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patke's review against another edition
2.0
I felt Halo was more a story of romance than anything. The story line was intriguing enough to keep me interested. Alexandra's writing style was beautiful; the sentences just flowed into one another. And the dialogue between the characters was so fun to read. It was natural and funny.
Bethany, the main character, really irritated me though. She was forever the damsel in distress. Xavier, her boyfriend, was always there to protect her and help her. I understand that it's nice to be pampered but you're an angel for crying out loud. There were so many things that he unnecessarily did for her. She could have easily done them herself, it's not like she didn't have hands or something. But one thing I found refreshing about Bethany was her naivety. She was unaware of so many things since it was her first time on earth. I found it so cute that she had trouble saying the word sex. Surprisingly, the character that I liked the most was the villain. He was dark, mysterious, flirty and a total badass. He added so much more appeal and interest to the plot. Xavier was really cute too, and funny as well, but I couldn't get over how he always felt the need to look after and protect Bethany. I just think that being an angel, she should've been more independent and strong headed.
The plot was alright, nothing spectacular. Like I said, it was more of a romance than anything. Beth and Xavier's relationship seemed to dominate the plot, which made sense at the end. At the end of the book, I felt satisfied yet somehow cheated. There were some questions that I wish had been answered. I can only hope that they're answered in the next installment, Hades.
Bethany, the main character, really irritated me though. She was forever the damsel in distress. Xavier, her boyfriend, was always there to protect her and help her. I understand that it's nice to be pampered but you're an angel for crying out loud. There were so many things that he unnecessarily did for her. She could have easily done them herself, it's not like she didn't have hands or something. But one thing I found refreshing about Bethany was her naivety. She was unaware of so many things since it was her first time on earth. I found it so cute that she had trouble saying the word sex. Surprisingly, the character that I liked the most was the villain. He was dark, mysterious, flirty and a total badass. He added so much more appeal and interest to the plot. Xavier was really cute too, and funny as well, but I couldn't get over how he always felt the need to look after and protect Bethany. I just think that being an angel, she should've been more independent and strong headed.
The plot was alright, nothing spectacular. Like I said, it was more of a romance than anything. Beth and Xavier's relationship seemed to dominate the plot, which made sense at the end. At the end of the book, I felt satisfied yet somehow cheated. There were some questions that I wish had been answered. I can only hope that they're answered in the next installment, Hades.
anjvej's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't think this book was that bad. I read it when I was in middle school, so that makes me a little biased because I loved it then. But reading it now was a little eh. It starts off kind of slow in that the entire first half of the book is her and Xavier and teen drama and whatnot and then it introduces the element of darkness and the sole purpose of the angels being in Venus Cove, but then it picks up after prom with the whole Jake Thorn story line.
It's a little cheesy and slightly cringe-y when Beth and Xavier have the fight about Jake kissing her at prom and her whole world stops and starts when Xavier forgives her and then they continue like nothing happened. It's a little all over the place in terms of focusing on Beth and Xavier and then going back to their heavenly mission, but I didn't think it was terrible. I would give it 3.5/5, but we apparently don't do half stars here.
Tl;dr - it's a cute romance story for the first half and then gets into demons and darkness in like the last quarter
It's a little cheesy and slightly cringe-y when Beth and Xavier have the fight about Jake kissing her at prom and her whole world stops and starts when Xavier forgives her and then they continue like nothing happened. It's a little all over the place in terms of focusing on Beth and Xavier and then going back to their heavenly mission, but I didn't think it was terrible. I would give it 3.5/5, but we apparently don't do half stars here.
Tl;dr - it's a cute romance story for the first half and then gets into demons and darkness in like the last quarter
booksong's review against another edition
3.0
I think I may need to take a break from the paranormal/magical YA romance for a while; not because the stories are unoriginal or the plots don't have interesting devices or characters, but because the romance is getting very stale, and that's a terrible thing for an idealist/romantic like me.
I actually did enjoy parts of this story, and some of the characters and premises had great potential. Bethany is one of three angel siblings sent to earth to try and help the human race, but the catch is that she's unusually human. It's seen as a weakness, and Bethany will have to work hard to prove that she can do her duty just as well as any other celestial messenger. It doesn't help her case when she begins getting too attached, though, especially to handsome school captain Xavier. And then there's the fact that there might be an enemy lurking about...
The book started off quite well. I felt affection for Bethany and her sweetly bumbling, naive antics; they could be excused because, hey, she's an angel experiencing Earth. Her two siblings' differing personalities, stern Gabriel and gentle Ivy, were well-done and interesting contrasts, and while they didn't have any development, they were very true to the myth-linked personas the author builds for them. I liked both of them throughout the book. Bethany's character, however, seemed to get more annoying and less strong with every chapter. Her relationship with Xavier had a lot to do with this, I think, and that's probably the crux of what bugged me about this book.
This book is definitely not the kind of thing that I can call "feminist lit", or even "heroine lit." Perhaps it is in keeping with the Christian ideals of the book, which I was able to accept for most of the book except for a couple points where it became irritatingly preachy. According to these ideals, in general women are supposed to be soft, gentle, sweet, impulsive, fragile, ditzy, and protected. Males are supposed to be protectors, rocks, fighters, leaders, and sports-players. Upon finishing, I realized with a dim sense of frustration that this book conformed to these types to the utmost. There are no ambiguous people, male or female. The females are all either gentle angelic types or clothes-and-prom-obsessed ditzes. The males are all handsome protectors or sleazy jerks. There was really not much imagination there, which is too bad.
Bethany and Xavier's relationship...I wanted to love it. It was very sweet, very cute, but I just couldn't get over its lack of depth. It is so easy for authors to write impassioned descriptions of feeling, or glowing physical praise, or declarations of eternal love and loyalty. But when these things have no foundation, they also have no meaning. Bethany and Xavier had no foundation beyond the standard (and by now really starting to annoy me) "fated love/infatuation at first meeting based mainly on how beautiful and witty the other person is." And then from there it dives right into the "can't live without you or I'll shrivel up and die because I need you, you are my soulmate" stage. It's formulaic and cheesy besides. Some of their lines together began reading like a soap opera towards the end, and that coming from me is never a compliment. Xavier was a nice guy (and he had a very original male lead name, kudos!), but he was also flat, at least compared to many other YA guys. He wasn't swoonworthy for me because he had no personality to swoon over.
I'm interested to see if the author takes any interesting directions with the series, and I liked a couple of the characters enough to want to see what happens next. But it doesn't stop me from being disappointed with a few of the messages and implications, and the fact that the author still needs some practice as far as development goes.
I actually did enjoy parts of this story, and some of the characters and premises had great potential. Bethany is one of three angel siblings sent to earth to try and help the human race, but the catch is that she's unusually human. It's seen as a weakness, and Bethany will have to work hard to prove that she can do her duty just as well as any other celestial messenger. It doesn't help her case when she begins getting too attached, though, especially to handsome school captain Xavier. And then there's the fact that there might be an enemy lurking about...
The book started off quite well. I felt affection for Bethany and her sweetly bumbling, naive antics; they could be excused because, hey, she's an angel experiencing Earth. Her two siblings' differing personalities, stern Gabriel and gentle Ivy, were well-done and interesting contrasts, and while they didn't have any development, they were very true to the myth-linked personas the author builds for them. I liked both of them throughout the book. Bethany's character, however, seemed to get more annoying and less strong with every chapter. Her relationship with Xavier had a lot to do with this, I think, and that's probably the crux of what bugged me about this book.
This book is definitely not the kind of thing that I can call "feminist lit", or even "heroine lit." Perhaps it is in keeping with the Christian ideals of the book, which I was able to accept for most of the book except for a couple points where it became irritatingly preachy. According to these ideals, in general women are supposed to be soft, gentle, sweet, impulsive, fragile, ditzy, and protected. Males are supposed to be protectors, rocks, fighters, leaders, and sports-players. Upon finishing, I realized with a dim sense of frustration that this book conformed to these types to the utmost. There are no ambiguous people, male or female. The females are all either gentle angelic types or clothes-and-prom-obsessed ditzes. The males are all handsome protectors or sleazy jerks. There was really not much imagination there, which is too bad.
Bethany and Xavier's relationship...I wanted to love it. It was very sweet, very cute, but I just couldn't get over its lack of depth. It is so easy for authors to write impassioned descriptions of feeling, or glowing physical praise, or declarations of eternal love and loyalty. But when these things have no foundation, they also have no meaning. Bethany and Xavier had no foundation beyond the standard (and by now really starting to annoy me) "fated love/infatuation at first meeting based mainly on how beautiful and witty the other person is." And then from there it dives right into the "can't live without you or I'll shrivel up and die because I need you, you are my soulmate" stage. It's formulaic and cheesy besides. Some of their lines together began reading like a soap opera towards the end, and that coming from me is never a compliment. Xavier was a nice guy (and he had a very original male lead name, kudos!), but he was also flat, at least compared to many other YA guys. He wasn't swoonworthy for me because he had no personality to swoon over.
I'm interested to see if the author takes any interesting directions with the series, and I liked a couple of the characters enough to want to see what happens next. But it doesn't stop me from being disappointed with a few of the messages and implications, and the fact that the author still needs some practice as far as development goes.
alibo_94's review against another edition
2.0
Una novela más de ángeles y demonios y romances paranormales. Entrenida pero no aporta nada nuevo. Recomendada sólo para los amantes del género que no se cansan de los tópicos del romance paranormal.
katpop's review against another edition
5.0
i loved this book and thats about it. i couldnt put it down when i picked it up. it was great and i cant wait for the second one to come out. :)
berkekilic's review against another edition
2.0
http://kitaphayvaniningunlugu.blogspot.com/2011/05/hale-alexandra-adornetto.html
Hale bana göre kendi türünde başarılı ama ne yazıkki eksikleri olan bir roman. Bunu yazarın henüz on sekizinde olmasına bağlayabiliriz sanırım. Yine de sıkılmadan okunabilecek türde bir eseri. Bana daha çok insanları yerine melekleri konu edinmiş tatlı bir aşk romanını çağrıştırdı. Zaten kitabın büyük kısmını melek olan Bethany ve insan çocuk Xaiver'in aşkı kaplıyor.
Kısaca konuya değinecek olursak: Bethany, Ivy ve Gabriel Cennet'ten görev için gönderilen üç melek. Venüs Koyu adında küçük bir kasabayı kötü güçlerden korumak için buraya gönderilmişler. Bethany aralarında en tecrübesizi. Dünya'ya ilk gelişi ve insan türüne karşı farklı bir çekim duyuyor. Kardeşleri kasabadaki işlerle uğraşırken o, okula gidip yeteneğini ve dünyaya gönderilmesindeki asıl amacı anlamaya çalışıyor. Aynı zamanda insan hayatına alışmaya çabalarken birden kendini okul kaptanı Xaiver Woods'dan hoşlanırken buluyor. Xaiver'den aşırı derecede etkilenen Bethany'nin duyguları elbetteki karşılıksız değil. Yakın bir zamanda kız arkadaşının ölümüyle sarsılan kalbi kırık oğlumuz da Beth'in saflığından ve farklılığından hoşlanıyor. Ve ikili sonunda bir araya geliyorlar. Elbette her doğaüstü yaratık ve insan aşkı örneğinde gördüğümüz gibi bir süre sonra Bethany çok sevdiği erkek arkadaşı Xaiver'e bir melek olduğunu anlatması gerektiğine karar veriyor. Ama özellikle bir başmelek olan Gabriel'in vereceği tepkiden çekiniyor ve Cennet'in kurallarına karşı gelmiş olacağını da biliyor. Her şeye rağmen bir plaj partisi sırasında Xaiver'e tüm olağanüstülüklerini -kumda ayak izi bırakmaması, göbek deliği olmaması ve kanatları gibi- göstererek ona bir melek olduğunu kanıtlıyor. Hikayenin bundan sonraki kısmı biraz daha durgunlaşıyor. Meleklerin günlük hayata tutunma ve iyilik yapma çabaları geniş yer buluyor. Ta ki okula yeni bir çocuk gelene kadar. Karanlık bir cazibeye sahip bu gencin adı Jake Thorn ve tahmin edeceğiniz gibi o da bir iblis. Mezuniyet balosundan önce Xaiver'in sakatlanması sonucu Beth, Jake'le baloya gitmek zorunda kalıyor ve olanlar oluyor. Yalnız kaldıkları anda Jake Beth'i öpmeye çalışıp karşılık bulamayınca da onu tehdit edince Beth yavaş yavaş bir şeyleri anlamaya başlıyor.
Kitapta ağırlık verilmiş teme olan aşktan sonra klasik kötülük-iyilik savaşı ikinci sırada yer alıyor. Yine de şu ana kadar okuduğum az sayıdaki melek kitapları arasında konu olarak en farklı olanı. Bunu düşmüş melekleri değil de görev için dünyaya gönderilmiş melekleri ele almasına bağlayabiliriz sanırım. Hale'yi büyük beklentiler içindeyseniz almanızı önermem. Çünkü dört dörtlük bir kitap değil. Özellikle aksiyon sahneleri çok kısa tutulmuş. Ama ben yazar Alexandra'nın kendini geliştirdikçe daha iyi şeyler başarabileceğine inanıyorum.
Kısacası, güzel zaman geçirilebilecek, sevimli ve rahatlatıcı bir kitap. Okuyup okumamak ise size kalmış. "Okumazsam çok şey kaybeder miyim?" diye soruyorsanız ise cevap "hayır".
Keyifli okumalar.
Hale bana göre kendi türünde başarılı ama ne yazıkki eksikleri olan bir roman. Bunu yazarın henüz on sekizinde olmasına bağlayabiliriz sanırım. Yine de sıkılmadan okunabilecek türde bir eseri. Bana daha çok insanları yerine melekleri konu edinmiş tatlı bir aşk romanını çağrıştırdı. Zaten kitabın büyük kısmını melek olan Bethany ve insan çocuk Xaiver'in aşkı kaplıyor.
Kısaca konuya değinecek olursak: Bethany, Ivy ve Gabriel Cennet'ten görev için gönderilen üç melek. Venüs Koyu adında küçük bir kasabayı kötü güçlerden korumak için buraya gönderilmişler. Bethany aralarında en tecrübesizi. Dünya'ya ilk gelişi ve insan türüne karşı farklı bir çekim duyuyor. Kardeşleri kasabadaki işlerle uğraşırken o, okula gidip yeteneğini ve dünyaya gönderilmesindeki asıl amacı anlamaya çalışıyor. Aynı zamanda insan hayatına alışmaya çabalarken birden kendini okul kaptanı Xaiver Woods'dan hoşlanırken buluyor. Xaiver'den aşırı derecede etkilenen Bethany'nin duyguları elbetteki karşılıksız değil. Yakın bir zamanda kız arkadaşının ölümüyle sarsılan kalbi kırık oğlumuz da Beth'in saflığından ve farklılığından hoşlanıyor. Ve ikili sonunda bir araya geliyorlar. Elbette her doğaüstü yaratık ve insan aşkı örneğinde gördüğümüz gibi bir süre sonra Bethany çok sevdiği erkek arkadaşı Xaiver'e bir melek olduğunu anlatması gerektiğine karar veriyor. Ama özellikle bir başmelek olan Gabriel'in vereceği tepkiden çekiniyor ve Cennet'in kurallarına karşı gelmiş olacağını da biliyor. Her şeye rağmen bir plaj partisi sırasında Xaiver'e tüm olağanüstülüklerini -kumda ayak izi bırakmaması, göbek deliği olmaması ve kanatları gibi- göstererek ona bir melek olduğunu kanıtlıyor. Hikayenin bundan sonraki kısmı biraz daha durgunlaşıyor. Meleklerin günlük hayata tutunma ve iyilik yapma çabaları geniş yer buluyor. Ta ki okula yeni bir çocuk gelene kadar. Karanlık bir cazibeye sahip bu gencin adı Jake Thorn ve tahmin edeceğiniz gibi o da bir iblis. Mezuniyet balosundan önce Xaiver'in sakatlanması sonucu Beth, Jake'le baloya gitmek zorunda kalıyor ve olanlar oluyor. Yalnız kaldıkları anda Jake Beth'i öpmeye çalışıp karşılık bulamayınca da onu tehdit edince Beth yavaş yavaş bir şeyleri anlamaya başlıyor.
Kitapta ağırlık verilmiş teme olan aşktan sonra klasik kötülük-iyilik savaşı ikinci sırada yer alıyor. Yine de şu ana kadar okuduğum az sayıdaki melek kitapları arasında konu olarak en farklı olanı. Bunu düşmüş melekleri değil de görev için dünyaya gönderilmiş melekleri ele almasına bağlayabiliriz sanırım. Hale'yi büyük beklentiler içindeyseniz almanızı önermem. Çünkü dört dörtlük bir kitap değil. Özellikle aksiyon sahneleri çok kısa tutulmuş. Ama ben yazar Alexandra'nın kendini geliştirdikçe daha iyi şeyler başarabileceğine inanıyorum.
Kısacası, güzel zaman geçirilebilecek, sevimli ve rahatlatıcı bir kitap. Okuyup okumamak ise size kalmış. "Okumazsam çok şey kaybeder miyim?" diye soruyorsanız ise cevap "hayır".
Keyifli okumalar.
simira's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly better than I expected. There were a few scenes I didn't really care for but overall, a fast and easy read. Ready to get the next one.
emma211's review against another edition
5.0
AWESOME!!! This is my favorite book by an Australian author. I can't wait for the next one. The characters are awesome and there is a fabulous balance of romance and action. Beth+Xavier=love!!!
charlottenw1's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the characters in this and the drama that occurred throughout the book. I was intrigued to read more an managed to finish this in a matter of hours. Some of the elements in the book were hard to understand and were more complicated than they needed to be but I still enjoyed the easy-going writing style.