DIES IRAE by Christine Fonseca

THE BLURB:

Some sacrifices should never be made—even for love.

Mikayel lives by one rule—obey the orders of the angelic Council at all costs. That is, until he and his friends, Azza and Demi, are sent to Earth. Assigned as Watchers while they await their decision of which angelic order to serve, the three assume the bodies of teenagers and experience life as human.

The sensations are overwhelming as the angels experience a host of human emotions—rage, terror, love—and come ever closer to breaking one of the unbreakable rules—never fall in love.

But being human isn’t the only problem facing the three angels. Unbeknownst to the Council, demonic activity is on the rise, threatening to break a tenuous peace that has existed for a millennia; a peace Azza seems bent on destroying.

Caught in a struggle for power with unseen demonic forces and Azza, and fighting against his rising emotional attachment to Demi, Mikayel must now decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for his new found love—a decision that could reignite an ancient war and will threaten the only thing that matters to the angels, the survival of humanity.

WHAT I THOUGHT:

I know I have the advantage of having read LACRIMOSA, the first full-length novel in the Requiem series, but take my word for it DIES IRAE is the perfect introduction to the Requiem world. I would have loved to have spent more time in the ancient world that Christine weaves around her characters. As a novella, that is necessarily limited. But Christine packs so much emotion into her pages that you are instantly drawn to these characters and their epically tragic story.

The story explores a lot of very intense themes; forbidden love, friends who become mortal enemies, how there is good and evil in everyone, how choices can tip the scales one way or the other, sacrifice, duty, honor, loyalty, betrayal, and the heart pounding (and breaking) of true love. There is a LOT of story packed into these pages.

If you’ve read LACRIMOSA, you’ll love getting to see what started everything and getting an insight into Mikayel and Azza. And if you haven’t read it yet (you won’t have to wait long – it comes out on March 21 - just a few weeks!) then this is a wonderful way to start immersing yourself in the Requiem world.