Immortal City (Immortal City, #1)

by Scott Speer

[Ashley]

booknook — Young Adult book reviews

4.5 stars

This story is so awesome. So, so awesome. I honestly don't even know what else to say. Imagine that 100 years ago, angels revealed themselves to the world. Then, with that in mind, what would the world be like today? The answer to that question is this book. Immortal City is about today's world, plus angels. The angels are celebrities; they dominate advertising, social media, television, news, blogs, and their entire lives are stalked by the paparazzi. But the world of angels is also a corporation. You pay them, and they'll save your life. It gives a whole new meaning to "life insurance."

Once you get past the uniqueness of that overall idea, there are a few cliché details—but I honestly don't care. Because this story completely drew me in and I was HOOKED! I can totally relate to Maddy. I mean, our world is essentially like this book but instead of angels, we have actors, actresses, musicians, models, etc. A lot of the people in my town obsess over celebrity gossip and ensure that they keep up-to-date on all the celebrities' lives. That is so not me. I'm one of those people that's just like, "Who cares? Quit obsessing over their lives and focus on your own." That's how Maddy is about angels. Everyone is drooling over them and stalking them, but Maddy just doesn't care. And I love it.

The way this book is written will totally grip you. The story is told from multiple points of view, including Jackson's, Maddy's, and a police officer's. The constant switching back and forth results in multiple cliffhangers at the end of chapters that make you HAVE to keep reading! And then as soon as that cliffhanger gets resolved, there's another, and another, and another. And then soon you have to read the entire book in one sitting!

Immortal City has romance, action, twists, and incredibly fantasy. The end of the book made me cry! The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the final wrap-up. You know: that moment after the climax when everything settles down and the story comes to a close. I suddenly felt like I went from crying and being blown away by the intensity of the book to going, "What? What just happened?" Things really get cut short and it's disappointing. It's almost like it ended too quickly. We suddenly get a ton of information about how Maddy is "more angel than they thought" and she survived a deathly injury and is invited to train to be a guardian angel.. but it's like all that information was piled on and then it ended. How does Maddy feel about this? I assume it will be answered in the second book, but it was still frustrating not to know. The romance kind of got cut off (Maddy and Jackson seemed so distant after they recovered.. there was no epic "I LOVE YOU BABY, WE CAN BE TOGETHER NOW!!" moment) and I still have no clue what happened with Jackson. It seemed like the demon was sucking the immortality out of Jason, and then Ethan was cutting off his wings. I think Ethan got one wing cut off.. so what does that mean? Is Jackson still immortal? Will his wing grow back? His mom said they did some surgery on it or something, so does that mean he's 100% okay? Does he have a stump forever or will the wing come back??

But minor bumps aside, this book rocked my world. I still can't get over how incredibly awesome the idea is @_@ And even though this book is a paranormal and is about angels, I can totally and completely believe that this book was real. The society and social life that Scott Speer created was so incredibly realistic. I think it's the perfect portrayal of what our society would be like if guardian angels truly existed.

I'm giving the second book a permanent spot on my "stalking unreleased books" radar!