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laureenreads's review
3.0
This was actually a surprisingly interesting book, with some small amounts of supernatural twists that kept me on my toes.
frazzledreader's review
1.0
It tries to be epic and interesting, but reads like an amateurish pass at paranormal romance. I stopped reading this halfway through. The main character was unlikeable because of her surreal intelligence and perfection. There were no redeeming qualities to make up for the overall bland one-dimensional characters.
samdogra's review
1.0
The cover and premise for this book sounded enticing...and that's when it all became such a let down. Boring plot, poor pacing, extremely weak characters and very little in the way of originality meant I couldn't finish this book.
STORY: We're supposed to be invested in Gabriella, a young brilliant scientist with an interest in the paranormal. One day something unexpected happens during her latest research and it all goes haywire from there. While this seems promising, the story soon dissolved into endless monologues of 'I can't believe it!' with random bits of exposition here and there, and some very jarring action scenes. I felt the story didn't know what it was trying to do and so ending up tripping over itself. The pacing also was so slow I became utterly bored and hence stopped reading.
CHARACTERS: Gabriella is yet another Mary-Sue who needs saving from everything, particularly herself. She's supposed to be a brilliant, young genius- and yet every two sentences she's just complaining about how mediocre she is and how she 'CAN'T BELIEVE!!!!1!!1' in the paranormal things around her. Nevermind she's supposed to have been researching the paranormal for AGES and you'd think would have developed an open but sceptical mind. Instead it's more like a four-year old told Santa Claus is real.
The side cast are equally as dull and uninteresting. There's nothing memorable about them. There could have been an interesting dynamic with Andrew getting used to modern times but this is thrown away as 'of course' he can super-read books. His Italian accent is only there when it's convenient, as is his fascination with modern technology, and he never says anything other than 'I need to protect you'.
The motivations are weak, too. Absolutely nothing I cared about, another reason I couldn't read on.
SETTING/ VOICE: This was actually written pretty solidly. Gabriella has a fluent voice, and the descriptions were easy to follow and allowed you to picture where you were. Alas this in itself isn't enough to carry the story's other weaknesses.
PRESENTATION: The cover is magnificent, and the blurb generally tells you what to expect. The writing style also was clean and I didn't spot obvious typoes or formatting clashes, so at least it looks professional.
OVERALL: What could have been an interesting premise and strong writing is destroyed by poor pacing, weak characters and dull, cliched plot. If you don't mind listening to a self-depreciating heroine who has absolutely no personality and a side cast just as pathetic, you might like it, but if you actually want a memorable story, give this one a miss.
STORY: We're supposed to be invested in Gabriella, a young brilliant scientist with an interest in the paranormal. One day something unexpected happens during her latest research and it all goes haywire from there. While this seems promising, the story soon dissolved into endless monologues of 'I can't believe it!' with random bits of exposition here and there, and some very jarring action scenes. I felt the story didn't know what it was trying to do and so ending up tripping over itself. The pacing also was so slow I became utterly bored and hence stopped reading.
CHARACTERS: Gabriella is yet another Mary-Sue who needs saving from everything, particularly herself. She's supposed to be a brilliant, young genius- and yet every two sentences she's just complaining about how mediocre she is and how she 'CAN'T BELIEVE!!!!1!!1' in the paranormal things around her. Nevermind she's supposed to have been researching the paranormal for AGES and you'd think would have developed an open but sceptical mind. Instead it's more like a four-year old told Santa Claus is real.
The side cast are equally as dull and uninteresting. There's nothing memorable about them. There could have been an interesting dynamic with Andrew getting used to modern times but this is thrown away as 'of course' he can super-read books. His Italian accent is only there when it's convenient, as is his fascination with modern technology, and he never says anything other than 'I need to protect you'.
The motivations are weak, too. Absolutely nothing I cared about, another reason I couldn't read on.
SETTING/ VOICE: This was actually written pretty solidly. Gabriella has a fluent voice, and the descriptions were easy to follow and allowed you to picture where you were. Alas this in itself isn't enough to carry the story's other weaknesses.
PRESENTATION: The cover is magnificent, and the blurb generally tells you what to expect. The writing style also was clean and I didn't spot obvious typoes or formatting clashes, so at least it looks professional.
OVERALL: What could have been an interesting premise and strong writing is destroyed by poor pacing, weak characters and dull, cliched plot. If you don't mind listening to a self-depreciating heroine who has absolutely no personality and a side cast just as pathetic, you might like it, but if you actually want a memorable story, give this one a miss.
g1rlwhol1ved's review
3.0
it was a bit boring around the middle and it took a while for them to do things
naelany's review against another edition
3.0
There were parts where I was railing against the story for one reason or another. Mostly at times when the suspension of disbelief only carried me so far. Yet in spite of that, I was compelled to keep reading. Now coming to the end of this, I'm flailing again because I need to know what happened next.
I loved Joseph, Andrew, and Aiden. I'm very curious to see how their respective roles play out.
ruthie_narrates_books's review
4.0
I thought this book was really good. The storyline was particularly interesting. I don't think the characters who were supposed to be dead for hundreds of years spoke properly for that to ring true. The secondary characters in the book lacked depth, but that wasn't too bad since the story is told from the first person. I enjoyed where the story took the legend on Angels.
rachelreadwhat's review
1.0
Just couldn't finish this. I made it about 70% through - serious character development flaws and nonsensical story lines.
dianafdez's review against another edition
4.0
Gabriella is supernatural specialist who graduated from Yale at age 19. She doesn't remember her life before the age of 5 but she soon finds out why. After receiving a shipment from Italy that contains three dead bodies, everything changes. Her life will make many turns that she never saw coming and will also learn many things about herself.
I liked that Gabriella wasn't one of those whiny characters who were always dependent of others. She's 24 and has a steady job with her own house. She knows that her life is different simply for being smarter than those her age. All throughout the book she tried to do what she thought was right and didn't let things stop her.
The angels were a great addition to the story. I won't say much about them but I loved the fact that they were just a bit different from others. They each had their different roles that I enjoyed reading about. Their history and what had really happened is something else that I really liked about it.
Even though this book could be labeled as an adult series, I think that YA book lovers would enjoy it as much. The feel of the story just makes it feel like something that would appeal to those who enjoy reading YA. Everything about the story makes me want to read the second book now!
I liked that Gabriella wasn't one of those whiny characters who were always dependent of others. She's 24 and has a steady job with her own house. She knows that her life is different simply for being smarter than those her age. All throughout the book she tried to do what she thought was right and didn't let things stop her.
The angels were a great addition to the story. I won't say much about them but I loved the fact that they were just a bit different from others. They each had their different roles that I enjoyed reading about. Their history and what had really happened is something else that I really liked about it.
Even though this book could be labeled as an adult series, I think that YA book lovers would enjoy it as much. The feel of the story just makes it feel like something that would appeal to those who enjoy reading YA. Everything about the story makes me want to read the second book now!
kimster82's review against another edition
2.0
This review will sound strange. I'm giving 2 stars to a book I didn't like and I haven't even finished it yet. I still have another 200 pages to go but I just can't be bothered anymore. I'm putting it down for a few months and I hope this is just because of the state of mind I'm in, and not because the book sucks. I thought about this all day. The general storyline is good, the concept interesting and the characters are pretty likable. What's not to love, right?
I'm all for sensitivity and feelings. But for god's sake... Every 2 pages somebody is crying. I'm not even kidding, I wish I was making this up. Either it's an angel (their tears are golden btw), or it's Gabriella, or it's everybody. Hell, even I felt like bawling my eyes out.
This book even brings out my inner Leatherface. You know those kids in stores who are making a big scene because mommy told them they couldn't have something? Well every time I see one of those brats I think 'I want to slap the kid, at least then he'll have a good reason to cry'. That's how I felt like during the entire part I read. I even slapped my book at certain points.
Gabriella graduated from Yale when she was 19. Um... shyeah. She never had a decent boyfriend, and suddenly she has two über hot guys lined up. All my reactions to this are heavy on the sarcasm.
I'm one of those weird people who is crazy about endearments and nicknames. I go berserk when somebody comes up with a good one for me. But when they started calling Gabriella things like 'baby' and 'sweetheart' I was nearly vomiting in my mouth. Especially when Andrew said them.
I'm reading the rest of the book when Soul Stalker comes out. I'm sure I'll be calm enough by then.
I'm all for sensitivity and feelings. But for god's sake... Every 2 pages somebody is crying. I'm not even kidding, I wish I was making this up. Either it's an angel (their tears are golden btw), or it's Gabriella, or it's everybody. Hell, even I felt like bawling my eyes out.
This book even brings out my inner Leatherface. You know those kids in stores who are making a big scene because mommy told them they couldn't have something? Well every time I see one of those brats I think 'I want to slap the kid, at least then he'll have a good reason to cry'. That's how I felt like during the entire part I read. I even slapped my book at certain points.
Gabriella graduated from Yale when she was 19. Um... shyeah. She never had a decent boyfriend, and suddenly she has two über hot guys lined up. All my reactions to this are heavy on the sarcasm.
I'm one of those weird people who is crazy about endearments and nicknames. I go berserk when somebody comes up with a good one for me. But when they started calling Gabriella things like 'baby' and 'sweetheart' I was nearly vomiting in my mouth. Especially when Andrew said them.
I'm reading the rest of the book when Soul Stalker comes out. I'm sure I'll be calm enough by then.