A review of: Zuriel's Fate (Celestial Justice 2)
Reviewed By: Lena @ Rainbow Book Reviews
Reviewed On: 11 June 2011
'Zuriel's Fate' by Serena Yates is the second installment of the Celestial Justice series where we again encounter Zuriel, Senior Guardian Angel, who was first introduced in 'Araton's Destiny'. Zuriel was Araton's advocate for leniency when he ended up before the panel of celestial judges after making a tragic mistake. This time it's Zuriel who finds himself before the panel after deliberately disobeying a direct order by letting his charge live instead of accompanying him into death. Leniency is his only hope.
The story began on a sad note showing Zuriel's frustration when accompanying his young charge into death. The futility of war and the inequality of how decisions about life and death are made is clear. The longer he did his job, the less sense the rules made to him. Surely God, being omniscient, knew that Zuriel was unhappy. It was interesting that Luke was re-assigned to Zuriel at that particular time and that Zuriel had been given less information than usual about his charge. "He had no idea what had happened to Luke's previous guardian, why he had apparently been removed from duty. Unusually, that information had not been included in the file". It's my assumption that God saw an opportunity to not only give Zuriel his heart's desire, but to also use his situation as an example, showing the company in heaven that from time to time his laws are meant to be 'bent' a little.
Luke Yarber's assertiveness came in handy when he ended up in court with Zuriel, as his advocate; otherwise he probably wouldn't have spoken up the way he did and asked for leniency, which in turn caused the court to reconsider Zuriel's fate. When his punishment ended up as a regular lifespan on Earth as a human, Zuriel decided he would take full advantage of the opportunity even if it went against strict interpretation of the rules. It was fun to follow Zuriel through all of his 'first time' experiences from food to passion. The sex between Zuriel and Luke was amazingly hot, but loving and considerate at the same time. Love always changes the way we look at things and Zuriel and Luke were no exception. Both began having thoughts and feelings which were foreign to them, yet brought great contentment and hope for the future.
'Zuriel's Fate' may be read alone, but to fully appreciate it, reading 'Araton's Destiny' first is highly recommended. This was much more than a beautiful, passionate love story with a happy ending. It was not only entertaining; it challenged me to think as well. There is one thing I am curious about in relation to further installments of the 'Celestial Justice' series. Now that Zuriel and Araton are both on Earth, will they be renewing their friendship? I suppose we will just have to wait and see. Thanks Serena for another delightful story.
NOTE: This review is of the first edition, released in May 2011. No significant changes have been made to the story, this second edition is identical to the previous version.
The story began on a sad note showing Zuriel's frustration when accompanying his young charge into death. The futility of war and the inequality of how decisions about life and death are made is clear. The longer he did his job, the less sense the rules made to him. Surely God, being omniscient, knew that Zuriel was unhappy. It was interesting that Luke was re-assigned to Zuriel at that particular time and that Zuriel had been given less information than usual about his charge. "He had no idea what had happened to Luke's previous guardian, why he had apparently been removed from duty. Unusually, that information had not been included in the file". It's my assumption that God saw an opportunity to not only give Zuriel his heart's desire, but to also use his situation as an example, showing the company in heaven that from time to time his laws are meant to be 'bent' a little.
Luke Yarber's assertiveness came in handy when he ended up in court with Zuriel, as his advocate; otherwise he probably wouldn't have spoken up the way he did and asked for leniency, which in turn caused the court to reconsider Zuriel's fate. When his punishment ended up as a regular lifespan on Earth as a human, Zuriel decided he would take full advantage of the opportunity even if it went against strict interpretation of the rules. It was fun to follow Zuriel through all of his 'first time' experiences from food to passion. The sex between Zuriel and Luke was amazingly hot, but loving and considerate at the same time. Love always changes the way we look at things and Zuriel and Luke were no exception. Both began having thoughts and feelings which were foreign to them, yet brought great contentment and hope for the future.
'Zuriel's Fate' may be read alone, but to fully appreciate it, reading 'Araton's Destiny' first is highly recommended. This was much more than a beautiful, passionate love story with a happy ending. It was not only entertaining; it challenged me to think as well. There is one thing I am curious about in relation to further installments of the 'Celestial Justice' series. Now that Zuriel and Araton are both on Earth, will they be renewing their friendship? I suppose we will just have to wait and see. Thanks Serena for another delightful story.
NOTE: This review is of the first edition, released in May 2011. No significant changes have been made to the story, this second edition is identical to the previous version.