Illuminate (Gilded Wings, #1)

Mar 04, 2012 Giselle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, ebook, paranormal

Illuminate, with its enchanting cover and alluring premise, gives us a tale full of beauty, mystery and deception. Although it failed to wow me, I was left enthralled by the mystery, and fascinated by the glamor.

Haven and two class-mates, one of them being her best friend, are chosen for an internship at an over the top luxurious hotel. Soon after they arrive, however, Haven starts to notice things are a bit… off. We begin with exploring this majestic hotel: The elegant decor, the perfect emplo...more Illuminate, with its enchanting cover and alluring premise, gives us a tale full of beauty, mystery and deception. Although it failed to wow me, I was left enthralled by the mystery, and fascinated by the glamor.

Haven and two class-mates, one of them being her best friend, are chosen for an internship at an over the top luxurious hotel. Soon after they arrive, however, Haven starts to notice things are a bit… off. We begin with exploring this majestic hotel: The elegant decor, the perfect employees, the vibrant night club - it's all described wonderfully with enough details to make you visualize all of this beauty. Even the somber passages become alive by the intimidating ambiance Aimee has given it. As the plot takes a very long time to move along, we get well acquainted with this hotel through Haven, who is instructed to learn all that she can about the inner workings. I was so enraptured by the extraordinary perfection, in addition to the unusual happenings, that the slow pace took a while to catch up to me, but eventually it did. A bit past the half way mark I started to become less fascinated by it all, and simply wanted to move on to some action. The secrets are divulged in such a slow, steady way that I never felt the excitement of apprehension, I merely strolled through, nodding my head, while everything leisurely fell into place. It was still interesting, but not so exciting.

We've got some enjoyable characters that help make the slow pace a bit more satisfactory. Haven herself is a bit hard to relate to. Nerdy, bookish, keeping to herself, but suddenly acquiring great fashion and social abilities; I had a hard time placing her personality. Dante is also very cliché being the gay character who likes to gossip, cook and fix hair. I did, however, love Lucian and Lance. Lucian has a certain mystique that makes him a particularly intriguing character, but Lance, the most in-depth character in my opinion, went from shy loner boy to star of the show by the end of this book. I loved his personality; how he always stood by Haven and gave her someone to truly trust.

Although I did quite like the plot overall, as I mentioned it was a tad long-winded, but also had a few sketchy details. Haven's bizarre childhood - abandoned in a ditch - is only vaguely referenced. We don't find out a whole lot about her supposed powers or purpose either. Then, we've got this cryptic book giving her vague messages that she barely questions before trusting it completely. I wonder why she didn't just pack up and leave - I know that's what I would have done. But I'm a wuss so.. *shrugs*

With excellent writing and breathtaking scenery - illuminate is a satisfying debut that, even though I wasn't enamored by it, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it, and will definitely be continuing the series.

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For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads (less)

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Feb 12, 2012 Heather Booth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booklist, contemporary

If this book had been edited down to a shade less than half its size it might have held my interest. It took so long to set up the plot that by the time the big dramatic revelations occurred, I had lost my patience and was ready to move on. Beautiful cover, first in a promised series, author with lots of entertainment connections, I'm sure you'll see it all over the place, but with so much supernatural romance/action out there now, there are many titles that will offer a more compelling reading...more

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May 19, 2013 Mikky rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll start by saying DAMN! what a long boring read, and that's because I stopped at around 40% of the book. I kept going back to it again and again but every time I kept getting more and more tired and annoyed with the characters and the plot in it's self that totally felt like it wasn't moving!

After I took time to reflect about the book, I decided that I wasn't going to torture myself with the story ever again. To tell you the truth, I don't even remember the main characters, which is saying a

...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-mt-bookpile

I'm vacillating between "it was ok" and "I liked it", but decided to be generous.

Haven Terra (yes, the name has import) was abandoned as a child - found bruised, bleeding and alone at the side of the road when she was five, with no memory of her past. Taken in and raised by Joan, she's one of the top students in her class and firmly focused on the future. One day she and her BFF, Dante (and why is it that the male BFF is always gay? seriously, it's bugging me that we can't show boys and girls j...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Mimi Valentine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, pure-awesomeness, boys-i-wish-were-real, authors-i-want-to-meet, reviewed

Rating: 4.5 stars

Three words to describe this book: Beautiful, original, and absolutely MAGICAL!

It wasn't just the story that was magical, but the romance and setting too! I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book, but Illuminate surprised me with how enchanting it all was. Kind of like a fairytale spell.

I'm pretty picky with my angel books (although I didn't even know this was an angel book until I read it!), but I adored Aimee Agresti's interpretation! Just like t...more

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Mar 29, 2012 YA Reads Book Reviews rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nichole

Originally featured on www.yareads.com, reviewed by Nichole

Haven Terra grew up as a nobody. She was unpopular in school, to the point that her classmates did not really know who she was, and she only had one true friend, Dante. She spent her days applying to colleges, completing scholarships and helping her subtitute mother, Joan, at the local hospital. Even though unpopular, Haven seemed content with her life, pleased that she was not left to die on the side of the road when she was only five-y...more Originally featured on www.yareads.com, reviewed by Nichole

Haven Terra grew up as a nobody. She was unpopular in school, to the point that her classmates did not really know who she was, and she only had one true friend, Dante. She spent her days applying to colleges, completing scholarships and helping her subtitute mother, Joan, at the local hospital. Even though unpopular, Haven seemed content with her life, pleased that she was not left to die on the side of the road when she was only five-years-old.

The story starts off with Haven and two of her classmates, Dante and Lance, be awarded an intership at a new, popular business, The Lexington Hotel. The only trouble is, Haven cannot seem to remember applying for an internship at this particular hotel. Soon enough, the three teenagers are busy bustling around The Lexington Hotel, catering to every wim of the two front runners of the hotel, Aurelia and Lucian.

When I first started this book, I was bored. It took approximately 350 pages for explanations of what was going on to emerge. As this book is 534 pages long, I found myself losing my patience quickly. The majority of the novel also seemed to be very repetitive. Haven woke up, spoke to Aurelia, worked in the gallery and took pictures at The Vault. This happened over and over, multiple times in a single chapter. I almost felt as if I was repeatedly reading the same scenario over and over for almost 500 pages.

The characters in the novel were very unique. Haven, Dante and Lance all had interesting personalities, and they acted like one would expect a normal teenager to act like. Due to this, I almost wished that there would have been multiple point of views, rather than having Haven narrate the entire time. The members of The Outfit were another case entirely. They were emotionless, almost zombie like. While that seemed to be the overall point of The Outfit, I could not help but get annoyed, as they appeared in a large majority of the novel. I also had a slight problem with the character of Dante. As an out-of-the-closet gay teenager, Dante was very loud and flashy. I eventually warmed up to his character. However, I could not help but feel that there was an automatic stereotype placed upon him. I almost wish that Dante’s character would have been toned down, as I think that he would have appealed to me a lot more.

Towards the end of the book, things really started to get rushed along. The fight and actions scenes were completed in a manner of pages. This bothered me since the majority of the book was so long and stretched out. I think that it would have been plausible to eliminate a chunk of the book and include a larger ending action scene. Even though I felt that the ending was short, I did feel that the last 150 pages were well executed. It did not entirely make up for the majority of the book. However, it left me wanting more.

Overall, I have to say that this book was addicting in its own unique way. While I did not fall in love with it, I did not want to put it down either. I think this may be due to the fact that so much was left unsaid through the majority of the novel. I just knew that I had to figure out what was going on. I have to commend Aimee Agresti for the mystery in her plotline. One would think that because of the length of the book, it would be easy to guess what was going to occur. However, I was left wondering what was going on almost to the point that everything was revealed. I think that this book would greatly appeal to people who like a lengthy read and a good challenge. However, I have to warn people again that the first 350 pages are very repetitive. This book really just comes down to personal opinion, and I think that opinions of this book will be split down the middle.(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge-dac2012, 2012debut

Originally posted http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/2012/...

I was really looking forward to Illuminate by Aimee Agresti, but in the end, it just wasn’t the right book for me. I have, however, read a lot of positive reviews for Illuminate, so it appears I’m in the minority.

Illuminate was really hard for me to get into. I wasn’t connecting to Haven at all, or any of the other characters, really. I mean, I know Aurelia and Lucien were supposed to be mysterious and what not, but even Dante I had troub...more Originally posted http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/2012/...

I was really looking forward to Illuminate by Aimee Agresti, but in the end, it just wasn’t the right book for me. I have, however, read a lot of positive reviews for Illuminate, so it appears I’m in the minority.

Illuminate was really hard for me to get into. I wasn’t connecting to Haven at all, or any of the other characters, really. I mean, I know Aurelia and Lucien were supposed to be mysterious and what not, but even Dante I had trouble connecting with. The only character I really liked was Lance. He was quiet but interesting, and I liked that.

The story was all kinds of crazy. I was super confused for the first 150 pages or so. I mean, hasn’t Haven read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? Never trust books with a mind of their own! But as Illuminate progressed, Haven and I began to understand what was going on a bit more – and it was bananas.

But I’m not a big fan of the whole harvesting souls thing in general, and since that was the basis of the story, it didn’t really grip me for the majority of the book. It wasn’t until towards the end of Illuminate that I got really hooked, although I still had some questions about the ending.

There were, however, some awesome kissing scenes. So that’s a bonus.

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti was a very long book, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I think in this case it sort of dragged it all out for me.

I had no problems with Aimee Agresti’s writing – I thought it was well done and I’ll certainly be reading more from her in the future. The setting was brilliant and so descriptive and lush and I really felt like I was in The Lexington Hotel (although I totally wanted to get out of there ASAP because hello, soul harvesters).

But for me, personally, I had no real interest or investment in the story. But, you know – I’m just one person. If Illuminate sounds like something you’d be interested in, definitely check it out and tell me what you think!(less)

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Jun 12, 2013 WJ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Haven Terra appears to be every inch the ordinary, bookish girl. When she's awarded an exclusive internship under the guidance of Aurelia Brown and meets the bewilderingly hot Lucian, her life begins to change. Along for the ride are her friends, Dante and Lance. Things are more than they appear on the surface, however, and despite the opulence and beauty that Haven is surrounded by there is something rotten at the core of The Outfit and their hotel.

The blurb of Illuminate struck me as somewhat...more Haven Terra appears to be every inch the ordinary, bookish girl. When she's awarded an exclusive internship under the guidance of Aurelia Brown and meets the bewilderingly hot Lucian, her life begins to change. Along for the ride are her friends, Dante and Lance. Things are more than they appear on the surface, however, and despite the opulence and beauty that Haven is surrounded by there is something rotten at the core of The Outfit and their hotel.

The blurb of Illuminate struck me as somewhat similar to that of Devilish and I was hoping that it would equally well-executed.

Unfortunately the book didn't quite live up to the hype generated by the blurb and I was left kind of disappointed and confused. I think that one of the major problems of the novel is how voluminous it was. The editors would have done well by cutting down the number of pages and Aimee Agresti needed to decide what was important. There was just so much prose and introspection that I frequently lost track of what Haven was thinking and doing. And considering that prom was mentioned in the blurb, I was thinking that there would be more space and time devoted to the final showdown but it went over so quickly that I was left rather confused.

Furthermore the love interests involved left me cold and wanting more. The physical attraction between Lucian and Haven is supposed to be very strong and I got that. It was the emotional aspect of the relationship that I never quite wrapped my head around. (view spoiler)(less)

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Jun 05, 2013 Wren Handman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a fun and frothy distraction, but I kept hoping it would surprise me and it never did. From the very first scene it's clear that the main character is an angel (she's adopted and is given an angel necklace by her foster mother, who though she adopted her when she was five years old, she still calls "Joan" instead of "Mom" - harsh), but the book keeps pretending like it's a secret and we have noooooo ideeeeeeea what's going on. ... Add to that a predictable love story that we're sup...more

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May 28, 2013 Nicole Gitt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Inhalt

Haven Terra ist zusammen mit Lance und Dante auserwählt worden an einem Projekt der ungewöhnlichen Art teilzunehmen. Erstmals wurden 3 Schüler für ein Projekt auserkoren, in einem Luxushotel ein Praktikum zu absolvieren. Jeder der drei bekommt einen Mentor an seine Seite gestellt und sie werden speziell ihren bisher herausstechenden Fähigkeiten gefördert.
Jeder der drei bekommt einen Mentor und Haven zieht das ganz große Los und wird der Hotelmanagerin Aurelia unterstellt. Sie sieht hier ih...more

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May 23, 2013 Courtney rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Slight spoilers!! But know what you're getting yourself into!

Ok. Upon finishing the book, my conclusion is that the book could have been better.

Much.Better.

The novel was very poorly written! The characters were poorly developed. It was hard to connect with Haven, Lance, Dante, and Lucian. Lack of chemistry between Haven/ Lucian and Haven/ Lance. Mysterious notes from strangers tell Lance to blindly follow Haven? I'm all for girl-power, but Haven's powers developed randomly.
It turns out that...more

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May 20, 2013 Becky Hutchison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Haven Terra, a 16-year-old high school student, is awarded a prestigious, well-paying, semester-long internship at the newest, coolest hotel in Chicago, the Lexington Hotel. Along with the two other interns from her school (Dante, her long-time best friend, and Lance, a fellow 11th grader), Haven discovers that something is off about the owner and staff of the hotel. From the beginning of her stay, Haven is guided to prepare for an upcoming battle with evil, to become mentally and physically fit...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Cherie added it · review of another edition

Overall I enjoyed this book. A girl and two classmates are chosen for an exclusive internship at an up-and-coming hotel. Everyone there is beautiful and talented but something is just not right.

I thought the idea was original and generally well written. The dialogue was genuine and felt realistic to the age of the characters. The main character was likeable and I enjoyed the supporting cast as well - or hated them in the case of the "bad guys."

The reason I did not give this book a higher rati...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Sierra B. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, supernatural, library

Well this book is off and on, Haven is training to be an angel. And we can't train to be angels and well the whole demon/angel thing was portrayed in the world's sense and really had no mention of God. Which is fine for other people but I think it's a bit off, personally.
Anyway, that was really the main thing that disagreed with me.

So Haven is given this job with her best friend and another guy who she kinda knows. And they go to work at the hotel and wow...turns out that the beautiful people t...more Well this book is off and on, Haven is training to be an angel. And we can't train to be angels and well the whole demon/angel thing was portrayed in the world's sense and really had no mention of God. Which is fine for other people but I think it's a bit off, personally.
Anyway, that was really the main thing that disagreed with me.

So Haven is given this job with her best friend and another guy who she kinda knows. And they go to work at the hotel and wow...turns out that the beautiful people there are demons trying to steal their souls. Fun. So she fights back and in the end conquers them. With some consequences.

While this book takes a little while to get started (it's a pretty large book) once it gets started it doesn't stop! The adventure and plot are well done and interesting. There is an air or mystery around the hotel for a while and even after Haven and her friends discover the demons there are still secrets and mysteries.

The whole book is really well thought out and the author has a great pen for details! Overall, I enjoyed this book despite the slight content and thought that it was really well written. I would recommend to 14+ girls.

Haven is a really strong character and I really liked her! She was quiet and shy at times but really bold and confident at others. She is a sweet girl and I totally called who she ends up with :) Lance is a sweet guy and kinda Clark Kent...only smarter I think. Anyway he's adorable. Dante is the other main-ish character and he is the stereotypical gay guy. But he's hilarious and fashion conscientious for Haven. (*note* I don't hate gays, I think they should be happy and all that, but I do believe that homosexuality is a sin. But I don't want to be hater, just my belief.)

I love this cover. The shadowed wings, the doodle around the title...the dress. It's really beautiful and one of my favorites.

Content wise there was a slight bit of language (10 words), drinking, demons and angels portrayed in ways that didn't exactly agree with my beliefs (although, duh, the demons were evil), a gay character, a couple kisses.(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Lili rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had really high hopes for this one, so it kills me to say that it didn't live up to my expectations, though it was still a decent story. Instead of being amazing like I was hoping, it was just okay.

Overall, I thought that the concept of this book was amazing. A group of people that were all incredibly gorgeous are in league with the Underworld and they're pretty much trafficking souls. It was very creative. And by the cover of the novel and the name of the series, you can easily tell that Have...more I had really high hopes for this one, so it kills me to say that it didn't live up to my expectations, though it was still a decent story. Instead of being amazing like I was hoping, it was just okay.

Overall, I thought that the concept of this book was amazing. A group of people that were all incredibly gorgeous are in league with the Underworld and they're pretty much trafficking souls. It was very creative. And by the cover of the novel and the name of the series, you can easily tell that Haven is one of the few good people fighting against the monstrously huge population of the evil, even if she doesn't know it yet. While I very much enjoyed the plot and how Agresti managed to get the kids to the hotel via perfect grades (something I wish would happen to me!) I was not always happy with the delivery. So I want to spend this review explaining what, I believe, hindered this awesome-sounding novel from reaching its full potential.

First of all, the characterization. Haven was an incredibly smart girl that took pride in that. She's not all that physically attractive and she's ashamed of scars over her heart and on her back. She'll do anything to keep them covered up. Found in a ditch on the side of the road as a baby, she was adopted by a nurse named Joan that raised her the way children in young adult novels should be raised--seriously and studiously. She was no absentee parent, which I enjoyed. However, my one pet peeve with Haven is that as smart as she claimed to be, she was very naive to obvious negativity around her and she was very gullible. She had no common sense and lacked the ability to put two and two together, especially when a handsome boy that normally would not pay attention to her decided to realize she actually existed. It was frustrating to see this girl who brags about being independent and intelligent turn into a pile of oblivious putty under Lucian's watchful gaze. Aside from that, I have to admit she's a very strong and intriguing character, I just wish she wasn't so easily taken advantage of. Another example is when Aurelia was in her office talking about something that is going to happen between Dante and Etan. She heard literally what they were planning and didn't put two and two together that Dante was in trouble until chapters later. Instances like this had me rolling my eyes. A lot.

Then there's Dante and Lance. Dante is Haven's best friend. He is a homosexual and was stereotyped in the sense that he knows everything about fashion, tends to be very loud, feminine, and exaggereted with his speech, he's colorful in both the way he dresses and acts, and at some point in the novel he pulls the "you can't understand what I'm going through because I'm gay" card and suddenly turns evil. Now, do I think there's anything wrong with this? Not at all! I have many homosexual friends, but it frustrates me to see homosexuals stereotyped in young adult literature. Do I think it was on purpose? Not really, his character is unique and his certain feminine qualities come in to save Haven's day many times because she knows nothing about fashion and make-up and how to be a girl, but I wish he wasn't feeding into a stereo-type. Lance is the strong, silent type. Also intelligent, he's incredibly tall and lanky with huge glasses. He and Haven quickly become friends when Dante becomes overly enraptured and obsessed with his boss, Chef Etan. Lance, like Haven, has scars he is ashamed of, like one right below his eye. Watching their friendship blossom was very fascinating. He's the type of guy that you realize is super attractive the more you get to know him--the way that young adult love interests should be.

And lastly, there's Aurelia, Lucian, and The Outfit. I don't think I have many positive things to say about any of them. The first thing Haven notices when meeting Aurelia is that she looks nearly Haven's age--not old enough to run a huge hotel based off of Capone's reign in Chicago. The age thing can be found in Lucian, too. Again, he's supposed to be a superior of Haven's, but they're so similar in physical appearance. It bugged me out that there was no proper mention of age until nearly the end of this 500+ page novel. Aside from that, Aurelia and Lucian both need better qualities. While Aurelia first comes off as a savvy business mogul, she quickly begins to show her impulsive, evil, true colors. The switch almost came overnight and was slightly frustrating. And Lucian, half the time he wants Haven and the other half he is standing her up. He's a good guy and his heart is in the right place, but his evil, jealous boss is ruining him as a person--making him a selfish, undesirable, nearly-controlling date. The Outfit is full of glamazons, as the synopsis explain, that can only be compared to evil zombies. That's pretty much it.

Next, I mentioned last paragraph that this book is over 500 pages long and it feels every bit that way. I'm all for detail, I love it, but there's a difference between boring thoughts and essential detail to paint vivid imagery. It took me a solid 50% of this novel to get over the hurdle from the beginning of the book. It was full of so much useless detail. Haven's thoughts didn't drag me in the way they should have and they only truly captured my attention once she began scheming. It took me two weeks to read this one because I just didn't want to get over the first half of the book due to all of the unnecessary information that was slowing it down, but once I was 50% of the way in I finished the book in one sitting. However, if book two is anything like the second half, than I am really excited! I think, in part, that the first half of the book dragged because, in my opinion, there was way too much talk of sinning and the concept of souls. While not religious, it almost seemed religious because some characters spoke of crossing over to the dark side religiously and with such reverence. Souls were brought up in really weird ways. On page 248 of my ARC, Lucian even mentioned how he picked out specific food for his date with Haven to "nourish her soul." Things could have been approached differently. Face it, bosses would never encourage their protegee interns to do bad things and instead would applaud their clearly good nature. The intrigue and attempted luring of Haven could have been better thought out and enacted.

And my last questionable aspect of this novel was the diary. One day near the beginning of Haven's stay at the hotel, a blank black book shows up for Haven and as days go by, entries are suddenly scribbled in it, dictating to her what she needs to do to survive in a world full of evil. As freaked out as she is, she follows the rules the diary gives her because it's all so weird. But I got a very Tom Riddle-esque vibe from this. Magic book suddenly shows up, tells you what to do, slowly takes over your life. Sure, this one wasn't evil, but you catch my drift. In all honesty, I had something similar occurr in a story that I wrote when I was eleven years old. Yes, eleven years old. I feel as if this was a childish solution to slowly help Haven discover who she was that could have been constructed in a better way as well. It's something out of a young middle-grade, not a young adult novel. And the fact that this book was so important to her understanding of things yet we didn't meet who was behind it just yet was frustrating. Again, I sincerely hope that we learn who was behind it in book two or I may not be able to deal with it.

So, all in all, you can see I had a lot of problems with the execution of this one, not the characters and the plot, but how Agresti chose to go about things. It wasn't very believable and, more often than not, childish. However, since I think this book still deserves three stars, the amazing plot concept was enough to keep me reading and overshadow a lot of the negativity until I began reflecting on all of my notes for this review. So, I plan on picking up book two, though I'm going in with more realistic expectations than I did its predecessor. If it is anything like the second half of ILLUMINATE, Agresti will show immense growth that'll excite me and keep me reading. My fingers are crossed.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy good vs. evil stories. Then again, I also think this is more appropriate for younger level readers that like big books. I don't know about others my age, but I think all of my pet peeves are more appealing to younger children. Thank you to Jennifer at ARCycling for giving me the chance to review this book off of my wishlist! (less)

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Feb 16, 2013 Alyson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, romance, young-adult

Weirdly addicting page-turner, but I spent probably 60% of the time like this:

Jennifer Lawrence Sarcastic OK Thumbs Up

because many of the plot points involved, though with something of actual purpose overall, read like something from an insane fanfiction written by a 15 year old. (view spoiler)...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Carrie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: so-bad-its-almost-good, young-adult

One the one hand, the book kept me entertained enough that I read it in a day.

On the other hand, it was laughably bad, like so-bad-its-good but not quite actually reaching the "good" part of the equation.

From the start, the set-up is shaky at best: three 16 year-olds get picked for an internship that they never signed up for that takes them away from school for a full semester to live and work 24/7 and somehow no one - not the parents, not the school see *any* problem with this?

It really only ge...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Audrey F rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It took me a while to get through Illuminate, by Aimee Agresti. This is partly because this book is very long, 511 pages, but mostly because the book just couldn’t hold my attention. Every time I picked it up and started reading, I quickly got bored and put it down again. However, after I got about halfway through, the plot picked up and I quickly became engrossed in the story.

This young adult paranormal novel is about several talented highschoolers who are selected for an internship at a fancy...more It took me a while to get through Illuminate, by Aimee Agresti. This is partly because this book is very long, 511 pages, but mostly because the book just couldn’t hold my attention. Every time I picked it up and started reading, I quickly got bored and put it down again. However, after I got about halfway through, the plot picked up and I quickly became engrossed in the story.

This young adult paranormal novel is about several talented highschoolers who are selected for an internship at a fancy hotel in Chicago. At first, they are dazzled by the Lexington Hotel’s stunning staff, and tempted by the glamorous lifestyle that comes with being a member of ‘The Outfit’. However, the shy and smart protagonist Haven quickly detects that something is off about the hotel and its members. As the story progresses, Haven and her fellow intern Lance investigate further and begin to uncover something unnatural—and dangerous. Aurelia, Lucian, and the other members of The Outfit are in the business of buying souls. Haven and Lance must resist the temptations meant to win over their souls, and fight back in time to save themselves.

Illuminate was a suspenseful and romantic angels v. demons story. The idea of a hotel set up for the sole purpose of harvesting souls, or “recruiting” for the devil, was fresh and exciting. I enjoyed reading about Haven and Lance as they put the pieces together, and struggled to escape from the trap that was the Lexington Hotel. Haven was a smart and witty character. Her clever and self-degrading attitude, as well as her best friend Dante’s sass, made me laugh. Lance was shy and antisocial at the beginning, but he grew and changed along with the other main characters. These were definitely high points of the novel. However, I had a couple problems with the book. The beginning of the book did nothing to hook me, or make me interested. It was boring and slow paced and, as I stated before, was hard to get through. I really was not overly interested in the book until about halfway through (250 pages in!). The book also had a lot of unnecessary fluff. I found myself skimming through the boring bits (which were numerous) in order to get back to the main plot. I was definitely really interested in the main story line, but all the unnecessary details added length but not quality.

Overall I enjoyed Illuminate, once I forced myself through the slow-moving beginning. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a younger, fresher take on a classic paranormal conflict—in this case, angels v. demons. The witty characters and clever storyline were the high points, but extra fluff resulted in a slow moving plot and brought my rating down. However, if that is something you do not mind, I would definitely recommend this book!
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Aug 21, 2012 YA Novelties rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

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My thought process behind deciding to read this book: Soul stealing, huh. I think I'll read this.

Illuminate opens with Haven, and explains what her life is currently like and how she came to be where she is. Haven is a nerdy, shy girl who has no social life and only one friend. Although she may be a cliche, I think that many people can relate to her in that they are also smart and work hard to get into a good college. Haven is nice, but my favorite character is...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Rhiannon Ryder rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a bit torn by this book. There were parts I enjoyed, and parts Agresti just couldn't sell to me. I really wanted to like it, but I felt like she kept throwing in scenes I couldn't believe her characters would go along with. Since it's her debut effort, a healthy length and part one of a series I'm leaning towards forgiving her this once and seeing what happens in part two. But another part of me screams "WHAT ABOUT THAT KISS SCENE!!" every time I think I'll give her another chance and it giv...more I'm a bit torn by this book. There were parts I enjoyed, and parts Agresti just couldn't sell to me. I really wanted to like it, but I felt like she kept throwing in scenes I couldn't believe her characters would go along with. Since it's her debut effort, a healthy length and part one of a series I'm leaning towards forgiving her this once and seeing what happens in part two. But another part of me screams "WHAT ABOUT THAT KISS SCENE!!" every time I think I'll give her another chance and it gives me pause.

So lets start with the basics. Lance, Dante and Haven are supposed to be the three brightest, hardest working students at their high school. So hard working, in fact, that all three of them have sacrificed all the fun of being a teenager for the rewards of being a super student when it comes to their future dream careers. Now here's the not so believable part: they're offered a "prestigious" internship at a new hotel, and are pulled from school to go live/work there. Months of classes missed, that they're presumably exempted from, no assignments or check ins with the high school, because apparently being a glorified hotel worker is a great experience for your college applications? Seriously? These kids are so neurotic everything is a math problem to them, but downloading photos, and delivering chocolates, or organising the library are adequate experiences to impress a college?

As characters I found Lance and Dante appealing, Haven was a bit less so, but I didn't dislike her, I just didn't love her. Oddly, Lucian is one of my favorites (with Lance a close second), even though he's supposed to be the bad guy for the majority of the book. I'm not sure I should have liked one of the bad guys more than the main, but alas!

The next issue for me is the whole book/mentor set up. It was just a bit too weird to have a book telling Haven what to do, and even weirder when she listens (even if begrudgingly). I feel like the book should have been a real person, even some random homeless person Haven bumps into on one of her outings, rather than a book with writing that appears only when she needs it, and handily disappears whenever someone shows up at her room. It felt like a cop-out to me. Agresti needed a way to direct Haven, and the book really feels like her not being able to come up with a better, more plausible way. Hey, I'm cool with all sorts of tools when it comes to paranormal or fantasy stories, but they still need to be plausible, and/or believable.

Finally, and I warn you this is ever so slightly spoilery-ish, the @##%%!! kiss scene. I'd ploughed my way through 511 pages, I'd decided to turn a blind eye to the book/mentor and the total lack of education and just enjoy the ride when Agresti threw the strangest last minute curve ball I've ever read. In the early days of Lucian's perusal of Haven, there's a kiss. It's a momentous scene, in the dark, and really the big impassioned moment of the book. Except for one small comment about how a later kiss from Lucian isn't as earth shattering, there is no indication anything was not as it seemed. Until page 507, when she's suddenly kissed by someone else and announces "it was you...".
I was completely confused, it was who?
What did he do?
Until I read the rest of the explanation of how it wasn't Lucian who had kissed her in the dark at the moment. That instead someone else had been stalking them, and although he hates Lucian and is trying to warn Haven off of him, chooses that moment of darkness to sweep in and passionately kiss her. Knowing full well she wouldn't know it was him, and likely think it was Lucian.
Huh?
I won't even begin to go into how out of character this whole act would be for this person you've been blithely following for 511 pages. Or how his later actions don't even slightly hint that he's had this impassioned moment with Haven. I was so staggered by this strange turn of events that it's literally all I could think about, whenever I thought about the book, for days after. And it was irritated thinking, not misty eyed romantic thinking.

So my final word is this. Illuminate has some intriguing moments, some decent characters and a premise I can see wanting to read more of, but be prepared for some story elements that don't fit and might actually aggravate you. I can cut a debut some slack, she engrossed me enough that I didn't ditch the book, and it was lengthy, however, I'll be expecting a slightly better showing come book 2. Give it a try, if for no other reason then so you can come back and dish with me over that totally weird kiss twist.
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Jul 23, 2012 Alyssa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I will definatly be reading on in this series. It was a good read, but it's a three star rating for a point.

This book, while easy to get into, was hard to keep on reading. It seemed to drag on....and on.....and on....

It took me a long time to read. Also, I feel the little cryptic book notes could have been way more condensed. They could have been way more vague and added more suspense and mystery to the plot.

The characters were interesting to say the least. I feel like the great friendship betw...more

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Jun 19, 2012 The Y.A. Bookworm Blogger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read Full Review At...The Y.A. Bookworm Blogger

Illuminate is about a girl named Haven who is recruited for an internship at a glamorous hotel in Chicago. Here, Haven is in awe of the gorgeous staff known as The Outfit- especially Lucian. The main character Haven was a decent heroine. Her growth throughout the book was visible, but I sometimes found her character a bit boring. The times I found her most interesting where when she was interacting with Lucian. It was during these particular scenes...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Book Flame rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angels, demons, young-adult

Haven Terra has scars on her chest and her back, she has no idea where they came from or when. The only thing she knows is that she was left abandoned as a baby, luckily for her a nurse at the hospital adopted her and since then she has had a normal life. Now being one of the top students in her class she along with her friend Dante and a boy named Lance have received the opportunity to internship at a brand new luxurious hotel in Chicago. Only thing is when they arrive things are not what they...more

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May 13, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5/5

Illuminate has beautiful packaging, with a stunning cover and a strong premise combining to promise us an equally beautiful story full of danger and intrigue as well as a taste of heaven and hell. While Ms. Agresti is undoubtedly a talented writer with a flare for detailed descriptions, the story itself takes a great deal of time to really build, and we read page after page hoping for a snowball effect to kick in—wishing the quiet beginning would start to gain substance as the myste...more Rating: 3.5/5

Illuminate has beautiful packaging, with a stunning cover and a strong premise combining to promise us an equally beautiful story full of danger and intrigue as well as a taste of heaven and hell. While Ms. Agresti is undoubtedly a talented writer with a flare for detailed descriptions, the story itself takes a great deal of time to really build, and we read page after page hoping for a snowball effect to kick in—wishing the quiet beginning would start to gain substance as the mystery of Lexington Hotel’s owners and staff unfolds, but instead we find the frozen flakes slip right through our fingers and prevent us from building anything greater than the sum of its individual parts. All the pieces of a fantastic story are present and accounted for, but somehow they don’t quite come completely together, our investment in Haven and her plight tangled up in a large number of words that don’t seem altogether vital or necessary to the progression of the plot as a whole.

Haven is a perfectly likable heroine, someone with a darkly mysterious past who strives to rise above her strange beginning and do everything in her power to carve out an existence that will make a difference in people’s lives. She seems so very normal and girl-next-door despite the supernatural element we know is going to make an appearance based on the synopsis, and while we can fully appreciate a young woman we can see ourselves meeting on the street in our reality, that normalcy in this particular case is part of what keeps us from fully connecting to her. She, Lance, and Lucian are all good and solid characters, however, they only inspire more vague generalizations and generic descriptors as there’s nothing about them that truly leaps from the page to grab our attention and brand our memories with their uniqueness. We enjoy them, but we don’t necessarily love them or spend quiet moments thinking about what’s in store for them moving forward.

Luckily for us, the final 150 pages make up for quite a bit of the lost time we spent in the preceding 350 pages, the tension palpable as Haven learns the extent of Aurelia’s nefarious plans for the hotel’s various guests, and what she must do to protect the unsuspecting victims. Finally our hearts start beating a little faster and that familiar itch begins at our fingertips, encouraging us to flip the pages faster so we can discover if good will conquer evil in this first installment. Those readers who loathe cliffhangers can breathe a sigh of relief when they reach the final page, as Ms. Agresti nicely concludes this first book while still leaving plenty for us to discover in the coming sequels. Overall, Illuminate is a bit of a slow read, making us wade through a lot of information to find the essential core bits we need to take with us as we move forward, but the end gives us what we’ve been searching for all along and leaves us with hope that we might not have to mine so hard for the flecks of gold in book two.

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Apr 06, 2012 Shannon (aka Readergirl) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this story. It started off a little slow for me. I know there was a lot of set up going on, but I almost felt that the author could have started the story off with Haven's arrival at the hotel, with a few small flashbacks to catch the reader up to her purpose there. Going through all the events leading up to her arrival seemed to make the story plod a little at first. However, I'm glad I stuck with it.

Once she arrives at the hotel, it doesn't...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books, fantasy, thriller, young-adult, urban-fantasy

I have just finished Illuminate A Gilded Wings Novel: Book One by Aimee Agresti. It is 531 pages long. It is published by Harcount. It has a beautiful cover with the lead character in a red dress with shadowed wings behind her. I really enjoyed this book. Here is the summary from the back of the book and then I will give mine.
'Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything changes when she is awarded a prestigious internship at a posh Chicago hotel in the watchful eyes of a gr...more I have just finished Illuminate A Gilded Wings Novel: Book One by Aimee Agresti. It is 531 pages long. It is published by Harcount. It has a beautiful cover with the lead character in a red dress with shadowed wings behind her. I really enjoyed this book. Here is the summary from the back of the book and then I will give mine.
'Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything changes when she is awarded a prestigious internship at a posh Chicago hotel in the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous strangers: powrful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing young Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called the Outfit.
As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they're in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thward this devilish set's plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?'
There are three main characters. There is Haven from who's voice we the readers follow the story from. There is Dante Dennis her gay best friend and then there is
Lance who makes the third of their group. The story is told in three parts. A major part of Haven's character is that she has three big scars. One over her heart and two on her back. She is embarssed about them and tries to hide them.
The first part is about the group setting in to the Lexington Hotel and Haven learning that something is odd about the people who work there. The hotel opens with a bang as someone dies in public but of course it is swept up and forgotten. Lucian is wooing Haven and she wants to believe that a cool guy like him would be interested in her. Haven's first job for the hotel is too take pictures of all the Outfit, her fellow interns and herself. The pictures are important to the story and to Haven's powers in particular.
In the second part Haven learns more and more about the group that she is working for. Lance and her team up to learn about the world they are now in. Lucian's begins to court her in earnest and Haven is having trouble not falling for him. Haven has been exploring and she finds tunnels that lead her to eavesdropping areas around the hotel. That is where and when she learns that she is a pawn that Aurelia is trying to get on her side. The reader learns that the pictures are showing what the people really look like. So Haven can see who has sold their soul and who has not. Most of the plot happens in part two.
In part three Haven faces her death and all the evil that Aurelia has been working towards. The reader also learns why Dante and Lance are part of the plan at the hotel. Haven is not the only special one in this book. In the end good does win over evil. The pictures are used to help stop the evil in a way that only Haven could use. Haven finds someone who understands her in all ways and with the promise of a second book the author leaves the reader.
I liked the writing style it was easy to read. The beginning is a little slow but if you get to the second chapter when Haven and co get to the hotel things really pick up. The describtions are very good, you feel like you are seeing the hotel or the pictures that Haven takes. I am looking forward to the next book. One of things that I really liked about this book is that Haven accepts herself pretty quickly. She has some moments of 'oh I am not that special' or 'No they can not be talking about me it must be someone else'. But she gets the idea that Aurelia and Lucian are really after her. I found that to be a breath of fresh air from girls who never believe that they are special at all. Haven does not get a big head about it, she just knows that she is more than most people. All in all good story.(less)

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Mar 14, 2012 Raveena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aimee Agresti’s Illuminate is about a nerdy, ambitious girl (Haven Terra) and her friends working at a hotel as interns. I have to say I can’t say how the book ends because I couldn’t finish it. The believability of the book was ridiculous. A school lets 3 kids miss 6 months of school to intern at a hotel that hasn’t opened and no one has any real information about it. What kind of a school would do that? I got past that, but then the romance part of the novel, which is always my favorite part,...more Aimee Agresti’s Illuminate is about a nerdy, ambitious girl (Haven Terra) and her friends working at a hotel as interns. I have to say I can’t say how the book ends because I couldn’t finish it. The believability of the book was ridiculous. A school lets 3 kids miss 6 months of school to intern at a hotel that hasn’t opened and no one has any real information about it. What kind of a school would do that? I got past that, but then the romance part of the novel, which is always my favorite part, was just creepy. Haven has feelings for her boss, Lucian. The way the author describes the chemistry is like a high school student falling in love with a man twice her age. In the book they are about 5 years apart, but they make him sound so old and Haven so naive. On top of that there is some sketchy romance going on between Lucian and the hotel owner, Aurelia Brown. I got past the sketchy romance and tried to continue.
A coming of age book character is a gay best friend to the main character. I love how authors express their support towards broader ways of thinking, but Dante (Haven’s friend) is a stereotypical gay kid that is made fun off in movies. He is a shopaholic, loves gossip, likes to play dress-up, a wonderful cook, and can create hairstyles better than seen in magazines. That is exactly how a person who had never met a gay person may describe them. I couldn’t believe the author portrayed the character like that. Yes, Dante was funny and cute at times, but the 3 best friends got annoying after awhile with their cluelessness. Half the time they had no idea what they were doing. The author stretched on about the tedious tasks of paints, photographing, and whatever else the trio was assigned to do.
I was only able to get to page 200 and with much difficulty. I am sure there are people who enjoyed the novel and hats off to you. I felt the over 500 page novel was too long. I may have stopped too early, but I wasn’t hooked. So this book probably won’t be the next Hunger Games or Twilight, but there is talent and passion in the author’s writing. Agresti is an amazing writer, but this may not be the plotline for her.(less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Tynga rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Haven Terra is a very serious student aiming really high for her future career. She wants to be a doctor and with that plan in mind she is volunteering at the local hospital, where her adoptive mother works, and applies to tons of programs to earn those extra credit that might help her get into an esteemed school. There’s one program she didn’t apply to though, the Department of Education’s Vocational Illinois Leaders internship program. With two of her fellow student, she has been chosen to lea...more Haven Terra is a very serious student aiming really high for her future career. She wants to be a doctor and with that plan in mind she is volunteering at the local hospital, where her adoptive mother works, and applies to tons of programs to earn those extra credit that might help her get into an esteemed school. There’s one program she didn’t apply to though, the Department of Education’s Vocational Illinois Leaders internship program. With two of her fellow student, she has been chosen to leave school to work in a prestigious hotel, but none of them are quite ready for what awaits them there.

I find this review really hard to write because I honestly didn’t like this book, but I can see its potential and how someone else might enjoy it. So I’ll try my best to show you both sides of the coin in this review. I’ll be honest with you, after a hundred pages I was ready to give up on this book, but I hang on because I requested it for review, and I was really hoping I would like it.

The first thing I didn’t like about this book is the entrée en matière. There is a very prominent high-class, snobbish, elitist atmosphere to this novel, and it’s a set-up I personally don’t like. From the get go, Illuminate reminded me a lot of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz, a series I don’t like, because of its worldly ambience. I know there are a lot of fans of that series out there, so I’m sure this particular aspect won’t be an issue of many of you.

The cast was also problematic for me. The staff at the hotel is called the Outfit and they are essentially a bunch of zombies. You eventually understand that they sold their souls, but does it have to turn them into mindless beautiful creatures? I could overlook this problem, but the main characters also had some major flaws, namely Dante, was the worst. He is so overly stereotyped it’s painful to watch. The kid is gay, so far so good, but did he really need to be a gossip hungry, shopaholic, who’s an extremely good cook, likes to play dress-up and can whip-up an haircut in a blink of an eye? It was just too much to be believable, or even comfortable. Haven was ok, but nothing more. I have to admit I had a soft spot for Lucian, one of Haven’s boss, but I felt like he could’ve been so much more, so I was slightly disappointed. The star of this book though, hands down, is Lance. This guy was definitely made of awesome. He came into the game with an underdog tattoo on his forehead and left with a superstar one. I even had an “Atta boy!” moment at the very end when a tidbit about him was revealed, I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve read the book.

The main problem with Illuminate though, is that it’s way. too. long. The novel has 530ish pages and pretty much nothing happens in the first 300 pages or so. Agresti took way too much time to set the table and by the time something was actually reveled, the reader was bored, at least I was. See the thing is, I think a lot of the previously mentioned flaws could’ve been overlooked if we didn’t have so much time on our hands to think about it all. Illuminate isn’t a bad book, but it needed a lot more cuts during the editing process, in my opinion.

If you put the plot on fast-forward, it’s not bad. Aimee added her own touch to the old-as-dirt battle between Heaven and Hell and I particularly liked the original way a good guy was to defeat the bad guys. On the other hand, even after 530ish pages, we only have a vague idea of what the main character’s powers are and one would assumed one was entitled to get some answers after sticking around for so long. I’m confident, or at least hopeful, that the second book will move faster now that the truth is out in the open.

On a positive note, I found the end was exciting. There was finally some action, an heart-breaking decision was made and Lance provided us a “squee” moment =)

I would recommend this book to fans of the Blue Bloods series because of the worldly set-up, but beware that this book is twice as long as a typical Blue Bloods novel, so you need not-to-be bothered by lengthy introductions.
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Feb 09, 2012 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: hardcover-wish-list

To begin talking about such an amazing story, I must tell you 1 thing that helped tip it's awesomeness over the edge. The Gorgeous Cover!

Now you may be thinking " Covers with girls in dresses are overdone, let's be rid of them!" Or maybe that's just what I think off and on. But here is what really made this one work for me. SHE ACTUALLY WEARS A RED DRESS IN THE STORY! Of course I won't tell you when or why, but lets just say the description matches up well, and makes me want the dress and love...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Kavanand rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Haven is a studious, quiet teenager who doesn't quite fit it in at her high school. She feels very ordinary and unimportant, so she's stunned when she and two of her fellow students are given an amazing internship. They get to leave school for a semester to move to nearby Chicago and work at a historic hotel, which is undergoing a glamorous reopening. Haven, her best friend Dante, and fellow smart kid Lance are a bit overwhelmed by their good fortune. The hotel is a luxurious place visited by th...more Haven is a studious, quiet teenager who doesn't quite fit it in at her high school. She feels very ordinary and unimportant, so she's stunned when she and two of her fellow students are given an amazing internship. They get to leave school for a semester to move to nearby Chicago and work at a historic hotel, which is undergoing a glamorous reopening. Haven, her best friend Dante, and fellow smart kid Lance are a bit overwhelmed by their good fortune. The hotel is a luxurious place visited by the rich and famous. Everyone who works there is stunningly gorgeous, although most of them are rather lacking in personality. As perfect as this world seems, there's clearly something strange going on underneath it all, and Haven and her fellow interns are swept up into the mystery.

Illuminate is an exciting new YA paranormal debut, and it avoids the pitfalls of the genre. There’s no unbelievable instant love here. Haven does feel an instant attraction for the mysterious Lucian, but she's a practical girl and not the type to rush into anything. She may find Lucian fascinating, but she holds back, and it's refreshing to find a YA heroine who doesn't drop everything at the first sign of love. She's a smart capable young woman, and I liked her a lot.

Haven and her fellow interns are caught up in the glamour and excitement of their new world, but she can’t help but notice that something seems off about the hotel staff. They’re all a little too perfect, and that perfection is a bit creepy. I liked the way the plot slowly unfolded. Haven's growing nervousness, her increasing isolation from her best friend Dante, and her tense relationship with her beautiful but scary boss Aurelia all contribute to the sense of unease. I liked how Haven formed an alliance with Lance. Their quiet bond was one of the highlights of the book for me.

I highly recommend Illuminate. It makes a pleasant change from the typical YA paranormal with a dull heroine who falls instantly in love with a dreamy but dangerous angel/werewolf/vampire/etc. If you like smart, capable heroines, you’ll enjoy this book. I also liked the fact that the story had a resolution, but there are still unanswered questions that the author can explore in subsequent books.

I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
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Illuminate (Gilded Wings #1)

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