Review: Good reads.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2012
I have been a fan of this series since the start which actually surprises me.  I thought it would be too juvenile for my personal taste but I have found Xandra to be mature for her age which makes her character easier to relate to.This series has much more interaction with Dagda, Xandra's biological father.  I am enjoying getting to know him as a father.  He is making progress and appears to be trying to make an effort to be a positive supportive person in Xandras life.  He isn't pushing her too hard and I very much enjoy that the author has not made Xandra instantly embrace him and accept him into the father role.As always, there is a bevy of interesting characters and creatures in the story and the telling of the story flows nicely.  Xandra is quickly making progress and learning how to live with her powers.  I enjoy her flaws, trials and tribulations as she grows.  I am also particularly happy, despite Xandra being quite powerful, she did not instantly master her powers.Her boyfriend, Kallen, seems to be a great match for her and I had liked that they have been mature about the relationship and had not forced themselves into early marriage...****SPOILER ALERT****  At the end of the story Xandra and Kallen had sex and immediately after an angel pops in and basically says, "whoops, sorry I was a little late but there are some residual effects..." yadda yadda yadda.  The ending of this story didn't flow quite right with me.  Every other interaction with the angels were in the nick of time and this one was late.  I realize this is a set up for something in the future but it just didn't line up quite right.  I also don't like that Xandra is, essentially, getting a free pass and no one is going to be aware (except her) that she and Kallen had intercourse (again, I realize this is leading to something in a future book).  The reason it bothers me is Xandra has always been level headed and had said, just a few pages before, that she "doesn't keep things from Kallen."  Well, that is a pretty big contradiction and change in character from what I knew and appreciated about Xandra.  I also realize she is still young but she has always been responsible.  She had previously in this book, had quite the internal monologue about how she was able to accept responsibility for what she had done and the decisions she had made.  It is for this reason I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5.  The contradictions of her character were quite disappointing.As a side note, yes there are a couple of grammatical errors.  They did not detract from the story whatsoever and the only reason I mention them is because this is a review of the story.Overall, this is a great book and a great addition to a very enjoyable series and I am eagerly awaiting the next.