REVIEW: Immortal City (Immortal City, #1) by Scott Speer

Immortal City
(Immortal City, #1)
by Scott Speer
Hardcover, 368 p.

Synopsis
Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them.

He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat & and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson.

My Review

Immortal City seemed a bit different from the usual YA romance section.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's because it actually has a semi-goal other than fangirl-worthy characters.


This particular take on the classic rich boy/poor girl love story features Jack(son), a "Guardian" which is the hypothetical equivalent of an angel that is commissioned by one person to be their insurance against death.  And the lucky female this time is Maddy, who has met this soon-to-be Commissioned angel.

Maddy is a bit meh on the whole idea of angels and commissions, since, y'know, she's HIPSTER.  And HIPSTERS don't do that kind of stuff.  Plus, only the super rich get Commissions.  She's really cool, too.  When her TV is broken, she doesn't just whine about it like Bella Swan might.  She WHACKS it.  And continues on with life.

But then she meets Jackson, and everything just...
Loooooove.  That's right.  No YA book is complete with out it.

So Jackson, being the rich boy he is, invites her to a party.  And the Angel lovers just EXPLODE, because they can't handle their bad boy Jackson being in love with someone other than themselves.  (That's pretty legit fangirls right there, let me tell you.)  And then they get discovered, and oh! There's angel murders.  And guess who's next.

I was very impressed by the dynamic between Maddy and Jack.  Since he's so rich and sheltered off from the rest of the world, he occasionally makes "rich boy" mistakes; not taking in the thought of paparazzi, or Maddy's discomfort with said paparazzi, and stuff like that.  It was refreshing to find a boy in YA romance that WASN'T perfect, especially an ANGEL that wasn't perfect.  It's so hard to find good books with angels, just because of this mentality that angels have to be perfect.

However, I really hated one part.  It might be really small, but it just annoyed the heck out of me. *starts rant*


So Maddy, being all hipster-like, enjoys reading books and listening music opposed to stalki--AHEM! watching the Angel-cams and such, yes?  But then, in the middle of the book, she decides that since Jackson doesn't deserve her (the angst-ness is so...so angsty in here..), she should just go and fall in love with her best friend.

Now let's hold up here for a minute.

She reads BOOKS.  And then she decides that since this boy shouldn't deserve her, she should FALL IN LOVE with her friend.  What, exactly, are her literary choices?  Has she NEVER read ANY sort of romance?  If you're a reader, or even a chick-flick lover, you can back me up on this.

No matter WHAT, you CANNOT just say, "oh, I think I want to fall in love with my friend!  Just to get away from this SUPER HAWT guy.  Because he obviously doesn't want me."

THIS NEVER HAPPENS IN ROMANCE. No matter what, even if the protagonist is dragged kicking and screaming back to the guy, she WILL fall in love with this boy that she's trying to NOT love.  It's a golden rule of romances.  If Maddy, in any way, has watched ANY movies or read ANY books, she should be able to notice this straightaway!  And who knows? What if that friend is actually in love with her?  THEN we get a messy love triangle, and an inconstant girl.  No one likes those.

*ends rant*

But other than that, I loved the book.  Perfect pacing, nice plotline, and it had that special *spark* that divides a good book from a great one.


My Rating
Pacing and addictive quality was there, as well as a fresh ontake for the angel section of YA romance.  Although that mess with the replacement love interest was obviously a bit...eh, I'm really looking forward to the sequel!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Happy reading!