Jessica's books

The One and Only Ivan
Pollyanna
Revolutionary War on Wednesday
Leprechaun in Late Winter
Ella Enchanted
The Courage of Sarah Noble
Plain Murder
Gone-Away Lake
Circling the Sun
Maggie and Max
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
The Night Sister
Tuck Everlasting
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Bedknob and Broomstick
Mister Monday
Alice Through the Looking Glass
The Birchbark House
The Hobbit
The Witch's Daughter


Jessica's favorite books »

Monday, July 25, 2011

Book Review: Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

 
Title:  Hades
Author:  Alexandra Adornetto
Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends
Publish Date:  August 30, 2011

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Even the love of her boyfriend, Xavier Woods, and her archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, can’t keep the angel Bethany Church from being tricked into a motorcycle ride that ends up in Hell. There, Jake Thorn bargains for Beth’s release back to Earth. But what he asks of her will destroy her, and quite possibly her loved ones as well. Can he be trusted in this wager? And what does Jake have Xavier believing about Beth’s fate that may result in an act of betrayal that will leave Bethany – and readers – wondering if Xavier is so good after all?

My Thoughts:  Well, I have to admit, I liked this books SO much better than Halo!  It still isn't a favorite but it was much better than the first book.

Bethany is still together with Xavier.  Bethany and Ivy and Gabriel are still living in Venus Cove.  It is Halloween and Beth goes with Xavier and Molly to a Halloween party.  Some of the girls want to play on a Ouija board and despite not being comfortable with it, Beth goes along.  Then, everything goes wrong.  The girls let out a spirit, Bethany loses track of Xavier and is tricked onto a motorcycle and ends up in Hell with Jake.  The rest of the book focuses on how Beth is going to get out of Hell.

So, things I liked about this book:
  • I really liked the new characters, Tuck and Hannah.  Tuck was so funny and I was really wanted him to get out of Hell.  He really helped Beth and genuinely liked her.
  • Molly became a little more mature in this book.  Not a lot, but enough that she wasn't quite as annoying as in the first book.  
  • Much more action packed and faster paced.  I read this book much faster than the first because I thought it was more interesting.  The descriptions of Hell were great.  I could feel the heat of the Pit and hear the screams of the tortured.  I liked how there were different realms of Hell as well.
  • I liked that Taylah was brought back for a little while.  While I didn't care for what happened to her, it was apparent that she had matured as well.
  • I loved the scenes with the nuns.  It was a part of the book that I couldn't put down until I found out how Gabriel, Ivy, Xavier and Molly took care of the problem. 
Now for the things I didn't like:
  • An angel would not play with a Ouija board in my opinion.  No ifs, ands or buts about it. The author talked about putting a glass upside down on the board.  All the boards I've seen (and the one I used one time and one time only) had a planchette.  Just thought that was a little strange.
  • Again, I got tired of hearing about how perfect, beautiful, etc. Ivy and Gabriel were.  One time was enough but throughout the book, every time one of them was talked about we heard about how perfect they were.  The author also felt the need to constantly describe Xavier's hair.  Instead of just saying "Xavier pushed his hair out of his eyes" the author constantly focused on the color saying "Xavier pushed his nutmeg brown hair out of his eyes".  One time was fine but every time?  I think I know what color his hair is. 
  • I was not impressed with what Beth did to Tucker in the end.  I can't say anymore or I'd have to do a spoiler alert but I didn't like it at all!
  • Hades is not Hell.  In the book, the author constantly referred to Hell as Hades.  Hades is the Underworld in Greek Mythology and also the name of the God that rules the Underworld.  This just bothered me a little because it seemed that the research was not completely done.
  • I hated Hannah's story.  I mean really?  This is the reason she is in Hell?  I just didn't buy it.  I thought her story could have been much more horrible. 
  • The whole "tricked onto a motorcycle" thing was bad.  How stupid can Beth be?  It just didn't work for me at all!
So yes, this book was better than Halo but not by a lot.  The good thing was that it was faster paced so it didn't take up as much of my time as the first book.  I'm still not sure if I will read Heaven...we will just have to see.





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