Review: The Angel

The Angel by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Søren and Elenora are back together, is this the happily ever after? After years apart, they are reunited; it's a beautiful thing watching them together. The BDSM edgeplay is definitely turned up in this one. The SM is absolutely divine. The blood play was unexpected and gives edge players delicious shivers.

In this story, the history unfolds like layers of an onion skin. While this is cliché to say, it’s because as each memory is peeled back, the reader can not help but gasp in pain with tears stinging the eyes. Nora, Søren, Griffin, Michael and Kingsley are each dealt a bad hand. The harshness they have endured is heartbreaking. Does Ms. Reisz ever have any happy thoughts? With suicide, incest, pedophilia, child abuse, rape and abandonment, really, what more can be added? The reader may find Søren to be a sadist. They are wrong. The true sadist is the author, Ms. Reisz. These characters are all broken and damaged at a young age. Amazingly, they grow stronger from their setbacks. The fact that each character grew into a functioning adult is a surprise yet believable.

In the midst of these secrets revealed, a nosy reporter with an axe to grind is going after Søren. She’s one of those people who will see sexual molestation anywhere, because that’s what she wants to see. Suzanne is the most annoying hypocrite in this story. She accuses Søren as a child molester and a violator of his vows, yet she sexually desires him and wants him just one night in bed with him. She begs him. I want to slap the woman; Nora will need to get in line, behind me.

This story while is supposed to be about Michael, it’s laying the foundation for Søren and Kingsley’s relationship. Learning about Søren’s sordid past shows how he became the man he is today. Insights into his and Kingsley’s childhood clarify their modus operandi. They are both powerful men who will never be victimized again. Not only this, but they will protect those they own. The power Kingsley wields against the press is incredibly arousing. He is a good ally to defend one’s honour. Søren is pure Machiavellian and why does it make him all the more attractive? So far, every action they take is one with altruist motives. Then again, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. How does one reconcile all the wrongs that are committed in this book? Ms. Reisz purposely juxtaposes breaches of religious and moral ethics next to the positive outcomes. It makes the reader question over and over; does the end justify the means? When is the line crossed if it’s constantly being erased?

At least there is a happily ever after for one couple in this book. For most of the characters, it’s only the beginning of the next journey. If the last scene is anything to go by, it’s going to be another emotional rollercoaster filled with gut clenching anxiety. Who will Nora end up with? How will this all end? With the number of unrequited lovers, it doesn’t seem there can be a happy resolution for any of them. Ms. Reisz is a masterful sadist prolonging the torment of her characters. The faithful readers are voyeuristic masochists eagerly devouring the pain and suffer while yearning for more. This BDSM novel is recommended for kinky readers who crave physical and emotional edge play and complicated relationships.




View all my reviews