A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink
Release Date: On
Shelves NOW!
ARC received from Michelle Zink and Dial Books
Reviewed by: Middle
Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say:
Alluring and Charismatic
When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.
Michelle Zink masterfully weaves historical fantasy with paranormal romance to create a gripping tale of love and betrayal.
Thank you to Michelle Zink and Dial Books for my copy! And what a gorgeous cover--her eyes just draw you right in!
Before I had my baby boy, I taught 8th grade
Literature and all the students had to read novel outside of class each six
weeks. It was supposed to be something
they would enjoy, and I found, that like me, many of my female students loved
paranormal romance novels and they always wanted to know what book they should
read next. However, middle school
libraries are very strict with what books they will purchase; so many of the ones
I had read would not have been found in our library. But A Temptation of Angels would have been
perfect for them as it was more middle grade than YA. Michelle Zink creates a fun paranormal world,
full of good and evil, angels and demons, love and betrayal.
So…I’ll start with what I enjoyed. I was sucked in from Chapter 1 when Helen’s
parents are killed and she is sent to Griffin and Darius. I loved the mystery surrounding the murder
and the mystique surrounding both of the brothers. (I do wish I would have known how old
everyone was—somehow that was left out and I felt like it should have been a
big deal). I really loved how Griffin
became attached to Helen-wanting to protect her.
Their relationship was probably the best part of the
book. I love the small innuendoes that
Griffin would put out there about wanting to be closer to her an enjoying their
bodies flushed up against each other.
While I wanted more romance (and far more details), I will say that the
romance was perfect for a middle grade book (like I had mentioned earlier). I was sweet and subtle, with many romantic kisses,
but nothing beyond that. I do hope that
the next books step up a bit on the steamy romance, though.
The blurb talks about Helen being caught between Griffin and
Raum (the childhood friend), and that was something that really drew to want to
read the book. I love books where there
is a good “bad guy.” There was so much
potential here, and I did like Raum, but I wish there would have been more of
him. I wanted to find myself screaming, “Who
should she choose??” But, I found myself
strictly in the Team Griffin territory because there wasn’t enough intensity
between Helen and Raum. I’m crossing my
fingers that there will be in the next installment.
I enjoyed the world that Michelle set up, although I wish
there would have been more details about the world and less about Helen’s
normal, everyday actions. I found myself
wondering about the time period—it was obviously in the far past (like the 1800s)
because it was inappropriate for Helen to be seen holding hands with
Griffin. Plus, she had to take a bath in
a basin in her room. But, beyond that,
there wasn’t much detail about the world.
I would have loved to have seen more into the reality around Helen. On the other hand, there were too many
details about Helen’s simple actions—walking from place to place, hiding in
corners, etc. I felt that the book could
have easily been 50 pages shorter without all the extra simple details.
Overall, this was a fun and quick read that I know the
younger YA crowd would enjoy.
Personally, I like more steam and more fierce action that what was
there, but I still enjoyed the relationships and idea of the world. I would recommend this book to anyone who has
a younger teenage girl who enjoys paranormal romance books.
