Book Review: Earthbound Angels Trilogy by Elizabeth Corrigan

Title: Earthbound Angels (Book 1: Oracle of Philadelphia, Book 2: Raising Chaos, Book 3: Archangel Errant)

Author: Elizabeth Corrigan

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing, LLC

Publication date: October 2, 2018

Genre: Fantasy – Paranormal

Summary: The balance between Heaven and Hell is shifting. Bedlam is a demon, but hates Hell. Gabriel is an angel who has lost faith in his heavenly duties. Carrie is a mortal cursed by Lucifer to live forever. And, unfortunately for Carrie, she has angered a demon who seeks the one thing that can kill an immortal. It’s up to Bedlam to save her, but, in doing so, he upsets the balance between Heaven and Hell, leaving it up to the other angels to either accept him back or find a way to find balance once again.

It would be far easier to write separate reviews, but since I read it one right after the other, I feel I can only really talk about it as a whole. That said, each of the books is great individually. Put together, the story feels a little disjointed. Each book follows it’s own arc that, together, lead up to the final events. When examined closely, it feels awkward with shifting viewpoints from book to book. As a whole, though, it kind of makes sense as the three main characters each have their own book and they’re all working together towards the same ending.

I really love a good angels and demons story. The last one was almost two years ago, and it left me incredibly disappointed. I was a little apprehensive about accepting the author’s request, but I’m very glad I did. This is a great angels and demons story, and I absolutely loved that each angel and demon had individual identities and that the demons weren’t too unlike the angels, especially since they had once been angels. The characterizations were brilliant and well-done, though I definitely wished we could have seen Lucifer a little more.

Carrie, Carrie, Carrie. I loved the angels and demons part. In the first book, I adored Carrie. But it was a quick downhill with her after that. As the title implies, Oracle of Philadelphia is about the oracle, Carrie. It’s her story. And since we started with her, we can’t just abandon her after the first book. No, she plays a key part in Bedlam and Gabriel’s immortal lives, but her stories after the first book are lackluster and disappointing. She is necessary and much of the story hinges on her, but her stories outside of the angels and demons parts just felt like filler.

The one interesting experience I had while reading this trilogy was absolutely loving every word while reading it. I loved the reimaginings of biblical events. They were entertaining, amusing, and made a lot of sense. The author’s retellings fit really well. But, when I came out of the books, I realized most of the story was basically retellings of the bible. The story definitely moved forward, but it felt like at least a half of the trilogy was made up of just biblical retellings. But, like I said, I loved it in the moment. Not so much now that I’ve finished reading. So, I suppose you could say I’m torn.

I absolutely loved how Corrigan conceptualized Heaven and Hell. Gosh, I’d be willing to visit Hell! The way it was developed was fascinating. Heaven wasn’t quite as interesting, but the world building was still very well done, and it was easy to visualize what it looked like. It was also a lot of fun to read about Earth’s evolution through the eyes and designs of the angels and demons. It managed to match well with the Bible while also offering plausible alternative explanations that were thought-provoking.

Overall, this was an interesting trilogy and a satisfactory angels and demons story. It offered intriguing retellings of Biblical stories, though it also felt a little overdone, set against a shift in the balance between Heaven and Hell, though this part felt a little lackluster compared to the rich tapestry of stories the angels and demons told. Unfortunately, it leaves the story set in present times a little incomplete and not quite as interesting as the Biblical history.

How many cups of tea will you need?

4 cups would be perfect.

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Thank you so much to the author, Elizabeth Corrigan for a free electronic copy. All opinions are my own.

Check out my other book reviews over on the Bookshelf.