I know the review is slightly late, but my internet has been down these past few days. With that out of the way, here it is.
Immortal City by Scott Peer
 |
It's not the best cover out there,
but it is certainly intriguing.
Never judge a book by its cover! |
Immortal City was surprisingly better than I expected. I know the Young Adult Fantasy Romance genre is waayy too overwritten but I can't stop myself from reading it. It is common knowledge that most, if not all, young adult fantasy books follow the same kind of plot line: girl meets boy, they fall in love, girl finds out boy is a fantastical creature, they have a big fight, girl finds out she is also a fantastical creature, they make up, all the while authorities are trying to break up the couple. A side of battling mortal danger accompanies this main dish. So, knowing that, the part that makes a good book is not the plot, but mayhaps the danger that is battling this couple, or if the setting is 400 years from now. It all depends on the author. Immortal City caught my attention because of the summary.
We pay them to protect us. And we're their biggest fans.
They are our celebrities, and we worship them with paparazzi and endless gossip and speculation.
To us, they are glamour. To them, we're an assignment.
Their job is to guard us-that is, those of us who can afford them…
Because the only things stronger than a Guardian Angel is the rule they must obey.
So what happens when one of them falls for one of us?
In the City of Angels,
the rules are about to be broken.
What I liked about this book is that it was based on a really original idea. To have Angels be the celebrities and superstars of today? That is simply genius. The story goes something like this: Angels came out of hiding a hundred years or so before 2012 and developed a system to help save the lives of people, as opposed to just doing random acts of kindness. There weren't enough Angels around though, so the system was based on only saving the people who could afford to pay to get watched over. As time went on, the prices climbed higher and higher, until only the richest people in the world could afford to pay for the Angel's services. The Angels got richer and richer, and eventually became everything the world could talk about. Things like reality shows and movies were made by Angels, and when an Angel saved someone, they became super-famous for a little while. The whole world wanted to be saved by an Angel.
I don't think I need to repeat this, but I thought that was a really good idea. The book had a good pace too, it wasn't rushing or stalling. Sometime books go from problem to problem and you never have a break from action, so I liked that Immortal City wasn't like that. Like I said before, the plot line wasn't what caught my attention but despite everything I mentioned before, it did certainly have some surprises in store. Also, a thing a YA book can't be without: a love triangle. I thought that part was underdeveloped, since I, as a reader, did not even consider the other contestant to be a contestant.
I found Maddy a very levelheaded, and smart character. Even when all that the rest of the world cares about are the sexy, immortal Angels that plague Angel City (Los Angeles in a parallel dimension), she focuses on school, and work. Sadly, she doesn't have time for a social life, and that made me disappointed, yet it was expected. At least her BFF Gwen is very outgoing and has tons of friends, so they sort of cancel each other out. I had a love/hate relationship with Maddy not because of her social life, but because of the choices she makes throughout the course of the book.
Jacks I completely loved. He is a very famous, very attractive blue-eyed, blonde Angel of just nineteen years of age (or so I was led to believe). You can tell he takes his duty seriously, and he is also levelheaded. He slightly resents all the attention he receives, because he feels that the people only care about the idol Jackson Godspeed, not the guy he is inside. But he does indeed enjoy the good life. And I thought it was original that his nickname is Jacks, not Jack.
Of course, you can already predict what will be happening between Maddy and Jacks. I do not feel the need to specify.
What I loved the most about the book was the ending. What happens on the rooftop is really shocking and heartbreak ing at the same time. I cried a bit there, although I knew it was an awesome twist. Then I stopped crying because the awesome twist did not happen. But a surprising turn of events did happen. I won't continue though, because I think I'm probably going to slip up and I don't want to ruin this book for you. Which means, you need to read it. I would definitely recommend it. One hundred percent.
