Young Writers Society

This is my first book review in this forum, so bear with me if I don't know exactly what to say.

I went to the library the other day and I picked out a handful of books I plan to read while June and Evi are editing my story... It takes so long @_@ xD But then again, I'm impatient. The good part about this is that I can do more book reviews, this being my first one.

Summary: There are several main characters in 'Angel', the protagonist being Freya Harrison. It starts off with her first encounter with an angel when she was 8 years old. After this, Freya becomes obsessed with angels and waits by her window each night. This obsession grows so out of control that eventually she never leaves the window altogether. The reason Freya becomes this obsessed is because of something the angel says, which I won't spoil for you ;P

Her Father and older brother, Luke, get worried, like any family member would if their kid was going insane. She gets sent to a hospital where the doctors claim that she'll never be able to recover. Freya does, however, recover.

The main part of the book takes place somewhere around England I'm guessing, when Freya is 15 (a sophomore). Only a "handful of people" know about her past, allowing Freya to start a brand new life. She cuts her hair short, she dyes it, wears make up, and all of that other artificial junk you do when you want to transform. She ends up in the most popular "social circle" at Ashecroft High, with Amy Carr, Gemma, and Vicky White. In other words, the nastiest group in the school.

It's been 6 months since Freya started school as a normal teen, and then things take a turn for the worst. She starts seeing angels again, but not the nice, beautiful ones like in the beginning. Freya tries to ignore them, to pretend that they don't exist, but Stephanie Rice, an exchange student/"freak", won't let her forget them.

If you want to know the rest, click the spoiler ><

[spoiler] In the process of all this, Freya has to decide between redeeming her old life or living her new. One wrong move and Amy Carr could toss her like a hot potato. Life isn't easy for her older brother Luke, either. Getting into fights, protecting a 7th grader named Sam, and deciding whether or not he's brave enough to face Tate.

I'll say this straightforwardly. Freya is half angel, half human. Not by birth, just somehow happened upon her. It's what she's dreamed of her whole life, but what's the burden that comes along with it? As an angel, Freya must watch over her wards. Their voices, their calls are now forever stuck inside her head. There's not one guardian angel to a person, there's one guardian angel for thousands since angels are rare. In the end, she has to decide if she thinks she's strong enough to go on. Anything else I say may ruin the whole thing xD [/spoiler]

So that's the basic rundown of 'Angel'. It may not sound like the plot is original. It is somehow cliched in the way that the main character has all the powers, she's just realizing it. And of course the conflict is whether or not she thinks she can handle her new powers. And of course in the end she has to decide who to save but ends up saving everyone. Yup, the easy life with just a few bumps in the road to keep you in check.

The good part about this book is that it's very well written. The descriptions are excellent and create the images of angels in your head almost perfectly. The dialogue between Amy's clique and normal high school teen behavior was on the spot. Though written by a man, Freya was able to be written from a girl's perspective. If you're looking for something to read that can inspire your descriptions, teach you new words, and make you more observant and sympathetic towards angels as well as humans, then look no further! Read this book.

The bad part about this book is that it lacked depth and it was awfully cliche. Although I loved the descriptions, this book lacked feeling. It lacked emotion. Maybe a few little things about emotion here and there, but McNish isn't able to transfer the characters feelings across in this book. He isn't able to show the nature of humans or angels and can't explain their feelings. It's one of those books where you just have to take in most of it as fact. Also, as I said earlier, this plot is cliched. Main character has a few flaws, but it's all perfect in the end.

Thank you ^^ This has been a book review with Shina

Please look forward to more.

Also, if you'd like me to read a book and review it for you, just PM me or click the link in the signature.