Ariel

I just finished what I would have to say is the weirdest book I’ve ever read.  It deals with Nephilim, which I have read about before but this one is, in a way, so different than any of the others. 

I really read it because the reviews on Amazon went on and on about how amazing it was that a man could write from the viewpoint of a teenage girl and make it so believable.  That got me interested because I have read so many books written by women with the POV of a man and wondered what the other way around would be like.

Honestly, it started out terrible!  I could write better than that and I don’t claim to be any writer.  His descriptions of Airel were nothing more than a list of 3 sentence paragraphs of facts about her.  UGH! SO boring!  And yet the reviews kept echoing in my head, so I read on.  About 22% into the book (remember I have the Kindle so page numbers are non-existent, sorry) I remember thinking, “Oh, this is starting to get good.”  And then I was hooked.  But almost not in a good way.  Like I couldn’t put it down even though I still didn’t like it.  Addictive is a word I use to describe my reading often, but this was even more so. 

Once it got through the “I have brown hair.” “I get mostly A’s” boring description it started to get pretty interesting, but still.  The thing about a guy (or actually 2) writing from a teenage girl's POV was so off.  I mean, he got her thoughts close to right, but the emotions were just “off.”  I can’t even really describe why, they just didn’t feel right. 

And then there was the secondary story (and yet it was vital to understanding) of Kreios.  That part was so weird and not really interesting.  I can see a guy wanting that part in the story.  I mean it explained everything, but it was so violent and bloody.  It was war.  And it was painted in a very real light.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I bought something labeled as YA Paranormal. 

So, all in all… would I read it again?  Probably not.  Would I recommend it?  I don’t know.  By the end, it sort of reminded me of a Dekker book, which is a good thing.  (one of my favorite authors)   

But… I still haven’t really made up my mind.  Usually, I let a book sit in the back of my mind a while before writing about it, but I really had to get my thoughts down fresh on this one.  We’ll see.  I will say it is very doubtful that I will read the sequel.