Book Review: Halflings by Heather Burch

Halflings (Halflings, #1)

by Heather Burch 

Genre: Paranormal/Angels

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: January 31, 2012

Source: NetGalley (ebook)

Age Rating: 13+

| Amazon |

After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves Halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with it. A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys' powers, as well as her role in a scientist's dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world. 

 

My Review

Halflings is an interesting take on angels and fallen angels, although I admit I haven't read much literature dealing with this subject matter. But, I did feel that a few of the characters held my interest. Nikki is at least not a typical teenage protagonist of the YA paranormal genre. She rides motorcycles and knows karate, but still lives a fairly normal life in Missouri.

She meets three teenage boys called Halflings, which means they are half human and half fallen angel. The attractive boys, Mace, Raven and Vine, go around and pretend to be brothers, but they were all born to different Halfling parents and had to be raised away from them for their own protection. A Guardian Angel named Will, a fully fledged angel, is their caretaker. Together, they spend their lives helping out humans in need and discover pieces of their missions through Will, who seems to be able to receive divine revelation.

Nikki and Mace are instantly drawn to each other, and experience “insta-love,” which I frown upon, but it doesn't necessarily ruin the story. Although, Nikki also finds herself intrigued by Raven, who is partial to his fallen angel side, as he has a delicious bad-boy streak. I was really interested in him at first, all snarky and wanting only human minions, but he cooled off toward the end as he became more interested in Nikki. Ah, so close. Almost had a really sexy anti-hero—nearly anti-villain. Still, he's a great character.

What's so shocking is that, low and behold, a true villain materializes in a character that really doesn't appear in the story much, in the form of an attractive older man that Nikki is constantly being thrust at. He has a weird connection to her parents, and even they are quite the mystery in and of themselves. I really found this villain character intriguing, but the story suddenly ends before I can discover what his deal is, and why he is so interested in having Nikki all to himself. Why is he so rich, and what connection does he have to the plot to destroy the world?

At the very end, Nikki suddenly feels wrong about being with him before he gets his clutches on her, so she runs back to the Halflings, and then it's all over. Most abrupt ending ever. I'd be far happier if the reason WHY this guy is so dangerous had been revealed, so that her running to the Halflings would make sense to me. Sure, the Halflings are like her guardian angels, but I really want to know why this mysterious guy she barely knows is so dangerous. Hopefully, it will get explained in the next book.

My score: 3.5 out of 5 stars. (I like it.)

*I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen (Fallen, #1)

by Lauren Kate

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Angels

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 8, 2009

Source: local library (Audio CD)

Age Rating: 14+ (for light profanity)

Amazon | Book Depository

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.

It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—though she doesn’t know what it is. And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again . . . and again. For Daniel is a fallen angel, doomed to fall in love with the same girl every 17 years . . . and watch her die. And Luce is a fellow immortal, cursed to be reincarnated again and again as a mortal girl who has no idea of who she really is.

My Review

Fallen is another popular YA paranormal romance title that I was afraid to read because I figured I'd dislike it. Sometimes I just don't like what everyone else is gushing over. But, this is a good novel, so the gushy people are somewhat right this time.

Luce is actually not a totally annoying teenage girl protagonist, and sometimes they just get on my nerves. She's pretty cool, if just pretty clueless, but that's not her fault. The story is set up for her to discover the tiny pieces of her true identity very gradually, and even by the end we still don't know who she is. We do get some info on who Daniel and the students at Sword & Cross really are.

Not much plot happens in this story, and it painstakingly maps out the details of every little eye flit and hair flip you can imagine (or don't want to), but it's not boring. There's plenty of tension on every page to keep you wanting to know who everyone is and why all the weird things keep happening to Luce while she's attending the reform school. The writing is excellent, and if you love knowing exactly how everything that's happening makes the protagonist feel, then you'll be in seventh heaven with this book. Otherwise, it might annoy you.

The characters are interesting, although the main ones, Luce and Daniel, are middle-of-the-road personality-wise. But, there are some quirky, eccentric ones in Arianne, Penn, and Cam. They are funny, intriguing characters, Cam being my favorite for having plenty of attitude in a good way (or, at least I think it's good).

There is a ton of emphasis on the romance between Luce and Daniel and how much they already love each other, which makes sense given the centuries they've known each other. Nevertheless, I'd still like to see evidence that they have a reason to love each other. The romance is so sappy and sweet, I got a serious toothache and a few canker sores in my mouth. It suits readers who live for that kind of thing in fiction. I'm all for true love, but not being beaten over the head with the kind that has yet to be proven.

Still, this novel is good, and lovers of YA paranormal romance should take to this one really well. I haven't decided if I'll get caught up with the rest of the books, but I will see the film adaptation whenever that comes out.

My score: 3.5 stars out of 5.

Teaser Tuesday #6 (8/30/11)

"Teaser Tuedsays" is a weekly bookish meme hosted by

MizB of Should Be Reading.

 

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read.

2. Open to a random page.

3. Share two (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to spoil it for others.)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

My Teaser 
 

"He gazed at her, standing as still as a sculpture, which made Luce feel rooted to her spot, too. She sucked in her breath. Those eyes were intense, and alluring, and, well, a little bit disarming..." 

- from Chapter 1 of Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate

*****

Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.

It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—though she doesn’t know what it is. And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again . . . and again. For Daniel is a fallen angel, doomed to fall in love with the same girl every 17 years . . . and watch her die. And Luce is a fellow immortal, cursed to be reincarnated again and again as a mortal girl who has no idea of who she really is.