From the Bookshelf of Team Vampire!!…

Halo (Halo, #1)

Alexandra Adornetto

Start date: February 1, 2011

Finish date: February 28, 2011

Discussion: Monthly Group Read

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Sep 27, 2010 Catherine rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, ya-pnr-supernatural, angels, reviewed

I haven’t read many books about angels as I usually prefer supernatural monsters to divine beings, but the cover was nice so I thought I’d give it a go.
The story would probably have been a much better read if the author had worked more on the theme of having angels come to save the world. It wasn’t an especially captivating concept but there was potential for a good story.

However, I thought that potential was utterly destroyed once Beth met Xavier. She’s supposed to be a divine being, an angel I haven’t read many books about angels as I usually prefer supernatural monsters to divine beings, but the cover was nice so I thought I’d give it a go.
The story would probably have been a much better read if the author had worked more on the theme of having angels come to save the world. It wasn’t an especially captivating concept but there was potential for a good story.

However, I thought that potential was utterly destroyed once Beth met Xavier. She’s supposed to be a divine being, an angel sent to Earth to battle the dark forces and rescue humanity. Instead, she enrolls into a high school, meets a boy, and for the majority of the book it’s all about her getting butterflies from looking at his gorgeous face, obsessing about the way she looks, getting jealous over his relationship with his ‘deceased’ ex-girlfriend…I fail to see any angelic qualities about her whatsoever and if it wasn’t for her wings she would be just like any other self-obsessed teenage girl.

It is especially pathetic that Xavier claims to love Beth and yet the minute he sees a picture of her being kissed by another guy, he simply assumes that she’s cheating on him without even bothering to ask for an explanation or allowing her the time to give him one. And being the big, strong, powerful angel that she is, Beth goes home and cries. She misses school, she loses weight, simply put she goes catatonic. Over a boy. And she’s an angel. Sent to save humanity.

To me, this felt like another sappy teenage romance that could’ve done without the supernatural elements, as the entire book revolved around the relationship between Beth and Xavier. Things start to get a little more interesting when a new guy, Jake, enrolls at the high school and things start going wrong. But the thing is, anyone in Beth’s place could see there was something not right with the guy. In fact, even Xavier who’s just a normal mortal boy was feeling a little uneasy about him, but Beth being the clever, divine being sent to guide humanity away from evil couldn’t tell that Jake was the epitome of evil and befriends him.

The ending was one of those situations where the character is told not to do something by people that are smarter and more experienced than her, but rather than take their advice, Beth goes and does it anyway. It’s OK for her as she’s an angel and even if she dies she’ll just go back to heaven, but she knows very well her boyfriend is just a normal mortal and yet she still takes him with her to confront the villain. And surprise surprise, Xavier is no match for Jake and ends up being used to blackmail Beth into cooperation. And to top it all off, she ends up defeating the bad guy by kissing her boyfriend when he comes to rescue her. You guessed right, it’s called the power of love. How sweet.

If this book were just labeled as a romance then I probably would’ve given it a higher rating. I admit, Xavier was quite cute sometimes and it does make me think…aw, I wish I had a boyfriend like that. That’s pretty much the only reason why I gave it three stars, because Beth’s character was weak and useless and definitely should not have been called an angel.

I liked Gabriel and Ivy’s characters as they were more like what I would called angels, but I am a little worried that something really silly will happen in the next book, like maybe Gabriel and Molly getting together. (Molly is Beth’s teenage friend who has a major crush on Gabriel) I might have to burn the book if that happened.

I think Halo would probably appeal to those who liked Twilight and sappy romances, but if you’re looking for a strong female lead with a lot of supernatural action, then you won’t find it here.
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