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A review by dinipandareads
Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a delightfully charming story! This was my first book by Atwater and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. Her words are infused with a warm sense of cosiness, comfort, and wit, which kept me well entertained as I read. This was a fairly low-stakes story about fallen angels, debts, sins and virtues, petty temptations and of course, small miracles. While there was a slight lull in the middle, the ending had me tearing up, grinning happily and left my heart feeling full!
Told in alternating perspectives, the story mainly focuses on Gadriel, the fallen angel of petty temptations, do-gooder Holly, and her snarky niece, Ella. There's a small cast of side characters such as Barachiel, chief of guardian angels, and Holly's friend, Sally, as well as Ella's school friends, Beatrix, and even Millie, who helped bring this story to life with their quirkiness and relatability. I really enjoyed Gadriel's voice and learning about the different celestial rules, even if they did come in the form of <b>footnotes</b>! Yep, footnotes—after a while, I admit I didn't read them until the end of each chapter and while most of the footnotes are tallies of sins and virtues, I did enjoy the sometimes snarky but always humorous stories, anecdotes and bits of celestial history that were shared. It was entertaining to watch Gadriel try to tempt Holly to commit small sins, such as indulging in chocolate or cutting out early at work, and through it all, I loved seeing them get to know Holly and Ella, and slowly come to love and be part of their little family unit. There is also a romance that develops and I personally thought it was sweet but I'm also glad that it didn't take over the story, but I did enjoy their HFN (happy for now) ending.
I will say that I felt that the eventual main antagonist appeared somewhat out of left-field, at least to me, and although it did give the story a stronger direction once we got to that point just after the middle mark, I also felt a little confused by it initially as it was really unexpected. This wasn't really a bad thing, it just took me by surprise but ultimately, I did think it ended up being necessary as it boosted the stakes just that little bit!
Overall, I found this story at turns heartbreaking, funny, realistic, cosy and 100% charming—at least, it charmed me completely! I'm glad that this book was recommended to me by a fellow book lover (for my 12 Book Challenge) and having had a taste of Atwater's writing style, I'm now even more excited to get to her other books in the (near) future.
Told in alternating perspectives, the story mainly focuses on Gadriel, the fallen angel of petty temptations, do-gooder Holly, and her snarky niece, Ella. There's a small cast of side characters such as Barachiel, chief of guardian angels, and Holly's friend, Sally, as well as Ella's school friends, Beatrix, and even Millie, who helped bring this story to life with their quirkiness and relatability. I really enjoyed Gadriel's voice and learning about the different celestial rules, even if they did come in the form of <b>footnotes</b>! Yep, footnotes—after a while, I admit I didn't read them until the end of each chapter and while most of the footnotes are tallies of sins and virtues, I did enjoy the sometimes snarky but always humorous stories, anecdotes and bits of celestial history that were shared. It was entertaining to watch Gadriel try to tempt Holly to commit small sins, such as indulging in chocolate or cutting out early at work, and through it all, I loved seeing them get to know Holly and Ella, and slowly come to love and be part of their little family unit. There is also a romance that develops and I personally thought it was sweet but I'm also glad that it didn't take over the story, but I did enjoy their HFN (happy for now) ending.
I will say that I felt that the eventual main antagonist appeared somewhat out of left-field, at least to me, and although it did give the story a stronger direction once we got to that point just after the middle mark, I also felt a little confused by it initially as it was really unexpected. This wasn't really a bad thing, it just took me by surprise but ultimately, I did think it ended up being necessary as it boosted the stakes just that little bit!
Overall, I found this story at turns heartbreaking, funny, realistic, cosy and 100% charming—at least, it charmed me completely! I'm glad that this book was recommended to me by a fellow book lover (for my 12 Book Challenge) and having had a taste of Atwater's writing style, I'm now even more excited to get to her other books in the (near) future.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent