A Shimmer of Angels (Angel Sight, #1)

by Lisa M Basso

• ISBN10: 1306018730
• ISBN13: 9781306018739
• Publish Date: 1 January 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 February 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Month9books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 281
• Language: English

Reviews

[whisperingchapters]

A Shimmer Of Angels is about this girl named Rayna who has spent three years locked away at the loony bin for seeing angels. She finally returns home and the first thing she sees are wings. She keeps that a secret so she wont be sent away again. At school she meets Cam, an angel and at work, she meets the hot, sexy, Fallen angel, Kade. Suicides start happening from kids at school, kids that Rayna has class with. What did they all have in common aside from committing suicide? Drawing an angel with black wings.

I don't even know where to start. This book was an amazing book! It has what every Young Adult loves to read in books: romance, a good-looking and nice angel, a hot, fallen angel, drama, mystery, suspense. This book takes the word intense to a whole other level. When I first started reading the book, just a few pages in, I knew I was going to like it. It's a book that takes you through an emotional roller coaster and I actually enjoyed the ride. I have two favorite characters: Kade and Lee. Lee, because he is funny and is the only friend Rayna has that has stuck by her through everything. I really got attached to his character.

Kade is so hot! When he was introduced to the story, I was drawn to him. He is a cocky, collected, alluring, and tempting Fallen angel, but he is not like other Fallen angels and that's what I like about him. He actually cares for her. Not at the beginning, for when they met he had other intentions. Along the way, he started caring for her and my insides went all mushy.

The description on the story is on point, the characters are ones that you can get attached to, the story is very interesting and doesn't disappoint!

[Kelly]

A Shimmer Of Angels was fluffy and cute. Although dealing with issues such as perceived mental illness and teen suicide, it was still a light read. It had all the aspects that young adult readers have come to rely upon, the dreaded love triangle, the angst, the token nerd, stereotypical teens and bullying, but it was brilliantly entertaining, I couldn't put it down.

I have a strained relationship with Angel themed young adult novels, but A Shimmer Of Angels has certainly changed that, and I'll definitely be continuing on to the second book of the Angel Sight series. Becca Fitzpatrick, take note, this is how you produce a well written young adult angel series.

[anastasia]

Review posted at SoManyBooksSoLittleTime

[nitzan_schwarz]

Thanks Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this awesome book before time!

To read this review and more pop by my blog, Drugs Called Books

A Shimmer of Angels has been, to me at least, a great read. I loved the world it presented, and I think Basso managed to give a fresh breath to the well-done theme of angels and to create a world that was both familiar and unique. I'm not the biggest fan of Angel books, as I haven't found one that has blown my mind yet, but this one came damn close!
The book also managed to get some very unexpected reactions out of me (all good), which I'll expand on in this review.

The book starts with Rayna, three months after her release from the hospital (where she spent three years, in and out), and with the "end" of her "remission" - after three full months of being 'sane', she's seeing them again - the wings. It was a really good start, as it introduced her, some of her personality traits and her behavior, in a way I found interesting, informative--but not dull.

The characters of the book were very good.

Rayna is the main female character, and the story is told from her point of view.
She was a character I had much sympathy toward; frightened out of her mind of getting back to the bin, frightened out of her mind of the angels she sees, frightened out of her mind to find out they aren't hallucinations. And through all the fright, she somehow manages to come out as strong, moving forward and acting even with the fear. I had much respect toward that, and I believe we'll be able to see her grow a lot throughout the next books; seeing her slowly get rid of her many fears and becoming the strong person you can tell she is.
Rayna is also loving, compassionate and kind, which I loved.
I think somewhere among everyone telling her she's crazy, Ray really became so. Not in the crazy way they talk about, but in a different way coming out as paranoia and panic attacks. This is not a bad thing. I think it added to her character and in general to the book. And, anyway, stick a healthy person among the crazy and eventually it'll rub of, one way or another.
One thing that I did hate; her actions toward the end. More on that soon.
Wow, what a block of text I wrote about that one!

Cam is an angel, sent to protect a certain person from becoming a soul in Hell's army. He's the "good" and "sweet" guy, the shinning angel, but I found little love in me for him. I didn't feel we got to know him well, and he abandoned Ray twice. I can't really tell you about his traits as I don't feel I got to see them really, but Ray says he's calm, serious, and has a very good garb on his emotions.

Kade is the fallen angel, and he's totally swoon worthy! He plays himself a bad boy, teasing Ray and telling her all kind of lies and frightening things to get to her, but in the end he was the person that cared most about her and protected her most. He hides himself behind the mask of the 'bad boy', but was very sweet underneath (when he let Ray see it). I wasn't expecting his character, and I wasn't expecting to like him so much. I feel like I got to see and know him a lot better than I ever did Cam, and I also think he took over much more parts in the story than Cam did. Not complaining at all, here.

Lee is Ray's best--and only--friend. I feel like I should mention him even though he's not a big part of the story because he's freaking awesome! He curses using Doctor Who references! How can you not love him?!!!

Now let's talk a bit about the romance, shall we?

The summary doesn't let on about this; but we've got a love triangle going round. Bad boy vs. Sweet boy sort of thing.
This is one of the only books I can say I didn't mind the love triangle at (and that's saying something) and also the only book I can think of in which I ended up rooting for the 'bad guy' (i.e Kade) with all of my might. He was just so much better than Cam! Scratch that; if Rayna doesn't want him I'll take him!
Even though I didn't agree with Rayna's choice of guy (I've got a feeling or rather hope that it'll change in the next book), I enjoyed the romance simply because it created new feelings inside of me, such as screaming at the girl to pleaseeee pick the guy I like, or thinking to myself that I didn't mind the love triangle.
I did, however, think Rayna fell for Cam rather quickly and out of nowhere. I think their relationship should've been build up a bit better, but I liked where it ended in this book.

I also loved some of the concepts of the book, such as that one way for an angel to Fall is to fall in love with a human. It was just so unique and creative in my opinion (first book I read that was like that). I also find it peculiar; love's the purest emotion out there. Why would that emotion be count as a sin? I hope Rayna will explore that in the next books, especially if she wants to win the guy she likes.

The ending... well, that was the part that made me lower the stars. Up until then, I thought I'll give it a five stars (yep - most of the book's that good!)
Rayna, in my opinion, acted really stupid here. I couldn't decide whether she didn't think about the consequences of handing the bad guys such a weapon (like more deaths, only now deaths for Cam's kind as well), or if she did understand but didn't care as long as her family and friends were safe. She kept being angry with the guys for [saving] her, but I'm glad they refused to apologize for that, as they shouldn't.

As for the writing, it was really good. It flowed well and made complete sense, and I enjoyed reading it.

So, as I already said - a really good book! Really looking forward to reading the next in the series... so please publish it already!

To read this review and more pop by my blog, Drugs Called Books