— Arc received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review —

⠀⠀⠀⠀ "So that perhaps in death, you may finally know what woman perhaps lurked in this shifting form."

When I read the description, I knew it would be right up my alley. And it was.

If you enjoy biblically accurate angels, body horror, women's wrongs and women in STEM, and music, you will probably enjoy this as well.

Since I read an ARC of this book, the delivery of the story was challenging at times due to unpolished formatting, but the foundation was there and it was working very well. It's a written account done in the style of an intimate research report with footnote interjections with helpful information as well as direct communication to the reader (to the protagonist's reader, specifically). There are special interjections between the chapters delivered like the report of tests that also further the story while giving us little details and hints about how everything and everyone is tied together.

⠀⠀⠀⠀ "They had no way of knowing my brand of stubbornness transcended mortal law."

Ada Franklin, the protagonist, was a wonderful character to hear the story from. Her perspective is interesting, her own emotions add to her view of the events, and she is perfectly imperfect. Just enough of a the independent type (a woman with fierce intelligence and ambitions that she is not afraid to chase) to satisfy the desire to see a driven woman take control of things while not tipping towards some strange, oddly flawless being who everyone must bow down to (or fall in love with). Through the twists of past and present, her perspective left nothing to be desired. It delivered wonderfully and I legitimately sat back in my seat when some things became clear towards the end of the book because the build up had been done so well.

There are villains, of course, but there is also moral ambiguity which I love. I enjoy traditional tales of heroes vs. The Big Bad, but I also thoroughly adore complex characters and scenarios and what it means to be human (or, at least, human-esque). Everyone in the book has their own unique goals that sometime clash and sometimes work together and Singer makes us confront what we want in our own lives as well as how far is too far in getting what we want. This mixes perfectly with the setting and underlying commentary of a budding America that yearns to expand West but clashes with the angels and the First Nations who have been learning to live around them.

I really would love to say more, but I think going into the story without knowing more will allow it to unfold the best. With the published version, I am sure the formatting will be perfectly clear and maybe some of the reveals will seem more obvious than that had to me (though that's some of the joy in twists and reveals because I love seeing all the little hints that seemed innocuous before through a new (Fresnel) lens).

⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Horns blared. People shouted. Angels sang."

Yeah it's not good. Characters are bad, writing is so boring, things are just wrong, etc etc. Only entertainment I got was sharing the pain with a friend. Mentally I'm rounding it up to a 1 star for the wonderful distraction is gave me through my medical flare up