A Review for Hades (Halo #2) by Alexandra Andornetto

Posted by Donna
Expected Publish Date: August 30th, 2012
Finished Date: August 24th, 2011
Publishers: ATOM
Source: Received for Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432

The Blurb from Goodreads: Bethany and Xavier are even closer since battling Jake Thorn and his evil influence (in Halo) and Beth and her angel siblings must still protect Venus Cove from the Dark Forces. When a party game – a séance – inadvertently releases Jake from the Underworld, he disguises himself and tricks Beth into taking a ride on his motorcycle. When the highway opens up and swallows them, Beth learns too late that she’s now a prisoner in hell. What happens to angels there? As her archangel brother, Gabriel, her sister Ivy, Xavier, and her best friend, Molly search for her, Beth must weigh Jake’s bargaining for her freedom: one night with him, and she will be released back to Earth. Can Jake be trusted in this wager? And is he also using Beth to engineer the fall of the archangel Gabriel? Xavier has already lost one love – when Jake tricks him into thinking that Bethany is dead, his grief and anger result in a betrayal that will leave Bethany – and readers – wondering if he is so good after all. It will be up to Beth to use everything she’s learned about her powers as an angel – and about love – to free herself and those she loves from the clutches of Hades.

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The Review: I was first introduced to Alexandra Adornetto’s series when I read Halo a few months ago and although I didn’t hate the first book, I enjoyed it enough to continue with the series. But now after reading Hades, I’m not too sure.

Hades takes place six months after the events in Halo. Bethany & Xavier are still madly in love and are coming close to graduation. They haven’t seen or heard from Jake Thorn in over months so why not have some fun and go to a Halloween party with their friends? While dressed up and ready to party, Bethany is convinced to take part in a girls only séance and mistakenly bringing forward an evil spirit aka Jake. When Jake is released from the Underworld, he tricks Bethany into taking a ride on his motorcycle, making her believe that her beloved Xavier is hurt. When Bethany finally realises she’s been tricked, it’s too late and she’s already started her journey………to Hades!

Can I just say I love this cover? Halo was a fantastic cover and now I also love the Hades cover. But, that’s as pretty far as it goes with this series. My main problem with Hades was I had a hard time believing the general story line. Bethany is tricked in to going to Hades so Jake could spend one night with her? Yeah, I just don’t get it. I just felt it was an unnecessary story line and felt the author could have produced something much better. My other problem with the book was the slow pace of the story. I actually really enjoyed the first 4 chapters but once I got further into it, I felt there was far too much unnecessary information, it’s all very long-winded. Being just over 400 pages, I believe it could have been cut down to at least 250 pages and we still would have had all the relevant information to fully understand the story.

The characters for me this time around were more unlikable. I enjoyed Bethany’s and Xavier’s romance in the first book but this time around….not so much. There was a child like presence to their romance and yes, I totally understand it’s a first love but it’s also very naïve. Bethany kind of stands back and lets Xavier rescue her from Jake but I believe Bethany is strong enough to save herself….she’s an Angel….I’m sure she can do it. And also I didn’t like that Bethany keeps an item of Xavier’s clothing under her pillow so she can smell his scent before she goes to sleep. Honestly, I had to do a double take when I read that. It’s completely unrealistic and very childish.

Now Jake Thorn, he is supposed to be the evil person in the book, but I honestly don’t get that vibe from him. Nor did I get the vibe that Hades was a very evil place. I just don’t think the author managed to deliver how Hades really should be portrayed and instead, both Jake and Hades were left pretty bland.

I’ve read a lot of reviews where people have blamed the author’s age for the problems within this series, now do I believe that? Maybe! Nonetheless, Alexandra is clearly a very talented author and I believe with time, her stories will continue to get better and better. But at the moment, I’m not sure this series is for me. I may try my luck with the next book in the series ‘Heaven’ but again, I’m just not sure.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me an ARC copy, in return for an honest review.