Gabriel's Inferno

Title : Gabriel's Inferno #1
Series : Gabriel's Inferno
Author : Sylvain Reynard
Publisher : Omnific Publishing
Publication Date : April 4th 2011
Synopsis :

Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption. When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide. An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, "Gabriel's Inferno" is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.

Review :

Gabriel Emerson is a professor and Julia Mitchell is his student. They had a story together at the past but it seems that only who Julia kept it as an unforgettable memory. But for Gabriel, it's a vague memory that he himself isn't sure about it. At first I thought how come a man didn't recognize a woman he loves at past. It's nonsense. But apparently there's a good reason about it. So although I'm struggling to keep reading this book at the beginning, but after all matters are revealed, I found it so easy to love both characters, Gabriel in particular. It's contrast on how unlikeable he was in the past, but everyone makes mistakes, hardly once. What makes people different is one learns from it, and another keep doing the same thing. Gabriel is the one who learned from his mistakes.

Meanwhile, Julia, Oh I love this woman. I laughed out loud reading her debate with Gabriel at his seminar. This woman knows no fear, really. I like it yet I do not recommend other readers to do the same in the reality, though. 

One word defines this book. Beautiful. Everything in this book is just beautiful. The tenderness of Gabriel's love to Julia just made me realize that love is about patient, love is kind, love doesn't judge, love means that you never have to worry about how you look or how you dress, because in the end nothing else matter except love. I love Gabriel and I love how the author named him Gabriel, a name of an angel. And once again, his name is a contrast towards what he had done in the past. However, I believe the author didn't name him Gabriel for no reason. 

The only reason of why I give 4.5 stars is because I didn't enjoy the beginning part, and I'm not going to lie about it. Some of it are a bit confusing but once I figured it out, it's not a problem anymore. I love how the author relates the whole story to literature, poem, Shakespeare, Middle Age, etc. I myself am not familiar with Dante and that is a shame. To be honest, I have no idea about who is Dante's Inferno and Beatrice at all. But it's a good thing, though. It would be useless for me if I read the whole book but at the end I still don't know anything about Dante.

So I went to google to see what I can find. Inferno is Italian word which mean Hell. By the time I know the meaning of it, I could relate the word Hell to Gabriel's life. He really had been through hell but somehow he come back and asking for forgiveness and redemption. Julia as I can see is insecure and fragile. Past taught her the wrong way that made her become the person she is now. Being unloved is so hard to bear. Nothing is right about their dark pasts. But what makes it right is because they overcome it all together.

"I think if you care enough about someone to have sex with them, then you should care enough to respect them and not treat them as an object. You should be responsible and careful and never, ever hurt them. Even if they're fucked up enough to beg you to."

Gabriel is such a gentleman and no women would turn him down for sure. I love how he assures Julia that she is beautiful, that she deserves to be happy, and she is everything that he ever wanted. He made her feel special. For what Julia had been through, those words are so comforting for her. I also love the way Gabriel always care for her, even just for a small thing. Like stroking her hair, feeding her, etc. It's not like she is an invalid or needs his help but it's the way Gabriel shows his love and care to her.

"You know, the act of feeding someone is the ultimate act of care and affection. . . sharing yourself with someone else through food."

Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy (src:Wikipedia) The poem describes Dante's travel through hell. I will not write everything about it because it'd be the longest review ever, so I'll just put the link in here to make it easier for you to read >> Divine Comedy Since I love to analyze everything including people, stories, poems, etc and it's been kind of habit, I can't wait to read the poem myself to get better meaning and all. (Well, I should have read it before I read this book, though. But it's better late than never right? :))

I like this book enough and I can't wait to read the second book.

Rating : 4.5/5