Book Review: Halo, by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo
Alexandra Adornetto

Initial Thoughts: Okay. I was really excited about reading this book, but it didn't connect with me.

My Rating: 3 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

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 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?

My thoughts:
First, let me say this is one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. This is the kind of cover that screams, "Read Me Now!" So I did.

I could have waited.

 Part of my issue, I think, was I was so revved to read this book. I'm totally down with the angels, there's just something so damn appealing about their sexy other-worldliness. And I do like the characters in this book...I just thought the plot was rather loose.

I can give you a few examples.
1. Their mission is  urgent...but what is it exactly? They don't seem to do anything. Bethany goes to school, Gabriel teaches at school, and Ivy does a lot of volunteering for the community. They set good examples. Yeah? So? People do those things on a daily basis. Not sure what's so urgent about that in the angel world.

2. Demons can sense angels, but angels can't sense demons? And then, when they meet a demon, they can't act on it without talking to the bosses first? Meanwhile the demon is doing his demon thing, and all hell breaks loose. Hello! Urgent mission here! Give these people the tools they need to work, man! (And might I add, Gabriel is a warrior...let the dude loose to kick some demon ass without saying "Mother may I" first. Jeesh.)

3. Again, we have an urgent mission, yet the bosses decide to send a very immature, young, near-human angel. That made no sense.

I'm sorry, but much of the  plot lines felt contrived in order to put Bethany and Xavier together, and allow the demon to pull his demon strings without being stopped before he could cause his damage. And I won't spoil it by telling you who the demon is (though it's obvious when you're reading the book...no question there)...and he was probably the better-drawn characters.

I would like to see a book about Gabriel (tall, strong, silent, who wouldn't want to read that?) Unchained. Gabriel Unchained. Yes. That's it. Now that would be fun reading!

So, characters: check
Cover: check, check.
Plot: Just eh for me.

Friday Fun! (I'm not that old...yet)

How's This For Nostalgia?

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms? And wore tennis shoes not $200 Nike's!


It took three minutes for the TV to warm up?


Nobody owned a purebred dog?


When a quarter was a decent allowance?


You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?


Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?


You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?


Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?


It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?


They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed... and they did it!


When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?


No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?


Lying on your back in the grass with your friends... and saying things like, 'That cloud looks like a... '?


Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?


Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger...


And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.


When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?


Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.


And our summers were filled with bike rides, Hula Hoops, and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that'?

I am sharing this with you today because it ended with a Double Dog Dare to pass it on... To remember what a Double Dog Dare is, read on... And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.


Send this on to someone who can still remember Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, the Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Bell , Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.


How Many Of These Do You Remember?
Candy cigarettes...

Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside...


Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles...

Coffee shops with Table Side Jukeboxes...

Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum...


Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers...


Newsreels before the movie...



Telephone numbers with a word prefix...( Yukon 2-601). Party lines...


Peashooters...



Hi-Fi's & 45 RPM records...


78 RPM records...


Green Stamps...


Mimeograph paper...


The Fort Apache Play Set...

Do You Remember a Time When Decisions were made by going...
'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?

Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, 'Do Over!'?

'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?


Catching The Fireflies Could Happily Occupy An Entire Evening?



It wasn't odd to have two or three 'Best
Friends'...



Having a Weapon in School meant being caught with a Slingshot?


Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?


'Oly-oly-oxen-free' made perfect sense?


Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?



The Worst Embarrassment was being picked last for a team?


War was a card game?


Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?


Taking drugs meant orange flavored chewable aspirin?


Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?


If you can remember most or all of these, Then You Have Lived!!!!!!!

Book Review: Dead of Eve, by Pam Godwin

Dead of Eve
Pam Godwin

Initial Thoughts: Riveting, horrifying, and chilling!

My Rating: 4.5 Stars!!!

Summary (from Good reads):
A virus devastates humanity. Few men survive. The rest are monsters. The women are dead, except Evie. Through a quirk in her genetics, she survives. When her physiology begins to evolve, she must come to terms with what she is and accept her role in finding a cure.

The mutated hunt her. The men brutalize her…except three. Cryptic warrior, contrite lover, caring enemy; they are fiercely protective of the last living woman, but divided in their own agendas. Can they come together to protect the only hope for humanity?

Evie must survive.

Content advisory: Guns. Gore. Sex.

My thoughts:

Okay, take a minute to think about this: There is only one woman left on earth. One. Woman. Seriously. Take a minute and think about it.

Done?

Okay, now every thought that ran through your head about what life would be like for this one sole-surviving woman, is in this book. If you're a woman, the thought is chilling. You should have chills running down your arms right about now.

The story is gritty and real, devastatingly sad yet profoundly happy. You love the characters; Evie is strong and tough and loving and kinda bad-ass. You can't help but love the 3 men who come into her life, her 3 guardians. Each one serves a clear-cut purpose, and it all ties together in the end. They are there to help guide her through her trials and tribulations, help her become the woman she needs to be...for all of humanity.

I have to say, I wasn't down with the whole aphid/bug thing. Ew, ick and gross. I'm going to throw a little girly thought out there but, could the plague have not been so, I don't know, yuck? LOL

Highly recommend this read.