Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Book Description via Goodreads:

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings.

But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth.

Source: Gifted

My Thoughts:

For a teen author, Adornetto did well with Halo. The writing was superfluous but slightly too flowery, although this did well too for imagery. With the attention to every detail, I could easily visualize the scene, as if I was a part of it. I appreciated the descriptive lines and the analogy used within them.

One thing that I liked about Halo was that the experience of being a celestial being to being a human was recorded. The transition was fully explored. Adjusting from the perfection of heaven to the imperfection of the human world, which made it all the more memorable at the same time, was something that was altogether new and exciting to Bethany. She found that being human was something she desired and soon she craved all the new experiences and welcomed them with open arms, including the temptation known as Xavier.

Xavier and Beth’s relationship was something that Ivy and Gabriel didn’t agree with. Angels were not meant to love humans in the way that Beth loves Xavier. The love of angels was supposed to be generic and unspecific. It was overwhelming to put everything on the brink of failure for love but then Beth was more human compared to her brother and sister and being human meant being prone to pain, suffering, sadness and temptation.

Although in human form, Beth was still an angel. Her narration was probably one of which had the purest perception of everything on earth. It was both inexperienced and curious. Something so pure had collided with a liberated influence - aka Molly - Beth's first human friend in Bryce Hamilton. The fusion of these two sides was a bit funny because it resulted as somewhat of a learning experience for the angel.

I read this slowly because for me, it wasn’t that much of a page-turner. It was something else entirely. I felt that the story was something to be savored and not rushed. Just a comment was that the carrying out of the mission was not that much prioritized by Beth since she fell for Xavier. For me, it was a bit too much considering how she viewed the seriousness of the matter, to the extent that it could cause so much havoc. I just wished that there was more attention to the mission itself. It would have been exciting to read about that.

Halo was a good paranormal romance read, although much too inclined on the romance part rather than the celestial mission of the book. It was still enjoyable and gave a unique reading experience concerning the transition from angel to human.

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