Review: An Interesting Look At Angels
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2012
Until Next Time by Amy Lignor is the first book in The Angel Chronicles. I want to say that enjoyed this book, and I did to an extent, but I did have a few problems with it, as well. From insta-love to confusing narratives to vague plot points, Until Next Time just didn't strike home for me the way I think it could have.The biggest mistake Lignor made with Until Next Time, was not taking a little more time to develop her characters. Everything in the novel moved too fast. No matter what drama or danger surrounded the characters, I just didn't care, because I never got to know them. If I don't know them, how can I care about their problems? There was a chapter or two in the beginning of the book where I started to care about Liz, but then it felt like everything started to happen all at once and I didn't have time to care about who Liz or Jason or anyone else was.I'm not a huge fan of insta-love, which is why I just couldn't understand Liz and Jason's relationship. They'd known each other for fifteen minutes before he kissed her. It wasn't chemistry or attraction or whatever you want to call it. It was just pure insta-love. And I get it, they're souls were connected and all, but sometimes in order to believe two characters are in love, I need to see them fall in love. You can't just tell me, "Okay, they're in love now." That doesn't mean anything without the actions to back it up.There was a whole supernatural element to Until Next Time that I wasn't expecting. I mean, sure the book's about angels possessing human bodies in order to learn about life on earth, but I wasn't expecting Liz's "gift". It made the story just a little bit confusing. Sometimes I wasn't sure if what was happening was Emily's doing or Liz's body's. Even after finishing the book, I'm still not sure if it was the angel's gifts or if Liz herself had some sort of power.I've always hated books where whenever something bad, good, or intense happens to the heroine, she faints. Well, almost everyone in Until Next Time feels like fainting at some point or another. It makes no sense to me. People don't just faint all the time. Maybe if they're out in the hot sun for a long time without food or water they might faint. But you don't faint from "seeing the passion in your lover's eyes"! That's just ridiculous. And if Liz did faint from something so trivial than she has no business being called "strong". And Jason passed out because Liz left him a goodbye note? What? Get out there and find her, don't take a nap! Does anyone know what the word strong even means? Because it doesn't mean "Hey, something bad is about to happen. Instead of stopping said bad thing, I think I'll just pass out until it's all over and done with."Sending Matt and Emily to Earth to learn about humans just seems incredibly mean to me. The entire time I was reading, I was intrigued, don't get me wrong, but I kept thinking "Why?!" The angels don't ever give any real explanation for why Matt and Emily must be tormented. They usually just talk in circles. Like, "When your on earth you won't remember your an angel and everything you've been taught, but your responsible for everything you do down there so choose wisely." Those poor kids! They were dropped into the bodies of people who didn't want to live any more. How can they possibly make any good decisions if all they have to work with is their bodies memories? Aren't they basically just being set up for failure? That's kind of what it came across as. Like they were test dummies for some great experiment (which I guess they sort of were, actually). But still, sometimes I felt so bad for Matt and Emily it made me want to punch an angel!All in all, Until Next Time is an interesting read, but it could have been done better. The writing was confusing and I felt like certain things, even simple things, could have been explained or described in a much clearer way. But towards the end of the book I did finally get into the story. And, even though it felt rushed and a little confusing, it was still intriguing enough to have me flipping pages late into the night. I'd recommend Until Next Time to anyone who likes angels (the angels in this book are kinda awesome, by the way!) and is looking for a quick read.