Halo (Halo)

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moiraethefatesbookreview, May 8, 2011 (view all comments by moiraethefatesbookreview)
Halo by Alexandria Adornetto

Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews.

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? (Synopsis provided by goodreads)

This one has been sitting in my TBR pile for a few months. I finally got the chance to read it. I had heard mixed reviews from a variety of bloggers ranging from “Best book of the year” to “Worst book ever.”
Personally, I fall in the middle. It wasn’t the best book I have read, but it’s also not the worse. I did enjoy it, and while there were some very saccharine and sophomoric moments, I attributed it to the author’s age. It’s impressive that she has more then one book published at the age of 18. Halo marked her US debut.
I really like the idea of angels on earth no matter if is a novel with fallen angels or angels sent to earth to help. I do think that Adornetto has promise as an author and I do look forward to reading her other books in this series, I hope that her books that are only published in Australia her home country will be released in the US.
I found Gabriel and Ivy to be my favorite characters. I do wish we got to see more of them. Bethany, seemed very young, but it was done well and I didn’t dislike her. I found this to be a very fast read, it did have it’s slow moments, and parts seemed to me to be longwinded or unnecessary.
Molly made me laugh; I really liked her personality and how she bounced from one topic to another in the same breath. She reminded me of some of my friends I went to high school with.
The ending was a little cheesey and I was expecting more, but because of something one of the characters told Bethany, it made sense. I do hope that books 2 and 3 will have a more climatic ending. Book 2 will be called Hades and is due out August 28 2011 book 3 will be called Heavenly and is due out in 2012.

Overall rating:
***1/2 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Cover art:
Beautiful! One of the best covers of 2010
Obtained:
My personal bookshelves.

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Teresa Conner, August 28, 2010 (view all comments by Teresa Conner)
I’m all about some angels and the premise for this book sounded promising. And then I actually read it.

I seriously worry about the future of women (and feminism) when there’s things like this and Twilight guiding our youth … and adults. I know that may be harsh, but I’m losing my patience. Halo was practically Twilight, but with wings.

First, you’d think that a book bordering on 500 pages would actually have a massive amount of plot development, but it’s sparse at best. We have to sit through pages and pages of empty scenes to even be given a small ounce of story line. And can I just say, being a teenage girl is not all about makeup, shopping and zomg!prom! What a way to paint them as empty eedjits, eh? Oh, and by the way it’s the 21st Century, girls can ask guys to the prom too. Clichés don't stop there though, no. They range from "poetry is for girls" and "I'm a boy, I know engines" and back. *sighs*

I believe if we cut this book down to just the main storyline, it would only be 30-40 pages long. It took just over 250 pages just to introduce the damn villain. And if that was a climax, it certainly wasn’t an enjoyable one. Remind me to feign a headache next time.

And don’t get me started on character development … what character development? The deepest person in this book is Xavier because he happens to have some so-called baggage, yet we only get damp up to our ankles. Our protagonist, Bethany, is even worse than Bella Swan in terms of completely devoting her every waking moment and thought to a boy she just met. What makes it ten times worse is that Bethany is an angel, a servant of “Our Father” (as God is referred to in this book), sent on a mission to help guide humanity back to the goodness of the world, and faith … and yet she’s distracted by a teenage boy. A teenage boy overrides a mission from God. I mean, come on. Only after what appears to be a week, maybe two, they are already reciting "I love yous"...

Angels are stoic beings, and yes, I can see them as eventually developing intimate feelings for humanity (we have the nephilim, after all, so mythologically speaking that would be the case). But eventually as in after eons on Earth, not the very first day they arrive. On top of that, Bethany actually looks to Xavier to protect her. Wait, did I miss the memo where immortal angels began needing protection from mortals? Must be in my “wtf” inbox, I‘ll check later. So are we saying here that even if you are an angel, immortal and powerful, that you still need a guy to watch after you? Is that it, because that’s what I’m getting from it. Angels are warriors, not whiny daffodils.

And instead of focusing on the mission at hand, Bethany spends her time thinking about Xavier or pondering up disgusting scenarios where we comes to her like a knight to a distressed damsel in some lofty castle bower. Bleh. Oh, and let us not forget the times when he isn’t filling her mind like a knight-in-shining-armor she is sick with worry that “omgz, does he not like me anymore?!!? Whatever will I do?!? I can't breath!” Nauseating. Angel. Psh. More like a Ninny. Oh, and we are even treated to a catatonic phase from Bethany after she and Xavier have a fight. Remind you of anything? *coughs*New Moon*coughs* Because, you know, it’s totally normally to shut down when you have a quarrel with a guy...

This was such a disappointment and was, I thought, overly bogged down with too many religious bits. I get that angels are bound to touch on religion, but you can do it in such a way that it doesn’t feel like we reading a Sunday sermon.

Again, I hate to be this callous but I’m just fed up with books that paint a bad example for our impressionable young ladies. Isn’t it bad enough that we have glamour mags and reality television … and Twilight? If I were a teenage girl, I’d be insanely annoyed that for some reason the media, and some YA authors, seem to think you all need saving by a knight on a white horse and that you are unable to do anything for yourselves.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780312656263

Author:

Adornetto, Alexandra

Publisher:

Feiwel & Friends

Subject:

Action & Adventure - General

Subject:

Fantasy & Magic

Subject:

Action & Adventure

Subject:

Schools

Subject:

Good and evil

Subject:

Fantasy

Subject:

Magic

Subject:

Children s-Adventure Stories

Subject:

General-General

Copyright:

2010

Edition Description:

Young Adult Fiction

Series:

Halo

Publication Date:

20100831

Binding:

HARDCOVER

Grade Level:

- Up

Language:

English

Pages:

512

Dimensions:

8.25 x 5.50 in

Age Level:

11-UP