(Text) Messages From the Angel Gabriel

"The Angel Gabriel brought me a message, but forgot it the second he saw his first cat video," begins the tumultuous relationship between an angel and a human that is at the core of (Text) Messages from The Angel Gabriel. The novel in verse presents each stage of the complicated, often paradoxical relationship, from initial visitation to inevitable conclusion. Over the course of the narrative The Angel Gabriel ponders the mystery of the jalapeno popper, pretends to be a therapist, and fails to deliver a message. He learns to text, tries to send a booty call, experiences the highs and lows of Black Friday shopping, and throws a baby shower. The vignettes in this novel mimic the rhythms of repeated text messages, memes, movie montages, listicles, and other aspects of modern life. Readers experience a range of emotions throughout the story, from disbelief in the moment when The Angel Gabriel appears on the narrator's doorstep, to the humor inherent in an angel running a frozen yogurt shop, to the melancholy realization that even when you are divine, you are still ultimately human. Between the open and close of the relationship, readers see the scope of that flawed, multi-faceted humanity. In eighteen short vignettes, (Text) Messages from The Angel Gabriel offers readers a unique story of the rise and fall of a relationship that feels timeless and modern, singular, yet worth revisiting, like a parting gift from the ex you've never quite gotten rid of.