“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?”
So I don’t know if anyone else has been feeling this lately, or if it is just me, but I am just feeling like a lot of books that I have been super excited/ looking forward to reading have been disappointing lately. I am not saying that they are the worst books by any means, but they are 7 or 8 books, when I had thought that they would be 10 books with a doubt. For instance, “Clockwork Angel”, “Crescendo”, “Sleepless”, “Raised by Wolves”, “I am Number Four”, and now “Halo”. The only book that I think that has lived up to my expectations in the last month or so is “Alpha” by Rachel Vincent. I don’t know if I am being overly critical or am just being unrealistic with my expectations or what...
I found that the character development in this book was great; we really get to intimately know each and every character... But I felt like things were way too overdramaticized (a la Romeo and Juliet). Take for instance this little snippet from the book:
“You know,” Xavier said, “not speaking to you for a few days was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“I know what you mean,” I said softy. “I just wanted to die.”
He let go of me quickly. “Never think that, Beth,” he said. “No matter what. I’m not worth that.”
“I think you are,’ I said and he sighed.
“I can’t say I don’t know what you mean,” he admitted. “It feels like the end of the world, doesn’t it?”
“Like the end of all happiness”... (p.411)
I don’t know if I am turning into an unemotional cat-lady-in-the-making, but a few years ago had I read this, I know that I would have been falling head over heels for this book and its characters (like I was with/ still am with the “Twilight” series- or at least with the first three books, “Breaking Dawn” is terrible), but I just can’t seem to connect with this sort of stuff nowadays. Maybe it is because I am growing up and just realizing that these are books and not real life, or if I have just read so much of this sort of dealio and because so, I am just becoming desensitized to it...
I just can’t see how two people can fall in love with someone within a matter of days of knowing one another, one reveals something major to the other that should completely change the way the other views them (as in, “Oh, BTdubs, I am an angel sent by God to look after the earth”, or “I am a one eyed three horned flying purple people eating in disguise’), and the other (and normal person) just looks at them and says something along the lines of “I love you so much, and nothing can, nor ever will change that (even if you shed purple hair all over my clothing or take off my arm when you are hungry, you one-eyed-three-horned-flying-purple-people-eater, I will still love you)”. And then they go on to profess to one another that they will do everything they can to protect the other one... Blah, blah, blah, even if it kills them... Blah, blah, blah. Seriously I should write a book, because it seems like I gave the plotline of most YA books down pat ;) .
And then as I was reading this book I thought to myself, “who in the world wrote this? Do they really know anything about how relationships work?” And when I look at the back cover I discover that Alexandra Adornetto is only 18 years old (and that she wrote her first book when she was 14)! Well, that might explain it and why the feelings in these book seem quite childish... I mean, on the one hand, it is great that she is such an accomplished young woman and that she clearly is talented, but on the other hand, the majority of my favourite books (that seem more realistic in their plotlines- well except for shifting into cats or whatnot) are a bit older, you know, late twenties, early thirties, plus- you know, people who have actually experienced the world, relationships and whatnot to a higher degree than an 18 year old.
(And I know that this will sound conflicted, I seem to be quite conflicted when it comes to books now a days) I am not saying that young people of her age do not know what love it or anything at such a young age (I mean, look at my parents, they got engaged when they were 17, married when they were twenty, and now they have a 20 year old daughter and an 18 year old daughter and they are still together) and it would make sense for an actual young adult to be writing young adult novels, since they are currently undergoing such experiences, feelings, thought processes and whatnot... But I just feel like from what I have read, people out of the young adult age range can just do it better (even if you wouldn’t think that they wouldn’t be able to, since it could have been quite a while since they were young adults and they have experienced quite a bit in their adulthood lives and whatnot- much more than their young adult characters will have experienced).
So anyways, enough ranting and back to this book... Character development? Good. Storyline? Overplayed, somewhat childish (but then again, it is a young adult book, so I was warned). Characters? Well, some of them I really loved, like Gabriel and Jake, other ones kinda got my nerves a bit like Taylah and Molly, but overall, I think that the reader will really enjoy them. And what is nice about this book is that because it is a cliff-hanger, you can pretty much assume that there will be another book in this series, so you will be able to follow the characters in their future adventures and whatnot. If there is another book in this series am I going to go to the store on its release date and buy it? Nope, I will get it from my dear old friend, the library. Would I recommend this book to others? Yeah, as mentioned, it’s storyline is okay, somewhat overplayed, so if you are looking for a light-hearted (slightly mindless) YA paranormal romance, this is just the thing for you, however if you are sick of that sort of genre/ theme, that nope, not for you at all- skip it.
I've been thinking about this one. I know what you mean when they fall head over heels too quickly. However, teens and younger are what I call the drama age. Everything is bigger than it really is, but perhaps that's because of the hormones surging. :) I guess I figure as long as it is YA and the characters are young, I'll give 'em a break for falling too quickly (usually.. lol)
ReplyDeleteWhat you said makes perfect sense Melissa... I was on a slight rant and will therefore try to take into consideration your explaination the next I read a YA book where the characters fall in love within a few days (so... probably the next YA book I read ;) )... They cannot be helped, they are too hormonal for their own good.
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There are some good ones out there where they don't fall right away. Try Unearthly, Once a Witch and Angelfire. They aren't so melodramatic toward the relationship but still YA lit.
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