Scan barcode
A review by halcyone
Angel Evolution by David Estes
3.0
This review was originally posted at The Cozy Armchair.
I've been trying to branch out into reading more books with angels in them because, while most people have moved on from the genre, they've only just begun to interest me. Blame my new interest in Supernatural! Speaking of, it's a good thing I read Angel Evolution before I marathoned Supernatural or I would have been picturing Supernatural's Gabriel in this story, which would have been weird.
Anyway! Angel Evolution was a quick and easy read. The storytelling is pretty straightforward, at times too much so. "Simple" is a good way to describe it. Exposition is heavily used to get the reader all the relevant information regarding angels and demons as they're portrayed in this universe. That didn't bother me, though, because the story being told was compelling (perhaps more compelling than the main story line).
These angels and demons don't have biblical origins; their background was pretty original, even if some of the explanations for their motivations weren't really clear to me. Overall, this was an interesting take on angels and demons. The last third of the novel focused more on the conflict between them in more detail and, while there were some aspects that could have been improved upon, it brought the story to a strong ending.
Unfortunately, I had some issues with the other two-thirds of the book. Taylor was the stereotypical special snowflake teen - you know, the ones that are so ordinary but not, especially when compared to their best friends. In general, the characters got on my nerves at one point or another. In retrospect, I was most intrigued by Chris, who made an effort to get to know people beyond their species.
I guess I was just disappointed by the instalove between Taylor and Gabriel, even though both of them did struggle with their feelings - Gabriel torn between duty and Taylor, and Taylor doing her best to avoid being a victim. While their relationship wasn't very interesting, I guess I could appreciate the sentiment? The whole star-crossed lovers thing they had going on was predictable but inoffensive.
Bottom-line, Angel Evolution was an average read. I didn't want to strangle anyone while reading, but it also didn't inspire any strong emotions. I was rather 'blah' about the whole thing. I can't exactly recommend it but I'm also not saying to stay away from it entirely.
I've been trying to branch out into reading more books with angels in them because, while most people have moved on from the genre, they've only just begun to interest me. Blame my new interest in Supernatural! Speaking of, it's a good thing I read Angel Evolution before I marathoned Supernatural or I would have been picturing Supernatural's Gabriel in this story, which would have been weird.
Anyway! Angel Evolution was a quick and easy read. The storytelling is pretty straightforward, at times too much so. "Simple" is a good way to describe it. Exposition is heavily used to get the reader all the relevant information regarding angels and demons as they're portrayed in this universe. That didn't bother me, though, because the story being told was compelling (perhaps more compelling than the main story line).
These angels and demons don't have biblical origins; their background was pretty original, even if some of the explanations for their motivations weren't really clear to me. Overall, this was an interesting take on angels and demons. The last third of the novel focused more on the conflict between them in more detail and, while there were some aspects that could have been improved upon, it brought the story to a strong ending.
Unfortunately, I had some issues with the other two-thirds of the book. Taylor was the stereotypical special snowflake teen - you know, the ones that are so ordinary but not, especially when compared to their best friends. In general, the characters got on my nerves at one point or another. In retrospect, I was most intrigued by Chris, who made an effort to get to know people beyond their species.
I guess I was just disappointed by the instalove between Taylor and Gabriel, even though both of them did struggle with their feelings - Gabriel torn between duty and Taylor, and Taylor doing her best to avoid being a victim. While their relationship wasn't very interesting, I guess I could appreciate the sentiment? The whole star-crossed lovers thing they had going on was predictable but inoffensive.
Bottom-line, Angel Evolution was an average read. I didn't want to strangle anyone while reading, but it also didn't inspire any strong emotions. I was rather 'blah' about the whole thing. I can't exactly recommend it but I'm also not saying to stay away from it entirely.