I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Review: A Shimmer of Angels

Posted by Charlene // Tags: , ,
A Shimmer of Angels (Angel Sight #1)
by Lisa M. Basso

Plot Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?

Review:

I found the character's experience with the paranormal to be so refreshing in this novel.  Instead of the character accepting what basically undermines everything they know to be true up until that point, Rayna thinks she must be hallucinating instead of believing immediately.  Because of this and her experience in the crazy house, Ray is neurotic and always struggling for normalcy.  While it is effective to see how fragile she is in the first few chapters of the book, it was a little exhausting sometimes when I wanted the plot to move forward instead of reading more of Ray's mental checks or protestations.  But the flow of the story is really very good overall and I was always eager to keep reading.

I think the main interest for me lay in the dynamic of Ray's angel friends, Cam and Kade.  One is a fallen angel (not necessarily a bad thing though) and one is trying to play by the rules.  Cam is the typical nice guy romantic interest, but there is a forbidden love aspect to his relationship with Ray because of his angel status.  Kade on the other hand is the typical bad boy and much  more interesting to me.  He has his secrets and some redemptive qualities that makes it much more fun to explore his character.  Cam and Kade's interactions were always fun in this book though because of their antithesis to each other and their interest in Ray.

The plot and characters are all pretty engaging and the story has elements that deal with serious teen issues.  There's a balance in this book between realistic problems and paranormal ones that made the novel a more relatable and realistic read than others in this genre.  While there are hints of romance and a love triangle, it doesn't overwhelm the story and rightfully so as Ray has many more important things to focus on.  This is a great read with a very interesting mythology on angels that leaves much more to explore.

And shout-out to Lee for his Doctor Who love!  Who doesn't want a friend who's into Doctor Who! :D


I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review.  I was not compensated for this review.

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15 comments:

  1. I liked this book too and I loved Kade, I hope him and Ray end up together =) Thanks for stopping by my blog, new follower by GFC =)

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    1. Hee, yay for Team Kade! It seems like it would be a better option since then Cam won't have to fall. :D Thanks for commenting!

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  2. This sounds cool, like the cover!

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    1. I love the cover too - it's so pretty! And it captures how Ray sees the reflection of angel wings.

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  3. Well at least one fallen angel in this book is pretty swoon-worthy. :D I hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to read!

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  4. The whole "Angels" genre is growing on me. There seems to be a lot of room for flexibility and authors are really trying new things. It's kind of exciting.

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    1. That's true for me as well! I've never really been into it, but with the new takes on the genre, I've become more interested in Angel mythlology.

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  5. I found your blog through the WLC Blog Follows program, and I am glad I did :)
    It is really nice to meet you!
    James A. West
    PS - I love the cover!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, I've followed your blog as well! :)

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  6. I really enjoyed this book as well. I know it peeked my interest as soon as the first Doctor Who reference was used. The thing that bothered me the most about this book was Cam. I still loved it 4.5 out of 5, but Cam defied logic to me. All of a sudden he was into Ray, just because she could see his wings -- seemingly. They really had very little interaction. I just found that ... odd. Like he gave up on his precious rules too quickly. Then he just stood by when she needed him. Then she forgave him? What the what? The Ray/Cam was insta-lovey and that always bugs me.

    I've never been big on teams. Usually I go back and forth if there's a love triangle, but I'm hardcore Kade in this instance. Except ... you know, the whole he dated her mom thing is a little odd.

    Great review! I look forward to seeing what you think of the next books in this series :)

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    1. Very true, Cam seemed a little too self-righteous to me which fit I guess for the Angel thing, and his focus on following the rules and fulfilling his mission was so not romantic to me either - I would not have forgiven him so easily if he did nothing to prevent me going to the asylum! He's very confused I guess, so it will be interesting to see how it's all resolved.

      Hee, oh yes, Kade dating her mom - I really hope there is some twist to that, that means he didn't actually date her, but just was in love with her, cause ... I guess that's better?

      Thanks for letting me know about this book - it was your mention of the Whovian references that intrigued me!

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  7. I've seen this book a couple of times but I am reluctant to read it because I've been burned by Angel books. This did sounds different but do I sense a love triangle (I have a phobia :P)

    Great review Charlene! :)

    Rashika @ Tangled in Pages

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    1. Heh, well there is a love triangle, but definitely this is an entertaining read. :) I haven't read that many angel books though so I can't really compare too much with the genre. Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Great review! I definitely agree and also found this book to be refreshing. I can't wait to read book 2. And find out what happens with Kade... =)

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    1. I'm so looking forward to finding more about Kade too! Definitely my favorite character in the book! :)

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