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Review: Hardest Fall by Juliette Cross (Dominion #2)

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Hardest Fall by Juliette Cross // VBCHardest Fall (Dominion #2)
Juliette Cross
Published: Feb. 25, 2019 (Entangled)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it may reference previous events in the series.

In the apocalypse, demoness Bone is determined to stay neutral. Formally a Seraph, after falling from grace, Bone wants nothing more than to work with her element—metal—and make weapons for anyone—good or bad—who is willing to pay the price.

When wounded demon hunter Xander is brought to her for healing, Bone taps into the true power of her Seraph song for the first time in a while to save his life. Xander immediately knows there’s more to Bone’s story than meets the eye, and he’s determined to get her to see that she needs to fight on the side of good.

When Bone is commissioned by a demon prince to forge a powerful mysterious artifact, she begins to look at the atrocities happening around her, and realizes that sometimes it’s not a simple thing to remain outside of the conflict. Maybe it’s time for Bone to put her past behind her and fight for the future.

I really liked the easy way Juliette Cross has with unfolding the story. I hadn’t read the first book in this series, but I had no problem starting with book two and completely enjoying myself.

I liked Juliette Cross’s spin on the whole angel/demon mythology. Typically, angel is equated with “good” and demon is equated with “bad.” That’s not necessarily the case here, and especially when we’re talking about Bone, a former Seraph. Her backstory is complex and just because she’s a demoness now doesn’t automatically mean she’s evil. I enjoyed the nuances between the good versus evil trope and the hint that readers are given that a certain character who seems to be on the bad side of the apocalypse could have their own possible redemption in the works. I think it’s always interesting when authors explore the alternative sides of characters, or the shades of gray, and I think Juliette Cross has done that really well here.

I also thought that the idea of Bone remaining neutral was an interesting commentary. The commission from the demon prince to make an artifact that will give him unknown power, forces Bone to question her stance. Sometimes trying to stay out of a situation only enhances the wrong side’s goal as Bone quickly finds out. Sometimes, you are forced to choose a side, sometimes you can’t be left to wait in the shadows.

Xander is a big proponent of getting Bone to choose. I like the way that it’s handled by the fact that there’s no blame, or shaming, put on Bone for her decision to remain neutral. Xander’s main concern is just showing her what’s really going on out there during the war because, along with being neutral, Bone has, for the most part, sequestered herself away and almost tried to hide from the complete truth of how things have been playing out because it reminds her a lot of her past. I like that Xander sees the goodness in her when she doesn’t see it within herself. This scenario is very vice versa as Xander, too, has a past for which he’s still atoning. Although I’ll say that there is definitely more focus placed on Bone.

Hardest Fall feels like a straight-forward paranormal romance story, but with a powerful underlining message about getting involved in the good fight.

Sexual content: graphic sex, attempted rape

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