Halo
Author: Alexandra AdornettoPages: 484
Release Date: August 31st, 2010
Status: Book 1 of a Trilogy
Synopsis (from Goodreads):
An angel is sent to Earth on a mission.
But falling in love is not part of the plan.
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 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?
WARNING: WILL CONTAIN A LOT OF:
I literally started reading this book right after I finished reading Crewel. It was 11:30 at night and I had a French test the next day (which I thankfully passed with an 81% :D).
The story is about an angel named Bethany who was sent along with Gabriel the Archangel and Ivy the serpahim to rid the evil dark forces in Venus Cove. It's a small, sleepy beach town with a population of roughly about two thousand people.
Bethany, unlike her brother and sister, is very new; she was created seventeen mortal years in the Kingdom before the story starts. She is very human-like and has the most sympathy when it comes to humans. Prior to her mission, she helped the souls of children with their transition to heaven.
She is very naive (as only an angel could be in the twenty-first century) but has a loving quality to her. While out one night with her siblings, she meets Xavier Woods, a boy of many secrets and always ready with a smile.
Her mission is simple: Spread charity and goodness in the town, and keep the darkness at bay. Do everything in God's will, don't interact with humans on an emotional level and DO NOT reveal the top secret plan.
The story was FULL of fluff. My friends at school had already finished the trilogy and had told me their opinions while I was still in the first couple chapters. While they didn't really take a huge liking in the story, I found it to be a good book to read coming off of my Crewel mourning period.
While I enjoyed learning more about the Order of Heaven (and other things I didn't know about because I probably wasn't paying attention in Religion class), the book revolved around the relationship of Bethany and Xavier. It was a cute relationship, and I felt like it kept the story alive till the arrival of Jake Thorn. But the amount of time it took for the relationship to develop and the pot to pick up took WAY too long for me; it made me feel the book was split in two: the Bethany and Xavier story, and the Jake Thorn problem story.
I spent most of my time swooning because of Xavier freaking Woods. He kept the story and the realtionship going for me. He is the perfect guy! I swear, at one point was like, "an Angel can get a boyfriend, but not me. #Sadlyfe." He was a really good, clean cut character, and to me was the definition of a knight in shining armor.
Jake Thorn was really creepy when he was around Bethany, but other than that, he didn't really stick out for me. In my head, he's just a bad guy and didn't really scream demon. I always pictured him as an English goth with crazy plans. But when he was introduced in the story, the plot started to pick up, so I guess that's one good quality from his twisted personality.
BUT my favourite character is Gabriel. He played a big role in the story and overshadowed Ivy for me. Like, seeing the Archangel as a big brother and a music teacher was just so adorable! If I had to chose between his character and Xavier, I would chose him in a heart beat. I tried picturing every character in my head but picturing Gabriel was just so difficult! He got the mysterious, sexy, party-pooper thing going on, but his character is just BAD-ASS, especially in the end when he goes all ninja-angel to save Bethany.
My favourite thing about Gabriel was his interactions with Molly (Bethany's friend), and Molly just going gaga over him! I can't even describe to you how accurate her attempts to get his attention was like an actual teenage girls. Molly and her friends are the most real characters in the novel, right down to them disobeying dresscode and gossiping. Molly was probably my favourite female charater in the book.
When Gabriel and Molly are together, I always have the urge to laugh or double over swooning. I mean, if Gabriel the Archangel in human form cracked (even a small) smile when he saw you, wouldn't you just melt?
My favourite interaction between the two of them was the Prom scene:
"Oh...thanks!" she said. "You look very fetching too. Having fun?"
"Fun may not be the most accurate description," Gabriel said."I've never much liked social events."
"Oh, I know what you mean," said Molly. "The ball is always a bit boring. Thinks really kick off at the after-party. Are you coming?"
Gabriel's stone face seemed to soften for a moment, and the corners of his mouth twitched in the beginning of a smile. But in the matter of seconds he recollected himself and the smile was gone.
-Halo, page 384
WHO ASKS AN ARCHANGEL WHO'S YOUR FRIEND'S OLDER BROTHER WHO'S DISGUISED AS A MUSIC TEACHER TO AN AFTER-PARTY?
Like seriously who? I don't know why, but this scene just made me laugh like crazy. I just love those two, even though Gabriel was as hard as stone. But Molly is so in love of him, and was such a normal character that her comments and antics made the story enjoyable.
"Whatever happened to that hot British guy?" Molly asked the two weeks after her rescue. She was sitting on the end of my bed, filing her nails. "What was his name... Jack James?"
"Jake," I said. "And he left to go back to England."
"Shame," Molly commented. "I liked his tattoos. Do you think I should get one? I was thinking one that says, 'leirbag.'"
"You want a tattoo of Gabriel's name backward?"
"Damn, is it that obvious? I have to think of something else."
-Halo, pages 472-473
Bethany's interactions, her friend's, boyfriend and family brought the story alive for me. The only time I felt her as a character was when she healed that girl that got in a car crash. To me, Beth was a sweet, naive angel, who's inexperience put her in weird situations and asking a lot of interesting questions. But I felt she was just there, and was only supported by the other characters in the novel.
The book was good, but I have to give it 2.5 stars out of 5.
Although it wasn't one of my favourite books, it definitely caught my attention and I really do want to see how the characters will develop and how the events of this book will fuel the next book.
It was a sweet, fluffy book that got me out of my mourning period, but there plot took to long to develop, there was too much narration and the protagonist's character development wasn't there for me. It's a good book though, and if your looking for a sweet story with an angel and human falling in love, this is for you!
