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S. L. Saboviec

Författare till Guarding Angel (Fallen Redemption) (Volume 1)

3+ verk 24 medlemmar 5 recensioner

Verk av S. L. Saboviec

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Nevertheless: Tesseracts Twenty-One (2018) — Bidragsgivare — 29 exemplar
Flash Fiction Online June 2020 (2020) — Bidragsgivare — 1 exemplar

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I loved parts of this book. Scarlet was a marvelous character – a woman of common sense who spends idiotic amounts of money on shoes and purses (her Louboutins are mentioned several times); a lesbian who is not defined by that tag; a wife and mother who has been very good at both those jobs in the past but has faltered lately; an apparent workaholic who does not hesitate to kick her work responsibilities to the curb when more important things – like her life, and those of her wife and daughter – come to the fore.

That last is something I've seen done very badly in the past. A non–millionaire character has to have a job in order to provide grounding for the nuts and bolts of her life, but when the events of the plot pick up she ignores that job with absolutely no regard for what will happen when everything's over. I kind of understand an author forgetting about how a character is going to pay for her home when she gets fired because she was busy dealing with a demon – but, living paycheck to paycheck as I have as often as I have, I have a hard time swallowing the character forgetting. And Scarlet doesn't forget. She probably wouldn't have a money problem for a while (failing all else she could always sell the Louboutins; one pair would almost pay my rent for a month), but she does have a position of responsibility, and she is shown to give consideration to that fact. It's a small thing, takes only a paragraph if that – and it grounds the character and allows me to keep believing in her as a human being.

I mentioned above too that Scarlet is a lesbian without necessarily being the poster child for lesbians. She's a woman who happens to be married to another woman. This circumstance is not waved like a banner; the only impact that her gender orientation has on her presentation as a character is that it colors her interaction with and anticipation of her interaction with the Catholic Church – the reader is not battered with this aspect of her life any more than with the fact that she's black, or almost fifty, or whatever her job is. And … well, isn't that kind of the way things should be, that gender orientation, while important, is not what should determine how someone is treated or perceived? I really enjoyed Scarlet's relationship with her wife.

There are a few things, though, that I didn't enjoy as much. Kelton, the assistant in the exorcism game, was almost a complicated character. As stolidly prejudiced against Scarlet as the most clichéd of Catholics (and, seriously, it is a cliché that writers should be ashamed to lean on), he is devoted to the priest, he lets his strong convictions cancel out any compassion or impulse to duty he might feel – and he has his secrets. Come to find out, he is in an apparently abusive relationship with his wife. To be clear, she seems to be abusing him. This could have been a really interesting thing to explore, even if only as a B-plot (or C-plot) … but it isn't. Even a chapter – or even part of a chapter – more digging into that situation would have been great – but no.

And, finally, the resolution of the plot bothered me a great deal. Without spoilers, the way this book was fitted into the author's universe was, I felt, unfortunate. The story of Scarlet's impending possession was fascinating – until the end and the revelation of more information, at which point I just got annoyed. And the whole "Fearmorph" thing annoyed me even more – after the serious jeopardy throughout the whole book, this just sounded silly.

Up until the last few chapters, I was all in. I had a great time. But that resolution undid a lot of it. Pity.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Stewartry | 2 andra recensioner | Apr 17, 2017 |
Scarlet is a well established executive living in Toronto. She's married to a French Canadian woman and has a teenage daughter. Like every family, Scarlet's has its ups and downs but she's happy or at least she was until she started seeing things. After taking pills and seeing a psychiatrist fails to help her, Scarlet returns to the Catholic church. Scarlet may be in possession of her body for now but her time is running out and if Father Angelo cannot help her, she just might find herself paying for a bargain she made in a previous life. The one thing Scarlet is certain of is that she was born to accomplish something big.

I'll be honest and say up front that the minute I saw a Black woman on the cover of The Impending Possession of Scarlet Wakebridge-Rosé , I instantly became determined to read the story. It's not often we get marginalized women as protagonists in this genre. To then find out that not only is the protagonist of colour but she's a lesbian and a mature woman of 49, I was absolutely thrilled. Father Angelo, the priest who seeks to help Scarlet is Latino and Dante, the witch who encourages Angelo is Nigerian. Yeah for an inclusive series which feature marginalised people.

The Impending Possession of Scarlet Wakebridge-Rosé is absolutely a horror story. As Scarlet's time begins to run out, as a reader I couldn't help but want her to be saved from the horror which awaited her. Scarlet is not only strong, smart and brave, she's loving and protective. Her family means more to her than anything else in the world.

Although, Scarlet is a Black woman, I really didn't get a sense of her culture. As a Black Canadian myself, I know that there are many ways to experience blackness in the diaspora and so in this sense, Scarlet was really a blank page to me.

In Scarlet's previous life, she was a Jewish woman who was taken to a concentration camp with her young daughter. At this point in the story, I became worried that Saboviec would end up appropriating an atrocity but Saboviec managed to come through this while at the same time making her story that much more horrific. There's no sense that the demon caused the holocaust which is often what happens in these situations in stories and instead, the demon used the holocaust for its own ends as a vehicle to torture innocent souls. I didn't even get the sense that demon is anymore evil than the evil humanity committed in the camps. For the demon, the holocaust is simply a playground.

When Scarlet first enters the church she meets Kelton, Father Angelo's exorcism assistant. Unlike Angelo, Kelton is an avowed sexist and absolutely homophobic and views Scarlet as a sinner and a danger. Kelton very much embodies homophobia in the Catholic church and the reason why so many LGBT people have chosen to leave the faith. Kelton believes his wife Beth, needs to seek his permission since he is the man of the household. He is also very much against Beth having contact with her lesbian sister Fiona, for fear that his sister in-law will corrupt his wife and children. Kelton's so-called hatred is clearly based in his desire to express power and fear of looking weak. Throughout the novel, he spews hateful rhetoric and even goes as far as to refuse to help with Scarlet's exorcism.

On the other side of this equation is Father Angelo who readily accepts when Scarlet makes it clear that she doesn't see her love of someone of the same sex as sinning. Father Angelo goes as far as to talk about how love elevates us and therefore nothing about it could be wrong. He tries to lecture Kelton about his backward attitudes, often losing patience with him. Father Angelo goes as far as to invoke Pope Frank as a reason for Kelton to change his attitude, only to be told that Pope Frank is an old man in a dress. I very much like that Saboviec painted Father Angelo as an outlier in the church rather than an example of how supposedly tolerant the Catholic faith is because it's miles from that, even with the addition of Pope Frank, who is more of a politician, than someone believing in equality.

I'm not certain that Kelton's character or story line are really needed in this novel. At times, he really feels like a distraction and with demon breathing down Scarlet's neck unnecessary. I do however like that Kelton's homophobia is absolutely disapproved of.

There really isn't a lot of lightness to The Impending Possession of Scarlet Wakebridge-Rosé. It's grim and dark but somehow so compelling. I loved it all until the end. Saboviec makes a point of shifting the focus between Scarlet's trouble with the demon and Angelo needing to confront his past actions and his spiritual beliefs. At the end, it feels that The Impending Possession of Scarlet Wakebridge-Rosé isn't really about Scarlet but Angelo, who survives his encounter with the demon and makes some big changes to his life. He's redeemed after a fashion but it leaves Scarlet's ending feeling so unfinished.

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… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
FangsfortheFantasy | 2 andra recensioner | Oct 30, 2016 |
Gorgeous cover, fascinating world, excellent writing, diverse characters, and a protagonist actually near my age (not very common these days), all make for another wonderful novel from S.L. Saboviec. I never get tired of her world.

Scarlet is a successful, middle-aged executive in a mixed-race, same-sex marriage which produced a smart and independent teenage daughter. Though she has achieved much, she is haunted by the feeling that there is something is stalking her and that her life’s purpose is unfulfilled. After putting herself through a battery of mental health assessments and counseling, she turns precariously to the Catholic church, believing her “stalker” may be supernatural in nature.

Father Angelo Ambrosio is the exorcist for the diocese. He actively expels demons from his parishioners and their homes. He has no doubt that demons exist, mainly because of his secret past as a practitioner of real magic. When he fears his Christian faith isn’t enough to save Scarlet, he turns to the mentor of his youth for help, risking his secrets being exposed.

In part, The Impending Possession might be considered a classic horror novel; some parts of it remind me of The Exorcist (though, thankfully, this book is pea-soup-free). However, it is also more than that. It is a novel about love and destiny and self-doubt and redemption and sacrifice and loss and how all things are related. Saboviec’s world is very spiritual, but not exclusive of any belief system, which is a wonderful balm for today’s fractious and argumentative culture. And regardless of how sad the events in her books may be, the overall message is always positive. This holds true for The Impending Possession, making it a pleasure to read.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
InvestedIvana | 2 andra recensioner | Oct 4, 2016 |
An eARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher (and then I purchased the book from Amazon.com). This in no way impacts the content of my review.

Last October, I reviewed a book called Guarding Angel. It was fascinating and unlike anything I had read before. Now I have the privilege of revisiting Eneal in the sequel, Reaping Angel, as she does penance for her Fall in an attempt to reconnect with the Source and return to her status as an angel.

Once again, I have to say that Saboviec’s writing isn’t like anything I’ve experienced from another author. Guarding Angel did a great job of communicating Eneal’s confusion, lack of direction, and feelings of helplessness about her life and the events she experienced. In Reaping Angel, Eneal is sad and angry at the way she’s being used by everyone from the Council to her former-Archangel-turned-demon, Voctic. She’s tired of being manipulated, lied to, and punished for things out of her control. The writing communicates Eneal’s emotions so well that I felt myself relating my own experiences to hers and getting angry for us both!

As with Guarding, it’s hard to decide which I enjoyed more–Eneal’s story or that of her Wards. In Reaping, Eneal is a Reaper-Guardian to a human who has taken on the challenge of being a Victimizer in her current life. Her story is just as compelling a Eneal’s and could be a book all on its own.

Saboviec’s writing and story telling is so good that it’s hard to describe to someone else. It feels more literary than most commercial fiction and yet is very entertaining. You just need to pick it up and try it for yourself; I guarantee it will leave you a bit awestruck.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
InvestedIvana | Apr 17, 2016 |

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Statistik

Verk
3
Även av
3
Medlemmar
24
Popularitet
#522,742
Betyg
½ 3.7
Recensioner
5
ISBN
5