Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Review for Halo (Halo #1) by Alexandra Adornetto

Summary:

Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.
Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong.
The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?


--SPOILERS ALERT--

Halo is the first in a trilogy, where three angels—Gabriel, Ivy and Bethany— were sent to earth, specifically in the small town of Venus Cove to keep the dark agents from causing havoc.
Everything was going according to plan, until the youngest angel, Bethany, has fallen in love with Xavier Woods, a human boy. Well who wouldn’t love him anyway? He’s handsome, buff, smart, and the school captain too.
Will their love be enough to keep them together especially if it involves breaking the rules that the heavens had set for them? Well that is just the least of their problems, because when another gorgeous guy, Jake Thorn arrives as a new student in their school, bad things started to happen in the sleepy town of Venus Cove…

Pros:
• The angel concept
Cons:
• The main character is unlikable :(
• Bethany and Xavier’s unhealthy romantic relationship. Gah!!
• Very slow pacing
• Overabundance of purple prose (although her writing is pretty good)

1. Cover -
The cover is oh so awesome! It’s what attracted me to this book in the first place. What I especially love was the color theme (it reminded me of the sunset) and the girl’s ethereal wings.

2. Plot -
It took me a year before reading it because of the mixed reactions of the readers.I only decided to read this because someone told me this is a good book, and despite all those negative comments, I gave it a shot. The story revolves on the youngest angel, Beth and her journey to find true love. Oh wait, she’s an angel, and she’s NOT supposed to love any other except for her creator, but no. She still did it anyway. The pacing is very slow, and I’ve put this down a lot of times before reading it again. The descriptions are way too much for me, and not to mention also the overabundance of purple prose. If I remember it clearly, the REAL plot of the story started when I reached 80% of the book, and the way it ended just… didn’t even gave an impact. Too predictable.

3. Character Development -
Bethany, our heroine, is weak, childish, and whiny. Sometimes, I can’t even believe that she’s really an angel. Throughout the book, all she ever thought about was Xavier, Xavier, oh and a bit about Jake, and back to Xavier… again. The girl’s too obsessed with the guy, and that’s already too unhealthy in a relationship. She always needed help, and protection, and now I doubt if she really IS an angel. I mean, what kind of angel needed protection from a mere human? Shouldn’t it be vice versa?
Let’s not forget Xavier, the oh so perfect boyfriend of the heroine. It’s sweet that he’s trying so hard to be able to protect Bethany, but I think she should have also did her part, and unfortunately, she didn't.
I love Gabriel though, but he seemed so weak in the story, even though he IS an archangel of the heavens. But all I see him do was cook and play the guitar. I expected him to do something so cool, besides all those mundane stuffs.
The characters remained the same from start to end. I was hoping that Bethany will grow stronger, too bad it didn’t happened. Until the end, she’s still the same old weak, childish and whiny Beth.

4. Over-all Rating -
This book definitely isn’t for me. I find myself only skimming throughout the whole book, only actually reading the dialogue parts. The only reason why I finished reading it was to know how it will end, but it only disappointed me. Some loved it, and some hated it. I go for the latter :(

I’ve already read the 2nd book, Hades, and it was as bad as the first, and I won’t waste my time reviewing it. I will give it two hearts though because I loved the exorcism part, but other than that, it only killed all my brain cells. Bethany just got more stupid and useless. I won’t read the last book anymore, unless I suddenly make a 369 degree turn.