Book Review: Faelon by AJ Kelton

Book Review: Faelon

AJ Kelton

Greetings readers. I recently read the book Faelon by AJ Kelton and I was super excited to do so. A book about a nephilim, a three thousand year old immortal who tries to live in modern day. Just the premise of it excited me, especially since I love stories about angels and demons. However, in my opinion, the story fell flat and because of a few of glaring errors, I can’t rate it above a 2.5.

First the positives. The author paints a beautiful picture of this angel, Faelon who’s been abused for centuries. His black wings, he’s half human, half angel and being chased by a demon called Cayman makes for an awesome story. Then there’s the other man, Jax, who’s a security guard, a historian who comes to know Faelon and once he gets over the initial shock of the black wings, seems to fall in love with him. Again, makes for a great story right? Well yes but I feel the author missed out on some great opportunities for a more enjoyable piece.

The negatives in my opinion were distractions for this book. The POV head hopping which happened way too often in the book. When the first occurred I had to go back and make sure I wasn’t seeing the wrong thing. Sort of took me out of the story. Also, I felt the characters fell short of being brilliant. In my opinion, Faelon and Jax weren’t complete. We’re beaten over the head with the fact Faelon is a sex slave, loves it rough, and seems to need this abuse to feel wanted. Since I’m not into extreme BDSM, some of the things Faelon went through troubled me. It’s not the author’s fault at all that it’s not my cuppa. However, my major problem was the character Jax and how the seemingly mild mannered security guard became a dom, doing things to Faelon that bordered on abuse. I got that Faelon was immortal and could take a lot of it but I felt some of the actions by Jax were forced. From what the author showed, he just didn’t seem like the kind of person to be doing these things. Perhaps easing us into his transformation with a couple of light acts then a gradual change to experienced dom would’ve worked better. Again, it’s only my opinion but once I got to the middle of the book, I felt like it was torture just for the sake of shock value. I found myself skimming through the sex scenes to get to the next part.

Lastly the very confusing turn of events at the end. He unites with his former master Delgorio because he’s terrified of the Cayman and asks for help. The tension between Jax and Delgorio is definitely there and I wanted to know more about their relationship. He seemed to leave as quick as he came which was disappointing. There would’ve been another opportunity for the plot to go deeper but instead the author didn’t explore that more.

I really wanted to like this book. It had promise and an angel who begs to be loved makes for a great novel but this story’s glaring errors and forced sex made me wish for the ending. That being said, I would still like to read the sequel if there is one. I want to know more about Faelon and how he gets away from the Cayman while trying to survive in the modern world with a human lover. Hopefully the author will do build on that more in the next story. If so, I'd gladly give it a look.

2.5 stars

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Blurb: Who knew that loving a Nephilim could be so dangerous.

Faelon, a 3000-year-old nephilim, fleeing a demonic master, found safety with the church. He has repaid their kindness by translating various artifacts. Father Donovan has watched as Faelon became a recluse, fearing those who would harm him.

Jax, wanting a change, moves to Salem, MA where he finds work as a churches security guard. Not believing that Faelon is a nephilim, he is forced to confront his own beliefs in the supernatural.

Can he learn to accept Faelon, and be the master he requires? Or lose the man he loves to the demons who would harm him.