Tuesday 15 September 2015

Review on 'Angelhood'



After taking her own life, Nanette Dunston is ready to accept the peace she thinks she deserves. However, she finds herself watching the life of a freshman girl who she has never seen before. Nanette soon learns that she is a guardian angel, and she must do everything in her power to stop this girl from taking her own life just as she had if she ever wants to reach heaven. But with an absent father and a dead mother, Vera's life is anything but happy. She has planned a date to end her life, and as that date looms ever closer, Nanette must find a way to make Vera change her mind.


This book immediately caught my interest when I read the synopsis. Nanette has had a hard life to say the least, and after getting rejected from the college of her dreams and watching her best friend die in a car accident, she is ready to end it all, but once she does, she immediately regrets it. She misses her life, and although she has been appointed to be Vera’s guardian, she also feels that it’s her duty to keep her little sister safe.

Nanette was an interesting protagonist, and I loved the idea of showing there were no second chances, that once you killed yourself you couldn't go back. I felt that it gave a positive message to anyone who was thinking about suicide that things will get better, as she realises that all her problems weren't worth killing herself over after all and that eventually she would have been able to work past them. Seeing the aftermath of her suicide by realising how depressed her sister is is hard hitting for Nanette, who previously thought that she would be better off without her as she would be able to go to ballet school, only to find out that she has not danced in the past two years. Everyone at some point feels as if they are alone and that no one cares about them, and it was interesting to see Nanette discover how much her death had impacted the lives of her family.

The moment Warren was introduced I was expecting him to be a love interest for Nanette. However I was extremely surprised that romantic feelings did not happen between them, and Warren became more of a mentor to Nanette than a love interest. It is extremely rare to come across a YA novel where there is little to no romance, so I found this to be a pleasant change. Nanette acted exactly like I would expect someone in that situation to act. She kept her focus on helping Vera and her sister, and didn't let an infatuation with a cute boy stand in her way which is what made me love her so much.

I have to talk about the ending which infuriated me and is the only reason why the book isn't getting a five star review from me. Anything that comes near to “they woke up and it was potentially all a dream” makes my blood boil. I was told by a teacher when I was young to never end a story with “and it was all a dream,” and that has stuck with me to the point where if a story ever points towards that it annoys me. I find it lazy on the authors behalf, and it ruined the initial idea of there being no second chances. I felt that the idea of Sophy asking to remain a Guardian was the direction in which Nanette was heading, and felt that she would ask to be her sisters Guardian so that she would be able to guide her through life and make sure she was safe. For me, this would have been the perfect ending, so I was disappointed when it didn't end the way I thought it would. However despite the disappointing ending I enjoyed this book and thought that it gave an important message.


Angelhood is now available to purchase HERE







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