A review by theliteratureladies
Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore
3.0
I’ll start this review off by saying I tried to find this series to read years ago when I was in high school. From what I could tell at the time, it was going to be right up my fifteen year old self’s alley: a protagonist who’s a ballerina, a mysterious (and, yes, very good-looking) new boy in town, and some supernatural craziness going on. And I was so disappointed because I could not find them to read anywhere. So, I never read them… until this past summer. I stumbled across the entire series available on my Libby app. I decided it was as good a time as any to see if these books lived up to my high school expectations.
In Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore, we meet Brielle Matthews, a dancer returning to her home in small-town Oregon who is reeling from a very fresh tragedy in her life – one that leaves her numb, cold, and full of fear. As she attempts to settle back in, she meets the new boy in town, Jake, who seems to be the complete opposite of her – warm, bright, and fearless. She can’t help but be intrigued. As she and Jake get to know each other, she finds herself thrust into a whole new realm – one of angels and demons, light and dark, hope and fear.
There’s a lot going on in this trilogy. Dittemore tackles some substantial, weighty subject matter. You know, like angels-and-demons-kind-of weighty. There’s also great grief, loss, murder, illness, alcoholism, abuse, and human trafficking. All the light, fluffy stuff. At times, I felt like there was a little too much going on; but, at other moments, I thought Dittemore was tying everything together pretty well. She definitely handles those tough issues delicately – in a way that doesn’t play any of them down – but keeps it appropriate to her young-adult audience.
Despite all that dark stuff, there’s deep love and friendship interwoven throughout the trilogy. And a lot of hope. Dittemore stands staunchly on the faith over fear, and that is a consistent theme in the books. Faith, trust, and hope even in – especially in – the midst of difficult circumstances. These are Christian fiction, and she is very direct about that faith being placed in God and nothing else. It is always encouraging for me to be reminded of that – God’s goodness and His control over everything – in my own life.
I admit I was a little skeptical about the whole angel/demon/celestial warfare part. It could be pretty easy to get that pretty wrong from a theological standpoint; but, in my opinion, Dittemore got it right. She conveys some heavy biblical truths about Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare clearly and carefully. I applaud her for tackling such subject matter and bringing it up in YA fiction.
I was most certainly entertained and very invested by this series; I read the trilogy in less than a week. I was thinking about the books when I wasn’t reading them, curious as to what would happen next. The characters are likeable (a little boxed into their defining characteristics in the first book, but they branch out some in the sequels); the plot is interesting; they’re clean, with a good dose of romance, some fitting humor, and a lot of intrigue. I would recommend to those wanting a YA read not filled with bad language, bad role models, and flippant sex.
In Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore, we meet Brielle Matthews, a dancer returning to her home in small-town Oregon who is reeling from a very fresh tragedy in her life – one that leaves her numb, cold, and full of fear. As she attempts to settle back in, she meets the new boy in town, Jake, who seems to be the complete opposite of her – warm, bright, and fearless. She can’t help but be intrigued. As she and Jake get to know each other, she finds herself thrust into a whole new realm – one of angels and demons, light and dark, hope and fear.
There’s a lot going on in this trilogy. Dittemore tackles some substantial, weighty subject matter. You know, like angels-and-demons-kind-of weighty. There’s also great grief, loss, murder, illness, alcoholism, abuse, and human trafficking. All the light, fluffy stuff. At times, I felt like there was a little too much going on; but, at other moments, I thought Dittemore was tying everything together pretty well. She definitely handles those tough issues delicately – in a way that doesn’t play any of them down – but keeps it appropriate to her young-adult audience.
Despite all that dark stuff, there’s deep love and friendship interwoven throughout the trilogy. And a lot of hope. Dittemore stands staunchly on the faith over fear, and that is a consistent theme in the books. Faith, trust, and hope even in – especially in – the midst of difficult circumstances. These are Christian fiction, and she is very direct about that faith being placed in God and nothing else. It is always encouraging for me to be reminded of that – God’s goodness and His control over everything – in my own life.
I admit I was a little skeptical about the whole angel/demon/celestial warfare part. It could be pretty easy to get that pretty wrong from a theological standpoint; but, in my opinion, Dittemore got it right. She conveys some heavy biblical truths about Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare clearly and carefully. I applaud her for tackling such subject matter and bringing it up in YA fiction.
I was most certainly entertained and very invested by this series; I read the trilogy in less than a week. I was thinking about the books when I wasn’t reading them, curious as to what would happen next. The characters are likeable (a little boxed into their defining characteristics in the first book, but they branch out some in the sequels); the plot is interesting; they’re clean, with a good dose of romance, some fitting humor, and a lot of intrigue. I would recommend to those wanting a YA read not filled with bad language, bad role models, and flippant sex.