Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno Series, #3) by Sylvain Reynard Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews for Gabriel's Inferno and Gabriel's Rapture on my blog now.

This is the first time that I was going into a book in this series blind -- as I mentioned in my reviews for Gabriel's Inferno and Gabriel's Rapture, I watched all of the movies before starting the series. Since Part I of Gabriel's Redemption is being released on June 22nd, I did not know what to expect in this installment and was excited to see what was in store for Julia and Gabriel.

Julia and Gabriel seem to be constantly fighting and making up the next day, and a majority of those times I found myself wondering what was happening to Julia's character development and confidence that she acquired during Gabriel's Rapture. She really seemed to finally start to stick up for herself and lose the timidness that followed her, but not even a quarter of the way into the third book do we see her slowly descending in a downward spiral and backtracking on the progress that she had made. She has to compromise with Gabriel on a number of things, and it felt as if Gabriel's opinions and feelings were the only ones that mattered in their relationship.

It only took two and a half books, but the sex scenes finally started moving toward something other than a fade to black chapter. After watching Julia come out of her shell more and more, it was definitely expected to see her lean toward Gabriel's old habits before they got together. I was actually hoping that something like that would happen, because you can only read so many scenes alluding to something more before you start to want to skim the chapters. The scenes were definite improvements compared to the first two installments, and really played into Julia and Gabriel's individual desires.

The side characters are really going through it in this books -- Paul, Tom, Rachel, even Christa. It felt like one blow after another, watching each person suffer right after the other. I do have to admit that I was enjoying the expansion the author made on these characters, as in the previous books they felt like they were being used as stepping stones for Julia and Gabriel, but now they have their own stories to be told. 

Not to mention the number of medical emergencies and issues that side and main characters are going through as well -- I swear, if one more person was in the hospital or seeing a doctor, I was going to be able to graduate medical school by the end of the book. Pregnancy seems to be as contagious as the common cold in this book, with everyone getting knocked up as if the world was in a population crisis. The author went a little overboard when it came to the wellbeing of nearly half of the main characters, making it feel more like a fiction book rather than a romance.

I was really looking forward to Julia growing into herself and becoming just as confident as Gabriel, and the book was definitely headed that way until the third act. Due to a certain circumstance, she withdraws on herself again, and while Gabriel does try to talk to her to the best of his abilities, he is also hiding a number of things from Julia. With both of them harboring their feelings to themselves and stepping around one another, the third act became a back-and-forth of Gabriel and Julia deciding on their lives, while being supplemented by what I consider too many chapters of Paul's perspective. He was an interesting character, but was only a source of argument when it came to Julia and Gabriel's relationship.

Of the first three books, Gabriel's Redemption has the most development for all of the characters by a mile. With the addition of a few new characters, I was hoping that Julia could maybe make a friend or two in her PhD program, especially because she mentioned previously that she was not very close to anyone in her classes. Unfortunately, we do not get to see that, at least on page. It did feel like Gabriel was backtracking on his development towards the end of the book, and he seemed to be getting everything that he wanted, whereas Julia was constantly having to compromise or deal with the consequences of his actions.

If I did not know that there was another book after this one, I would say that the conclusion was pretty solid, save for a few side characters and their own little plots. I do wish that we would have gotten some moments of Julia and Gabriel where everything was going their way and they did not have anything interrupting their lives, but alas, the drama really moved the plot forward.

Gabriel's Inferno Parts I, II, and III, along with Gabriel's Rapture Parts I, II, and III are now available to watch through streaming on Passionflix.

You can add Gabriel's Redemption on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno Series, #2) by Sylvain Reynard Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Gabriel's Inferno on my blog, here.

Once again I am back into this series after not being able to shake it -- the movies are enjoyable and nearly exactly like the books, so I had no surprises coming my way in this book as I have already watched the three parts to Gabriel's Rapture. Compared to the first three movies, I found myself enjoying the plot of the second book a little bit more, even though there were not as many "conflicts" compared to Gabriel's Inferno.

As I mentioned in my review for Gabriel's Inferno, I have watched all movies for Gabriel's Inferno and Gabriel's Rapture prior to starting this series, so the events were of no surprise to me. I actually found that watching the movie before reading the books does not take away from the story, and it was nice to read what was not included in the movie adaptations -- which was few and far between, as the movies are basically scene for scene taken from the books.

I enjoyed diving deeper into Gabriel's character and inner turmoil that continues to follow him as he and Julia work on their relationship and discover more about each other. We get to see a lot of personal development for Gabriel, which was definitely beneficial for him, especially because he continues to be his biggest critic when it comes to romantic relationships and how he treats and views Julia in their own relationship.

Meanwhile, we get to see Julia's own development and finally start to see her stray from her timid nature and become more confident in herself and defending her relationship to a number of people that seem to be constantly interfering at every turn. She is still quite the wallflower, but I think the author did a significantly better job at personifying her in this book compared to the first -- we see a lot less misogyny in this installment, which was a welcomed change, since it was one of my biggest peeves during my read of Gabriel's Inferno.

The author continues to give the readers little glimpses into the side character's perspectives, which add to the story in the sense of being able to view Julia and Gabriel through an outsider's eyes while not straying from our main characters. Paul appears to us once again, along with a number of Rabbit references that continue to drive me up a wall in annoyance. However, the references were significantly less compared to the first book, so I will take it as a win and hope that the references do not follow us to the third book.

Julia and Gabriel go through a number of personal conflicts, along with a major issue that puts a strain on their relationship and tests their love for one another. Outside forces are working against them in hopes that their relationship crumbles just as quickly as it was built, and it seems that Julia continues to get the short end of the stick when it comes with coping with constant blows. Gabriel, while still suffering, seems to be able to find solace and realization much quicker than Julia, but not without having to retreat à la Edward Cullen-style in New Moon.

The sex scenes were on the same levels as the ones in the first book -- we get more scenes, but they are on the more sensual side rather than in the erotic style as seen in Fifty Shades of Grey. You can tell that the author uses the scenes more to development the characters and explore their vulnerabilities, rather than solely to add a sex scene when the plot needs a little boost.

Reynard does not tread lightly when it comes to sprinkling in classics references whenever he can, and it certainly has followed Julia and Gabriel's story in this book as well. Exploring more references through paintings and poems compared to stories, the author enhances their relationship by showing the similarities between Beatrice and Dante that are mirrored in Julia and Gabriel's relationship. The pretentiousness was taken down a notch, but still present enough that you need to pay just a little bit of attention as the references are made if you want to be able to predict where the story is headed.

I am really finding myself becoming attached to these characters, and am even more excited to dive into the third book without having seen a movie adaptation. Gabriel's Redemption: Part I will be available to stream on Passionflix on June 22nd.

Gabriel's Inferno Parts I, II, and III, along with Gabriel's Rapture Parts I, II, and III are now available to watch through streaming on Passionflix.

You can add Gabriel's Rapture and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno Series, #1) by Sylvain Reynard Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

I saw one clip of a scene from Gabriel's Inferno on TikTok, which lead me to binge watching the six available movies on Passionflix in one day. Once I found out that the next movie is being released in two months, I just knew that I needed to read the books. I will say that by watching the movie first followed by reading the book, I was so surprised to see how book-accurate the movie actually was. It was as if they simply changed the format from a novel to script, and kept nearly everything that happened in the book.

There is a ton of POV changing in the book that is not explicitly stated, which was throwing me off as I continued reading. We have Julia and Gabriel's perspectives, but then would randomly get Paul's POV in the middle of a paragraph when he was talking to Julia or when they were in seminar. Since the chapters do not have a designated character's perspective attached to them, you have to go in prepared to listen to anyone leading the story. You can also totally tell that this started out as Twilight fan fiction -- I was able to point out so many scenes that felt like replicas of Bella and Edward's story.

I actually had a lot of fun reading this, despite knowing everything that was going to happen due to my movie-watching over the rainy weekend. Julia is a shy student at the University of Toronto working on her Master's degree, on her way to become a Dante specialist. Gabriel is her Dante seminar professor, riddled with a dark past and an unknowing connection to Julia that he cannot quite place. There is enough tension between the two of them to cause a building to collapse under it, but as they become more acquainted with one another, we see that tension turn from distain to admiration and desire. However, their relationship and the way that they spoke to and about one another felt cheesy -- no one actually calls someone an angel out loud to their family, it was cringy reading a lot of their outside interactions.

Gabriel is extremely hot-tempered when it comes to Julia and anyone who basically interacts with her that may resemble them being interested in her. There are a number of times in the book where Julia is out with Gabriel and his sister, Rachel, and he notices her speaking to a guy and stomps on over to her, asking why she would be talking to them. Each time, she is typically just helping someone out, and since her and Gabriel are not together at any of these points, he looks crazed. He keeps secrets about his past from Julia because for some reason, he thinks she is the picture of purity and that knowing anything bad about him will ruin her forever? There is so much emphasis on the fact that she is shy and a virgin, you would think she would have won a prize for being a saint. You can tell that this book was written by a man through the way he places a level of emphasis on Julia's innocence and Gabriel's supposed torrid past.

Despite the excessive amount of times that both Julia and Gabriel bring up the strict non-fraternization policy at the university, they sure seem to love to run around the city together and be in each other's company whenever they can. I was genuinely surprised when they were not found out during one of their many interactions in broad daylight. They are running around town using the excuse that if anyone sees them together, that they are discussing Julia's thesis topic, since he is her advisor. Personally, if I saw my classmate having a candle lit dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, her thesis being the topic of discussion would be the last thing on my mind. I also could not stand the emails and text messages that they would send each other -- they were cringe-worthy and did not feel genuine, almost as if they were using classics references in an attempt to impress one another.

Paul, a doctoral student who sits next to Julia in the Dante seminar, constantly refers to her as Rabbit, which he does not ever stop doing and does not explain to Julia why he calls her that. Personally, his little rabbit fetish was driving me insanely and was flashing red flags over his head any time that he interacted with Julia. He becomes very protective of her in the sense that he is romantically interested in Julia and well Julia... she just wants a friend in a new city. It is alluded throughout the book that she has been hurt in the past by a past boyfriend, and as the story goes on, we learn more and more about what exactly she had been through before coming to Toronto.

Julia's relationship to her father is very complicated, and with the extensive background the author gives us about her childhood and issues with familial relationships, we see that played out when she has to talk to her father. He does not seem to respect her boundaries at all, and basically drops her at any chance something else he deems more important comes up. It was disheartening to see her constantly being left behind or her feelings being dismissed by him just because he thinks he knows better.

This is an utterly pretentious book that may leave the reader thinking that they do not understand the context in which Julia and Gabriel speak in. Most of the time, they love using Dante and Beatrice metaphors and references to talk about themselves with each other and with other people. They also have a knack of Botticelli, one of my favorite painters, so I was very much enjoying any time he was brought into conversation. If you do not have a background in classics or Italian studies, you might be unfamiliar with topics discussed, but otherwise I think it should be easy for anyone to understand. It is pretty much just the basic classics knowledge you would find in an article online or just looking up a summary of Dante's works. I was already pretty familiar with the work they discussed, so it was very interesting to see how heavily it impacted Julia and Gabriel's relationship.

I think there was a different level of categorization of being erotic when this book was first published -- if you are looking for something that has a ton of sex scenes, this is not the book for you. Everything in this book is more on the sensual side, with the added touch of high-tension scenes between Julia and Gabriel that fall into the category of just being erotic in essence but not fully played out on the page. However, I think that was a good choice by the author, given Julia's past and Gabriel's constant worry that he will ruin her.

Gabriel's Inferno Parts I, II, and III, along with Gabriel's Rapture Parts I, II, and III are now available to watch through streaming on Passionflix.

You can add Gabriel's Inferno and the rest of the series on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!