Review: Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore

In this YA paranormal Christian thriller, teenager Brielle is dealing with the death of her best friend. She leaves the big city life and returns to the small town life in Stratus, Oregon to live with her father. Stricken with grief and guilt, she starts anew at the Stratus High School, hoping that her emotional pain will go away.

She is befriended by Jake, a new student that sits next to her during calculus class, and the two of them have an instant chemistry. Whenever a situation occurs, mysteriously Jake is there to help her as he has supernatural powers. Brielle has special gifts of her own as she can cross into another realm, which is normally seen by angels and demons.

    When I saw the title Angel Eyes and the eerie cover, I had to sign up to review this paranormal tale. I struggled with first part of the book as the narration reminded me somewhat of Twilight, which isn’t a good thing. Brielle is definitely a depressing character who blames herself for her friend’s death. Jake and the guardians are interesting characters, but gave me a clichéd feeling. The angel and demon apocalyptic plot is nothing new, but at least it wasn’t another vampire romance novel. This is not just a paranormal novel, it is a Christian novel, which wouldn’t normally bother me, but at times I felt that the author was preaching a little too much. For example, some of Jake’s dialogue was just over the top and felt pushed onto the reader. The second half seemed to fizzle as it leads to an unsatisfying ending, therefore setting up for the sequel, Broken Wings. I really had to push myself through the first half, but I eventually became interesting in the whole angel/demon plot. For me it was an average read, but if you are looking for a new young adult novel without vampires and werewolves, you may like Angel Eyes.

*I would like to thank Thomas Nelson for sending me a copy to review.

About the author:

Shannon Dittemore has an overactive imagination and a passive for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine two the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. The daughter of one preacher and the wife of another, she spends her days imagining things unseen and chasing her two children around their home in Northern California. Angel Eyes is her first novel. 

Connect with Shannon: Twitter @ShanDitty and Facebook