Shannon Dittemore

Originally posted here.

Yet again, I must preface this review by saying that I myself am not religious. I'm an agnostic that doesn't have any religious background. I've had a lot of really close friends who are very religious, but I still have trouble with Christian fiction, which is mostly tied in to my hatred for proselytizing. Religious views can be conveyed subtly in novels, but usually it feels like I'm being whopped over the head with the Godly gavel, which leaves a rather nasty show more headache.

I've read a couple of other Thomas Nelson titles recently, Halflings and Swipe, and neither was too religious for me, even though Halflings was also about angels. Angel Eyes, though, definitely pushed a little too hard. I actually really liked the book until about halfway through, and then it perpetually made me roll my eyes more and more as the religious elements became steadily more heavy-fisted.

I'm going to start with the good stuff. First off, the writing is excellent. Told from Brielle's perspective, I can feel her pain. At the opening, she is broken, unable to cope with her friend Ali's murder, and the fact that she could possibly have prevented it. The writing conveys her brokenness and you can feel how cut off from others she is. You can also feel her warming up, literally, and recovering as she meets Jake.

The darkness of the story, not the sugary lightness of the usual inspirational fiction, was definitely a big plus. Dittemore tackles the big issues of death, grief, and why God would allow good people to die. Unfortunately, there's just not really any new ground or new answers she can, or at least does, provide to those issues. Still, I liked that she at least tried.

What I didn't like was the way the religion worked in the book. Brielle is not a believer at the start, because of her mother's and friend's deaths. Then she meets Jake, who stalks her (this only freaks her out for like five seconds) and he heals a broken bone for her. After that, he promises to tell her everything, but has to go on a trip with his dad, Canaan, so he leaves her a gold 'cuff,' which the girl does not recognize as a halo. Really?

My issues are twofold. Brielle doesn't have a choice but to believe. When she puts the halo on, she sees the celestial realm. She now knows angels on a first name basis. A big part of Christian faith, as I understand it, and this is even mentioned in the book, is based on faith without proof, but she gets to have proof. That's not fair! Her choice to be a non-believer has been taken away from her. And yet other people aren't told. If faith is the key to Heaven, and some people are shown the truth and others are left to believe in something they see no evidence of, that's a rigged system. Does He really want particular people to fail and some to go to Heaven?

This book also suffers from another problem I see in a lot of Christian fiction, namely that God and his forces do everything. Brielle, and even Jake, are mostly useless as far as the confrontations with evil go. For all that God isn't supposed to intervene to protect people, his angels sure do all of the defensive work. This is inconsistent and also makes me wonder why we're even following these teens, when they're clearly just being lead around by God's plan. The book says there's a choice, but there's not.

If I enjoyed Christian fiction, I think I would have liked this. If you agree with the view point being conveyed here, then you'll probably enjoy it, as the novel is well-written. I would have liked to see more of the heroine (particularly, why have her be a ballerina if she only dances once for like two pages?) and I'd like to see her more empowered. I will not be reading the second book, but I do recommend this book to people who aren't turned off by God as a character. show less

Angel Eyes was a fascinating story. The premise that angels live among us - and also demons - wasn't anything new but the way Dittemore "twisted" it made it not just another "good vs. evil" novel. It was captivating right from the beginning. As we're brought into the story we know that something tragic has happened, but it takes a but for Brielle to let us in on what's going on. As her story unveils itself we're also introduced to Jake who keeps showing up when Brielle least expects it. As show more the story gets more involved things really start to heat up and it becomes a fast-paced, intriguing, action packed story. What starts as a saddened girl going home to bury her anger and her guilt turns into a powerful heroine who helps fight in a battle against the evil forces at work.

This was such a fresh perspective on angels and their roles in our lives. I loved the whole premise. Although it did take a bit for me to figure out what everyone's roles were going to be it was worth the wait. I can't say enough how much I liked this idea of Angel's and how they can be a part of our world and still be a part of the celestial world.

The writing was amazing. When Brielle looks into the celestial realm what she sees was described so well that I could picture every bit of it. And it was amazing. I could feel the power that surges through Brielle when she is looking at our world in a whole different light. And when Jake's touch warms Brielle I got goose bumps because I swore I could feel it too. Even with all the seriousness and intensity of the story there was a lighter side. There were so many great humorous references to pop culture that really made me giggle. They were interspersed throughout the whole story and really added to the book. It was lightening an otherwise very intense book.

This is the first book of a trilogy and I can not wait for the other two books. I think this is one that I will be able to read over and over again. show less

Angel Eyes really surprised me, and in a completely good way. When I think about angel stories I tend to think of the watered down versions, such as Hush, Hush or Halo which are really focused on the romance of an angel with a human and little to do with what the purpose of an angel truly is. So I was prepared for something similar here. Angel Eyes, thankfully, does not skirt around its religious center.

Brielle is dealing with the belief that her own inaction caused the death of her best show more friend. Moving back home with her dad, to finish out high school is supposed to be a time to recover and get back to a semblance of normal. When she meets Jake everything starts to change.

Angel Eyes is told from multiple points of view, with Brielle being the main character. I loved how Brielle didn't just accept what Jake tells her. She doubts, even after proof, even after witnessing a battle between an angel and a demon, she has doubts, and she voices them. Brielle is not a weak character, waiting for a hero to rescue her. She is strong and independent, and she doesn't want to accept that her destiny may already be decided. There were points that I felt her unwillingness to believe completely in everything happening around her was a bit forced, but Dittemore manged to bring it back to why Brielle couldn't simply believe. I do wish we'd heard more from Jake's perspective. About halfway through the story we really start to learn about his life, and I wanted to experience what he'd been thinking and feeling when he first meet Brielle.

The supernatural part of the story was really well done. We get to see the beauty that comes with angels, but also the darker side of their role when the battle for Jake and Brielle begins. I wish I could go more into details, but it would give away too much of the story. I will say that the golden ring Brielle is holding on the cover is very important :)

Angel Eyes is ultimately a battle of good versus evil, of angels verses demons, and Dittemore wrote it without coming across as preachy. This is clearly Christian fiction, but it's written in a way that doesn't exclude non-Christians from reading or enjoying. The action and romance are both strong, the story is fast paced, and the ending is action packed. I would definitely recommend anyone looking for a love story. show less

This was a really fun read! I really enjoyed the world that Shannon created and the truckers-in-a-fantasy-world concept. The characters were all well-drawn and compelling. I did feel like the romantic subplot developed more quickly than was really believable, though some of that does have explanation later in the book.

TW: If you're sensitive to SA, skip chapter 18. You can understand what happened from implications outside of it and it's a pretty rough chapter to read. But it's very show more contained; chapter 18 is the only outright flashback and it's entirely flashback, so you won't miss anything by skipping it. show less