Angel's Blood

Daniella and Evelyne drink Ambrosia and discuss the awesomeness that is Nalini Singh's writing, why Rafael is creepy, but they're kinda ok with it, and how Elena is just a kick-butt heroine. 

Transcript

Automated:

This is Intoxicated Literature.

Daniella Drake:

Hello. Welcome to Intoxicated Literature. I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I'm Evelyn Crowe.

Daniella Drake:

And we are here to discuss Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh.

Evelyn Crowe:

This is actually one of my favorite urban fantasy series.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, I've read the whole thing. Loved it.

Evelyn Crowe:

I would say this is right up there, on pol with Alana Andrews.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, I agree.

Evelyn Crowe:

Urban fantasy.

Daniella Drake:

I didn't know what I was getting into, and then I read the first one and just immediately found all the rest of the books that I could read.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes, 100%. And I actually found this after I read her other series.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, okay. I did the reverse. Interesting.

Evelyn Crowe:

Everyone always recommends the other one first. At least they did for me.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

I can't remember the first book, but it's with the Psy/Changeling one with the more shape-shifter Psy one. But this one rang more true to me. This one, I felt a stronger connection with.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. The Psy/Changeling series, it plays so much on the emotionless versus the really emotional, which I think was harder for me to get into.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes. Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

I did read that series as well, but I did like this one better.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

I really connected with this one more.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, that's fair.

Evelyn Crowe:

This is going to be an interesting book to talk about because there's so much packed into this.

Daniella Drake:

Into it. Yeah, absolutely. It's setting up so much.

Evelyn Crowe:

It really is.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because the world building that Miss Singh puts into this is-

Daniella Drake:

Fascinating.

Evelyn Crowe:

... fascinating.

Daniella Drake:

It's so different and unique and so good. She's really thought about how all of these parts work. So before we get into it-

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes.

Daniella Drake:

Spoilers.

Evelyn Crowe:

Spoilers.

Daniella Drake:

Adult content.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yep.

Daniella Drake:

And lots of swearing.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yep. Standard for Intoxicated Literature.

Daniella Drake:

Yes. If you haven't figured it out-

Evelyn Crowe:

This is how we do it.

Daniella Drake:

This is what we do.

Evelyn Crowe:

So, if this is the first episode that you have joined us for, we do all of those things.

Daniella Drake:

We will spoil everything for you. So if you haven't read this book yet, push pause, go read the book, come back to us with a drink.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes. And what are we drinking tonight?

Daniella Drake:

We are drinking Ambrosia.

Evelyn Crowe:

Which is actually on par... We are doing themed drinks now.

Daniella Drake:

It was also delicious.

Evelyn Crowe:

It was so good.

Daniella Drake:

I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

Evelyn Crowe:

I did not... Yeah. I thought it was going to be really brandy-y.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

But the apple brandy and the brandy and the champagne worked really well together.

Daniella Drake:

And this was exciting because we're actually in the same place.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know.

Daniella Drake:

And we got to go shopping for drinks together.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know, it was so fun.

Daniella Drake:

So it's a little different.

Evelyn Crowe:

Apparently this is like an annual thing.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

Like once a year we get together and do a podcast-

Daniella Drake:

We do it once a year.

Evelyn Crowe:

... in the same room together.

Daniella Drake:

So, yeah. Let's talk about Angel's Blood. Initial thoughts, I liked it. It's so interesting to me because when I think about the book, I think about how problematic Raphael is.

Evelyn Crowe:

Well, okay, so it's funny; when I read the book initially, I really liked it.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

I really liked it.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

I loved it. I immediately picked up book two and then ran with it.

Daniella Drake:

Yes, 100%.

Evelyn Crowe:

And then when we decided to read it, I went back and went, okay, I'm going to read it again, I'm going to look at at everything. And then went, uh, wait a minute. Raphael is really kind of problematic.

Daniella Drake:

He's a little creepy.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's kind of a creeper.

Daniella Drake:

But like you don't care?

Evelyn Crowe:

You really kind of don't.

Daniella Drake:

It's so weird. And I think it's partly because we're reading from Elena's perspective a lot of the time.

Evelyn Crowe:

And she doesn't mind that he's a creeper.

Daniella Drake:

And even she acknowledges sometimes, she's like, he's being a little creepy. But because he's an archangel, there's certain social aspects that you just kind of know are going to be off.

Evelyn Crowe:

I guess so, because in the society that they're living in, these archangels are above all.

Daniella Drake:

They're so old.

Evelyn Crowe:

They're old. They rule over everybody. They have ultimate power.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. And actually Raphael is kind of a special case because he still walks among humans. He's still very much involved in the day-to-day ruling of his territory.

Evelyn Crowe:

Well, he's like the youngest archangel to ever be an archangel.

Daniella Drake:

Ever. Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

So he's young. He's like a kid.

Daniella Drake:

Very young. Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

So he's like, I'm not going to be one of these old guys.

Daniella Drake:

Well, he doesn't rule through fear. He's very much, I would say more of a modern kind of ruler.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's in New York. It's very cosmopolitan.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

So you're like, okay. Sure.

Daniella Drake:

Yes. Yeah. And even Elena, when she first meets, their first meeting-

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

... was so crazy.

Evelyn Crowe:

I remember thinking... Okay. So what we have to know about Elena is of course she has a traumatic past, because all female main characters always in these urban fantasies, always have to have this traumatic past, has a traumatic past. She is hunter born, which in this series means that she has-

Daniella Drake:

Heightened powers.

Evelyn Crowe:

... heightened powers, in this case meaning she can sent vampires. And she has some strength and speed to fight these vampires and control them.

Daniella Drake:

So she's like a step and a half above humans.

Evelyn Crowe:

Humans. But she's not immortal.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely not.

Evelyn Crowe:

She has a slightly lengthened lifespan, but she's not like-

Daniella Drake:

She's still very delicate and frail. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

She's still human essentially. But she's slightly above them. And she's been called to Angel Tower, as they call it, to meet with an archangel.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

She goes to the rooftop and there's this archangel at this table, set formally. And there's this guy, very attractive-

Daniella Drake:

Super attractive.

Evelyn Crowe:

Very hot. And he's like, "Come have a meal with me." And he immediately tries to mind control her, like almost immediately off the bat. And she's like, nope.

Daniella Drake:

Not going for that.

Evelyn Crowe:

Not going to do this.

Daniella Drake:

No thank you. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

And instead of holding the knife by the handle, is holding the knife by the blade. And he's like, "Hold the knife by the handle because you're just hurting yourself." And so instead of doing that, she just grips the knife by the blade even harder and is injuring herself. And he's like, "What the fuck are you doing? Let go of the knife."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Yeah. But he also sets a trap for her to see if her... to test her, to see how good her vampire hunting skills are. So he's like, "These are brand new vampires that were just made a day ago. Let's see if you could really sense them." And she's like, "Yeah, I can. They're right there."

Evelyn Crowe:

And they also smell like rotten meat. It's not like it's a secret.

Daniella Drake:

Right. Yeah. It's like, what are you doing? And he's like, "Wow, okay. You're pretty good. I guess I'll hire you for this really horrible task that I need you to do."

Evelyn Crowe:

Even though it's so obvious that they were there, because they smell like rotten carrion. It's not like even a secret.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

Like, what?

Daniella Drake:

So that first meeting, all of us are going, what the fuck?

Evelyn Crowe:

What?

Daniella Drake:

Like Elena, the audience, all of us are like, what is this guy's deal? What is going on?

Evelyn Crowe:

And then the job he hires her for is not for vampires.

Daniella Drake:

No. It's for some angel that's gone off the rails.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know. And then you learn the craziest shit about angels that nobody knows.

Daniella Drake:

Knows. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's been the secret for millennia.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

And that's how vampires are made.

Daniella Drake:

And literally, an angel lost his wings because he shared the secret with someone.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes.

Daniella Drake:

It's so secret, no one can talk about it.

Evelyn Crowe:

Exactly.

Daniella Drake:

Right? But I loved the world building in this. I thought it was really interesting the way that she brought it all together, the fact that there are these archangels that control certain territories in the world, the entire world. Raphael obviously is in New York, but he controls a huge swath of North America.

Evelyn Crowe:

Most of North America, I think is his territory.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. And they just kind of divide it up between them, and they're all in control of these places.

Evelyn Crowe:

I remember when I suggested the series to you, you're like, "Oh, vampires. I don't like vampires."

Daniella Drake:

I know. I'm not into the vampire thing.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I remember going, "Okay, but it's not really about vampires."

Daniella Drake:

It's not though. And I do think that I appreciate the way that she... because it's a series about angels. And vampires are a part of it because of the angels.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know, because it's weird how she does it.

Daniella Drake:

It's so funny.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's different. It's different.

Daniella Drake:

But I love it too, because the vampires are part of society. They're not these secret in the shadows kind of people. They have jobs.

Evelyn Crowe:

They have jobs.

Daniella Drake:

They have families. There's all this stuff that this is just another part of them.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I remember trying to tell, I'm like, okay, they're vampires, but they're different.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

I couldn't explain it to you.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

I'm like, okay, but, yeah, they're vampires.

Daniella Drake:

Because you can't explain it until you read it. It doesn't make sense.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know. I'm like, okay, but they're vampires, but they're different.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

You have to read it.

Daniella Drake:

And it's funny too, because the first vampire you really meet is Dmitri.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

And I'm sorry, even in this book, he's fucking awesome.

Evelyn Crowe:

He is awesome, but he's also an ass.

Daniella Drake:

He is an ass. And Elena calls him on it constantly.

Evelyn Crowe:

I also appreciate that one of the first things that Elena does to Dmitri is like slit his fucking throat.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. She's like, "I'm done with you."

Evelyn Crowe:

I'm like, I can't take you anymore. I'm going to stop it.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely. Yep. Yep. I know. And he's so mad.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's so pissed off.

Daniella Drake:

Because of course he doesn't die because he's a vampire. She knows that he's not going to die.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's an old ass vampire.

Daniella Drake:

So old.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's like one of the oldest vampires like in existence.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

And she knows he's not going to kill him, but she's like, "I'm leaving and you're going to let me leave. You need to knock it the fuck off."

Daniella Drake:

I know. She does it as like to teach him.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know. It's like you have no control over me. I am leaving.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It was so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

It was awesome.

Daniella Drake:

It was so good. I love Elena actually, because she is mortal, and yes, she has slightly heightened skills. But compared to these angels, she's a baby. She is so delicate and so fragile, but she's still just like, "I'm not putting up with your shit. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

All the time.

Evelyn Crowe:

All the time.

Daniella Drake:

Just constantly calling them on it and being like, "No, that's bullshit. I'm going to do my own thing."

Evelyn Crowe:

I am control of me. I am me. I will do my own thing.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

You do not get to tell me what to do.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

And Raphael, his whole shtick is that whatever woman he was involved with, he had a harem at one point, whatever, any woman he was involved with, he protected and took care of. And she was like, "Nope."

Daniella Drake:

No, I don't want that.

Evelyn Crowe:

That is not me. You do not control me.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

You do not protect me. I am me. I don't need that. I protect me.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

That is not who I am. And you need to come to terms with that, or I am not yours. That is how this is.

Daniella Drake:

And it's hard for him to reconcile that because he's fucking old.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's so old.

Daniella Drake:

He's so old.

Evelyn Crowe:

But by archangel standards he's young.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Yeah. And by having her in the vicinity, and he starts to get feelings for her, and it makes him slightly more mortal.

Evelyn Crowe:

Which is interesting.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because he's able to be injured.

Daniella Drake:

So she shoots him at one point because he's being creepy as fuck. And she's like, "What is wrong with you?"

Evelyn Crowe:

He's seducing here in his office. And she's like, "No. This is a work meeting."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. What are you doing?

Evelyn Crowe:

Why are you sexually harassing me?

Daniella Drake:

He goes to her apartment and freaks her the fuck out.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's like hovering outside her apartment, watching her.

Daniella Drake:

And this is when he was cold. So he doesn't have any emotions, which was also weird as hell.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know.

Daniella Drake:

And she's just like, "You're freaking me the fuck out and you need to stop." And he doesn't. And so she shoots him, and then he just keeps bleeding.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know.

Daniella Drake:

And she goes, "What's wrong with you?" And he's like, "Well, you." And she goes, "Wait, what?"

Evelyn Crowe:

What are you talking about? And then instead of backing the fuck off, he buys her the most rare rose in existence.

Daniella Drake:

Like a diamond that has been carved into a rose. And she sends it back the next day. She goes, "I can't accept this."

Evelyn Crowe:

What is this?

Daniella Drake:

Inappropriate. What are you doing?

Evelyn Crowe:

The fuck? I love her so much.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, she's so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

I love her so much. She gets it. She's like, "Nope."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, she does not like it.

Evelyn Crowe:

I don't know what this is. What?

Daniella Drake:

But it's funny because throughout the book, she is drawn to him in a way. She is also interested. She's like, "I don't know what your deal is."

Evelyn Crowe:

I mean, I do give into the temptation, but even while they are seeing each other, she's like, "Look, we are exclusive. I am not some toy that you get to just sleep with."

Daniella Drake:

And also, you can't just be over protective of me. I am going to do what I'm going to do. And you have to be okay with that.

Evelyn Crowe:

You gave me a job. I am a guild hunter. I have a job. I have a thing to-

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

I am me. Once we do this, once we sleep together, once we fuck, I'm not yours. I'm not your possession.

Daniella Drake:

Right. And you can't think that I am.

Evelyn Crowe:

Exactly.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. So when he tries it, she's like, "No, no, we're not doing that."

Evelyn Crowe:

No, no, no, no.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

Or this is over, this is no, no, no.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

And he has a hard time with that.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. He does not like it.

Evelyn Crowe:

He does not like that at all.

Daniella Drake:

But I love his little group of men. They're all men, which is unfortunate.

Evelyn Crowe:

They're all men.

Daniella Drake:

That is unfortunate.

Evelyn Crowe:

This was like an early 2000s, I want to say novel. So there was some time between... So I feel like this is pretty fitting for a 2000s-

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, I agree.

Evelyn Crowe:

... novel.

Daniella Drake:

And they were all really interesting and diverse characters, so it didn't bother me that much. And they all have their own books. That's what the series is, is they all get their own story, which I thought was really interesting. And all of the female characters, badass, smart, interesting.

Evelyn Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

Fully formed complex women.

Evelyn Crowe:

For sure.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

I will say that. I also do say that it's good that he commands such loyalty from the people around him.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, yeah. His ruling style is so different from any of the other archangels. He is not about ruling through fear. He wants loyalty. So he brings people in that will challenge him when he's wrong. He wants someone who's strong enough to say, "I don't think this is right," which really sets him apart from any of the other angels. Nobody else is really looking for that, which I really appreciated about him.

Evelyn Crowe:

For sure.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's just that Elena challenges him in a way-

Daniella Drake:

He's not used to.

Evelyn Crowe:

He's not used to.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

For sure.

Daniella Drake:

For sure. Because from the get-go, he finds her interesting, and strong, and appreciates even as a mortal person, how strong and independent and smart she is. And I like that about him. Yeah, for sure.

Evelyn Crowe:

And again, in a way that made him grow and learn.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

As opposed to just fighting against like-

Daniella Drake:

Well, I thought it was interesting too, because he goes to one of the other archangels, Lijuan, and he is like, "Something has happened to me. I met this mortal woman." And she's like, "You need to kill her. She's going to lessen you. You need to do something." And instead of doing that, he's like, "You know what? No, don't think that this is lessening me in any way. I think this is making me different, sure. But I'm not sure that it's a bad thing. I'm not seeing it as a weakness necessarily."

So I think that that also, it's such a different way to see it as opposed to, I don't know, [inaudible 00:16:22]-

Evelyn Crowe:

Right, the way of seeing power, that it wasn't just power, that having that bit of weakness was not a weakness, but maybe a bit of strength. It was interesting.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I thought that was really cool.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. And that the men he had around him were often looked at as misfits, but he saw them as people with strengths and used them as such.

Daniella Drake:

Yes. He was very good at recognizing what he needed to, I don't know, support him. So it's like Dmitri is really good at recognizing the problem, solving the problem. He is like the day-to-day kind of person. And then Venom is kind of his secret weapon who just sends him in. Jason, the spy. They all serve a function for him, but they're all his friends. He really considers them to be friends of him. And they are very loyal to him because they also see him as a friend.

Evelyn Crowe:

Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. It was interesting because Dmitri was the one who caught Elena in the beginning as someone who is like, "Oh, you had a vampire in your past. Really young. Maybe I shouldn't do this to you anymore. Sorry."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because when guilt... so Elena has something called a vamp... She's a hunter born. And hunter borns have very few weaknesses. And one of them is that very old vampires have a lure. They can seduce you, with like a scent. And Dmitri was totally-

Daniella Drake:

Oh, he was messing with her every time [inaudible 00:18:11]-

Evelyn Crowe:

Totally trying to seduce Elena because he's like, "You're not after my man. I am loyal to Raphael."

Daniella Drake:

I'm going to protect him at all costs.

Evelyn Crowe:

I don't know who you are. I'm going to protect him. So he's trying to seduce Elena, and Elena is not having any of this shit.

Daniella Drake:

No.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because she's a fucking vampire hunter. She knows her business.

Daniella Drake:

She's the best at her job, basically.

Evelyn Crowe:

She is. And she's not putting up with this shit. And then he realizes how sensitive she is to it, because he's not even doing it half the time. He's just literally walking around. But he's old. And he just is admitting it half the time.

Daniella Drake:

Without even realizing it.

Evelyn Crowe:

Without even realizing it. And he is like, "You must've been exposed to this really young," which she was.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. That's her traumatic past coming back.

Evelyn Crowe:

Traumatic past coming back to haunt her.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. That's a whole... that comes... We don't even really learn about that from books.

Daniella Drake:

Books. It takes a long time for her even talk about it. Like she's intimate with Raphael and she has a nightmare. And he's like, "What is happening?" And she's like, "Can't talk about it yet."

Evelyn Crowe:

Can't talk about it yet.

Daniella Drake:

And he just goes, "Okay, you'll talk about it when you're ready, I guess."

Evelyn Crowe:

But it's bad.

Daniella Drake:

It's bad.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's bad.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Bad news.

Daniella Drake:

But I do want to talk a little bit about the lore of the angels, because it's so unique.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know, because it plays on Christianity, but not.

Daniella Drake:

But not, yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Which I thought was really intriguing as an ex-Christian.

Daniella Drake:

Because they don't really talk about God at all.

Evelyn Crowe:

There's no God. There's no Christ. It's just angels.

Daniella Drake:

It's just angels.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I really liked that, actually.

Daniella Drake:

I agree. I found it fascinating.

Evelyn Crowe:

I really appreciated that there was no higher being, there was no redemption. It was just angels.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It drew me in immediately.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

I really liked that about this series.

Daniella Drake:

I liked it too, because the first book especially, which is what we're talking about, you don't really understand what purpose the vampires serve. You know that they're servants of the angels in some way, and they're somehow related, but you don't really know how until the very end, and Elena is broken, destroyed, going to die. And Raphael is just spilling all of his secrets to her. And it's just like, here's all the secrets because I know you're going to die.

Evelyn Crowe:

Exactly.

Daniella Drake:

It doesn't mean anything. I'm just trying to keep you alive for as long as I can. And then of course she doesn't, because the Ambrosia comes in. He's like, "I kiss you now, and now you're an angel." But it's just fascinating to me because you look at the vampires and yeah, the newly made ones, they have a hard time controlling their thirst or whatever, but they're fully functioning in society. They have jobs, they have all these things that they are just like living their lives.

Evelyn Crowe:

Well, and the beginning, you're like why is the guild hunter center controlled by angels? Why are the angels scenting out humans to go hunt out vampires? Why are the angels in control of this?

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

No one's questioning it. It's just how it is. No one's wondering about any of this. And then at the end of the book, you go, oh.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Okay.

Daniella Drake:

But it all comes together so neatly and so cleanly. And you're just like, this makes so much sense. I get it. Yeah. And then having Uram.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

Bad news.

Evelyn Crowe:

Bad news.

Daniella Drake:

Bad news.

Evelyn Crowe:

So the lore, again, spoilers, angels have a toxin in their blood. It just builds up naturally over time. And it takes a long time. It's not something that happens fast. It's slow. But if you don't get rid of it by creating vampires, then you become basically insane.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. You become a bloodborne angel.

Evelyn Crowe:

And one of the things that was confusing everybody is that a lot of the traits that Uram was having were vampire traits.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

And everyone was like, "What's happening? What's going on?" But one of the other things is most angels that go bloodborne are just regular angels and more easy to kill or contain.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It's very rare for an archangel to have this happen.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes. And archangels are so powerful.

Daniella Drake:

So powerful.

Evelyn Crowe:

and so hard to contain or kill.

Daniella Drake:

And it really takes another archangel to bring them down.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes.

Daniella Drake:

It's bad. It's really bad.

Evelyn Crowe:

And so when Uram was starting to go just completely AWOL and completely just off the rails, no one knew what was going on because it was so rare. And he was sacrificing people. He was taking people's hearts.

Daniella Drake:

And they don't want to admit that this is something that could happen. So they hesitated so long because they just didn't want to admit that this was something that wasn't even possible.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because they're like, "This is something that happened to us."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

This is a weakness we have.

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

Which is a very human thing to do.

Daniella Drake:

Well, yeah. It's scary. You don't want to believe it because it makes it real.

Evelyn Crowe:

So when they brought in Elena and she's tracking him like a vampire, she's like, "This is weird. Who is this person?"

Daniella Drake:

I know. Yeah, because they gave her no information.

Evelyn Crowe:

None.

Daniella Drake:

They were just like, "There's a possible serial killer we need you to find." And it's just like, uh.

Evelyn Crowe:

And then she finds a place where a bunch of people's hearts are ripped out. She's like, "What is going on?"

Daniella Drake:

It was like seven or nine, or I can't remember what the exact number was.

Evelyn Crowe:

But then she meets up with Michaela, who's a whole other problem.

Daniella Drake:

Let's talk about Michaela for a minute, because she's also an archangel. And she was like Uram's lover. They were together. And she is so jealous.

Evelyn Crowe:

So jealous.

Daniella Drake:

Of Elena.

Evelyn Crowe:

Because she also wants to be with Raphael.

Daniella Drake:

I'm saying it Elena like the British do, but I think it's Elena.

Evelyn Crowe:

I don't know.

Daniella Drake:

I don't know either.

Evelyn Crowe:

I think that Nalini Singh is a New Zealander, so she probably says it like the British.

Daniella Drake:

Okay. Well, we'll see. I don't know. Whatever. We'll just say it both ways and see.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. We'll see. It is-

Daniella Drake:

But they're so antagonistic toward each other from the jump.

Evelyn Crowe:

Michaela hates Elena.

Daniella Drake:

Hates her. And Elena is just like, "I didn't do anything to you, so I fucking hate you too. What are you doing?"

Evelyn Crowe:

Hates her from the get-go. And Elena just meets her and Michaela says something and Elena's like, "Well, fuck you."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

Well, I don't like you now.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Well, and she sets her little vampire... head vampire against her an is like, "Go get her and kill her." And now Raphael is mad. It's a whole thing.

Evelyn Crowe:

The whole thing.

Daniella Drake:

And it's just like, Michaela, what are you doing? Just stop.

Evelyn Crowe:

And Raphael tries to be like, "Stop doing that." And Michaela is like, no.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. She's like, "I don't know what you're talking about. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge." And it's like, okay, but I'm going to kill your vampire then.

Evelyn Crowe:

Okay, but how much do we like Raphael's butler?

Daniella Drake:

Oh, so much. He's so good. Montgomery.

Evelyn Crowe:

I love him. I love him so much.

Daniella Drake:

I know. He's so good. I will say most, this is why... So Raphael is a little bit creepy and a little bit problematic, but he surrounds himself with so many people that I genuinely love, that I'm like, okay, he can't be that bad-

Evelyn Crowe:

Bad because people love him.

Daniella Drake:

... because all of these people love him. They are so loyal to him they are willing to give their lives for him.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yes. Well, and that's the thing, and Uram, that's what Uram uses against him, is because Uram is like, "Okay, I'm going to take this woman, because I know that Raphael will do whatever it takes to keep her safe." He's going to come no matter what and protect her.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I'm like, okay. And that's what the morally gray girlies like. It doesn't matter what the cost is for the world. It doesn't matter. He will come and save her at the cost of the world because he loves her.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I will admit that that is-

Daniella Drake:

I mean, it's sexy.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's hot as fuck.

Daniella Drake:

It's hot. Absolutely.

Evelyn Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Is it the best thing to do?

Daniella Drake:

Probably not.

Evelyn Crowe:

Probably not.

Daniella Drake:

He destroys a big chunk of New York, which is problematic. But he does send his people in to try to clear it. He does-

Evelyn Crowe:

He tries to mitigate the damage as much as possible.

Daniella Drake:

He does try to mitigate the damage.

Evelyn Crowe:

But he absolutely is like, "I am going to save her no matter what."

Daniella Drake:

And I mean, they have a big fight.

Evelyn Crowe:

They do.

Daniella Drake:

And he destroys Uram. And Elena is dying.

Evelyn Crowe:

She is absolutely broken.

Daniella Drake:

There is no way she's coming back from that.

Evelyn Crowe:

And it is literally almost like a fall from grace.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

It's very symbolic.

Daniella Drake:

For sure.

Evelyn Crowe:

They are falling from the sky.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

Evelyn Crowe:

It is one of the most iconic scenes I have ever read in a book.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. That's the one that sticks out in my mind the most.

Evelyn Crowe:

There are two scenes in this book that stick out in my brain.

Daniella Drake:

The initial meeting.

Evelyn Crowe:

The initial meeting where he's trying to test all of her skills. And then that scene where they are falling from the sky and she is dying and then transforming.

Daniella Drake:

And he's like, "We're going to die together then." He's just like, "Okay."

Evelyn Crowe:

He can't save her. There's no way. And if he can't save her, then he's not going to live without her.

Daniella Drake:

Because he doesn't even know about the Ambrosia as an option.

Evelyn Crowe:

No.

Daniella Drake:

That's not something that they talk about. So he doesn't even know that it's possible to change her to an angel.

Evelyn Crowe:

And the only thing is he taste it in his mouth and he's like, "I don't know what this is, but I'm going to kiss you."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

And it's like sheer accident.

Daniella Drake:

It's like instinct. It's just like instinct. He's like, "I don't know why, but I'm going to do this thing."

Evelyn Crowe:

It's the most-

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Yeah. That scene was so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

It was so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

And then all the angels come and take him away, and all her friends are like, "What is happening?"

Evelyn Crowe:

I know. Can we talk about Guild Hunter head... HQ though, and how Bond-like it is?

Daniella Drake:

Yes.

Evelyn Crowe:

I loved everything about it.

Daniella Drake:

It was so good. It was so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

I loved everything about it.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

It was so Bond-like.

Daniella Drake:

Yes. Like the one guy that literally lives in the basement in the center-

Evelyn Crowe:

He does. I know. Wasn't he wheelchair-bound?

Daniella Drake:

Mm-hmm.

Evelyn Crowe:

And he just wheels around in there and just does all the technological stuff and makes weapons and tosses them at people.

Daniella Drake:

And he knows everything from everywhere. It's so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

I loved him so much.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

He was amazing.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

He knew everything. He had cameras everywhere. And I'm like, oh my God, he's Cue.

Daniella Drake:

He is. I know. It's so good. I know. I loved him so much. Her friend, Sarah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, Sarah was amazing.

Daniella Drake:

Was amazing. She does not stop hounding Raphael until she can see Elena. She's like, "She's still alive? You have to let me see her."

Evelyn Crowe:

I don't care where she is.

Daniella Drake:

Every day she's bugging him about seeing her.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. It's like, I don't care if you're an archangel.

Daniella Drake:

I don't care who you are. You need to let me see her.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

She's not afraid for herself at all, but very concerned about Elena.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

And that is a true friend.

Evelyn Crowe:

Absolutely. For sure. 100%.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

And then who's the angel who's in strip clubs all the time, but has no wings? Who's that guy?

Daniella Drake:

No wings?

Evelyn Crowe:

He got his wings cut off.

Daniella Drake:

Well, Ilium had his wings cut off, but they grew back.

Evelyn Crowe:

Isn't he in strip clubs all the time though?

Daniella Drake:

Probably. He's very attractive.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah, he is. He has a good time.

Daniella Drake:

He does lose his wings again. And they grow back even prettier.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah, he does.

Daniella Drake:

But he lost his wings because he shared a secret, or was that Jason?

Evelyn Crowe:

I don't think it was Jason.

Daniella Drake:

No, it was Ilium. He shared a secret, all the angels' secrets.

Evelyn Crowe:

That's right. And he is like flirty with Elena, but it's like not.

Daniella Drake:

I loved him though. He was like the boyish, young-

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. And he's sort of flirty, but not because he's convinced he's never going to find love again.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved him. I will say, most of the characters, even though the bulk of them are men, they were really interesting and complex people.

Evelyn Crowe:

I do wish there were more women that she could talk to as a woman.

Daniella Drake:

I agree with that.

Evelyn Crowe:

And not about boys.

Daniella Drake:

I agree with that. I'm not sure that this book would pass the Bechdel test.

Evelyn Crowe:

I was going to say, actually, I was doing my notes for this, and all of sudden I went, does this pass the Bechdel test?

Daniella Drake:

Which is such a small bar. It's so low.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know. I was actually doing it, and I'm going actually-

Daniella Drake:

But I will say as the series progresses, the women become more and more interesting and more and more complex.

Evelyn Crowe:

I do agree. Yeah, I do agree.

Daniella Drake:

It's hard because the first book is always about setting up the world and the lore and the characters.

Evelyn Crowe:

A lot of these, like Ilona Andrews, this series, a lot of these have-

Daniella Drake:

October Day, there are so many things where you have to just set up all this lore.

Evelyn Crowe:

A lot of these really long series are like this. So I'm very forgiving with the first book.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Absolutely. But I do think it's really funny because actually in one of my notes I'm like, "Whole army of loyal soldiers equal men? Where are the women besides Elena?"

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

When was this written?

Daniella Drake:

I know, but it's so well written that you don't really think about it.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, no. I sped through this. It was fast-paced. It was fun. It wasn't distracting.

Daniella Drake:

I was never bored. I was never upset. There are so many books that I've read where I just get mad because I'm like, where are the fucking women?

Evelyn Crowe:

No, the misogyny wasn't... There was no misogyny that was so blatant that I went, "Fucking hell."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. Exactly.

Evelyn Crowe:

So it wasn't so bad where I was like, ugh.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It was just for the time it was what it was.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. It was in the 2000s. And it did get a lot better as the series went on.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely. Yeah. I enjoyed the entire series.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, God. I demolished this series.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, it was so good.

Evelyn Crowe:

Demolished. And the sex was really good.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I know. The angel dust.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh my God. The angel dust. She woke up covered in angel dust and was like, "What the fuck is this?"

Daniella Drake:

And he's like, "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

Evelyn Crowe:

I loved the fact that it was the guy who was accidentally dusting her. So good. He's like, "I can't control the angel dust."

Daniella Drake:

So sorry about that.

Evelyn Crowe:

When I get too excited I [inaudible 00:32:39]. And she's like, "Ew."

Daniella Drake:

What is it though?

Evelyn Crowe:

When I feel a little too strongly about somebody, I kind of get a little dusty. I don't know what to do about that. She's like, "Well, stop it. Don't do it anymore."

Daniella Drake:

I know. That was so funny. That was so funny. So funny.

Evelyn Crowe:

I love it so much. Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyn Crowe:

Geez.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I really enjoyed this book. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, because from the description, it's so hard with these books because you read the description and you're like, "I don't know."

Evelyn Crowe:

Well, and you weren't sold on the vampires either.

Daniella Drake:

No. I have a hard time with vampires.

Evelyn Crowe:

I know.

Daniella Drake:

I just don't find dead people sexy.

Evelyn Crowe:

But it's not really about the vampires.

Daniella Drake:

It's not. It's not at all. I mean, even the later books where it is about the vampires, that's not why they're sexy.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

It's about who they are. So it worked for me.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yeah. I get it. Yeah, I get it.

Daniella Drake:

And also the way they become vampires, it's just very different from what you usually get with vampires.

Evelyn Crowe:

Agreed. 100%.

Daniella Drake:

So I found it fascinating for sure. Yeah. I liked the way she tied it all together and it all worked. And it came together, and you're just like click, I get it. Yeah.

Evelyn Crowe:

Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely agreed.

Daniella Drake:

Okay, so next time we're going to read Tentacles and Teeth.

Evelyn Crowe:

By Rowan Merrick.

Daniella Drake:

This is another Evelyn pick, so we'll see.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, it's so good.

Daniella Drake:

We'll see what Daniella is in for.

Evelyn Crowe:

Oh, it's so good. No, this is actually... This is really good role building. You'll like it.

Daniella Drake:

Okay. I'm interested to see it. We'll see.

Evelyn Crowe:

You'll like it.

Daniella Drake:

But this is Intoxicated literature. I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyn Crowe:

And I'm Evelyn Crowe.

Daniella Drake:

I hope to see you next time.

Automated:

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.