Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: ATOM (2 Jun 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1907410767
• ISBN-13: 978-1907410765

This has been on my To Read radar for a long time now...since it first came out actually but I was waiting for it to come out in the slightly smaller paperback version and it did meet my high expectations.

"Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone? especially herself?from the Dark Forces. Is love a great enough power against evil?"


Cover:  This cover has to be one of my favourites, such a beautiful cover and I like how the two main characters, Bethany and Xavier are silhouetted against the sun...definite reference to the celestial beings and God I think.


Plot: 3 angels and siblings are sent down to Earth from Heaven on a mission- do good deeds and restore faith...but the youngest Bethany deviates from this plan and falls in love with a human boy called Xavier, they have to fight to be together as well as Agents of Darkness that seem to want Bethany...


I loved the plot, the romance between Bethany and Xavier was the main focus and it was a great romance even if at some points it was a little corny.  The religious aspect was what kinda makes this book stand out from others in the YA paranormal romance genre and the references to God weren't made dull and boring.  


Characters:  


Bethany- the most human angel, sometimes I felt the author was making her naive because obviously she's new to the human world but at others times she would say that angels had access to all divine knowledge...so I felt this was a little contradictory at times.  Her love for Xavier becomes all consuming.


Xavier-  Ok I have to be honest, I am actually in love with Xavier.  He's a sweet, funny and clever guy that has endured tragedy before and didn't realise how much was missing in his life until he starts to feel for Beth and he becomes very protective of Beth.

"A man in love can do extraordinary things, I don’t care if you’re an angel, you’re my angel, and I won’t let you go." 

Gabriel and Ivy- Bethany's brother and sister are more reserved and hesitant than she is and feel no affiliation with the human world and want to return to Heaven.


Jake Thorn- New guy at school, seems to be out to take Bethany away from Xavier...what's his motive?  And he suddenly becomes very popular


Writing Style- Very easy to read, paced well and everything just seemed to flow so that I couldn't out it down for very long, quick read- doesn't feel like 484 pages.  I was curious to see how an 18 year old would write a paranormal YA novel and you can't tell, and in fact it's better than some I've read in this genre written by an older author and I think that's a definite plus because it's written by a Young Adult for a Young Adult and she understands what readers are looking for in this genre and her writing styles supports the standard of the plot.




Rating-  4.5/5 stars...I couldnt give it 5 because for me it didn't beat L.A. Weatherley's Angel and wasn't quite as good so I couldn't give it the same rating, but I would definitely recommend this book for fans of the YA Paranormal genre- definitely a good one.