Starfire Angels

I'm going to preface this review with a trigger warning for drugging and rape. It's something that needs to be said before someone reads this book and my review and have it bring up horrible memories.

Honestly I wanted to like this book more, but where the author took this book is just... wrong. If you think this book is about Raea, you'd be wrong and that is where most of the fault lies.

Nilles builds Raea up to be a strong character and about 70% into the book.. yeah. So much for that.

We find out that she is drugged and then raped by Pallin. While rape isn't a forbidden subject, the way it's handled here is merely to get ELIS bothered. Depowering not only Raea, but making her an object to further Elis's motivations. As this is the show more catalyst for him to start the ending of the book. It's Elis that get's mad and doesn't listen to Raea, Elis that goes to the motel and Elis that begins the fight with Pallin. Actually this book is about Elis it seems.

But "OH" you say "She finishes it!" That doesn't make up for the fact that she was rendered a 'damsel in distress', 'Elis's "property" that was soiled that he had to fight the honor of', and even is the 'hostage' at the very end. Because really, Elis going after Pallin like that just makes Raea nothing but property, like he owns her. "I have to hurt Pallin because he did that to MY lover/girlfriend/mate."

Another thing is that these angel people are supposed to be SOOOO technologically advanced, yet they fall into the standard gender dichotomies. Nilles writes "he needed the touch of a female," (dehumanizing language) "just as any man did." That wasn't written from the character's perspective either. Also, some of the "any man" out there that I know of prefer the touch of a another man. So these scifi angel people haven't seemed to advance that far yet either.

Overall the book wasn't written badly, however where the book decided to take itself was into territory that it would have been better off just not going there. It could have easily ended that same way without the things happening at the end that seemed to steer the car off the road into "Don't-Go-Thereville" show less

Let me start off by saying this, if you liked Hush, Hush then I think you would like this one. If you hated Hush, Hush I think you would LOVE this one. I didn't hate Hush, Hush but I had mixed feelings about it. This one gave me no mixed feelings. I completely and totally adored it!

I'm not even sure about how to describe it. You think it's paranormal at first but it's more of a sci-fi story. I'll say this much though...I adored it. Melanie's writing style is excellent and she draws you in with her fast-paced story development.

The characters are great and a very "real" bunch of teenagers. There are surprises at every turn and the storyline was unique. I really recommend this one to YA and "fallen angel" fans as I think you'll find show more something totally different and intriquing in this book. show less

This book started out slow for me. I actually thought about putting it down at 50% but I continued pushing my way thru it. It did improve but it was a bit late in the book and not enough. I think my issues were with the characters. They needed much more development for the reader to care. Plus, I didn't like Raea much. She was too weak. I like stronger heroines who fight for what they want or need. She was more willing to stand back and let the boys fight for her. I doubt I will read more of this series.

You know how I get, I have a vision of a kind of book in my mind, and I just don't feel right until I read it. Luckily, it was pretty easy for me to find an angel book in my library, and this one was so interesting I was easily able to dive right into it. A different take on the usual kind of archangel books I've read, this one contained a new species of aliens I've never read before, ones that look exactly like humans and are able to hide their huge angel wings to blend in. I really enjoyed reading it.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com/2021/01/25/starfire-angels-dark-ang...

This is one of my many acquisitions that I got for free from iBook’s. The description from Goodreads promised me an interesting context with a lot of potential. I found this one of the better e-books I've found for free on iBook’s. Sometimes it was all a bit predictable but beggars cannot be choosers, right?

All in all I found it an entertaining story; the storyline was unique with some nice twists even though it was sometimes a bit easy to foretell the ending.

Our main character Raea is a bit of a whine, if you don't like this in a book I recommend you don't start this one. Other than that I really liked her as a person, maybe she could do something about her self-confidence but I could tell that to myself as well.

The love story show more is not the main part of the book, this definitely is Raea trying to fit in and find herself into this new world she knows nothing about. Can't say that I'm not curious about where this love story is gonna go, but we will see that hopefully in volume two.

It was a pity that we did not read anything about the angel world in this book. I was so curious after they've talked about it throughout the book. But the writer definitely gave us a reason to read the second volume in this series.

This is beyond any doubt one of the easiest reads I've had in weeks. It took me one evening to finish it, and this is all due to the easy writing style of Melanie Nilles; props on that. It's definitely worth a read and as I already said, I'm curious what's going to happen in the next book!

Love,
Anne

http://pursuit-of-books.blogspot.com show less

Well, you get what you pay for. While the story had promise and potential, everything was rushed and poorly executed. I was extremely intrigued to find out where the Angels were truly from, however, I was disappointed to see it so underdeveloped. This was a free Kindle download and so I can't complain to much, especially as it was so short.

There were several typos, the dialog was hurried and and some points confusing, and the plot, while promising, became absolutely absurd! The story begins with Raea failing instantaneously for Pallin, the foreign exchange student to which I felt no attachment. Immediately, the creepy and nerdy Ellis enters the story to which I also feel no connection.

Raea quickly learns that everyone in her life has show more lied to her, her deceased mother and step father, her adopted Aunt and Uncle, and even the little old lady from church that lives next door. Raea wakes one night from a painful nightmare with wings protruding from her back and the adventure begins as Raea slowly discovers her true
origin.

Raea holds the Starfire Crystal, worn as a pendant Raea, apparently, hasn't taken it off since the day her mother put it around her neck. Kind of unbelievable right? Now, there are others after the Starfire Crystal and Raea must guard the crystal with all of her being.

Unfortunately, the good guys and the bad guys are painfully obvious from the beginning. Everything is entirely predictable and that is what makes this read so boring. Raea is an unlikable protagonist who doesn't seem to make the best of decisions. The one, plot twist I didn't see coming was highly inappropriate and handled poorly by Raea. What sort of example does the author hope to set for other teenage girls.

Sort of ridiculous that they can shrink and grow their wings. If it was part of who they are, an appendage then why would they need to grow and shrink it, particularly if it is so painful? It would be like me shrinking away my legs when they aren't in use. Then, there is the reporter that is constantly harassing Raea, a child. How is it plausible that a reporter would be allowed to stalk and harass a teenager like she is the paparazzi?

Overall, disappointing read but at least it didn't consume a lot of my time. It took me days upon days to get through this because it was so boring. I'm sure it was meant to be just an afternoon read. The story really could have used more development. show less

In this tale of angel mythology Raea wakes up after a night filled with nightmares and pain to find that she has wings. After spending her whole life thinking she was "normal" she finds out she isn’t even human. To top off the bad luck, the only person that can help her hide her wings and teach her all about her home world is the "creepy" boy from school named Elis. Raea’s luck seems to take a turn for the worst when a nosey reporter starts looking for the “black angle” won’t leave her alone. But Raea's luck seems to be changing when an unbelievably gorgeous kid from school named Pallin takes an interest in her. Is Elis really that creepy or is there more to him than meets the eye? Will Raea fall for Pallin or is there someone show more else? Will that pesky reporter find out her secret?

I felt like this book was a little predictable but at the same time I was happy about the way things turned out. I actually enjoyed the book even though I could pretty much guess at what would happen next. The characters where very "real" and easy to relate to. The little blossoming romance in the book was enjoyable and exciting.
Author Melanie Nilles writes a charming story about an alien girl who just wants to be normal again. show less