There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.īlack is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on.

In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Readers who want to avoid flat, stereotyped characters should end here. Although the angels thwart Jake in a trite battle of forces, an open ending leaves room for his return.

The second half finally brings tension when manipulative transfer student Jake Thorn begins recruiting classmates to the dark side. But how can she help succumbing to adolescence when the prom is only months away, she has a burning curiosity about human love and Xavier Woods, the hottest guy at her private high school, asks her out? The first half of this longwinded, repetitious novel with Catholic overtones explains the differences between angel and mortal lives and sets up Bethany’s obsessive, abstinent relationship with Xavier, which begs for Twilight comparisons. On her first trip to Earth, Bethany is only supposed to observe human behavior, not to befriend any of them. Since the Dark Forces started targeting the sleepy beachside town of Venus Cove, angel Bethany Church, 17 in mortal years, and her siblings Ivy and archangel Gabriel have been sent to restore order.

Halo series books by alexandra