Halo Review

Title: Halo
Author: Alexander Adornetto
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published Date: September 2010
Price: Amazon ($9.93)
Synopsis: 

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. 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 in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize 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.

Review:


Embedding the romantic belief in true love and angels (with the occasional hot guys), Adornetto entrances the reader into a utopia of love and heaven, of earth and heaven connecting together in a love story that was never supposed to happen. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of true love, but after reading Mockingjay, the romance, kisses, innocence provided a brief relief from the hatred and destruction seeping through that book.

Bethany and her two siblings (at first I thought Gabriel and Bethany and Xavier were going to create a love triangle, which would have taken an exciting turn) enter Earth to create and form humans into more sensible and good beings. However, the mission goes askew off course when Bethany lays her eyes on Xavier and irrevocably and of course, fatally, loves him (i.e. Their relation isn’t supposed to happen.)

Maybe it was all the bloodshed I experienced in Mockingjay, I devoured the sweet fluff of the cotton candy of romance. I wished I had a boyfriend like Xavier swoon. However, there are many flaws in the book, including the characterization and the plot. Before I do though, let’s all take a moment of envy of the 17-year-old girl who’s already published two books. Sigh, how unfair life is. Kudos, Alexander Adornetto!

The flat characterization of both Xavier and Bethany detracted from the book and the romance a bit. They were the perfect couple you could only dream of and I didn’t really believe there was anything exciting happening in their relationship. They kissed, hugged, said “I love each other”, realized how much they love each other, wonder about their future, in which there wasn’t a plot driven conflict or tensions in their relation, just showing adorable chemistry and cute moments.

My favorite part of the book was the description and the fantasy world she created with the angels and their relation to God. Personally, I’m not a very religious person and don’t attend church weekly, which means I don’t know much about angels. However, I absolutely love the different levels of Heaven and their roles they took. In addition, I loved the conflict and the cliffhanger at the end (even though it was way too obvious that it was coming) and it heightens up the angel world (that the readers are left out on due to Beth’s infatuation with Xavier, ignoring her original mission of saving humans).
Since the first book focused on developing the characters, the romance, and assimilating into human society, I cannot wait for the second book (Hades) to come out and bring out the evil forces the readers only got a taste of at the end.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 5/5

I mentioned Halo before in my Waiting on Wednesday Post and like I said I’m absolutely entranced by the color scheme and Beth and Xavier’s silhoulettes. Unlike my movie poster, it really conveyes this heavenly sense.

Overall: 3.5/5

Even though I believe Adornetto could develop the characters a lot more emotionally (including Jake), I thought the heavenly angel idea was unique and conveyed the creativity in the novel. The chemistry between Xavier and Beth, including their cute scenes, was adorable, but there was a lot of development needed in the plot section and also in the evil demons part. There was too much of black and white, good and bad, heaven and hell. The book isn’t very much action packed and only brings back Beth’s role as an angel at the end, but if you like romantic books (reminding you of your hope for true love) then Halo is a great book. Either way, I’m excited for Hades to come out next year (ah, too far!)