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A review by navsy
Angel Arias by Marianne de Pierres
2.0
I had thought that I would like the book and give it 3 stars and even now I’m tempted to say that it was good but it really wasn’t. It just didn’t do it for me.
Burn Bright held so much promise. When I had read the summary for that book I had thought that, “Yes, this is the book for me.” I’m a big fan of dystopian novels and books with an entirely new world. Books are like my time-travel machine; well, not just a time-machine. They are more than that. Books are like my worm-hole to different universes. They carry me to a world that’s entirely different than the one I’m living in. This book seemed like a conduit to this amazing new world of Ixion at the beginning. I liked Burn Bright better than Angel Arias cause even though I did not understand most of the things about Ripers or Elders or Night Creatures or Ixion, I liked the world building and the plot was good.
Angel Arias was like Fever by Lauren DeStefano in terms of all the running around and the pacing. Although it wasn’t boring at all. I mean, when a book is fast paced and when you finish it within 5 hours and less just because you couldn’t put it down has to count for something, right? The plot wasn’t the problem. In Burn Bright, we came to know all about Ixion and Ripers and found out that Ripers are nothing but really advanced Night Creatures that have survived for thousands of years by feeding on young people. In this book, we get to know more about Ruzalia and her safe-house. We find out more about Grave and meet a lot of new characters and find out about old cities and bridges and hidden routes but even all this wasn’t enough. The constant threat of death hanging above Naif, Markes and Char and then all the running around and hiding in cold, damp places that stank became regressive. There was some action in the last book but in this, it was just hiding from the wardens over and over and over.
I found the concept of Liam and Gwen and other malformed human/night-creatures repulsive as well as intriguing. Also, Lenoir being the one to send them to Grave to spy for him left me confused. All this then led to me being angry. Angry over the fact that the author still did not feel the need to explain things to us even when we were done with the second book in the trilogy. The small bit of information that was given in the last chapter didn’t seem enough. Also, there is only a chapter dedicated to Lenoir and what’s happening in Ixion. It could have been elaborated a little.
There was improvement in Naif’s as well as Markes’ character. But the new characters were just…flat. Jorrdan seemed interesting and I felt pity for Liam but Liam must have been the cleverest and bravest among the lot. Also, I was disgusted by Em and Jorrdan’s father. That slimy piece of shit! However, I still can’t find anything about the story that I particularly liked or feel too much empathy towards any character.
I wanted to know more about the Golden Spiral and how the Night Creatures came to existence or what had happened to their land or wherever they came from. I wanted to know more about how Ixion came into being, how Elders and Ripers made that deal, or from where Ruzalia had come and about other lands and places from where all the adolescents were attracted to Ixion. I don’t know if I’ll get the answers in the final book of the trilogy but if I don’t them I’m going to be very angry and pissed. This book, in fact this entire series has a lot of potential but the author isn’t touching so many topics that could be explored and I’m very disappointed.
Oh and being the critic that I am, I couldn't leave the review without pointing out an error I noted. In the beginning of the 20th chapter, Naif is mentioned as Retra in one line. Busted! :P
My rating: 2.5 stars; only because I have not given up on this series yet. I want to know how it all ends. Also, if there is going to be a love triangle in the last book which seems highly likely I’m going to cut down a star from the last book.
Burn Bright held so much promise. When I had read the summary for that book I had thought that, “Yes, this is the book for me.” I’m a big fan of dystopian novels and books with an entirely new world. Books are like my time-travel machine; well, not just a time-machine. They are more than that. Books are like my worm-hole to different universes. They carry me to a world that’s entirely different than the one I’m living in. This book seemed like a conduit to this amazing new world of Ixion at the beginning. I liked Burn Bright better than Angel Arias cause even though I did not understand most of the things about Ripers or Elders or Night Creatures or Ixion, I liked the world building and the plot was good.
Angel Arias was like Fever by Lauren DeStefano in terms of all the running around and the pacing. Although it wasn’t boring at all. I mean, when a book is fast paced and when you finish it within 5 hours and less just because you couldn’t put it down has to count for something, right? The plot wasn’t the problem. In Burn Bright, we came to know all about Ixion and Ripers and found out that Ripers are nothing but really advanced Night Creatures that have survived for thousands of years by feeding on young people. In this book, we get to know more about Ruzalia and her safe-house. We find out more about Grave and meet a lot of new characters and find out about old cities and bridges and hidden routes but even all this wasn’t enough. The constant threat of death hanging above Naif, Markes and Char and then all the running around and hiding in cold, damp places that stank became regressive. There was some action in the last book but in this, it was just hiding from the wardens over and over and over.
I found the concept of Liam and Gwen and other malformed human/night-creatures repulsive as well as intriguing. Also, Lenoir being the one to send them to Grave to spy for him left me confused. All this then led to me being angry. Angry over the fact that the author still did not feel the need to explain things to us even when we were done with the second book in the trilogy. The small bit of information that was given in the last chapter didn’t seem enough. Also, there is only a chapter dedicated to Lenoir and what’s happening in Ixion. It could have been elaborated a little.
There was improvement in Naif’s as well as Markes’ character. But the new characters were just…flat. Jorrdan seemed interesting and I felt pity for Liam but Liam must have been the cleverest and bravest among the lot. Also, I was disgusted by Em and Jorrdan’s father. That slimy piece of shit! However, I still can’t find anything about the story that I particularly liked or feel too much empathy towards any character.
I wanted to know more about the Golden Spiral and how the Night Creatures came to existence or what had happened to their land or wherever they came from. I wanted to know more about how Ixion came into being, how Elders and Ripers made that deal, or from where Ruzalia had come and about other lands and places from where all the adolescents were attracted to Ixion. I don’t know if I’ll get the answers in the final book of the trilogy but if I don’t them I’m going to be very angry and pissed. This book, in fact this entire series has a lot of potential but the author isn’t touching so many topics that could be explored and I’m very disappointed.
Oh and being the critic that I am, I couldn't leave the review without pointing out an error I noted. In the beginning of the 20th chapter, Naif is mentioned as Retra in one line. Busted! :P
My rating: 2.5 stars; only because I have not given up on this series yet. I want to know how it all ends. Also, if there is going to be a love triangle in the last book which seems highly likely I’m going to cut down a star from the last book.