭i'm already preparing for some deaths that are definitely going to break my heart 😭😭

my interview was a couple of hours ago and it was a lot more professional than i was expecting (the store is union backed surprisingly) so thank you and everyone else for your good wishes :D

[bforbookslut]

ARC Review: The Prophetess by Desy Smith

This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review edition is an ARC and may differ from the final edition.

I have given The Prophetess by Desy Smith a ☆ rating. It is Book 1 in The First Series series. It belongs to the New Adult Modern Fantasy genre with some Supernatural and Romance elements. Floebe Publishing publishes it. It was published August 2nd, 2017.

The blurb reads:

High up in the Heavens, righteousness faces off against the greatest dissenter of all time, and in the crossfire, an Angel loses his wings…

Fallen from Heaven and forced to live amongst the Humans, Ezekiel bares the tragic fate of a disgraced Angel. Having heard the rebellious Lucifer’s plan to rise up against the sanctuary of Heaven, Ezekiel remains silent; and for his inaction, he is exiled from the pearly gates and onto the unforgiving lands of the mortals. Two thousand years pass with a cold and hollow wind at his back, and for a moment, Ezekiel is resigned to his fate.

However, in the year 2016, the winds of fate begin to change, and redemption comes in the form of his brother, Gabriel, who bears great news. Ezekiel is given a chance to return to Heaven, but only once he has taken down Moloch, an evil Demon on the rise. If Ezekiel can stop Moloch from helping Lucifer return, he will be welcomed back into Heaven. However, there is more than just a Demon in his path, Ezekiel must uncover what else fate has in store for him, including a lovely, independent Prophetess, named Isabelle, and the endless possibility for joy and whimsy she offers. Can Ezekiel rise once more to the great destiny that awaits him? Or has he been amongst the fickle mortals far too long?

Disclaimer: This novel does contains a potty mouth female protagonist. If abrasive language offends you, this novel is not for you.

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Verdict:

If I could sum The Prophetess up in one word: Awful. Full disclosure, I did not finish the book at Chapter 5, 28% in. I am incredibly upset with this book, the author and the publishing company. I got this on Netgalley and it was categorised Teens and YA. THIS IS NOT FUCKING YA. NOT. NOWHERE NEAR CLOSE. It’s New Adult. The MC is twenty-three and the Angel, god knows how old he is.

If there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s self-published authors pretending like they’re from a legit publishing company because you expect a certain level of readiness and polish. Okay, it’s an arc. It won’t be perfect but The Prophetess reads like a very bad, very raw first draft.

One, the flow of events is incredibly messy. Two, there is little to no character development and the strange characterisation and extreme propensity for violence from Ezekiel.. Three, everyone is so fucking gorgeous that oh, we’re all dazzled by your greatness. Four is the cringey and forced sexual undertones of basically everything that occurs between Ezekiel and Isabelle. Five, there is so much sexism hidden behind a supposedly feminist lead character. Six, WHO IS THE MAIN CHARACTER HERE? The blurb makes it seem as though it’s Ezekiel’s story. Seven, when the warning says potty mouth, they actually mean cussing twelve times within say, five pages. The sad part about all these negatives is that The Prophetess is actually very creative. It has a good plot and the worldbuilding isn’t bad. When they’re actually talking about the demons and the actual plot, it’s actually engaging. But there was no way I was putting up with any more of the nonsense to learn what happened in the end.

To break it down,

[may contain spoilers]

The Good:

1. The Prophetess has a solid plot. Only problem is it keeps detracting from it to focus on the romance between the two leads. It’s not an original plot but it was presented creatively and I particularly liked the worldbuilding behind it, especially about Angels and Lucifer and Ezekiel being cast from heaven.

The Bad:

1. There is so much sexism that I had to put this point first. Ezekiel claims that Isabelle is a ball-crushing badass feminist. But she isn’t. And neither is this book. Just because Isabelle is supposedly independent and takes none of your shit and cusses your ears bloody doesn’t mean she is a feminist or this book is feminist. It’s not. And that’s the most disgusting thing I’ve had to read.

1.1 Isabelle calls the women that Ezekiel have slept with and will hypothetically sleep with, “whores”. No feminist will ever call another woman a whore. And in the same breath, say that she deserves to wear whatever she wants, especially if she wants to look like a slut.

1.2 Speaking of which, Ezekiel doesn’t like that Isabelle wears revealing clothing and he calls her out for it, basically branding her a tramp. Ezekiel also expects to be obeyed as if Isabelle is a fucking dog and she should do whatever he asks. Not to mention, he also speaks of tying her up or spanking her as punishment. Now, there is no kink shaming. I’m down for a good BDSM romp. But, there was no set agreement or any indication that Ezekiel wanted to perform these kinds of acts on Isabelle nor any FUCKING CONSENT. So, it’s very creepy and disgusting on his part.

2. The writing didn’t flow well. One moment, Ezekiel is doing A and then, with no explanation whatsoever, he is suddenly doing B. Same goes for Isabelle and any other character mentioned in the book. In the parts that I did read, Ezekiel has an invitation/envelope of some sorts and that’s how the section ends. Suddenly, in the next section, he is all dressed up, and so is Isabelle and suddenly they’re heading to a Vampire party. There was no mention that they would go together or if they’d meet up somewhere, how to dress, what to do. It just. Happened.

3. Character development, progression and characterisation is zilch. I suppose the author wanted Ezekiel and Isabelle to be those cute bickering couples you know who will end up together because they’re so perfect for each other. Mission not accomplished. Half the time, their arguing and fighting just doesn’t make any sense. Ezekiel’s dislike towards Isabelle is not mentioned and Isabelle’s hostility towards him is because she doesn’t like anything to do with Angels. But is fine dealing with other supernatural creatures. Like, they just meet and they hate each other. The Enemies to friends/lovers trope is as common as they come but this is one instance where it didn’t work.

3.1 Also, I know nothing about Isabelle except that she is The Prophetess and apparently helps supernatural creatures, has a mom and a sister and likes to call Ezekiel fucktard is almost every sentence. Like hello please develop your character and make me care about her because idgaf about her whining and her problems.

3.2 Ezekiel is unnaturally violent which I don’t quite understand. Because Lucifer was supposed to be the violent one who killed all their fallen brothers and Ezekiel is the good guy. But there was just a lot of graphic punching and slicing Vampires in two and chopping their heads off that didn’t gel with that image. And it’s very, very confusing. Angel madness violence thing whatever Isabelle called it

4. Not to mention that EVERYONE and I mean, EVERY FUCKING ONE, in The Prophetess is so insanely gorgeous that they have paragraphs dedicated to their good looks (okay I’m exaggerating) but it’s just so cringey and unrealistic. Ezekiel literally has a WHOLE paragraph dedicated to describing how smoking hot his chocolate skin is, how sexy his blonde hair is, how ripped he is, you get my drift.

4.1 And Ezekiel cannot stop staring and ogling Isabelle. He stares at her all the time and keeps thinking about fucking her. Yuck.

5. I find it hard to believe that Isabelle and Ezekiel are supposed to be a thing because there is absolutely no sexual tension or chemistry between them. He pushes her up against walls and she grinds her knee into his dick what. It’s just not believable and it really ruins the flow of the story just to have these two have the hots for each other. Which they don’t.

6. The blurb made it seem as though Ezekiel were the main character. And this is Ezekiel’s struggles and shit. But Isabelle seems to be the driving force of the story, not Ezekiel even if the book opened that way. And again, the confusion because what is this book about? Is it about Ezekiel trying to find redemption and saving the world from the demon with the help of a prophetess who might be a potential romantic partner or is this about Ezekiel and Isabelle fucking?

7. The book came with a warning about the potty mouth female protagonist. Now, I’m all down for a potty mouth because who doesn’t? Literally, my blog is based on my love for cussing. But when you’re cussing 12 times in about 5 pages? Something’s definitely wrong. It was bothering me so much that I had to start counting them because I wanted to see how saturated with cuss words this book was. It was cussing for no reason. Just for the fun of saying asshole, turd, shit, fuck, fucktard you name it. Plus, fucktard is such an outdated cuss word, come on get with the times. I used to write like this. I got my ass chewed out for it because it’s just bad writing.

Conclusion:

I could name a lot more but I don’t want to dwell on it any more. The Prophetess is a badly written first draft that needs to go through more editors and proof readers before it is ready for the market. It had a lot of potential that went to waste. I hope that this would be different in the final edition because I received a copy of this ARC late and was only able to review it now. But judging by the lack of reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, I don’t know how far this book will reach.