While I am usually pretty ambivalent about book covers, every once and a while a book will come along with such a beautiful cover that I can't help but add it to my to-read list. One such book is Tamara Jerée's The Fall That Saved Us. Once I read the summary, though, it went from just being on my to-read list to the very top.
Cassiel is a small bookstore owner in Chicago. She also happens to be an angelic former demon hunter who has left her heavenly duty behind after a lifetime of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her mother. She's seen the dangers of hunting demons up close and has chosen to have no part in it any more. However, that life comes calling back when a demon starts visiting her in her apartment at night. This demon turns out to be a succubus named Avitue who has been sent to seduce Cassiel and claim her soul. As Cassiel and Avitue's relationship develops, they begin to realize that they offer each other something neither heaven nor hell can: peace, safety, and unconditional love. The two lovers, on opposite sides of an eternal war, have to choose between the paths dictated for them or trust in one another, even if it means completely redefining what they believe in.
I liked how Tamara Jerée used the external pressures of a forbidden romance between a demon hunter and succubus to craft a deeply moving story about recovery and deconstructing faith. So much of Cassiel's arc is about her pushing past everything she has been taught about what it means to be part angel and part human. With Avitue's help, she repeatedly unlearns and then relearns aspects of herself and her relationship to her faith. When the external forces of heaven and hell come crashing down on them, Cassiel has to put that newfound faith to the test. For those of us who have had to go through our own journeys deconstructing what we were taught as children, it's a story that really resonates.
The theme of recovery from past trauma is also handled very well in The Fall That Saved Us. The story's slower pace, Tamara Jerée's choice of first person perspective, and their evocative prose make it easy to empathize with Cassiel. I couldn't help but feel her pain every time she remembered another aspect of her traumatic past or engaged in negative self-talk that came straight from her mother's mouth. Her arc of recovery isn't an easy one and is filled with all kinds of internal conflict, something that very much mirrors real life. It was tough to read at times, but it made for such a beautiful story by the end.
I also appreciated how Avitue's journey to recovery was handled. Like so many people carrying scars from their past, Avitue hides them really well. For much of the novel, she presents herself as this seductive femme fatale without a care in the world. While that is part of her job (she is a succubus after all), there's more to the facade than meets the eye. There's a real depth and vulnerability to her that Cassiel manages to bring out. Cassiel helps Avitue see that she is more than some fallen angel and that there is good to her, even if doesn't believe it. Not only does this make Avitue a more interesting love interest to read, but it also adds another perspective on the ways in which people handle and recover from trauma.
The Fall That Saved Us is a great read for anyone who loves sapphic forbidden romances. It has all the spice and heart that you could ever want and handles the themes of religious and familial trauma in a way that felt very cathartic.
