Title: Halo Series: Halo Book 1
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Release Date: 1st August 2010 (Australia)
My Rating: 3/5
Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels, Ivy, Bethany and Gabriel, are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings.
But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls for the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of heaven by loving him?
Things come to a head when the angels realise they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There's a new kid in town and he's charming, seductive, and deadly. Worst of all, he's after Beth. The angels and Xavier must work together to overcome the dark forces, but will Beth survive the battle?
Halo is the first book in what promises to be a rather exciting trilogy. I was initially a bit skeptical as it does fall into the supernatural love category we have seen so much of in the last couple of years. But, I did really enjoy reading it and once I was a couple of chapters in I read the rest in one sitting.
Halo is very well written and the descriptions throughout are very detailed, although not excessively. I loved the references to the different angels and their abilities but also the underworld, our resident bad guy is described perfectly. Bethany is very naive, having never lived on earth and of course because she is an angel, and this led to a lot of funny scenes, questions and explanations as she needed some of the simplest things explained to her.
I don't usually like it when a reviewer describes something as being to similar to Twilight or that you will love it if you loved Twilight, but I am going to make an exception for this book. I found there were quite a few parallels to Twilight, and not just in the highly intense relationship and instant devotion between Bethany and Xavier, but other areas as well. While I won't go into detail, I will be interested to know if others agree with me on this matter.
There were a lot of references to God and how He feels and how He will 'enlighten us in due course' and while it was coming from the perspective of an angel, I did feel a little like I was being preached to, something I am personally not entirely comfortable with. Having said this though, I was able to look beyond it as it gave more integrity to the angels.
Please take note that I did read an advanced readers copy yet to go through it's final editing stages and certain things may change. One thing I hope will be rectified will be which country the town of Venus Cove is set in. I'm still unclear as whether or not it is set in America or Australia. I read most of it assuming it was set in the US after the references to prom and college but then I picked up on the fact that both rugby and soccer (two sports Xavier plays) are usually how we refer to these sports in Australia whereas in the US it is usually football. Also, authors generally set their novels in their own country as it is what they are familiar with (yes I am generalising here). Maybe I am being petty, but it is something that bugs me. Maybe we are not supposed to know where it is set? Maybe that is the beauty of it, that it could happen anywhere...
Might I also add, is that not one of the most stunning covers you have ever seen?!
Great review! The cover is GORGEOUS and it sounds like a really good book! I'm going to look for this one in the States! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWell, seeing that they had winter ending in March (when it is fall in Australia) in the book, it must be US :). Also, didn't you find a few things odd (like, at the beginning of the book it is said that angels don't perspire at all and then at the 'partay' drunken Beth feels her forehead and it is 'damp with sweat')?...
ReplyDeleteOh yeh I had forgotten about the 'damp with sweat' bit. I remember thinking it was odd when I read it but forgot about it when I was writing the review. Hopefully little mistakes like that will get fixed before the final print run.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think (hope) they're gonna fix that before the book comes out, especially seeing that there's more of such ambiguous stuff (the most annoying thing for me was depicting Gabriel and Ivy as so much more experienced when it comes to human body, and yet at the beginning they're as helpless as Bethany and Gabriel asks silly questions when talking to their mentor). But I must say the vivd language and brilliant humour do compensate for almost anything :). I love Adornetto's style, her writing is really sophisticated, which may come as a surpirse given her young age. Plus the story is great, even if it is a bit too much like Twilight. I'd even venture saying Twilight is crap compared to Halo :).
ReplyDeleteI realy enjoyed this book and drew many parallels with Twilight - the main one being the end where Bethany uses her undiscovered gift to save them all. Does anyone know when the next book is due to come out?
ReplyDeleteI loved the book, it did indeed make me think of the twilight series quite a few times but i most definitely can not wait for the next book:)
ReplyDeleteI found this book very interesting
ReplyDeleteIt is sort of like twilight but this much better
I was confused with twilight halo just made more sense
And I can't wait to read the next one
If this is a trilogy, I hope the next one has more action in it just so the author could distance it from Twilight. Maybe add the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse as a neutral side just like in the Darksiders game. Also the 4 need to be described as the most badass-looking group anyone has ever seen. Anyway that's my opinion.
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