Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

HALO by Alexandra Adornetto

Pub. Date: August 2010

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Format: Hardcover, 496pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Source: Publisher

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 angels’ mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Alexandra Adornetto pulled me into the pages of HALO with a great romance, great writing, and a beautiful setting. I'm normally not crazy about overly descriptive writing as I tend to want my imagination to come up with my own picture of the settings/characters. Adornetto manages to do it effortlessly without bogging the reader down with too much sensory overload. I was able to get a feel for the bigger picture of what Bethany's experience entailed with going from a celestial being without having to deal with sensations to being able to handle the foreign experience of feelings and what not. So, Adornetto's writing style definitely fit with the whole arc of the story.

As for the characters in this mesmerizing tale of agents of light vs. agents of dark or angels just bringing about good in the world around them, the charters themselves were almost life like. With Bethany being the most human out of the three, she is easily relatable in that whole new girl in school vibe. Gabriel is fierce and protective, but all the more enjoyable for the role he plays as one of the oldest archangels. Then there's Ivy with her ethereal beauty and quiet presence that’s the glue that ties these three angels together. I can't forget to mention Xavier with his intense love and protectiveness for Bethany. Their attraction for one another was all consuming but quite enjoyable nonetheless. It was nice to see how Bethany's differences from the other angels played a role in how well she fit in with humans thus bringing her and Xavier together.

This book packs a lot of pages, mostly just scenes of the angels fitting in and trying to adjust to life around humans. The dark forces that encompassed this story wasn't really at the forefront of the story but I'm sure in the next installment, HADES, we'll get to see more of the Good vs. Evil story arc. Overall, I think HALO was a great start to a new and exciting series!

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

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