Review: Immortal Reborn: Arianna's Choice by Natalie D. Wilson

Today is going to start a week of catch up for me.  Last week was quite hectic and left me behind on my reviews.  So, today I am spotlighting Immortal Reborn: Arianna’s Choice by Natalie D. Wilson.  This was a great novel.  This is the first in the series and the series definitely has promise.  For my full review be sure to keep reading after the book blurb.  Be sure to keep up this week for all the great reviews that will presented.

Book Blurb:

A Children of Angels Novel:
When Alexandria Grace Groaban was a child, she learned she was very different from other children and adults she encountered. She saw and heard things that no child should ever bear witness to. She knew details of things and people long since passed, and she could hear voices and repeat them in whatever language she heard during the scenes which played out before her young and impressionable eyes. Through an encounter with someone she thought to be her guardian angel, Alexandria was given a reprieve so that she might know some normalcy in her childhood. But at the age of twenty-one, Alexandria returned home to her family’s small estate outside Oxford, England for Christmas, and learned the hard way that her grace period was about to come to an abrupt and vicious end. Now, whether for better or worse, she will find herself on the edge of a great precipice. One that will call her into action and into a world that she could never have fathomed existed. For Alexandria to know who and what she truly is, she will have to rise to the challenge of a battle that has been waged for millennia by beings first spoken of in Genesis, and embrace that which has lay dormant within her since she was a child.

Review:

Alexandria’s family has always known she was special.  She would be able to see the history of any object she touched.  This happened until her guardian angel Ganymede offers her a reprieve so she may have a normal childhood.  This reprieve is only temporary until a time in the future.  Alex’s reprieve ends when she is attacked at a ball.  It is only when Ganymede comes to her aid that things start to be revealed.  Alex learns that her soul is that of a Nephilim or a child of an angel.  Once she learns of what she is she want to learn more and leaves to go to a “retreat”  to recover from her attack.  It is at the “retreat”  that she really meets many Nephilim.  Most have known her when she was alive previously.  As she meets other Nephilim she also learns the powers she has and how to control them.  As she dives deeper into herself and into her powers she realizes she will need to make a decision to either stay mortal or choose an immortal life.  Though Alex knows she needs to make a choice soon but will she have enough time to decide or will her choice be made for her.
This was a great novel.  It was a clever and refreshing story.  Alex’s character was fantastic.  You actually saw her develop and change as the story went on.  It’s not just Alex that makes this story great.  I think the rest of the Nephilim with their unique abilities and personalities.  They are all fun and add an additional level.  Since they all knew Alex as Arianna they already care for her in ways that would take ages.  I think another level is the love triangle between Alex, Jackson and Gaius.  I definitely don’t envy Alex having to choose between these two men.  I did notice that this is a very religiously based story.  It’s not surprising since this is a story about angels but the story does focus on some specific scripture.  This aspect may turn off some readers who do not share certain beliefs.  I personally thought it was a new take on angels and their children.  Overall, I felt this was a good story with a lot of potential in the series to come.