Heaven is best described as “whiteness.” The angels are pale white and blond (except for Bethany who has darker hair – one can presume she’ll get blonder as she grows into angelhood) – and “goddess-like” (which means conforming to the Aryan stereotype). I loved the “culture shock” of Bethany’s experience as a first-time human – learning to eat food, experiencing alcohol, figuring out the slang, her reaction to the preoccupations of teenaged girls – all creatively imagined and gently humorous.īut some other aspects of the book bothered me. I liked the subtle humor and I even liked the religious commitment of the angels and some of the characters it is absolute and sustaining, but never heavy-handed or all-consuming. But her commitment to a human only draws the forces of darkness into the picture. Soon she finds the appeal of Xavier so great, she doesn’t care. I’d listened in on the prayers of teenage girls and most of them centered on being accepted by the ‘popular’ crowd and finding a boyfriend who played on the rugby team.”īut with Bethany’s “ethereal” looks, she soon has a good friend, Molly, and the interest of the school captain, Xavier Woods.īethany knows she needs to avoid the “seduction of all things human” in order not to lose sight of her higher purpose, but she isn’t sure what the repercussions would be if that happened. “I didn’t have to be human to know that first impressions could make all the difference between acceptance and isolation. Bethany is nervous on her first day of school:

Ivy stays home and works on charitable projects. They pose as three siblings, with the last name of Church.Īs part of their “cover,” Bethany attends the high school, and Gabriel will be a music instructor there.

The three each have a power at their disposal: Gabriel is a warrior, and Ivy has healing powers, but Bethany does not yet know what her power is.

Three angels, Gabriel (of archangel fame), Ivy (a seraphim), and Bethany (a novice, “created only seventeen mortal years ago”) are sent to the small town of Venus Cove as part of a general defensive strategy to combat the growing forces of darkness in the world. I have a couple complaints about this book too (see Discussion), but on the whole this writer impressed me quite a bit. And there’s more! This book is actually more clever and more well-written than the two books involving angels I previously reviewed! (See my reviews of Hush, Hush and Crescendo). Publishing her first book at age 13, this is Adornetto’s fourth book. This book is first of all amazing for the simple reason that the author is not even yet 20. But this is a different author than the last angel book I read, and there’s almost a different plot! What?!!, you’re thinking to yourself? Another angel book? Yes, but it’s not my fault angels, and especially angels coming down to go to high school, seems to be a part of the zeitgeist at the moment.

Halo by alexandra adornetto