Deborah's Books: Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

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?

**

There seems to be a lot of love/hate toward this book, and now I see why. I neither loved nor hated this book, but I'm glad I read it.

The story is wildly interesting. I thought the premise was fantastic, the characters were intriguing, and the ending was satisfying.

What I didn’t love about this book was the intense love story between Xavier and Bethany. Not that it was too physical or anything. Actually, their lack of physical relations and their reasoning behind it was quite refreshing. What I didn’t like was the fact that they so strongly professed their love for each other, then after one little setback, Bethany is essentially ready to commit suicide. It wasn’t healthy or believable.

Also, there seemed to be a conflict with the character of Bethany. She’s an angel and this is her first trip to earth. She’s incredibly naive about some things, and it understandably takes her a while to get oriented to her physical body. However, she speaks in slang and makes references to things that no one but an experienced teenager could understand. I would expect this if she sat around watching TV and movies for research purposes, but their family deliberately doesn’t have TV or internet. So that was a bit too much for me, as a reader, to swallow.

And if you notice, the book description mentions hiding their luminous glow and super human strengths. Uh, I don't remember them having to hide their strength, and Bethany only mentions her glow once...maybe twice. After that, it doesn't seem to matter that she glows in the dark. She goes to beach parties a couple of times with no concern.

All in all, I enjoyed Halo, and I will probably read the sequel.

And seriously? How could you NOT adore that cover?!