The Neon Revelation by T.T. Madden

 

The town of Columbia is a place of miracles. Or so they say. The home of a secretive religious group that claims to have an angel among their ranks, to Roan, it's nothing more than a target, the place responsible for the death of her beloved Nico, a place she plans on burning down entirely. But Roan knows, as a transwoman, if she's caught within Columbia's borders, she'll surely be killed. But when Columbia's strange angel seems to choose Roan for some higher purpose, the believers have to choose a side, and prepare for a second coming none of them could have ever prophesied.

Roan has lost the love of her life, and she knows who to blame and where to find him. She does worry that it won't be easy to blend in as a transwoman approaching a religious sect to murder one of their own, but her grief and rage propel her forward. She finds more than just the object of her revenge in this cult like atmosphere. She develops a strong connection with the wife of their leader, and she sure would like to stick around to see the angel they claim to have in the barn.

I usually enjoy anything with cults, or angels and demons but there were a few off notes here that just landed wrong for me. For one thing Roan recalls a time in school before she transitioned when a boy asked why she couldn't just hold her period in. What? I had to go back and reread to make sure I hadn't misunderstood that Roan is a trans woman. Surely the author knows that transgender women do not get periods. Not even after they transition. I would have liked more info on the angel if that is what it really was, and why something that powerful would just hang around in a barn.

I think the concept of this book was clever, but it was too rushed to really come to life for me. You may enjoy it more than I did. I hate to end the reading year on a sour note, but this book was not for me, and is likely to be my last of the year, or at least until after Christmas.

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press for the e-ARC