This book has a very special spot on my keeper shelf. It's one of the very first fantasies I read that I remember so very vividly. I love it to bits. Truly, madly, deeply. 
 I will forever remain grateful to Simone for giving me this book. 
 I know we love several books and several authors, but once every long while you read something that "gives you life", to use a slang term. For me Sharon Shinn is one of those authors. I remember so well when I read Archangel - 2002. It was like coming home. 
 Sharon Shinn writes like a dream. When I first read it, I couldn't get over how beautiful the writing was; even before I could focus on the characters and the story, I was entranced by her writing. I still can't get over how beautiful the writing is. The book took my breath away. 
 Rachel and Gabriel are some (two?) of my all-time favorite hero and heroine in all of created fiction. They have stayed with me from when I first read them 10 years ago and I have never forgotten them. I reread the book with a friend and Rachel and Gabriel are playing around in my mind a few days later. Definitely two of the most memorable characters I've come across. 
 Gabriel especially is awesome! It is also a testament to Shinn's writing skills that she manages to make you root for a hero that is so prim and proper, so uptight(as opposed to dangerous/alpha/dashing/gallant/suave). I love how not-perfect he is. 
 One of my favorite quotes from the book is Hannah's description of Gabriel to Rachel, who by then, didn't know anything about Gabriel: 
 ... he takes most things seriously. He can be difficult. He can be very sure of himself, so other people's opinions do not always matter to him. He thinks it's a very easy matter to separate right from wrong, good from bad, so subtleties often elude him. He is not patient. But he is - he is never less than committed to making things right. Everything he does is with the goal of bringing goodness to the world. I can't explain what I mean. There is no evil in him. That is a rare thing to say about anyone, even an angel. 
 How awesome is that? This quote describes Gabriel so perfectly! A man (well, he's actually an angel) with real flaws, not ersatz/minor/nobles ones, flaws which color his decisions and his interactions. But who, when you strip everything away, is a truly good man. 
 And Rachel....is another story all together. Sometimes you want to smack her, but girl has so much spunk and spirit, especially after what she's been through, that you can't help but root for her. i love her for the sheer indomitableness of that spirit she's got. 
 Just seeing these two characters fall in love was amazing. I don't know how else to say it. This is the type of book you can't keep to yourself. I gave the borrowed book to all my other friends after I read it, and THEY ended up giving it to their friends too, because they couldn't stop gushing over it (needless to say, I had to buy Simone another copy of her book). It's definitely in my top 10 all-time favorite love stories. 
 The writing, is so evocative. So descriptive. So awesome. So captivating. Sure the book has it's problems but who cares about that when the worldbuilding and the story is such a treat?! 
 Another of my favorite quotes from this book is the very last line, said by Rachel to Gabriel: 
 (view spoiler)["You. I would have waited forever for you" (hide spoiler)] 
 (about damn time too, woman!) 
 The secondary characters were all fun: my favorites were Josiah, Ariel and Naomi. Oh of course, and Nathan and Magdalena and Obadiah. 
 I read this book so many years ago, with all its flaws, and I have loved it since then. Awesome, awesome writing. THIS is the stuff of writers' dreams. Reading this book was being sucked into a world of pure stupendous writing and breathtaking worldbuilding. To this day her writing has stuck with me. I don't think any of the other works in this quintet of books was as well-written. 
 THIS book to me is the gold standard of Sharon Shinn's writing. Most of her other books can't quite match this one in awesomeness and fabulosity, even though many of them are pretty fantastic themselves. Since then I have come across other authors that are especially gifted at description and storytelling, but Sharon Shinn was one of my first, and I won't ever forget it. And her skill is just awesome. 
 Needless to say she is an autobuy author for me. 
 PS: I tend to think that this is one of those books where if you dislike it the problem is you, not the author, LOL! Obviously I am not very objective when it comes to Sharon Shinn and/or Archangel, lol:D.