Quick Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

From the Back Cover:

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?

My Thoughts:

I'm torn between a 3 and a 4-star rating on this one, so I'll call it at 3.5. On the one hand, this book has its faults. It has a lot of extraneous scenes, definitely could have been trimmed by a good 100 pages. The love between Beth and Xavier is instant and saccharine-sweet--it's not the most believable relationship. The villain doesn't appear until 2/3 of the way through the story and he is extremely one-dimensional and predictable--no chance of any plot surprises there. But the book also has some very good qualities, namely Miss Adornetto's writing style: so elegant and poised, especially for one so young. And I thought she did a fabulous job with Beth's character, portraying the simultaneous wonder and fear of inhabiting a human body and experiencing life on earth from an alien perspective. And out of the crop of angel books I've read in the past few months, I think this one probably has the most theological merit. It's a strange book because at times it's so very subtle and at others it's way over the top. But I think as this young author matures and refines her craft, she's going to end up with a long and successful career. I will definitely check out future books from her, though I will most likely get them from the library first.

Rating:  3.5 Stars out of 5