Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Review: Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore

Title: Angel Eyes
Author: Shannon Dittemore
Genre: YA, Supernatural, Romance, Coming of Age, Religious undertones
Star Rating: 2/5

Taken from Goodreads, "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."

'Angel Eyes' by Shannon Dittemore is a supernatural, angel themed YA read with religious undertones.  While I didn't love this novel, there were some aspects I really did enjoy.  Jumping right to the point, I liked that Brielle wasn't your typical heroine.  Normally, our female leads are in a 'fish out of water' position.  In this case, Brielle was coming back from her 'fish out of water' experience.  She had lived and grown before the novel even started.  We are introduced to her when she's at a bit of a low point in her life, coming back from this big, life changing event.  I loved that.

Brielle, as a character, was a solid main character.  Her reactions and thoughts seemed natural and she was a pretty relatable character.  The other characters were also engaging.  Jake, the love interest, seemed to have more of a role in the story than most male leads in past angel themed novels.

The reason I didn't rate this novel higher mostly falls on pacing. The beginning and end were fine, but the middle dragged a bit.  I had to push through it, because I didn't want to give up on 'Angel Eyes' when I liked the characters and the overall storyline.  That being said, it took some skimming through the middle bits to get back to a point where I felt I should read word for word, page by page.

This novel isn't for everyone.  If you don't like books with slight religious undertones, 'Angel Eyes' might not be your cup of tea.  However, the characters and the overall storyline are worth giving this a looksie otherwise!  'Angel Eyes' gets 2 out of 5 stars and is available wherever books are sold.





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