Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Title: Hades
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
ISBN: 9780312656270
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Page #: 422
Source: ARC from the publisher (BEA)

Summary:
"Even the love of her boyfriend, Xavier Woods, and her siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, can't keep the angel Bethany Church from being tricked into a motorcycle ride that ends up in Hell. There, Jake Thorn bargains for Beth's release back to Earth. But what he asks of her will destroy her, and quite possibly, her loved ones, as well. can he be trusted in this wager?"
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First Lines:

"When the final bell sounded at Bryce Hamilton, Xavier and I gathered our things and headed out onto the south lawn. The weather forecast had predicted a clear afternoon but the sun was fighting an uphill battle and the sky remained a cheerless, gunmetel gray."
Page 1
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Review:

Okay, so this book comes out in August, but I was lucky enough to get a copy from BEA. Or, rather... one of my coworkers got it and was nice enough to share :). I really fell in love with the first book, Halo. Check out my review here.

So... this book picks up where the last one left off. Beth and Xavier are going strong. Life is now all about school and friends. After a careless seance, Beth gets tricked into being taken into Hell. Angels aren't meant for Hell, so she is trapped and miserable. Gabriel and Ivy search for ways to get her out, while Beth tries to bargain her way back to Earth.

I really felt like this book suffered from that second book slump. It took a while for the story to really pick up. Once it did, I was all hooked and ready to go. It just took about 100 pages for that to happen. The Beth/Xavier relationship had something to do with that dragging beginning. They are even called out in the book for being too close and together all the time. It's a little too sugary for my taste. Not to mention the number of times she waxes lyrical about his hair and eye colors.

It's really interesting to me to have a book set in Hell. I mean, there's so much to discover in a world like that. There are a few locations that you visit while Beth is learning where she is and how to get out... but I felt like we never get a real picture. There's a lot of talk about tunnels, so I envisioned totally rock and enclosed. But her hotel room has a view of something. Not sure how I'm supposed to interpret that. I just wished for more landscape discussion. But I suppose it's more of a character driven book like that.

The last 100 pages or so are packed. There's lots of action and drama and such. It's a little too convenient. Oh, they just happened to be at the right spot, etc. But the amount of characters colliding and action stuff, it's the fastest part of this book. The very end leaves you on a huge cliffhanger. I mean, something semi-small happens and there's a reaction... and it's over. The last sentence is an action sentence.

Because of that cliffhanger, I will definitely be picking up the last book. It'll be a while since this one hasn't been released yet. But I'm definitely interested to see what happens. I think fans of Halo will view this second book as almost a necessary story to get you to the last one. I'm not sure about that, having not read the last one yet. I'm hoping this review isn't too harsh - I think I just had really high expectations for Hades because I loved Halo so much.

I will continue to recommend the first book to anyone who is remotely interested in Angels. I think it's a really cool concept and there's so much to be done with it. This second book is harder for me to recommend, but I think those who loved the first one will be reading it anyway (just like I did). I have high hopes for the third book... fingers crossed! :)
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Other Blog Reviews:

So yeah, couldn't find any others yet. I'm sure there will be a bunch soon. But as of yet, I couldn't find any.