Review: Immortal City by Scott Speer

Immortal City by Scott Speer
Published by Scholastic 2012
Source: Won ARC

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them. He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat … and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson.

♥♥♥♥♥

When I first read the synopsis for this, I was skeptical but still interested. I wasn't sure how the concept of celebrity angels would work, and to be honest it sounded like a bit of a cliche. I was pleasantly surprised, and it was actually a very good story.

In the world of Immortal City, angels have revealed themselves to the mortal world and have started saving lives for money. Beautiful and powerful, they are the ultimate celebrities living in the City of Angels, L.A. Jackson Godspeed is the most eligible young angel in the city, and he's on his way to achieving the Guardian Angel title. Under unusual circumstances, he meets Maddy. Maddy doesn't follow the countless gossip blogs and news channels dedicated to the lives of the angels. From the moment they meet, Maddy is swept up into Jackson's world, but there's more at stake from them being together than either could have ever imagined. 

Immortal City was reminiscent of Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy series for me, except that it had an angel twist. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Immortal City may come from a similar background, but the story is so much better. It also possesses the same slightly addictive quality that L.A. Candy had.

Maddy was a very down-to-earth character. She made the most of what she had in life, and she was happy. Maddy didn't care for the angels and what they did like everyone else, and I liked her for that. However, she was also a very stubborn character. Again though, that's not always a bad thing. She had good reasons for reacting to situations like she did, and she held her ground. I liked Jackson from the beginning. He wasn't like the usual celebrities, and he felt like he didn't belong, which is something he and Maddy had in common. He was very sweet, especially in his relationship with Maddy. He was a fun and calm character, except when he got angry, of course. 

I wasn't very keen on the sub-plot of the angel serial killer, though. It was only mildly interesting, and didn't really hold my attention. Even when bad things happened and people turned up dead, I felt slightly detached from it. I ended up skimming the sub-plot chapters. When I find out who the serial killer was, I was shocked, and it was a great twist but overall, I wasn't really impressed by the sub-plot. 

On the other hand, this does have its fair share of action and suspense along with plenty of romance and overall, I did actually quite like this book. There is room for a sequel, and I guess I wouldn't mind reading it, although I wouldn't be drooling over it if Scott Speer did decide to write one. This was an enjoyable read though, and it was worth reading.

3 stars