A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso
***This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review in any way.
A Shimmer of Angels was so full of mehhh for me that I don't feel like using any of my gifs or memes for my review. That's how unmotivated I was after forcing myself to finish this.
I'm not full on hating on this book because personally, I try to reserve that for books that really and truly deserve it. A Shimmer of Angels was a good idea at first, and therefore escapes any of my torches and pitchforks thrown.
The Good
I think that the idea of someone having mental instabilities is something a lot of YA readers and reviewers can relate to. I'm not saying that we're unstable, but we feel all the feels more than people who don't get as much enjoyment from reading. Probably because we've had our minds expanded, coupled with turning to books for solace in times of loneliness and crisis. Okay, so I'm generalizing, but I know this applies to a bunch of people. I've read the other reviews, and Rayna's "crazy issues" were relatable to a lot of us. It's like, finally, we are FINALLY drifting away from the perfect-imperfectness that YA heroine's seem to always have. Okay, A Shimmer of Angels, I can gel with you.
The Bad and the Ugly
But sadly, gelling was not to be had [I've never even used the word 'gelling' in my life. Obviously my brain turned to mush]. The unbalanced love triangle--when will authors learn that if they are going to throw these in, they can't be obtuse???--and then all the PLOT HOLES. Okay, maybe one meme.
hehehehe
Okay but seriously, where did all of these story lines come from? And on top of that, why was everything so basic? My thought process while reading this was something like:
[
-Oh, okay, Rayna likes Cam. You barely know him but whatever, if he "has your heart" then so be it, you love him. Don't go falling for Kade...oops, you just did.
-Woah, Rayna has wings? And they're gray? I get it, she's like some bad/good mixture of angel! Wait no, she's human...I think...oh well, who cares, let's hear about these wings!
-Wings don't get explained at all and Rayna doesn't really seem to question their appearance *facepalm*
-DOES RAYNA NOT FIND IT WEIRD THAT KADE MADE OUT WITH HER MOM AND IS NOW TRYING TO GET IN HER PANTS????
-Luke likes Rayna, he's totally going to leave his gf for her. Wait, no he's not, he's just being mean. It's Lee who likes her! No, wait, Lee likes someone else. Now I see why they hate each other!...never mind, that never got explained either, so now I don't see the significance of Lee and Luke other than being "victims" of Az the Evil Demon Angel. (hide spoiler)]
Last but not least, the mundane descriptions. Rayna falls over. Rayna spills coffee. Rayna wears a corset and tutu. Rayna busses a table. Rayna does more things at the diner that I don't care about. Normally, I love detailed descriptions, but I found myself skimming over a lot of Rayna's actions.
Just another example of run-of-the-mill YA-not-so-yay. For me, the story wasn't strong enough to support the effort exerted, and vice versa. A Shimmer of Angels will more than likely fade away into the dull background of books that didn't leave a lasting impression on me. AKA, this isn't one to remember.
