Book Review- Halo

By Alexandra Adornetto

Published by Feiwel and Friends

Releases- August 31st, 2010 TODAY

Source- the publisher

3 stars- it's a good read

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings. But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth. (taken from Goodreads)

I was thrilled to have the chance to read Halo, as it has been on my list of highly anticipated reads for 2010. Halo is the story about three angels sent to earth, to the tiny town of Venus Cove to bring more good to it. Sent with strict rules not to have close human relationships, everyone but Bethany follows this rule. Tempted by the immediate connection she feels to one human, Xavier, Bethany can't help but want to get closer to him.

Bethany has her protective big brother Gabriel, and her more reasonable sister Ivy to help her in their assignment, and it won't be easy. Bethany is immediately drawn to the ways of the human world. She has an immediate attraction to Xavier and quickly makes friends with a group of stereotypical high school girls. The girls are constantly talking about boys, clothes and the upcoming prom. Being an Angel, Bethany is pure and innocent which is both a character strength and weakness. Bethany's greatest weakness is being sent to earth so naive, which really bugged me. I'm drawn to stronger female characters and Bethany wasn't that for me. Being sent on an assignment, I had excepted her to be a little more educated with the ways of the world. Luckily Bethany has a great support group with Gabriel, Ivy and Xavier.

I liked how sweet Xavier and Bethany's relationship is, but I was caught off guard with how intense her feelings for Xavier were. From the moment she meets him, he consumes her every thought and she always wants to be with him. Not saying people can't have an immediate connection with someone, but their intensity took me by surprise. My biggest complaint is when Bethany wants to give up everything she is to sleep with Xavier. Not only did I feel that didn't fit with the story, but I felt didn't fit with a character who's an angel. I loved Xavier's character even more when he said no and told her why.

While Xavier isn't the main character, he quickly became my favorite character. He was the most in-depth character in the story. He comes from a close knit family, is the school captain, and the hot boy every girl at the school wants to date. Since a terrible accident, he hasn't given much thought to the girls at his school, until Bethany enrolls. With Bethany being so naive, I like how protective Xavier is of her. Even Xavier will have a challenge protecting Bethany against the hot new British bad boy, Jake Thorn. Where there's good, there's evil. Jake definitely provides the evil in Halo.

Halo's sweet love story and good vs evil battle make for a quick, fun read. I'm looking forward to finding out more to Bethany's story in Hades, when it's released next year. Congratulations to 17 year old Alexandra Adornetto, as Halo is her first US debut.

You can find out more about Alexandra's books and her upcoming Book Tour here http://tinyurl.com/372z8lr

I'm looking forward to meeting Alexandra at the Austin Teen Book Festival, Oct 2nd.