This is why I don't read that much YA anymore... the characters make me wanna scratch my eyes out! This story has a wonderful world set up with a great storyline and plot but the characters ruined it for me. They are SO IMMATURE! I even put this down numerous times telling myself that I couldn't possibly read anymore. This book had the potential but it just didn't reach it.
The reason I picked this book up (besides it being free) was because the allure of an angel book. I'm a sucker for a good angel romance and I thought I'd get that with this... but sadly no. I liked the storyline and set up. "Should angel and human unit, humanity will parish." I love a forbidden romance and when you add in angels well... sign me up! However, I was disappointed with this one.
Our heroine is the very human Emmy Baxter and I hated her. I know the heroine is 15 (turns 16 in the book) but damn, I wasn't THAT dumb, whiny, and immature at that age. Through the whole book I thought Emmy could have easily been a 10 or 11 year old, she was THAT immature.
She cares more about trivial things than more important things like people dying and the end of the world.
After meeting the hero the first time for only a few minutes she then decides she is in love with him with no basis for this AT ALL. I mean the dude doesn't even look at her and says maybe 5 sentences to her. She becomes obsessed and only ever thinks about him. The worse case of insta-love I have ever read....
"Omg, I love him because he's just sooooo cute and like, I don't care if he's got a girlfriend, I want him to be my boyfriend, maybe I should pass him a note and have him check a Yes or No on wether he will be my boyfriend, I hope he likes me, wonder if he likes me as much as I like him, no wait, I don't like him, I love him, he's my soul-mate I just know it"...... again, did I mention how immature Emmy was? She doesn't necessarily say this but this is how she comes across. Awful, just awful.
She was constantly crying at everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. When Emmy sees Marcus with his girlfriend she cries and throws a fit, when he doesn't show her attention she throws a fit, when he makes it clear he doesn't want her and has a girlfriend that he is practically married to (in the angel world) she kisses him (which he turns her down). I mean the girl is so pathetic I felt sorry for her. Marcus couldn't make it more clear he was taken... but Emmy of course has no pride or dignity and followed after him like a stray puppy.
Then the thing that surly made me think Emmy was a 10 year old was when she decides...
"Oh, I'll only save the world for you angels if Marcus will go on a date with me."
Really, come on, REALLY??? She is so selfish and immature and only thinks about herself! Hello, the worlds about to end and your the only clue the angels have and yet your only worried about getting a date with Marcus! Grow up you silly little girl. She even has the balls to ask this in front of Marcus's girlfriend... I was ecstatic when his girlfriend threw her across the room, hands down, my favorite part of this book.
Seriously, Emmy definitely gets the award for worst heroine in the history of YA books... ever! The only time I actually liked her (and that's pushing it) was when she was kidnapped and she put up a fight with her captors. It was the ONLY time in the whole book where she wasn't a weak and whiny brat.
And the hero Marcus... don't get me started on him. He just wanted his cake and to eat it too. He loves his girlfriend/wife but yet, he loves Emmy too (again, for no reason at all). One second he's taking his girl on romantic dates and telling her he doesn't want Emmy and after he leaves their date he's in Emmy's bedroom on his knees telling Emmy he loves her and he misses her but OH... WAIT... he's not ever leaving his girlfriend for her. I mean at times he was just as immature as Emmy. The two MC's ruin this whole damn book because they were just... ridiculous.... even for YA!
The plot had potential besides the instant love with Emmy and Marcus, that's if you take out all the characters and added new ones. The secondary characters were okay I guess. I liked Reece (even though his "crush" on Emmy came out of no where!) and of course Jay and the twins. The overall story and characters are almost laughable it's all just so ridiculous.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. The overall story just felt very juvenile. Thank goodess this was free. There are far better paranormal YA books out there.
This book was going SO WELL. At the start I was laughing and enjoying the story. The MC was fun and I could ignore the insta-love by thinking that it was something supernatural like mates or whatever. And then it just ended. The MC grew annoying and weak, and her personality was unstable. The insta-love grew out of control, and even after the MC promised to give up on the guy she kept throwing herself at (it was disappointingly pathetic), she still continued to hide in his arms. When that happened AGAIN after she’d promised to push him away, I gave up. I just couldn’t stand it.
Something else that annoyed me was how at one stage a character (a likeable one) died, and their best friend’s reaction when he brought the news was this: (MC SAYS TO OTHER CHARACTER) “but *** was injured!” (BEST FRIEND APPEARS AND SAYS) “*** not injured, he’s dead”.
That was it. No tears, no screaming, no crying, nothing. Just “*** dead”. He could have stuck a lol at the end of it. I swear to god, that pulled every straw out except the last one. The last one was left for the MC and the insta-love.
Best book i have on my kindle and that is saying something it can seriously rival the entire Twilight saga and any other book you could think of in any way :) and Lola StVil is an amazing author in all ways :D
Okay, um, uh, no. So here's the thing to two main characters are cheaters. Both of them. Two-timer. They were the only characters in the book I hated. Hell, I liked the antagonists more than I liked them. Emmy (main girl) has an immediate, utter and irreversible love for Marcus (main guy). She is obsessed but he has a girl friend so she try's (and fails miserably) at trying to stay away from him. Then she ends up kissing him. Oh my. I feel really bad for Marcus's girl friend. I understand her anger and everyone is ganging up against her. I mean come on! She's one one who's being cheated on and she STAYS FAITHFUL TO HIM!!! Grr. Then, of course, Marcus go's to Emmy in her bedroom (not like that guys) and tells her that they should be together. Of course, like any sane girl, she asks if he'd break up with his girl friend. He says no, that he'll just date the two of them. WTH!?! She's all like 'okay. cool. totes. that fine.' THEN near the end of the book Reese, who has apparently had a thing for her forever, confesses his love to her and they make out. She gives him an angel hickey (glowing hair) Marcus finds out and gets all jealous. omg guys....really? Then...Reese thinking that she'll be faithful to him, saves her, and ends up dying for her. I wanted to kil - kick something.
So yeah. No idea why this got such good ratings. Sorry.
There are so many reasons why I should like this book. The concept is interesting, the world building is excellent, and the supporting cast members are what kept me reading. But the main characters were so bad! By the end of the book I was so disgusted by Emmy and Marcus that I wanted Ameana to drop both of those whiny, self absorbed twits off a bridge. You're supposed to help stop the end of the world, but you are more worried about whether you can get the guy you just met to dump his girlfriend for you? Really, Emmy? I am disappoint. And you, Marcus, are one of the most wishy-washy, indecisive love interests I've read about in a long time. It saddened me when the book ended without something bad happening to you. I guess I just feel kind of let down by this book. I liked the premise. I loved some of the minor characters. The angelic technology was cool and something I hadn't seen before. In the end, dislike for the main characters and constant face palming at their actions took away much of the enjoyment this book would have otherwise held for me.
WARNING: ranting and sarcastic comments ahead. BEWARE.
Insta-love strikes again; only this time, there is no real reason for it. No, literally. She was taken to the angel house, he shows up, and suddenly she refuses to blink and it hurts him to keep his eyes off of her. Okay.... why? Previously I have accepted insta-love because there is some paranormal reason that makes it happen, maybe imprinting or even fate. If there was one here, it wasn't properly explained and I apologize if I missed it or if it is presented in a later book (I won't be reading them).
I felt the whole book was extremely juvenile and I wasn't all that impressed. I know young-adult follows younger characters but COME ON. In my head, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was chasing around a bunch of love-sick 12 year-old kids. And frankly, James Patterson did a far better job with juvenile characters in The Angel Experiment. In this book, they were 16-years-old and they supposedly had the weight of the world on their shoulders. It is up to Emmy to save all of humanity by.... existing. Kudos to you. You should probably go buy a lottery ticket, it's your lucky day. That wasn't the big concern here though. Marcus was the concern, and his girlfriend was the real enemy. Hello Emmy? Future of humanity hanging in the balance... Bitch, if I die I'm blaming you. Really? Not going to lie, I'd be more stressed about the situation involving humanity than about an angel asking me out. Or his jealous girlfriend kicking my ass.
I can honestly say I did not like any of the characters and could not jump on board with any of the conclusions they came to. Well, except maybe Rio. I was okay with his character and kind of wish the whole book was written from his perspective. I'd be completely drawn in by his power alone. Come on, knowing what others are feeling before even they do. Wicked. Ameana was just a jealous girlfriend the whole time because her boyfriend couldn't stop holding the human (which he shouldn't have been doing to begin with). Speaking of, Emmy is... not the brightest star in the sky no matter what Marcus thinks. Sorry buddy, her actions speak otherwise.
I can hardly remember the sequence of events and I literally just finished the book not even 15 minutes ago. I'm confused and not in a good way. Maybe I needed some more internal monologue in order to understand how the characters reached their decisions. I just spent the whole book really confused about how I got to each point.
Omnis, I hate giving a bad review. I'm so sorry. So, keep in mind, this is my personal opinion and is based completely on the types of books I typically enjoy. For all I know, this book could be right up someone else's alley. Just not mine.
This is the first of two self-published books that completely blew me away. I recommend bloggers to read and review them. The authors deserve full credit for their awesome stories.
~~~
So I've been having an Angel detox for 3 months. I've read so many in the last year that I couldn't stomach much more God vs. Satan, Fallen Angels, White Angels, Good versus Evil Etc. I started one more, a traditionally published popular one at that, and I couldn't take it. Same old, same old. I had to put it away and start another paranormal genre.
So when Lola sent me a copy of her book I had middling expectations. However, what I read, even in the first few pages was the biggest shocking wow I've experienced in a long while. Guardians is an amazing read!
The story is complete in the following ways. There are great fun characters. There's a hormonally emotional teen girl at the centre. The gimmicks of snaps, ports, samson string, holders, and runners are well planned. The lore and dictionary of angel terms is so different and new to anything I've ever read. The dialogue is quick-witted and unique and the romance isn't anything I expected at all. This is a book that has been thoroughly planned, right down to the tiny intricate details and my hat goes off to Lola for it, she's written something exceptional.
At the end of Part 1, I absolutely felt my heart go out to Emmy. She's 15 and so obsessively in love. We all remember what that was like, right? I remember being completely nuts about a guy and I cycled for 2 miles to go past his house every night just to see if he was in! Hmm! Anyway!
Emmy can never have what she wants. And there's the twist. She doesn't get it entirely and her life becomes unbearable. The pure emotions that pour out of this girl are heart breaking and nothing can change what has happened. In addition, she's not only responsible for saving the world but a possible conduit to ending it also. Pressure!
At the end of Part 2, I wanted to wring the Guardian leader Marcus' neck for being such a dolt! Get your Rah back, I was shouting! Then you realise that his life isn't easy either. The others in his group are turning against him and the dangers and enemies are doubling, tripling around him, Emmy, and the Guardians to such intensity that...
Part Three just didn't stop. I literally turned page after page barely breathing. The action was electric and so fast paced it changed into a thriller at break-neck speed.
Lola, I really hope you can write the second book quickly because I feel like I'm standing in mid-air wondering what's going to happen next. Will the Guardians prevail? Will the evil turn on her Mum? Will they ...? Won't they...? Argh!!! See what I mean!
Guardians: The Girl astounded me. There's no comparison to anything I've read about angels before and if you like angel books such as Hush, Hush, Fallen or Halo then ... two words. READ IT!
So I have heard some really good things about this author and this series from Stephanie over at REVIEWING WHAT I'M READING, but I figured "angels aren't my thing." Then I took part in the cover reveal for the fourth book in the series and then, well, I couldn't read them out of order! And this is one of those times when my mild OCD worked for good because otherwise, I would've missed out on this awesome story! This is one of those books that make me think "darn, I wish I could make people obsess over fictional characters like I'm doing now."
Did Lola St. Vil write something original? No. She took the whole "guardian angel" idea, turned it on its head, spun it around, shook it up, and flipped it inside out. I have never even heard of a twist on angels that is this unique. You're going to have to read the book yourself to find out what I'm talking about, but I'll just say that you're in for a treat!
Emmy is a normal girl until guys with automatic weapons turn up at her school and she is rescued/kidnapped by a team of unearthly gorgeous teenagers who drag her into the world of ancient pacts and the eternal battle for lost souls. The leader of her rescuers/kidnappers is Marcus, an angel tasked with heading the team that is to keep the devil from a precious map that good and evil have fought over for centuries. The attraction between Emmy and Marcus is immediate and mutual, but Marcus is already taken, by his telekinetic, possessive, utterly beautiful second in command at that. Not to mention that if Marcus and his team fail in their mission, everyone will die, but if they succeed, he and his team will be taken into paradise, never to return to earth. Sucks, right?
This book had some typos, I admit. And I did get a bit frustrated with Emmy, particularly in one scene when she appeared to be attempting to steal Marcus. But for the most part, I enjoyed the story immensely. And I'm not sure if it was deliberate on the author's part or not, but I especially liked the subtle pro-life story surrounding Emmy's birth.
I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in a good YA PNR!
Note: GUARDIANS: THE GIRL, is always free on Amazon!
(Source: Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk.) 16-year-old Emerson is shocked when a shoot out happens at her school, and she is then abducted by some of the other kids. Who are these kids? What do they want with Emerson? And who was shooting at her?
This book was just painful. I was so bored that I couldn’t get to the end quick enough.
Emerson annoyed me, purely because she did and said some stupid things. She seemed fine when people died, but then when her ipod was taken away from her she was ‘inconsolable’. The storyline basically revolved around Emmy and these angels, but to be honest my brain didn’t take in most of what was happening because I was so bored. I could easily read a page and have absolutely no idea what I had just read by the end of it. Not only was I bored whilst reading this book, but I also ended up annoyed. The insta-love was just plain annoying, and I don’t even usually mind insta-love! The info dumps made me lose the will to live, the jokes weren’t funny, and there was so much in there that didn’t need to be in there and didn’t move the story along. I also wasn’t impressed when one character professed that they would rather break a rib than get their hair wet. I mean really? Do they have any idea how painful broken ribs are? It’s hair! As for the romance, as if the insta-love wasn’t bad enough, this is then compounded by, you guessed it – a love triangle. I don’t think I need to say any more, oh yes I do – please note that Emmy was trying to steal said boy from the girl who saved her life. Great form there Emmy. When I got to the end I was seriously glad it was over. Forget the cliffhanger, I’m so not reading the second book in this series. Overall; boring and irritating. 2 out of 10.
Emmy is pathetic. She falls in love with an angel, Marcus. Marcus also has a girlfriend. Something that really pissed me off was when they asked her to do something and then she says that she agrees but only on one condition, Marcus has to go on a date with her or something. I hate how Emmy can't take a hint. Marcus is with someone else. No matter how many times he tells her that he's not interested or even that he has other commitments (to his GIRLFRIEND!)she doesn't care. Have some dignity. There is a point when you just have to accept that Marcus is not willing or able to be with her. He pushes her away so many times that it gets frustrating because she just keeps coming back for more. If Emmy was real and one of my friends I would punch her in the face. Have some respect for yourself, he doesn't want you, he's with someone else and hell yeah his girlfriend is going to be angry about it. You're trying to steal the person she's in love with. I say knock her the fuck out. One little push wasn't enough. Someone should hand the girlfriend a crow bar and tell her to go at it. I would volunteer to keep watch while she beat her. I don't normally swear in reviews but FUCK YOU Emmy!
I also don't normally tell people not to read a book but if you hate pathetic, weak, whiny 'heroines' then do not pick up this book. It is beyond frustrating.
Emmy - a bookish, witty student - is rescued by six teenaged angels with powers, called Guardians. They've been sent to elicit the secret from her before the demons can. Emmy later learns that her name is the only clue to locating a sought-after bridge that for centuries, Evil has plotted to destroy; this would in turn bring about the end of humanity.
Things get worse when Emmy falls madly in love with Marcus, the well-intentioned but obstinate leader of the Guardians. He eventually confesses that he is in love with her as well. Unfortunately, Marcus has been warned by his clairvoyant and omniscient guide that should he and Emmy get together, the mission will fail and humanity will perish.
This is an absolutely fantastic story, original and imaginative. I have not read another angel book like this before. I really liked the ending and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
But! I felt like I was reading an unedited manuscript. I really disliked the main character Emmy, she did and said such stupid things. But I feel she is just badly written. I can't help but wonder if the author actually read back over her own work. There was a lot of contradictions throughout and spelling and grammar mistakes.
I am not going to detail all that I found fault with in this book as I don't want to seem like I am attacking the author as I most definitely am not. I understand how hard it is to write a book and the courage that it takes to put it out there for appraisal. I feel this book would really benefit from some professional editing and advice which I am all too aware is not that easy to get. It is an absolutely fantastic unique idea and all the basis of an amazing story are there. Some parts could just be played out differently. Some scenes are too intense and overly dramatic to suit the situation and some scenes are not emotional enough and conversations are stilted. If I'd had a print copy of this there would have been a lot of crossing out and writing in the margins.
I really would like to see this book re-edited. It has a lot of action, a romance of star crossed lovers and the secondary characters were all really likeable. I am looking forward to seeing the direction the author is going to take with future books in this series.
Here are some quotes that I liked:
"I looked at her quickly, then went back to the Muse. She was too short. Her hair was a tangled mess. Her T-shirt had a cartoon pig on it and was ugly and ill fitted. I wanted her."
"You blow on your ice-cream before you eat it. When you watch horror movies and the scary parts come up, you close your cat's eyes along with yours. You have a photo album of the clothes you'd like to wear but don't think its right to ask your mother for. You have a picture you took of me on your cell and don't think I know about. You look at it the same way you look at the clothes in your album-like you have no right to ask for it."
"I heard this guy say once that he thought that if he said 'no' to doing drugs then the fight was over. But it turns out he had to say 'no' each and every day. I didn't get it until I met you. When I first fell for you, I said 'no' to it. Then the next day the feeling came back. Now every single day, I have to say 'no' to being with you."
"Don't I get a chance to convince you to choose me?" "You couldn't." "Why?" "Because nothing you could say could get me to love you more than I already do."
“Marcus, this is Emerson Baxter. She’s gonna help us save the world.” I looked at her quickly, then went back to the Muse. She was too short. Her hair was a tangled mess. Her T-shirt had a cartoon pig on it and was ugly and ill-fitted. I wanted her. I wanted to touch her."
I haven’t been joining many book tours lately due to trying to keep up with the review copies that I have been receiving but, when I read the synopsis for this little book, I knew that I had to jump right on! I was not dissappointed!
The Storyline
Basically you have this group of teen angels that are left with the task of finding the person that holds the key to saving the world. The angels are made up of teens that had died and were chosen to represent the guardians. They each possess a power that has to do with the way that they had died. One can blink from one place to another, someone else can sing to kill and so on. This is where the main character of Emerson comes in. She holds the key to saving the world and the guardians task is to basically grill her to find out what that key might be. This makes for an interesting story because Em has some skeletons in her closet that she is not so quick to share with the group.
Emerson
I truly loved the storyline and Emerson was an interesting character. There were times that I loved her when she would stand up for herself or one of her friends and then there were times that I seriously wanted to slap the idiot right out of her! She tended to get a bit on the whiny side and her infactuation with one of the main characters made her brain “blink out”.
The love
The love story is kind of heart breaking! The two want to be together but there are just too many obstacles in the way. Then the writer threw in a litlle love triangle which really only lasted maybe for 2 chapters. In the end, it was pretty sad! If you are not a fan of love triangles, no need to worry! Like I said, it was very short and sweet.
In Conclusion
I really enjoyed this read and can’t wait to read the next book! With the ending like this one, you may want to have the next book ready to go! You are left on a little of a cliffhanger and wanting to really know what happens next!!!
Review Words can't even describe my love for this book. It was beyond amazing. It was so original. I've never read an angel book like this. Every angel has a different power. Not only do they have wings but they get an awesome power too. That's just not fair. This is one of those book that you want to jump into. It was very hard to put down.
I really liked Emmy. She handles things pretty well. Sometimes she broke down but she's human what do you expect. At times she was a little desperate. That got kinda annoying. Marcus is amazing. I absolutely adore him. There was one thing that bothered me. He said he was going to stay with Ameana but by the end he wanted Emmy. I like Emmy better but I didn't like how it took the whole book for Marcus to make up his mind. Other then Marcus my two favorite guardians were Reese and Rio. Their powers were the best in my opinion. I didn't think we saw enough of Reese. Of course both my favorite characters might not have a big part in the sequel :(. Jay was awesome. I'm not really sure what his power was though. Ameana was incredibly annoying. I feel bad for her but she's a jerk. I loved Miku too. She was super sweet.
The storyline was fantastic. It had so many twists and turns. The excitement never stopped. Overall I love this book with all my heart. It has everything a book needs. Amazing characters and a fast paced plot. With that ending there better be a sequel. I might hurt someone if there isnt. Hopefully there will be and it won't take forever to come out. I highly recommend this. 5/5 Stars
Admittedly I have not yet completed the book, in fact am only on the first couple of chapters/sections. But I had to already list out my displeasures about the book. The author writes in first hand, from the perspective of the main character Emmy. But from the first moment on, when she was kidnapped briefly by some ''friends'', shes missed framing the main character out with the more realistic strands of thought that one must have if they find themselves kidnapped: For instance, being told a story about how the world started and these angels came down on earth and if whatever isn't found then we're all going to die; wouldn't your first thought be, wait what do I have to do with this, how can I possibly help you, why are you keeping me here? Your first immediate reaction would not be, as the author writes, freak out about that the world is going to end and you die along with it.....at least that was my take.
Another thing that was a little stupid is the whole setting, it's as if the author wanted to create a scene of beautiful, chic group of angels blending on earth. Then suddenly, all congregate into this one, plain teenager from a single mother family and her mother is clueless and not even suspicious?! The storyline, characters...the main plain and boring ordinary human falling in love with the super hot hunk of the main guardian angel with his equally super hot and beautiful gf....since when did guardian angels have bf/gf relationships?!....it's all just so 2 dimensional and predictable.
This book was terrible. It wasn't the plot. The plot had potential. It was the main characters. They ruined EVERYTHING. Emerson cries over everything. Not even exaggerating. Plus, she's a rudesby and tries to take Ameana's boyfriend and ruin their relationship countless times. Then Marcus, who is awful, and says he loves Ameana and carries on their relationship, but tells Emerson he wants her and loves her, but he's not going to break up with Ameana because Emerson "will be the end of him" but keeps coming back.
The only characters I liked were: 1. Ameana, b/c she was badass and totally in her right to defend herself. 2. Jay, he was just awesome. (I hope he doesn't fall in love with Emerson.) 3. Reese, because he was adorable and sad. 4. Rio, because he was nice and understanding and I really hope he doesn't love Emerson. 5. Miku was okay, but not really dynamic and underplayed.
Characters I hated: 1. Emerson. 2. Marcus. In that order. They were ridiculous. Positively, absolutely horrible.
I'm probably going to keep reading the series. Not because I like it. I don't. But because I have to know how it ends. I'm hoping Emerson is the triplex and they destroy her. Anyone with me?
Ok, I just finished this book last night. I couldn't sleep at all wondering would happen next. I have read lots of Angel books but this is different. Not one Angel is perfect. They all have flaws and short comings. The team leader,Marcus is hot. So. hot. But he also has a strong stubborn streak that makes me want to shake him. I want him and Emmy to get together even if it does mean the end of the world! Emmy, the human is so like me. She is always in her head. She feels like she sucks at everything and she will do anything for her friends.
There are six angels in the team. They are here for a purpose. I can't tell you why but it is such an original mission, I have never read anything like it before. There have epic battles, clever banter, an Angel newspaper run by the best gay Angel ever! The whole time i was reading, I kept wanting to join them. Oh, to sit next to sexy Angel, Jaydon and have him cook for me. or to go shopping with the Twins. Sigh. I hated coming to the end of this book.
THERE BETTER BE A BOOK TWO.OR.SOMEONE.WILL.DIE.: b My aunt bought me this book because she knows i like Angel stories. I never write reviews bc I tend to procrastinate.a lot. But my aunt said if I loved it that much, I should the writer cause The book is self pub. So, here you go Ms. Stvil. here is my review. now, where is book 2? :)
I have to agree with the other lower ratings of this book. And I apologize in advance for this relatively harsh review.
------ SPOILERS ------
The characters have very little depth, if any at all. The main character is completely obsessive and reminds me of all the bad qualities we saw in Bella Swan from Twilight. And what I really don't understand is how this shy little girl who never breaks the rules turns into such a loud mouth, argumentative, clingy, entitled, brat who needs a boy to define her. The world is freaking ending, you're the clue to saving it, and.. you're stuck on some dude? Seriously?
She can't even keep to one decision. One minute she has a best friend, who seems generally important in her life, and then you don't hear about this friend for like five more chapters.
Time seems to have no presence in the books. Somehow a conversation between two people where each person says maybe about three lines is the span of an hour long class.
And beyond this, the fight scenes were hard to follow and didn't make much sense at all.
It's a cool concept, but it really fell flat.
I'm glad I got this for free because I'd never have spent any money on it.
"Marcus, choose me. Choose the path that is perilous and leads to certain annihilation because it’s also the path that leads to me. They can’t understand that we are powerless to stop what we have for each other. But we know. We know that if we don’t bend to the will of this love, it will break us..."
It always bothers me when the description of a book is just a passage taken from the book. Honestly, I think that is the laziest thing an author could do. If you put all of that effort into writing a book, please take the time to write an effective book description. Perhaps, this is why I had negative feelings about this book from the start...
The Girl is about...well, a girl. Her name is Emerson, but she is called Emmy for short. She is an average teenager who suddenly becomes attacked while sitting in one of her boring high school classes. This is where her adventure begins, she is saved by a group of angels called Guardians and they inform her that she is their only clue to finding the mysterious Triplex that will help them save the world.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
Exactly. This book sounds great. It seems amazing and super interesting. But, sadly, it is not.
Why not? Because of one girl: Emerson. The one girl capable of saving the world murdered any chance of this book being great.
Emmy is whiny and pathetic and cares more about her feelings for Marcus than she does saving the world or doing anything productive. She cried, sobbed, wailed, and blubbered throughout the entire book. Everything made her cry. Everything.
But nothing made her cry more than Marcus when he would reject her (because he had a girlfriend - hello, girl code, you need to back off Emmy) or when he didn't have time to pay attention to her because, ya know, as First Guardian you have more important things to do than entertain a whiny human. The relationship between Marcus and Emmy is a giant wad of insta-love and nothing more. They literally looked at each other and fell in love. Not the "wow, I'm kind of infatuated with you, let me find out more about you" but the "OMG I saw you and now I cannot live without you" kind of insta-love.
But let me tell you the best part: Marcus has a girlfriend, Ameana, who he will not breakup with even though he is falling all over Emmy, but requires that Emmy not see anyone else, but also tells her they can never be together, and then in the same sentence proceeds to tell her how much he loves her. I will give St Vil some credit, for I have never seen this type of love triangle before.
Halfway though the book, we get a break from Emmy and get to experience Marcus' point of view. Marcus' point of view is pointless.
He did not reveal anything new or anything that we hadn't already guessed. At best, he summarized what Emmy had already told us through her experiences. I think at Marcus' POV is when I really got frustrated with this book. He summarizes everything. Even conversations. It flips and flops between first person present and past and instead of having real time conversations to display actions he just says, "Emmy said this then Jay said that so we did this." Not an exaggeration.
During the first chapter, there is a shootout at Emmy's school (people are trying to kill her because she's the clue). I have a major problem with this scene. No one heard the gunshots. You are telling me that in a high school, in the middle of New York City, no one heard gunshots? No one? Yeah, a lot of seniors skipped that day, but what about the rest of the school population? That really doesn't seem possible to me. Also, I don't buy how Miku was able to just quickly clean it up and nobody even noticed.
There is also a scene where the Guardians and Akons (the bad guys - not the rapper) are fighting and they are chasing down this really important guy named Julian (who can also save the world). Well, this Akon captures Julian and sets a building on fire. What does the angel do? Instead of going after the one guy who is essential to saving the world that you do not want the Akons to have and get the information first - Marcus goes to help the people in the building. OK, that's nice, an angel would do that. But here is my issue: after he gets everyone out the next thing he needs to do is high-tail it to Julian? Right? Nope. A little old lady says, "Hey, please hold my hand." So he does. Screw Julian. Screw saving the world. This old lady needs me to hold her hand!
*sigh*
In my opinion, these angel are too human. They get too wrapped up in human emotions and care too much about petty things. For example, there is this thing called a Splash, which is essentially an angel gossip newspaper. Um, why does this exist? Isn't gossip a sin? Why are angels allowed to do this? You'd think angels would be more concerned about good and doing things to save the humans. Why are they getting caught up in romances to begin with?
I had several issues with this book, some of which I set aside for the sake of the story (such as angels are humans that have "earned" their wings. No. Angels are beings that have never been human. You don't just die and become an angel). But, one thing I could not overlook: the writing.
The writing is why this book gets such a low rating. I can take plot holes, I can take whiny female leads (hello, Divergent), but I am able to swallow all of it because great writing sugar-coats it so I am not even aware that what I am reading sucks.
This book needs an editor, and a good one. There are words missing, wrong words used, and major grammatical errors. If there are a few, I can overlook it and keep going, but the errors were so bad that I stopped reading and took a moment to collect myself and mentally scold St. Vil for her grammar sins.
1.) Learn when it is appropriate to use "Tony and I" and "Tony and me".
2.) The constant use of "angel-like". I believe the word you are looking for is angelic. It might be time for you to show your thesaurus some love.
Rating:
2 stars out of 5.
I gave 2 because at least I was able to finish the book.
Read this when I was 15 and now reading it again as a 25 year old… DAMNNN!!! 🤗😂 Can safely say not the best writing but what a freaking throwback to my first encounter with ANGELS and DEMONS!!
Marissa's review: I really didn't know what to expect from this book but I was totally blown away. I can say that I'm tired of angel books until the cows come home but every time I read another one I love it. This one was no exception. One of the best things about this book was how different it was from other angel books. There was a different back story and they had different 'gadgets' which I thought were great and every angel had a different power based on their 'Core' which is basically the story of how they died. So I thought all of that was awesome.
I also really liked all the characters. Emmy (I love her name) one of the protagonists is just a normal human and she is thrown into this crazy world and I loved how she handled it like and normal human being would but she was also really strong. One thing I didn't like about her was how fast she said she was in love with Marcus when he was a real jerk to her at first. The other protagonist was Marcus. I really didn't like him at first but when it switched to his POV I understood why he acted the way he did. I actually liked how he tried to fight for his relationship with Ameana even though she knew he had feelings for Emmy. But in the end I was totally team Emmy because Ameana acted like a jealous girlfriend to the point of being violent and that ultimately pushed Marcus away. Jay was probably my favorite character. He was so funny and charming. I also really liked Reese the relationship between Jay and Reese was really cool. I loved the twins Rio and Miku. I loved how Rio wanted to save everybody even though it got him in trouble in the end. Miku was so sweet and nice to Emmy and she really needed that. I even liked Sage.
I don't understand why this book isn't more popular I absolutely loved it. It was fast-paced and there was tons of action and romance. It was just fabulous and I really hope that there's a second one and that I get the chance to read it. 5/5 stars
Jasmine's review: Words can't even describe my love for this book. It was beyond amazing. It was so original. I've never read an angel book like this. Every angel has a different power. Not only do they have wings but they get an awesome power too. That's just not fair. This is one of those book that you want to jump into. It was very hard to put down.
I really liked Emmy. She handles things pretty well. Sometimes she broke down but she's human what do you expect. At times she was a little desperate. That got kinda annoying. Marcus is amazing. I absolutely adore him. There was one thing that bothered me. He said he was going to stay with Ameana but by the end he wanted Emmy. I like Emmy better but I didn't like how it took the whole book for Marcus to make up his mind. Other then Marcus my two favorite guardians were Reese and Rio. Their powers were the best in my opinion. I didn't think we saw enough of Reese. Of course both my favorite characters might not have a big part in the sequel :(. Jay was awesome. I'm not really sure what his power was though. Ameana was incredibly annoying. I feel bad for her but she's a jerk. I loved Miku too. She was super sweet.
The storyline was fantastic. It had so many twists and turns. The excitement never stopped. Overall I love this book with all my heart. It has everything a book needs. Amazing characters and a fast paced plot. With that ending there better be a sequel. I might hurt someone if there isnt. Hopefully there will be and it won't take forever to come out. I highly recommend this. 5/5 Stars
I didn't think I'd like this book. For the first 15%, I was reading this question my existence and wondering why I put myself through this. No, really, what's wrong with me?
But apparently my subconscious has some insight, because by the end I couldn't put it down. Seriously. I needed to read it, and I couldn't stop it.
So I'm rating this book 2.5, mainly because my feelings towards this were torn. Here are my pros and cons/goods and bads of the book.
Pros: -Creative storyline. I loved the idea of it all, and found it to be creative.
-Ameana. It seems most people here didn't like her for what she did to Emmy, but, damn, I sympathized the whole way with the crap she went through to keep Marcus with her. The Golden Gate Bridge thing? That made the story for me. People think she's a jealous, vengeful ex, but, really, I completely understand. Emmy asked Ameana's boyfriend out in front of her. Like, literally, in front of her If I were Ameana, I would not have been so nice. Was anyone else secretly wishing that when Ameana threw Emmy into the wall, her head did get impaled by a nail? Or is that just my morbid thoughts taking over?
-Reese. Goddamit, Reese, what the hell happened? This book left me mentally drained afterwards. He was the sweetest, funniest guy in the book, and he was the least 2D character there. He kinda made the book worth reading. I loved him.
Cons:
-Emmy. She is the epitome of Mary Sue. Literally, she was so dull and boring. She always called herself ugly, along with a couple other people in the book, yet she scored a sexy, delicious, gorgeous angel. Rightio, then. If you're such a Plain Jane, why did an angel pick you over a girl who is described as looking like a fricken Victoria's Secret model. Can you teach me how to do that? That shiz would come in handy.
-The insta-love aspect. Now, I get it, and I'm a big fan and believer in love at first sight. I know, I've experienced it. But this one passed the point of possibility. It says that when she sees him, he's so beautiful she can't look away or blink, and she actually starts crying because her eyeballs were in too much pain. WTH???!!!!! Everyone blinks, stupid. I doubt you're gonna miss that much. God.
-The fact that I was happily trotting along in this book, reading it and going, 'God, I love this character. Aaaaand, they're dead.' You killed them. You. Killed. Them. Make your characters as annoying as possible, but take away one of my favourites? What kind of monster are you?
-That it was literally like reading a badly written fan fiction. Most of the time, it was manageable. I could look past it and enjoy the book for what it was. But those battle scenes? No. It went something along the lines of....
And then he did this. And then he did this.... And then he ran over and..... And then he did this. And then she.... It was like reading a recount from a second grader. It wasn't well explained, and I sometimes skipped through those battle scenes just to get away from it.
It's a 2.5 for me, because I respect the 'almost' originality, and I liked it. Well done, Miss StVil. Thanks for a good book :) x
The premise drew me into this book, but I was disappointed. The author knows enough about mythologies to mix Christian and Taoist ideas together relatively seamlessly, unless you know both well to see the differences.
The main female protagonist, Emmy, is a shallow heroine. She immediately falls in love with Marcus, the main angelic hero, and spends most of the book pining for him. Her infatuation is given the title of "love", although what a selfish love it is. Her dismay at not being chosen by him nearly kills another angel, puts herself in unnecessary danger, puts others in danger, and seriously ticks off Marcus' girlfriend. The vast majority of the book is spent on these two females and their fight for Marcus' attention.
Marcus is eerily similar to Emmy in how quickly he falls in love with her. He already has a girlfriend, but struggles to maintain the relationship after seeing Emmy for the first time. He failingly tries to convince himself, the other characters, and the reader that he doesn't care for Emmy. What is obvious is that after looking at her for the first time, he cannot control his actions towards her. This is very sad for the so-called hero of the story.
Despite the flaws of the main characters, the supporting cast is a different story altogether. Each of those belonging to the Guardian group has an interesting back story that the author does not share immediately. The characters are varied and have much more depth than the main characters.
Overall, the main characters seem to have very little emotional control over their lives, the other characters provide the necessary depth to keep me interested, and the mixing of ideologies created a disappointing concoction for me. I do not mind a forbidden love story, but I do not like stories of infidelity (Marcus was married to his "girlfriend" in the angelic way) and ones that deem the characters unfit to control their actions. Needless to say, the premise was promising, but the book was not one that I would purposely pick up again.
SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE YET NOT READ THE BOOK!!!!
This books is so Amazing I am giving 5 stars! Emmy and Marcus IS so kldfjøs, My feels is like now all over the place! And OMG, Reese suprised me, I didn't know he had feelings for Emmy, well cause he was good at hiding it! and the most thing that suprised me was Reese dying! OMG, I felt the pain, WHYYYY???!! and it was going soo finee between Em and Reese, She kissed him before his dead, such a nice present! XD but yeah, I got so dissapointed when he died! I hope he comes back or something, not that I expect it, or I should just say I expect him back on the enemies side, he sees Emmy, they will go through alot of things, just so they can bring back something I don't know either! XD but then he died...COME BACK REESE, Marcus choose Em!!! haha, well not that I don't like them being together, It is splendid, but he choose to TURN HIMSELF, well, I don't think I could stay away from the person I love! :/ so Yeah, it must have been hard for him to chose! and Ameania or what that second-in.command girl is! Her jealousy is soo pissing of! The first time Em and Marcus saw each other that girl should know that it will never be Marcus and MIMI! :P but Loved the book, can't wait for the second!
You know there are some books that are rare, meaningful, and amazing more than any treasure you ever glimpse or possess in the palm of your hand? It's one of those very rare occasions that you can actually find it. Those kinds of books are like gold, diamond, or any valuable treasures--that is hard to find in the ground because it's so valuable. Well, This one is certainly one of those kinds of book that are rare-meaningful books and will always hold a special place in my collection.
I picked this book up for free on kobo thinking it was just another YA novel. I was going to give it 100 pages it get good but it only took 2. The book is well written and very additive with its page turning chapters and well developed charaters. Its a must read for any teen. However the wonderful thing about it is, im not a teenager anymore and still loved it. After the first on you will be all over the 2, and 3. Happy reading
I really liked the story, but the editing was not so great. Words were missing, extra words were in sentences, and sentences that start out one way, appear to have been changed without changing the whole structure. Despite the messy editing, I did enjoy the story and the world the author created. Looking forward to the next book.