Broken Wings

Title: Broken Wings

Series: Angel Eyes Trilogy #2

Author: Shannon Dittemore

 

Genre: YA Supernatural Suspense

 

Ratings: Craft—4, Content—4, Overall—4.0 out of 5 stars

 

 

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Broken Wings:

Hell is loud.

 

Talons scratch at the stone floor and clack against the pillars circling the chamber as the great hall fills. Hisses and snarls sound all around, but the noise doesn’t unsettle the Cherub.

 

She’s been here before. 

 

Carved into the earth, deep against its core—in a realm undetectable by human technology—lies the stronghold of Satan. A massive structure formed out of darkness, molded and hardened into stone, Abaddon sits at the very center of the Prince’s domain.

 

Pearla’s velvety black skin goes unnoticed as she slides behind a chucky pillar, pressing against the outer wall.

 

But the cherubic spy isn’t deceived by the darkness that surrounds her. This place was created for the Prince, given to him by the Creator. And while the light of the Celestial won’t permeate these walls, even here the Father cannot be escaped. Unlike the demonic crowd scratching and biting at one another, this created one experiences peace. 

 

Her celestial feet are silent against the icy floor, her wings folded tight against her back. She keeps her white eyes pinched tight. Nothing draws attention like shards of light piercing the darkness.

 

And darkness is everywhere.

Two teens with supernatural gifts become targets of the demonic, placing their whole town in the middle of an angelic war. 

The Craft: The first book of this trilogy, Angel Eyes, was a solid, enjoyable read, but did not stand out in my mind as anything exceptional. So I started into Broken Wings expecting a story of a similar caliber.

To my surprise and delight, I discovered a story which exceeds its counterpart in almost every way.

The characters have been fleshed out further. Their growth and development do not repeat that of book one, but pick up where they left off. The plotting is tighter, the conflict gripping you from page one. How can the first line not compel you to keep reading? The prose does remain plain and the descriptions uninspiring, but while they might not land any grand prizes, they do not hinder the progression of the story either.

The Content: Like its craft, Broken Wings delivers strong content, the themes including forgiveness, living with questions with no answers, and the power of prayer and worship. And like with book one, simplistic answers are not given, but the basic truths we can hold onto reaffirmed.

As might be expected, the supernatural is prominent in this novel. Most of the elements are restricted to nonhuman beings (e.g. angels and demons) and objects endowed with supernatural power (e.g. halos). The protagonists do also have gifts that exceed the natural, but I don’t have a problem with that either, as it seems to fit most of the boundaries laid out in Scripture, with the gifts clearly attributed to God and, for the most part, uncontrollable on the human side of things.

Summary: Broken Wings is even better than Angel Eyes, rapidly turning this trilogy into a favorite read with strong, provoking content. I’ll be looking forward to see how everything comes together with the final book Dark Halo.

Recommended for teens and adults.

Ratings: Craft—4, Content—4, Overall—4.0 out of 5 stars