May 29, 2012
Thomas Nelson Fiction
Young Adult | Paranormal
Angel Eyes Trilogy #1
Pages: 320
Source/Format: NetGalley/eGalley
Rating: ★★★
Author's Website | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .
ANGEL EYES
Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.
Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.
Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.
A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.
REVIEW:
Okay, I’m going to sound like a fool, but it’s worth noting: Thomas Nelson publishes Christian fiction, which I didn’t realize until after I read Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore and went to the publisher’s webpage. So… that was awkward. But the reason why I’m saying this is at the end of the book it gets VERY religiously and it’s kinda off putting for those who don’t necessarily believe in God. That’s one of the problems with angel books because how do you write a book about God’s creatures without sounding too preachy or turning off readers?
And with that awkwardness aside, I did enjoy Angel Eyes. Ish. I had a lot of problems with it, though. I really loved the beginning. Like it was the most amazing beginning; it was mysterious and dreamy and everything seemed to have a soft touch to it. You wanted to know more about Elle and Jake and who were the people narrating chapters in third person, this Canaan and Damien?
And it slowly went to downhill. When the paranormal person tells the human person what they are, the big action scene happens after that and it was SO WEIRD. Like it felt like there was a beginning and an end, no middle. No oh, there’s angels and he’s my shield and WHAT NOT POSSIBLE THERE ARE NO SUCH THING AS SUPERNATURAL BEINGS.
No, it’s more: oh, he’s my shield OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT WE HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW AND SAVE THE WORLD.
That did not work for me at all. As evidence on Goodreads. Basically, it was pages 200-300 that were the hardest for me to get through because that was when everything exploded. It went from the slow-paced dribble to some fast-paced futuristic train that I kept bailing off of. What Shannon Dittemore did—have the paranormal world be explained to the human world and then shoved into the big action scene—is different from most paranormal books, but I didn’t realize how much I appreciated the time to get used to that oh crap you’re dating a paranormal being and then you need to save the world.
Oh, and the whole “dating” thing? They don’t go on an actual date. In fact, it’s at the end when the boyfriend/girlfriend labels pop up and I went WTF. Their romance is just beginning and UGGGGGGH.
I just really wish readers and Elle had more time to fully adjust to the world they were thrown in, instead of being tossed in and having to run off. I also wanted more of a romance to kindle instead of it being barely there to a roaring fire. However, I would recommend this book to those who aren’t bothered by religion and like angel books. (I’ll be doing a post recommending my favorite angel books soon!)
P.S. Grammar errors annoy me (well, the ones I KNOW annoy me) and you guys, Angel Eyes breaks the two rules that annoy the CRAP out of me. Actual quote from the book:
"Nooooooooo!!!!!!"-p. 246
Okay, one: when stretching out vowels, you use THREE. THREE. How many is there? Nine. That's three times too many. two: Punctuation. Don't be an idiot and just use ONE. ONE EXCLAMATION MARK. ONE. Because I swear to god if you use two I am putting your book down, but SIX? SIX? If I wasn't close to the end I would have deleted it from my iPad and never look at it again.
Also: she uses the "NOOOOO!!!!" twice. So I'm doubly annoyed.
Other Reviews:
Awww man. I don't mind religious books, but they are definitely different from mainstream fiction and going into them with a mainstream expectation can really ruin a book for me. And it's so unrealistic when characters don't take the time to process world changing information.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it. And I honestly didn't mind the religion thing at all--but it's one thing that could make or break a book for me. I hated Small Town Sinners because of all the religion. >:( but this one was good!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! It sounds like a nice book, even with the few flaws in between. But then again, how can you have 'the perfect book'? It would be nice if you could take a look at Teenage Fiction if you have the time c:
ReplyDeleteExactly, Alvie! there is no such thing as "the perfect book." :)
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely check out your site!
Umf, I have this one from netgalley and I'll start reading it today/this weekend for the Wicked Wildfire Read-A-thon. :P I read some not so flattering reviews and I'm starting to get a feeling that this book will annoy the crap out of me. -.- Okay, I'm hoping for a surprise and all, but I'm not getting my expectations up. (Aaaaaaand thoooosee voweeel streeetchiing annoooys mee tooo!!!!) XD
ReplyDeleteAleksandra @ Divine Secrets of a Little Bookworm
HA! well, I hope it doesn't annoy you too much. It was actually good, it just went down the toilet when a certain someone told the other someone about supernatural creatures. Like who would process that so quickly? No one, that's who.
ReplyDeleteUgh, those kinds of things bug me so much. -.- Have you read Obsidian? Well, anyway, the main character deals with all these news so logically - she's a book blogger and she read about paranormal stuff, that's why she has such a clear reasoning, she asks question after question and it's more reasonable for her to accept everything since she already read about it and at that point wished sth like this would be real. I'm making no sense. Uh. :D
ReplyDeleteI haven't--frankly, I've avoided Obsidian because she's a book blogger. I don't know why, but I don't want to read about another book blogger. It'd just seem too inception-y, you know? also, WHAT? I've read a lot of paranormal stuff, but if some paranormal creature walked up to me and said, "Yo, I'm a vampire," I would laugh in its face and say, "Yeah right." I wouldn't be reasonable at ALL.
ReplyDeletehm hm, well it's not centered on her blogging, just occasionally she mentions she has to schedule a post or sth. :) well, that's logical - yo, i'm a vampire statement... no one can possibly take that seriously. but she notices things and she doesn't accept it right away - asking questions, trying to make sense of everything and eventually realizing: holy crap aliens are real. But the whole immediate dealing with paranormal - I can accept that but I can't stand the whiny female leads who have a death wish. Just... blah.
ReplyDeleteHMMM. interesting. . . maybe I'll read it. I don't know. I'm like a third of the way through Half-Blood and it's too much like Vampire Academy for me to actually enjoy it. meh.
ReplyDelete