A Song with Teeth

A Los Nefilim Novel

By: T. Frohock

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

"A fantastic ending to a series." — Nerds of a Feather

As the Allied forces battle to defeat the Nazis, a shadow war rages between angels and daimons fighting for the soul of humanity in this thrilling conclusion to the critically acclaimed Los Nefilim historical fantasy series.

The year is 1944, and the daimons are rising.

With the Inner Guard thrown into disarray by the German blitzkrieg, the daimon-born nefilim of the Scorpion Court gather in Paris, scheming to restore their rule over the mortal realm. Working as a double agent, Diago Alvarez infiltrates his family’s daimonic court, but soon finds himself overwhelmed by his kin’s multiple deceits.

Meanwhile, Ysabel Ramírez hunts a Psalm that will assist Operation Overlord, the Allies’ invasion of Normandy. Her objective takes her to Paris—into the heart of territories controlled by Die Nephilim and her power-hungry uncle, Jordi Abelló, who seeks the same Psalm in his quest to wrest control of Los Nefilim from her father. When their paths cross, he abducts her and leaves her to the mercy of his Nazi followers.

But Ysabel is as cunning and bold as Jordi. She knows only one of them can survive to one day rule Los Nefilim, and she’s determined to be the one to succeed her father as queen.

Trapped in her uncle’s château hidden deep within the Fontainebleau forest, Ysabel discovers the truth behind her uncle’s lust for dominance: those that wear the signet of the Thrones are not blessed . . . they are cursed. And it may take a miracle to end this war once and for all.

©2021 T. Frohock (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Doesn't feel like the end

Okay. So. The only reason this isn't 5 stars for me, is because apparently this is the last book in the series, but it doesn't FEEL like the last book in a series. So, I'm left feeling a bit adrift at the whole thing. The feeling of "that's it?" shouldn't be something I should be thinking at the end of the last page. I just feel a tiny bit disappointed. This book doesn't really wrap up much, and there's still so many possibilities of more to come with all the characters? It's weird.

Content notes include war, violence, death, torture, PTSD, mentions of abuse, mentions of rape, homomisia, racism, concentration camps, mentions of mass deaths, drug use, loss of limbs, starvation, and suicide.

This book is naturally much darker and much more grim than the books before. This book takes place roughly between 1943 through 1945, and mostly in France. The prologue touches on events since the last book in 1940. Everyone is trying their best to stay under the radar from German forces, while trying to find a way to help the Allied forces stop the war. While the previous books presented an alternate universe in history where nefilim and daimons exist, I think this is the book where most readers will be able to pinpoint the real life events the most? This story takes place at the height of World War II and it's a LOT, as you all can imagine. For the first time, the series isn't harrowing because of the supernatural threats, but for the very real life ones.

If you have this book in text, the beginning of this book does include a recap of the previous books and events that have taken place so far. Just a note that this recap is not included with the audiobook.

There are, once again, multiple storylines from multiple perspectives. But the hardest to read was definitely Nico's. In previous books, I didn't have a very strong opinion on whether I liked him or not. Just not much on him at all. He was definitely more of a side character in those? But here, he is captured by the Nazis and eventually taken to one of the many concentration camps. He is "saved" from the camps by a mysterious Herr Teufel, whose name translates ominously to Sir Devil. Nico's storyline is devastating. We do not witness what actually happens to him, but the aftermath is enough.

Nico needs a break. Badly. He needs a happy ending is all I'm saying. He's been through a LOT, and it made me sad that Miquel still didn't like Nico for so much of the book when Nico wanted nothing more than for Miquel to be proud of him? Is there a sequel where Nico finds true happiness and a loved one, and also gets the therapy he so desperately needs? I would read that.

So there are a lot of new characters in this book. Listening on audio, I did find it hard to keep track of who was who. It did get confusing at times, and I'm still not sure I have a good grasp on who all the new characters were even once I finished. Thankfully, there's no quiz at the end.

Most of the plot in this book is how Los Nefilim can help the Allied forces escape notice from Les Nefilim (the German equivalent to Los Nefilim) in order to aid in the fight in Europe. History buffs, or just war movie watchers, will see what events this coincides with a mile away. I don't HATE hate it, but it does feel like a let down? Like, THIS is the moment we were waiting for after three books? I do not feel impressed for some reason.

Since the beginning of book 1, we learn that Diago has been in charge of composing a Key that will be the key to unlocking realms, which is a thing currently only angels can do. Apparently. Diago has had help from Guillermo along the way to help compose the Key, but in this book we find out that almost everyone (of note) has been helping. And if I'm understanding correctly, the various parts of this composition have to be kept so secret, pieces of the composition have been hidden across the continent to keep others from discovering the full thing.

There's a LOT I'm not understanding with how the Key works, because the meaning and reason for it seems to have changed so much from what we know about it from the first book. And it seems to no longer need Diago's violin to tie it all together? Juanita is an angel, why is she not enough to open that path between realms (whatever that means, I'm still not clear). Let's not forget that the Key is also a myth, so nobody even knows if this thing will work for the nefils. How did they know that they'd need this composition in 1932 for something that will happen here in this book around 1944? Maybe I'm missing some important details since I listened on audio instead of slowly absorbing the details in text, but the whole plot around the Key is confusing and doesn't make any sense to me at all. It's just vibes here.

Easier to understand plots is Ysabel going to collect the different parts of the Key her father had hidden away, and the last piece they need to get back is missing by the time she goes to collect it. Instead, she finds herself confronted by the last person she'd want to see in this situation.

Meanwhile, there's Jordi and I don't get his whole deal. He wanted nothing more than to dispatch his brother Guillermo and rule Los Nefilim, but he's SO erratic. Yes, part of it stem from his drug use, but we're supposed to believe he's the big bad. Obviously, he aligns himself with the worst people in this war, but he's characterization through this series has been strange to me. Because we're also supposed to believe that Guillermo wants to save his brother and still loves him unconditionally? I just find the whole thing with Jordi very weird. The way this all ends is very sad, and I feel like I want more of a definitive ending between Jordi and Guillermo.

That said, I love Diago and Miquel's relationship. No surprise there. I feel like I'll only love them more once I get my hands on the prequel novellas and read those.

I also love their son Rafael and their doting relationship with him. Rafael is 17 at the start of this book. He's grown a lot since we first met him, and it's interesting to see how much he and Ysabel have changed since we first saw them as kids. Of course, I read this series pretty much back-to-back-to-back, so it feels like they grew up at warp speed. I'm still unclear what the relationship is between them (and a third teenager in their group because they call themselves the Three Musketeers, but who I weirdly don't really even recall from previous books), but ARE they just friends? I'm fine if they're all just best friends, but half the time I'm questioning their relationship like are they going to be together romantically one day? Again, we don't really know anything by the time this book ends. I'm curious about Ysabel's future and how everything plays out for her and her new role. How is that going to work in the long run? What does this mean for Los Nefilim?

Also, Christina (Diago's daimon cousin) still wants revenge at the end of this book. There's a whole daimon plot here where Diago pretends to align himself with the daimons and I only question why the daimons think he would turn on Guillermo, his husband, and his son so easily. Maybe this is the daimon way? I do not know.

I thought it was interesting how the nefilim and daimon who escaped, or the ones in exile, all ran to Argentina. Why Argentina specifically? Because what happens in the late 1940s and early 1950s? Juan and Eva Peron. That's what happens. So, are we getting a book about THOSE nefils and daimons in Argentina? For better or worse I love the musical Evita, so now I'm like, please give me a story of these corrupt paranormal beings in Argentina because that sounds very messy.

Though this series takes place in Europe, and focuses on the war in Europe, mentions are made about the nuclear bombs the US drops on Japan. There's really no mentions though of the supernatural in the Asian countries, or how that might have changed the outlook of the war from that side at all. It's really just all mentioned almost as an afterthought. I would've liked a deeper look into all that.

Again, I think the audiobook is still amazing. Vikas Adams must be getting quite a workout pronouncing all the different names and settings that takes place in this series. He really helps to elevate the books with his performance as all the characters, and I loved that he got to do all these books. I would love it even more if the publisher could bundle the novellas into an audiobook and have him narrate? That would be the DREAM! Unfortunately the prequel novellas are only available in text at the moment.

Overall, I don't think this book ever FEELS like the last book in a series. There's a lot of open ended-ness to it and I wouldn't hate it if we got a sequel of sorts (even a novella would be fine with me!) more in the present-day following these characters around, or even seeing another incarnation of a certain someone who dies in this book. Or even a look into what's going on with those who went to Argentina. Even though a lot of this book was just vibes for me because I couldn't figure out what was going on, I still found the book's intensity and story compelling, and the narration pulling me through. I love the characters, and it's sad to leave them. At least I left the prequel novellas to read only after I finished the novels, because I'm still not ready to let them go just yet.