Angel

I enjoyed this book which is basically a coming of age story about a teen girl who is struggling to find her identity. I think teen girls, especially, would enjoy this well-written book.

Ever wonder if angels really did exist? Well, in this book they do, but try living with that fact when everyone around you does not know. This story focuses on two girls. One who has actually seen an angel and another who believes but has never seen one. I really enjoyed the story - the regular

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aspects as well as the fantasy elements.

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Freya is 14, and just beginning to patch her life back together after being visited by an angel when she was eight. It was an event that led to an obsession with angels, institutionalization for mental illness, and continues to threaten her fragile home life after her release. Her older brother

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Luke has issues with the school bully and is trying to keep Freya unaware of their single father’s life-threatening illness. As Freya desperately tries to fit in with the popular girls at school, the affected cruelty they expect of her alienates Luke and draws the attention of Mestraal, a dark and hideous angel whose manifestations nearly send Freya back to the hospital.

At the same time, Stephanie, a homeschooled girl who faithfully believes in angels, shows up at school. Freya turns to her, and her simultaneous need for a friend who believes and terror of losing her mind leads to her rejection of Stephanie, who becomes suicidal. As things reach a deadly climax, the first angel that appeared to Freya returns to tell her that she is half a human and half-angelic, and it is up to her to make some difficult choices between saving Stephanie and her brother Luke. McNish refuses to portray angels as divine servants of God (“Some of us believe, some not, just like humans,” says Mestraal). Rather than slipping into straight fantasy, however, this book straddles the line between religious fiction and the fantastic while managing to feel more like a coming-of-age tale that focuses on the painfully hard interpersonal choices teens face, and the need for a compassion in dealing with others that makes these choices bearable and allows young people to mature. At times frightening, suspenseful, or heartbreaking (and always gently beautiful), Angel quietly and quit successfully examines a divinity that is secular and human, but divine nonetheless. Some mildly graphic violence and mention of teen suicide. Ages 12+.

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I'm not sure what this book's trying to be. It starts off well: the writing style is fine, and it sets itself up for a strong and enjoyable story. About a third of the way through, however, it seems to lose track of itself; the plot starts to jump about to the point where I don't think the author

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really knew what he wanted to happen, the tone changes far too much and after a while it just gets weird. It manages to reign itself in eventually and tie itself together in a somewhat satisfying ending, but after reading it I was left pretty emotionless. Nevertheless, I'll give it three stars for the start, and I imagine it's engaging enough to keep the goffick youngsters entertained, but ultimately it's stuck in an odd place between fluffy teen fantasy and being dark enough to make an impact.

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I didn't finish, it just didn't hold my attention anymore. The story started to become boring after she found out that she was half human, half angel. The beginning was defiantly more interesting just my interest faded more and more as I kept on reading.