Tread of Angels

My thanks to Gallery/Saga Press.<br />It's just a fact that I'm a Roanhorse fan.<br />But...This story just wasn't my groove.<br />Whether it was the time or people, I couldn't tell. But, I struggled to get through it. And in truth, I actually didn't finish it. I'd read a few pages at a time, and dread having to come back and read more. So, after 2 months of the struggle...I'm done!<br />No. I didn't read this short story. Matter of fact, as a short story, it was overly long for me.<br />I'm giving this a middling rating.. Why? Because I can! Also, Rebecca is a fantastic storyteller. I just didn't like the timeline.

3.5 stars - All the elements of this are SO up my alley: fantasy western setting, angel/demon magic, whodunnit plot, family dynamics, and a romantic element. I think, however, for this to have shone fully, it needed at least another 100 pages to let the story develop and breathe. I would 100% read more in this world if it had a sequel

Roanhorse’s Novella focuses on the unsurpassable captivating story of Angels and Demons, where perception overshadows the truth even when it stares you right in the face.<br />Celeste is considered a half-breed, raised with privilege and class by her father in the mining town of Goetia. Her younger sister Mariel stayed with their mother in the slums of Goetia and was marked fallen. Celeste will do anything to protect her baby sister, and that means anything. So on the night, she sees her sister being dragged out of the club they both work at by Virtues; it takes Hypathia and Zeke to hold her in check not to run blade flying after the Virtues keeping Mariel. <br />Luckily Hypathia has contacts and can find out where the Virtues are holding Mariel. However, to get more information, Celeste will have to talk to her ex Abraxses, the Demon Lord. The man wanted her mind, body, and soul and who she would have given herself to, but she had to sacrifice her happiness for Mariel, for they all each other had left. When Celeste finally gets to see her sister, she winds up getting appointed the one to defend her (even though Celeste knows this is a setup, she knows she has no choice but to say yes). Celeste has 48 hours to prove that Mariel didn’t do it, or she will be sentenced to Hell.<br />From this point on, the book just took off and was unputdownable. <br />The book is fast-paced, heart pounding, “Hold on,” “Get out,” “No Way,” “You’ve got to be kidding,” to “SAY WHAT NOW?” to Did I just read that correctly? Let me reread that, to “OMG” I DID READ THAT RIGHT” “DAMN!!” <br />“SUCH BETRAYAL”<br />I’m just speechless, and that’s saying a lot, Ms. Roanhorse.<br />Roanhorse has a story to tell if you read between the lines. I feel that her message in this Novella is:<br />1. Do not ever assume, no matter who it is.<br />2. Don’t ever take things for granted, for tomorrow is never promised.<br />3. Never, ever let anyone steal your sunshine. Live like it’s your last day on this earth.<br />My only con was this was too short. <br />“WELL DONE!!!”<br />BEST NOVELLA I’VE READ <br />BEST NOVELLA OF 2022<br /><br />Thank you, NetGalley/Rebecca Roanhorse/Gallery <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://Books.Gallery/Saga">Books.Gallery/Saga</a> Press/ For this incredible eARC for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition. <br />

❀ <a href="https://wishfullyreading.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow noopener">blog</a> ❀ <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/luce_is_always_reading" rel="nofollow noopener">thestorygraph</a> ❀ <a href="https://letterboxd.com/Wishfully/" rel="nofollow noopener">letterboxd</a> ❀ <a href="https://tragedies-and-dreams.tumblr.com" rel="nofollow noopener"> tumblr</a> ❀ <a href="https://ko-fi.com/wishfullyreading" rel="nofollow noopener">ko-fi</a> ❀ <br /><br />3 ½ stars<br /><br />In this novella Rebecca Roanhorse once again shows off her world-building skills. I was intrigued from the very start by the genre-defying world Roanhorse envisions in <i>Tread of Angels</i>. The story unfolds in Goetia, a town ruled by the mighty Order of the Archangels that is ‘segregated’ between the Elects and the Fallen. Celeste, our protagonist, who is the result of a union between these two factions, can, unlike her younger sister, ‘pass’ and was able to grow up with her father within the Elect society. After he dies, Celeste joins her sister in the Fallen ‘slums’, where they work in the same gambling/drinking joint, Celeste as a cards dealer, Mariel as a singer.<br />Things take a turn for the worst when Mariel is accused and arrested for murder, the murder of a Virtue. Celeste, who sees herself as her sister’s protector, takes on the role of advocatus diaboli to defend her. To get to the truth behind the Virtue’s murder, she begins investigating the shady dealings of the upper echelons of Goetia’s society. Her ex-lover, the demon lord Abraxas, aids her, but his motivations are far from selfless…<br /> <br />I liked the novella’s ambience and quick pace. Roanhorse manages to combine elements from the paranormal romance genre, especially when it came to the dynamic &amp; scenes between Celeste &amp; Abraxas, with a gritty western-inspired setting, and a touch of noir aesthetics. Celeste is not a particularly well-rounded character but she serves the role of amateur detective attempting to race against the clock well enough. Abraxas…yikes. I am sure plenty of readers will find him sexy and sensual, but he gave me sleaze vibes. He had the kind of cringe-sigma-male energy that I have come to associate with Sarah J. Maas’ love interests. Mariel was the most unconvincing character in the lot, and I found most of her lines ridiculous (i would feel more forgiving about her characterisation if say this novella had been written 100 years ago).<br />Although the characters are fairly one-note and the plot is, despite its inventive setting, fairly formulaic, I still found myself entertained by Roanhorsre’s storytelling. We have an edgy atmosphere and even edgier dialogues, that make for a cheesy but nevertheless engrossing tale. Additionally, besides delivering on entertainment value, the novella uses the disparity between the various citizens of Goetia to discuss privilege—from Celeste’s ability to ‘pass’ to the advantages and benefits enjoyed by Elects—and discrimination—the Fallen are exploited and regarded as second-class citizens. <br /><br />The novella's open-ended finale makes me wonder whether we will get to read more works by Roanhorse set in Goetia or that will follow Celeste...if that's the case, consider me intrigued as I do think that some of the issues I had with <i>Tread of Angels</i>, such as Celeste being a tad bland, could be improved in the sequels.<br /><br />If you are a fan of short stories &amp; novellas published by tor or happen to like authors like Elizabeth Bear (<i>Karen Memory</i>) or Catherynne M. Valente you should definitely add <i>Tread of Angels</i> to your tbr list.

I will read anything Rebecca writes.

This is a bit of a change of pace for Rebecca Roanhorse, and I really enjoyed it! It's got elements I like and it came together for me pretty nicely. This is a fantasy western murder mystery with angel and demon mythology, in this case being used for commentary on race. It's not a combination I would have come up with but I think it really works.<br /><br />Celeste could pass as Elect (those descended from angels) but is actually half Fallen (if you guessed this is those descended from demons, you would be correct). Unsurprisingly, society is segregated along these lines with the Elect being at the top. She works at a gaming house, along with her visibly Fallen sister who she would do anything to protect. So when her sister is arrested for the murder of a Virtue (the highest class of Elect), all bets are off and Celeste is even willing to work with the demon who broke her heart to prove her sisters innocence. <br /><br />This is quite a short novel and I might have liked it to be a bit longer, but overall I enjoyed my time in the world, liked the mystery, and found it to be quite satisfying. Worth a read if it sounds up your alley! I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this one more than I did.<br /><br />I enjoyed the parallels of white supremacy, the KKK and Christianity, but overall the story was a bit of a miss for me. It needed more time and space to flesh out the relationships between everyone, which would have made the ending more impactful for me instead of me going, "wait, is THAT how we're ending this?"<br /><br />Also, Celeste's relationship with Abraxos hit me the same way as the old relationship in <i>Trail of Lightning</i>—the backstory was talked about often, but I just didn't see the chemistry? It just fell flat.<br /><br />But the idea was super cool and I liked the allegory even if the execution wasn't what I had hoped for.<br />

Tread of Angels s a novella-sized fantasy treat. This volume could be the start of a new series or it could be a one-off. In any event, Roanhorse’s approach to the weird western genre is to fill the story with devils and Angels. More significantly perhaps is that Moët of the book is about a trial in every sense of the word and Celeste’s seemingly hopeless Task of representing her sister.

Hard to rate but 3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed the writing and the story was interesting but didn't get more attachment than that to the story. Not a 3 stars read but not quite a full four stars either. Wish Goodreads would have half stars ratings

This has some solid enjoyment factor going on.<br /><br />I've seen this newish trend returning to angels and demons as characters in stories and I always tend to like the idea of it more than the actual execution. Of course, the same thing is true for this one, and the angels are mostly jerks and so are the demons, but that's just flavor.<br /><br />In reality, the world is pretty much hardcore Victorian-esq and it has a lot of skewering of cultural mores on top of the actual mystery. <br /><br />This doesn't have huge epic things going on in it and that's okay. I might keep wanting huge things and I have to just EXPECT less. Maybe someday, lol, but in the meantime, this WAS enjoyable.