Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Dial (March 20, 2012)
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
From GoodReads:
When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.
A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink is an interesting book. With all the angel books out there lately, I found this one to be quite different. Between the time period, setting, and unusual mythology, A Temptation of Angels is not your average angel book.
I can't recall a specific time period being mentioned, but the overall feel and references used point to a historical setting. This book definitely has a historical feel to it, but is not encumbered with long descriptions or details of the setting like many historical books are. The historical feel comes more from the settings, actions of the characters, and the pacing. I found the pacing to be a little slower than other books, but it was very steady. Usually a slow pace bothers me, but it didn't bother me with this book, particularly after the first fifty pages or so.
The mythology of the angels was interesting, but I'm not sure I completely understood all of it. There is the Dictata, the Keepers, the Alliance, the Legion, etc., and I couldn't keep it all straight as I read. It wasn't overly complicated; instead, I felt as if each faction was barely touched upon. A sentence each to explain the groupings, then they were referenced without further information. Now, I'll fully admit I was sick when I read this, so maybe my brain was a little too cloudy to put it all together.
My favorite aspect of the book was the relationships (surprised?). There are some complex relationships and there is also a little romance. In a world where the bad guy always gets the girl and the good guy is left out, I was pleased to read that Helen was attracted to the nice Channing brother, Griffin. In fact, Darius was never even considered. (Yay!) Don't get me wrong, I like Darius as a character and readers will come to see that there's more to him than initially meets the eye, but I liked that the nice guy was the only brother vying for Helen's attention. Now, that's not to say there isn't any other romantic interest...it just doesn't come from Darius Channing.
I'm not entirely certain A Temptation of Angels will have sequels, but it seems appropriate for there to be more books. I'd definitely be interested in reading them, but there was no major cliffhanger ending (thank goodness!).
Final thoughts: Borrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment