Book Review: The Alabaster Concordat (The Immortal Coil Book 4) by J. Armand

 
 
Ever since the encounter with Hell and the Demon Lord, things on earth have been shifting toward chaos, and Dorian and PROJECT: UNITY will have to work with other supernaturals if they want to save the world from destruction and have a fighting chance in the impending war. The war comes sooner than Dorian expected when the Egyptian God of Chaos shows up, but as Dorian learns more about himself and those closest to him, he struggles to not get distracted by personal feelings and to continue doing what's right.

Book Review: The Alabaster Concordat (The Immortal Coil Book 4) by J. Armand | reading, books, book reviews, fantasy, urban fantasy, lgbt, vampires, telepaths, gods
Title: The Alabaster Concordat
Author:
Book Number: Book 4
Pages: 722
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
More Info: Goodreads, Amazon
 

Review:

*I received an ecopy of this book from the author. This has in no way influenced my review.*

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes that is just the only appropriate way to start a review, and I’m not sorry. I have officially reached the point-of-no-return, still-thinking-about-them-even-when-not-reading level of investment in these characters. You would think the thing that happened in this book actually happened to me by how excited and giddy and good it made me feel. I have to talk about it, so just don’t read the spoiler unless you’ve already read the book or aren’t planning to. *SPOILER* It’s funny because I never ship friends. Friendship is awesome on its own and doesn’t need to be more in order to make it special. But I was totally shipping Dorian and Noah because they just seemed like they should be more, like they’d be good for each other and make a good pair. I wasn’t even sure if Noah swung that way, but he had never actually said he didn’t… and squeee! It actually happened! It was also written perfectly since I do understand why they love each other, and like I said, they just seem so compatible. And it had definitely been building up throughout all the other books, with little hints like the way Noah kept hanging around, the way he followed every time Dorian did anything dangerous, the way he mutilated those doctors who experimented on Dorian, the way he asked Vance to find the other people like Dorian then completely changed his tune when Dorian said he didn’t want that, the way he threatened Rudgar so he’d stop looking for the others, the way he trusted Dorian with his wakizashi, the way he tried to stop Dorian from fighting the demon lord, etc. *END SPOILER*

Anyway, moving on from the fangirling, time to talk about Noah again! It’s oddly fitting that Noah keeps stealing all the attention in all of my reviews for this series since that is so like him. Apparently his presence and need for attention is so big that it carries over out of the book. I miss him when he’s not around though. I just want him to be in every scene in every book. Is that really too much to ask? I think that’s reasonable, and I’m 100% sure Noah would agree. But seriously, I felt worse for him than ever this time. What Aurelia was doing to him was terrible, and he was just so much more broken than I’ve ever seen him in the previous books. I was nearly in tears at some points. But he was also so much more open and changed so much, and it was amazing.

As for Gianluca, he had my alarms going off all over the place, and I was just as concerned about his actions and emotions as Dorian was. I was glad when Dorian finally stood up for himself, and I completely agreed with every word he said. But I also felt bad for Gianluca because the poor guy was still genuine with good intentions but was just so displaced and lost in this new world after being asleep for so long. *SPOILER* I would’ve been devastated if he had taken the blame and guilt for everything again, so I was really glad that Dorian and Noah were able to get through to him. *END SPOILER*

I don’t wanna forget about Lyle either because he may be “just a human” among all these supernaturals, but he has always been an amazing person and great friend and such a lovable character.

And Dorian, well, he’s grown so much over the series and has really come into his own as a leader and a person.

Oh, and all the romance stuff, the situations and the emotions, was so realistic and well-written—both the happy things and the struggles. (And in case anyone is wondering, there’s no explicit sex.)

As you can probably tell from my review, the best thing about this series is definitely the characters. It’s crazy how much my opinion of all the characters keeps changing so much as I see more of them and get to know them more. I was actually worried from the blurbs that this might be the type of the series that would get big in scope and kind of forget about the character development and turn them all into nothing but martyrs and villains, but it turns out my fears were not warranted because so far, even with the whole “saving the world” thing, the story has stayed focused on how Dorian and those close to him are affected by everything. I mean, yes, Dorian is willing to go risk his life for everyone without much thought, but when you’re as supernaturally powerful as he is and are one of the only people who actually can do something against the bad guys, it makes sense.

Another thing about this series in general, it seems like a lot of research went into it. There’s all this stuff about different weapons, forms of martial arts, cultures, religions, architecture, etc., not to mention the details behind all the magic and supernatural stuff.

So overall, I’m just loving this series and definitely getting more invested as it goes on. The characters are so unique and developed, but there’s still so much action and plot to go with it, plus a bit of romance and a whole lotta supernaturalness, and I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes all of those things!

*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 1st read.*

*If you’re interested in learning more about the series, you can find an interview with the author here!*

Reread Ratings:
4.5 Stars (1st Read – 2016)
4.5 Stars (2nd Read – 2019)

 

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Talk to me!

Have you read The Alabaster Concordat by J. Armand?
Have you even been so excited about something in a book that you felt like it happened to you rather than the characters?

 
 
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  1. verushka

    i think if you had just had the ~aaaaaah~ it would have conveyed how much you adore this! It sounds like this author has found the right balance between broad scope and intimate characters, which I know how frustrating it can get when authors just lose a handle on their characters.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Lol it probably would have. I really do adore this series though! It does seem like it’s difficult for authors to balance the broad scope with character development, and as a character person, it’s something I worry about, but luckily this author has definitely managed to find that balance!

    1. Kristen Burns

      These are some of my favorite covers ever, I love them! It’s also a great story though. Not too romance-y either, so you won’t have to worry about that 😉

  2. Jean S.

    This series sounds good! Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve found that “aaaahhh” is the best way to start a review. 🙂

  3. Greg

    Sounds like this one gets better and better! And yay for the spoilery thing (you know I ALWAYS read the spoilers lol). It can be a trick to keep the character development tight when overall gets bigger and more epic, so kudos tothe author for pulling that off. And it sounds like the supernatural stuff is well done, along with the martial arts too. Definitely seems to be a fun series!

    1. Kristen Burns

      I do know you always read the spoilers which is why I replied to your comment on the emotion post referring to what was in the spoiler in this one. I knew you wouldn’t mind lol. I agree, I worry about books with big scopes because oftentimes character development gets pushed aside, but not in this one! And all the supernatural and martial arts and all that clearly researched and thought-out. It is a fun series 🙂

  4. Bookworm Brandee

    Kristen, your enthusiasm for this series is palpable and contagious. I haven’t met these characters yet but kinda feel like I already know them. 😉 And my fingers are crossed on winning a signed copy of book 1 but even if I don’t win, I’m going to read this series. I love character driven stories and that you’re feeling so much for and thinking about these characters, even when you’re not reading, says a lot. And really, I have to meet Noah! 😉 Oh, I want to meet Dorian, Gianluca, and Lyle too…but it’s imperative I meet Noah! LOL

    1. Kristen Burns

      I think the ahhhhhhhh really portrayed my feelings 😉 I do love these characters though! Especially Noah, clearly, haha. And I love the whole series. I hope you end up loving it (and Noah) too!

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