Thursday, June 23, 2011

Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Published August 31st 2010 by Feiwel & Friends
Hardcover, 496 pages
Source: eBook, purchased
Buy the book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

Three angels- Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human- are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.

Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong.

The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?
I was really interested to see how this concept was going to be played out. I've always been intrigued on the various versions of angels on earth. This one had a few extras pluses with it, but it just lacked in a couple of areas that were necessary for me to really enjoy it.

The story line is very fluid and well laid out. Gabriel, Ivy, and Bethany work diligently to fit in to their new surroundings. However, Bethany differs slightly from the others, she's more open to the situation. However, this proves to be tumultuous to their mission as she becomes attached to a human, Xavier. This, however, is as exciting as this story got for me. I read along some more, found out more info on the characters relationships and ensuing plot "climaxes." Unfortunately, after the second half it was pretty anticlimactic. The plot just never reached that "I-can't-wait-to-turn-the-page" moment and then ended.

Bethany comes off as just a typical teenager. So in that respect I guess her disguise works. It does appear that she comes by it naturally rather than rehearsed like that of Gabriel's and Ivy's. She deals with a lot of the same issues as a regular teen: peer pressure, prom issues, status problems, and teenage sex. These issues are dealt with very well in the book through Bethany's experiences and probably what saved the book for me. Bethany and Xavier's relationship is strong, but really to the point of unbelievable. Both are so immature in all their other actions that it makes it seem fake and over the top.

This will probably not be a series that I follow. The story couldn't keep my attention and I was disappointed. It had so much potential! I think that's what bothers me the most. There's so many things that could have give this the "umph" that it needed to really draw me in.




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you tried any of the other angel books? Like Unearthly or A Need So Beautiful (which just came out?)

I haven't but Unearthly is on my TBR pile and I heard it's really good. I didn't like Halo either so I'm still on the search for an angelic read that kicks butt.

♥ Trish Just a YA Girl

Jenny said...

I fell in love with the cover of this one but I was never interested enough to read it and I've heard enough now to know why.

Michelle Flick said...

I agree about the second half being anti-climatic. I found it to be very predictable. And I thought so much more could have been done with the plot line. It had a lot of potential.

Maria Behar said...

Hi, Nikki!

I reviewed this book myself, and I wasn't thrilled with it, either. My biggest beef with it is that Gabe keeeps asking Xavier to "protect" Bethany! Hello! Xavier is a HUMAN. And he's being asked to protect an ANGEL?! This is completely ridiculous! It should hav been the other way around!! Like you said, Bethany comes across as a typical teen, a very HUMAN one at that!

I did give the book 4 stars, because I liked the writing, and the way the other angels were portrayed. However, I've been thinking that I shouldn't have rated it so high. Now that I've read your review, I think I'll go back and re-think that rating!

Thanks for your excellent review! : )

Maria @ http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/

Natalie said...

Wasn't a big fan of this one either. I also thought the relationship was unrealistic and that the main character was immature. Too bad.

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