Branded (Fall of Angels) [Kindle Edition]

The Good:
Branded has a very interesting premise: angels are not the glorified beings they're hyped as. Instead, they are the cause for the main character's torment. Neat.
The story line is decent as well. It kept me guessing until the end. It's not all that predictable (except for the romance bit) and the author keeps some semblance of suspense up until the very end.

The Bad:
For one thing, the ending seems very rushed. Taylor manages to cram the entire resolution of the story into pretty much a paragraph. Wow. That's amazingly bad.
The other thing is that Keary Taylor is in dire need of an editor. The writing is unsophisticated at best, with awkwardly stilted sentences and cheesy dialogue. There are some typos as well, such as "tough" instead of "though" and so on. Speaking of which, the mindless repetition of certain words (sometimes, though, etc) made the writing style even clumsier.
The kindle edition is also formatted badly. I don't know how much of this reflects on Taylor as I've never published anything for the kindle. However, it's rather distracting to have random line breaks and indentations in the middle of sentences.

There were a few indescrepencies as well. Not huge ones, but noticeable: after one nightmare, Jessica notes that her skin is almost as flawless as an angel's. Then Alex walks in and says that she looks awful, and she agrees. What? I thought her skin was flawless! Her father also sends her a letter in the mail asking where she was, as he apparently has no clue where she is. If he has no idea what part of the country she's in, how did he send the letter?

The romance was not fleshed out well at all. Paramour "Alex Wright" is blatantly Keary Taylor's unrealistic dream Mr. Right. He's gentle and understanding to a fault, gorgeous, has a good sense of humor, filthy rich but doesn't have to work, tolerant of Jessica spending time with other gorgeous men, adaptable, an excellent kisser, enamored with her, single, and an excellent cook. And is so infatuated that he's willing to lay down his life for Jessica after only knowing her for a few months. Wait, haven't I read this romance before? Oh, it's Bella and Edward without the stalking.
Speaking of which, there's no reason given for why Cole and Alex (both beautifully unrealistic fantasy men) are so infatuated with Jessica. Her awful appearance brought on by a lack of sleep is mentioned multiple times per chapter, she's unbelievably socially awkward, and is essentially a hermit. Oh, and she acts very distant with both of them. Hm. Jessica Bailey, thy name is Mary Sue.

Overall, a good idea, poorly executed.

Keary Taylor brings something new to the popular angel trend with her novel, Branded. The idea of a girl standing trial, night after night for things she never commited is definitely a unique and very appealing idea. I liked Jessica. She was easy to slip into yet I felt horrible for her. She lived a very hard life, never being able to sleep, never really being able to connect with anyone because of this burden that had been placed upon her as a young child.

The descriptions in the story were very well written. I could see the council, feel as if I were there knowing all the terror she was put through. This led to a nice mystery of why this was always happening to her. And while I liked the suspense, sometimes I felt like the fillers of daily life seemed to drag the book down some. It was easy for me to skim over some parts because I didn't really feel them relevant to the story.

Alex and Jessica's relationship was a bit rushed, but played a very important role to the story and Jessica's need to survive all the things that were happening to her. Hints are dropped here and there of why Jessica was standing in for others, and why her nightmares were suddenly beginning to change. When handsome yet very suspicious Cole came around the story, the plot picked up, and kept me more in glued than the beginning did.

While I guessed a good part of Branded, the ending completely took me by surprise! It was well played, and I'm really curious of where the author will take Jessica's life in the second book, Forsaken.

First and foremost, this is one impressive book. Was enthralled by the book description alone. The storyline of this book is unlike anything else that I have read. Keary Taylor creates an unique and terrifying image of Angels that will intrigue all readers. The emotional rollercoaster that plays throughout this novel is one of a kind. Talent is evident in the ability to portray intense emotion without making the story seem cheesy or unrealistic. I am impressed by the ability of this young author, and can not wait to see what she has in store for the future. I enjoyed the ending leaving the plot base open, so that it is possible for a sequel or maybe even a series. With characters so intense readers will immediately appreciate to open ending in hopes for more. This is definitely a must read for PNR lovers. Lastly, I like to wrap up with a note about the cover. Very attractive! Not really a mystery because you want to find out what the scars mean from the start, but this is definitely a eye catcher.