A Shimmer of Angels (review)

Talking about: books

Read the review in spanish click

Title: A Shimmer of Angels
Series: Angel Sight #1
Author: Lisa M. Basso
Publisher: Month9Books
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: 29 January, 2013
Pages: 321
Goodreads
Buy: BD - Amazon
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?

My opinion

When I finished this book I immediately put it 5 stars. I thought about it for some seconds and then it changed to 4. And now, that it's been a while, I realized this book is more a 3. The characters and the story weren't in my head time enough for being a 4.
Anyway, everything starts with Rayna, a girl who sees wings, majestic wongs in weird people. The girl is totally sane nevertheless she is on her first day at school after getting out of a mad house. Totally sane but she sees wings, so she stops and start pretending she doesn't to convince herself the wings are just in her imagination.
But she arrives to school and, guess what? The new boy has wings. Immediately she gets scared and get away from him. It's actually kind of silly and dumb, really dumb. I mean, the wings have never even touched her and the people in the wings never did anything to her, she actually doesn't have like a real good reason to be afraid, she just doesn't want to believe she is crazy but her reactions are ver exaggerate if you ask me.
The point is she just pretend she doesn't see this guy, she continues with her 'normal' life and goes to her very first day of work. But again, guess what? Another angel. But this one has black wings… wings she had never seen before. Her reaction was the same, but in this case it is kind of justified because of the scenario. And that's how it all begins.

“What would angel lips taste like? Sunshine? Marshmallows? Or something altogether different? Maybe buttered-popcorn jelly beans.”

Personally, I hated almost all the characters.
Rayna is a very clumsy girl (she keeps throwing things, tripping and almost dying) and also her reactions are kind of dumb and exaggerate. Sometimes she isn't THAT bad, sometimes she does things I would probably have done the same, so she was a good character but sometims I just wanted to hit her hard to see if she reacted the proper way.
Cam… he is another bipolar. An angel in the golden wings. He's sweet and cute in one momento and the next he is as cold as an ice cube. I don't think he was a good character, I wanted to hit him more times than to Rayna.
And then we have Kade *sights* with him the story is saved. An angel in the black wings. A fallen angel. At the beginning he was very arrogant, but then he became a bit sweet. Kade is the only character in the book that is totally worth reading (yeah, I'm team Kade). But I found a couple of situations really weird (and all his past intrigues me).
Anyway, the only character I liked were Kade and Rayna's best friend, he is so hilarious and funny.
Now let's talk a bit about the villain, Az. The book doesn't talk much about him and his intentions… I actually expected more of a villain with such creepy plans, but well.

“When you're wearing a smile, it's easier to pass yourself off as happy.”

The topic… is good, nevertheless it's not a story that will stay forever in your mind, it's kind of the conventional story of angels and the end it's pretty much predictable (I expected something more dramatic).
The story is pleasant and easy to read, that's a plus that will keep you reading until the very end, it's really a quick story you can read in a calm afternoon.
It's a good book so that's why it stays with the rating I'm giving.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a simple lovely story about angels with a lot of romance and a bit of action.
Finally, I wold like to remark that beautiful cover it has, it's… angelical.

Sobre la autora:
Lisa M. Basso was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is a lover of books, video games, animals, and baking (not baking with animals though). As a child she would crawl into worlds of her own creation and get lost for hours. Her love for YA fiction started with a simple school reading assignment: S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. When not reading or writing she can usually be found at home with The Best Boyfriend that Ever Lived ™ and her two darling (and sometimes evil) cats, Kitties A and B.
Web | Twitter | Goodreads

My rating

Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook.