Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Book Review: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink + Giveaway




Title: A Temptation of Angels
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: March 20th 2012
Length: 448 pages
Genre: YA fantasy, romance
Source: Publisher

Even angels make mistakes in this page-turning epic romance...

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

Summary by Goodreads 





Recently I read a lot of angel themed YA books like UNEARTHLY and HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand which I really liked. Another book with an angel theme, so another book to my like I thought when I got A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS in the mail. I wanted to start it right away. 

Though the three main characters in A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS are descendants of angels, their personalities and actions are not overly influenced by that knowledge or by special powers of any kind. And I have to say that I missed some insight into their true and individual beings of angels.
We learn more about the background of the Dictata, an organization that has the power to control the past, present and future of the entire world. I found the passages about their members, history and the hunt after their members very intriguing. The Dictata's enemies are wraiths and demons. I guess you can imagine that they are very powerful and don't make it easy for our three heroes.
But most of the story isn’t made up of fights, it’s about our protagonist Helen discovering a new world that has always been right in front of her eyes.

With Helen finding out about her true origin through a terrible fire that causes the death of her parents, she also enters the world of the two brothers Griffin and Darius. Together they are the three remaining keepers of world peace. Darius would be my favourite character in A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS. He is snarky and definitely knows how to maintain that vulnerable bad boy attitude I like in my male protagonists.

I enjoyed that Helen and Griffin connects an immediate and delicate bond, blooming into a romance full of passion, trust and love. The other boy who owns Helen’s heart is a friend of Helen’s past and is a very secretive and mysterious character. I knew from the summary that there would be a love triangle in A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS,  which I didn't find neccessary once I had started into the story.My heart already belong to one of the two boys.

The story mostly circles around the interaction between our three main characters. From time to time a few other characters like Galizur and Anna, both part of the Dictata, were thrown into the story. I would have wished to encounter a bigger character cast  behind the Dictata and stronger social interaction between their members. Maybe we'll meet some more interesting characters in the sequel...
What I really liked about the story are the setting of Victorian London, the manners and customs. I love me a good historical romance! 

A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS introduces us to the setting and characters of this new world created by Michelle Zink. I have to admit that it felt a bit too slow and sometimes overly descriptive to me. Still I’m curious about the sequel and expect many more fights and enemies to play with Helen, Griffin and Darius’ fate.





1) of a charming romance
2) of two very contrary brothers that both deserve a place in every reader's heart
3) of the mysterious Dictata
4) the cruel angel hunt has to be stopped
5) of one of my favourite settings, Victorian London 





3/5 *** A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS- A new story of angels, a mysterious organization, a sweet romance and a whole bunch of mean enemies to be fought.

A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS was my first book by Michelle Zink and will not be my last. She invented a new world and did a good job combining the historical romance with paranormal happenings of all sorts.





* Have a look at Michelle’s PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS trilogy! 

* Click here to read an excerpt of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS. 

* Buy your Michelle Zink books’ merchandise here

* Visit www.michellezink.com for more information about Michelle Zink and her books.

* Thanks to Michelle Zink and Dial Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS! 

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* You enter for a chance to win one ARC of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS
* Open internationally
* The giveaway starts on March 21st and will end on March 31st.
* Good luck :)
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

33 comments:

  1. eek!!! I can't wait to read it. the cover is beautiful

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  2. I've been hearing mixed reviews for this. Sounds like there is a lot going on. Still interested in continuing this series though.

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  3. After your review and a few others I've come across, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic, but I'm hoping I'll enjoy it. Great review!

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  4. Great Review! And thank you for also saying the you didn't find the Love Triangle nececarry! Me neither! I don't get it, I didn't really feel the need to add another Love interest and.. I don't get really why Helen could fall for him. Still, I enjoyed this story!

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  5. Nice review!!! Now, i want to read it even more! ;-D

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  6. I love the sound of this, but I'm glad to have read a few reviews (like yours) that help me adjust my expectations a bit. I'm not a huge fan of a slow pace, but I love love-triangles, so I'm curious to find out what I'd think of it. :) Thanks for sharing! :)

    Carina

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  7. Great Review, thanks a lot. I'm in love with the book without reading it. Its on my wishlist. :)

    LG
    Lilly

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  8. i've been waiting for this for a while now. I love Michelle's writing and looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for sharing your review.:)

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  9. Hmm, based on this review, I'm not so sure how I feel about this one...yet I still really want to read it. I blame the gorgeous cover.

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  10. Great review! I can't wait to get started on reading my copy - it sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing! :)

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  11. I've read mixed reviews on this novel from other bloggers and I would love a chance to read it to make my own opinion on it!! Thanks for the review and the giveaway!!

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  12. I'm iffy about angel books, this seems promising though. Looking forward to read this one. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  13. Oh, too bad you didn't like it that much! I have read few books about angels, so any addition about that genre is welcome. But now I don't know what to do... Maybe I'll leave it for the time being, God knows I have too many books to read and too little time LOL
    Oh, and thanks for the giveaway~

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  14. I'm not a fan of angel books, but I'm curious enough to give it a try, especially for the Victorian England setting.

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  15. I don't really dig angel books anymore UNLESS they're written by Cynthia Hand, HOWEVER, and despite my lack of interest in the Prophecy of Sisters series, I'm mildly curious about this one. Just to see where Zink takes this book.

    Asher

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  16. "of the mysterious Dictata" Interesting. Dictata? Love it. :D Thanks for the review!

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  17. Great review! This book just sounds so good :)

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  18. Definitely a great review I definitely need to read this book. First because it's about angels and demons, my favorite. Then you get two hott brothers, one being the snarky bad boy. I love Darius already lol. Then you throw in the Dictata and just that name alone has evil mystery written all over it lol. Controlling past, present, and future? I am definitely intrigued. After reading Clockwork Angel I am so loving the Victorian London era so I can't wait to get into it with this book. I definitely can't wait to read this book I already know I will fall in love with it.

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  19. Great review, you definitely sold me. It's going on my TBR list. :)

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  20. This was a brilliant review and I can't wait to read this novel by Michelle Zink :D

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  21. your review left me even more excited for the book! also, I've never read a book set in Victorian London (at least that's what I think) and we're just talking about it in school, so I might as well get in the mood for it ;)

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  22. Good review! Makes me want to pick up the book right now :)

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  23. I loved this book and am dying for more. Great review and yes, I love the fact that it's set in Victorian London, yay for historical fiction!

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  24. Awesome review! I haven't read any books by Michelle Zink but this one sounds like a great book to begin with! Thank you so much for the giveaway!

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  25. I can't wait what's in store of this book! Reading your review, I found it exciting and I love historical fiction so this will definitely be an easy read for me plus the fact of angel mythology in it will definitely make this book on the top of my pile!

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  26. Awesome review(:
    Seriously cant wait to get my hands on this book, whether i can win this giveaway or ima have to save up :p

    thanks for the giveaway.

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  27. I love the sound of the combination of angels in a Victorian setting. Sounds interesting. I've never read anything by Michelle Zink before!

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  28. I enjoyed your review, especially about the characters. Sounds like a good book.

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  29. I'm hearing a bit of both sides to this one... very much looking forward to picking it up for myself! thanks for the review and giveaway!

    :)Diana

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  30. I love how you set out your reviews :) Thanks for sharing your thought's, I now can't wait to read this book (even more so!)

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  31. Oh, thank you very much. I also shared at G+ and FB :))) I love your site :)

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  32. Beautiful review! I like your site and thank you for giveaway :)

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  33. Wonderful review. It sounds like a beautiful novel to read. Thank you for this awesome giveaway and such a well done review on the book.

    - Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment

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