Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Bethany is an angel. She, along with her siblings Gabriel, a warrior, and Ivy, a healer, has been sent to earth to combat the growing forces of evil in Venus Cove. Bethany is the least experienced of the three, and the most amazed and drawn to humans. She knows she must distance herself emotionally so that she can spread goodness throughout the town, but when she meets Xavier Woods, that becomes impossible. Bethany feels connected to him in a way she’s never experienced—a way she shouldn’t pursue because angels and humans are forbidden to be together. As evil starts to permeate the town, Bethany will have to choose between love and duty.

Halo was the type of novel that I really wanted to like yet had difficulty doing so. Adornetto is a young writer, and it somewhat shows. She does have the potential to be great; I can see it in her attention to detail. Perhaps it was the actual content of the story that hindered this. Bethany’s all consuming love for Xavier felt slightly unrealistic to me throughout the entire story; having read many paranormal love stories before, this bored me. In addition, Adornetto does not smoothly transition between the various aspects of Bethany’s life, most importantly, her feelings and duties as an angel, her friends at school, and her relationship with Xavier. Most importantly, I just was not very drawn into this story. I can’t say that I was particularly excited by the plot and characters or interested in the outcome. However, as previously mentioned, I do still believe that Adornetto has potential and will likely read her novels to come.

Halo may be enjoyed by fans of Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler, Earthly Pleasures by Karen Neches, and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Rating: 3.25

Review copy from publisher Macmillan