TITLE: Highborn (Dark Redemption 01)
AUTHOR: Yvonne Navarro
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PUBLISHED: October 2010
RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 ☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism
Description: Astarte was a Highborn angel before she fell. Now she's a princess in Hell, a favourite of Lucifer and tired of torturing people and bathing in their blood. She ascends to our world in the hopes of redemption, becoming Brynna Malak and changing the lives of everyone she meets.
Review: I read this book before the current YA deluge of Angel, Nephilim, Demon-who-loves-Angel novels. I was aware of Yvonne Navarro because of her previous work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelizations; this novel's blurb intrigued me.
Throughout the book, a recurring theme is that of choice. It's interesting to watch Brynna learn her way through the maze that is current human society and begin to be able to make choices that she can feel good about...
"There are always choices, but the choices are there for a reason. What happens depends on the choice someone makes. That’s how the future is made."
The plot hinges on a serial killer and his actions targeting half-angel, half-humans. These beings have one purpose in their lives, an urge that defines their choices and the things they seek. They exist to protect those who will ultimately end up making the world better, often losing their lives doing so. Of course, Hell is at odds with this, sending Searchers (demon trackers) to find and ultimately destroy these beings.
Brynna gets tangled in the middle of the police hunter for the serial killer, finding it difficult to explain who she is, where she's been before. Slowly, she finds her way in the world and proves herself to the police and to the people around her that she's made it her business to protect.
Because of Brynna's nature as a cloaked demon, she heals quickly, has superhuman strength, and can summon hellfire to cover her tracks, but each of these things is difficult to explain and causes consternation among those who surround her. In the end, people choose to accept her at face value and she begins to understand human nature (and the nature of brave animals as well).
The story is fast-paced, compelling, and full of twists and turns. No person or interaction is ever meaningless and upon rereading for the sake of this review, I was impressed with how each person's choices mattered, for good or for evil and in the end, it's a satisfying tale of the beginning of redemption, made all the more poignant because Brynna knows exactly how far she has yet to go.
"In time… it was such a complicated concept. She could fight until the end of eternity, but she would never be able to eliminate all the demons under Lucifer’s control. Yet if she could make one small difference for someone, make things somehow BETTER, than perhaps it had all been worth it."
There is one more novel in this series, Concrete Savior. The author says she would be open to writing more stories set in this world, but her publishers haven't picked up any more books.
I recommend Highborn to any reader who likes a satisfying urban fantasy with just enough world-building to make it feel unique, but not so much that you need to take notes. It's well written and tightly-plotted, with a clear resolution and likable characters. If, however, you have problems accepting that "everything happens for a reason" you may want to give this one a pass.