Angel Eyes: A Review

Title: Angel Eyes

Series: Angel Eyes Trilogy #1

Author: ShannonDittemore

Genre: YA (14-18 yrs) Supernatural Suspense

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Angel Eyes:

The knot in my throat is constant. An aching thing. Shallow breaths whisper around it, sting my chapped lips, and leave white smoke monsters in the air.

It takes them nine seconds to disappear. Nin seconds for the phantoms I’ve created to dissolve into nothingness.

How long till the one haunting my dreams does the same?

The absence of an answer makes my hands shake, so I slide the lambskin gloves out of my book bag and put them on.

If only it were that easy.

Like glacial masses shoving along, ice travels my veins, chilling my skin and numbing my insides. Three weeks of this biting cold outstrips the severity of my nightmares, but I haven’t suffered enough and I know it.

A teenaged dancer who feels responsible for a friend’s death becomes embroiled in a battle reaching beyond natural realms.

Craft: Angel Eyes wasn’t a novel I fell in love with, but the story provided a good ride and a powerful climax.

I found the main protagonists likeable and sympathetic. Secondary characters off-set the primary ones, adding extra depth to them. The plot kept an even pace, its mysteries stringing you along. The climax was emotionally engaging. The prose, while not outstanding, doesn’t detract from the story either.

Overall, Angel Eyes presents solid crafting to deliver an enjoyable read.

Content: Like the crafting, Angel Eyes presents fairly sound content.

While I personally don’t care for the furtherance of pop culture perceptions of angels, Ms. Dittemore has done a good job of sticking to what Scripture does tells us and using pop culture and imagination to fill in the gaps.

The themes of Angel Eyes is solid as well. It doesn’t shy away from the difficult, asking the tough questions about human suffering and divine intervention. Nor does the story force simplistic answers on the reader, rather affirming the basic truths we all can hang onto, such as God’s sovereignty and His goodness.

Summary: Angel Eyes doesn’t stand out in my mind as remarkable. However, the craft and content are deftly handled, providing an enjoyable and edifying read.

Ratings: Craft—3, Content—4, Overall—3.5 out of stars

Disclaimer: In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.