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Unwelcome (Archangel Academy #2)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 207 ratings · 26 reviews

Griffo establishes a fresh spin for young adult vampire novels in the second installment of his Archangel Academy series, set in a mysterious English boarding school filled with secrets.

Paperback, 352 pages

Published August 30th 2011 by Kensington (first published August 1st 2011)

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Dec 18, 2011 Stephen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I am convinced after reading this book that Michael Griffo – at least as he's presented in his author bio – simply does not exist. This book, along with its predecessor (Unnatural), could only have been written by a twelve-year-old girl (or boy). It's that horrible. It comes off like really bad "Mary Sue" fan fiction (the fact that the author and the main character share a first name gives this theory some credence). It's awful; it's cringe-worthy. I've had gaping wounds that were less painful t...more I am convinced after reading this book that Michael Griffo – at least as he's presented in his author bio – simply does not exist. This book, along with its predecessor (Unnatural), could only have been written by a twelve-year-old girl (or boy). It's that horrible. It comes off like really bad "Mary Sue" fan fiction (the fact that the author and the main character share a first name gives this theory some credence). It's awful; it's cringe-worthy. I've had gaping wounds that were less painful than reading this book. I shudder to think what other manuscripts were turned down by Kensington Teen that were worse than this steaming pile of crap. I mistakenly thought after reading Unnatural that things couldn't possibly get any worse. I was so very wrong. Let’s get started because I have a lot to say.

POV Switches: This was a huge problem in the first book and it's even worse now. I don't know who (if anyone) edited these books, but they really need to find another line of work. Just because you have five or six characters in a scene, doesn't mean that you need to know what each one of them is thinking. Seriously, the POV would switch inside a single paragraph at times. It was impossible to know who was thinking what. There were so many voices inside my head, I was beginning to think I had multiple-personality disorder. Third person omniscient is tricky to pull off by even the best of writers. Unfortunately, Griffo is not included among them.

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Mar 31, 2012 Chapter by Chapter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Alrightie then! The second novel in Michael Griffo’s Archangel Academy series (and I am starting to love all the “UN*insert word here*” titles. Very rememberable if you ask me) which I have been looking forward to reading for the past few months. After the note that Unnatural left off on, I was sure that Griffo would give us something that would top the first novel and become unforgettable. But before I get into what I love love loved about the novel, I want to bring up the one issue I had.

The...more Alrightie then! The second novel in Michael Griffo’s Archangel Academy series (and I am starting to love all the “UN*insert word here*” titles. Very rememberable if you ask me) which I have been looking forward to reading for the past few months. After the note that Unnatural left off on, I was sure that Griffo would give us something that would top the first novel and become unforgettable. But before I get into what I love love loved about the novel, I want to bring up the one issue I had.

The only thing that I didn’t enjoy about the novel was all of the sexual content between Michael and Ronan. It felt overdone and it made me really uncomfortable really, really fast. It wasn’t like it was descriptive or anything, it was just that there was a lot of: They made out and then they did “it” or he was naked and then Michael got into the shower with him, scenes. That being said, the second Archangel Academy novel might only be for those who don’t mind the repetitive amount of “those” scenes. If you catch my drift.

However, I did find the constant romance found in the novel admirable. Not only did Griffo get into the growing relationship between Fritz and Phaedra, but he also showed that love is in the air for almost all of the characters. Should it be Nakano and his French lover boy or Michael and Ronan, romance definitely played a major role throughout the novel. Which I loved (kind of punny, no?). But not only was there romance but there was also the constant use of the challenges that couples have to go through to become stronger. Hint, hint, I am talking about Ronan and Michael. And it isn’t just romance that is messing around with their relationship, it’s also Michael and his adjustment to being a water vamp/vampire hybrid (which played a key role in the novel as well) and the regular vamps who want to know the secret to walking in the daylight.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for the water vamps at Archangel Academy, there’s a new headmaster with dark secrets of his own. And he isn’t human. Not one bit. He’s David Zachary a.k.a. Brania’s father a.k.a. the big bad head vampire in charge of the normal vampires a.k.a. the guy who wants nothing more than to see all of the water vamps dead. I feel like I’ve forgotten to mention that he’s a total creeper. Yeah, there’s that too.

As the novel progressed, I found that the novel would begin to go into backstories of most of the vampire characters like Brania and David. Personally, my favorite is Ronan’s flashbacks of the night that his father was burned. And throughout the novel Edwige would also bring up the subject of her being raped as the reason behind Ciaran’s existence (this felt like a really deep part of the novel).

Secrets were unveiled, characters true intentions were established and I was finding myself falling deeper into the world of Archangel Academy. If you loved the first novel in the series you won’t be disappointed with the sequel. I know that I can’t wait for the third novel (which I am reading as we speak *la winky face*). Oh and “go team water vamps”!!!(less)

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Nov 25, 2012 Quoc rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, romance, paranormal, glbt, fantasy, action

..a love story with blood-sucking vampires at Archangel Academy.

Newly turned vampire Michael Howard is not only adapting to a new life at a new school and wanting to change his old ways back from his Nebraska upbringing. Micheal discovers that there is a feud between his own kind, vampires. Not only does this test his relationship with Ronan but also with whom he should really trust.

New characters are introduced such as Jean-Paul(a Frenchman) who was "long-limbed and lanky, he moved with an ef...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-swap

Unwelcome is a wild ride of romance, lust, family politics and a hell of a lot of sexy vampires. With so many plots winding their way around our boys, Archangel Academy has never been more hectically intriguing. It’s hard to know if there’s a betrayal lurking around the corner that you just can’t stop reading.

Like Unnatural, there are so many POV’s that continue switching back and forth between paragraphs. It’s the only book series I’ve seen do this so often that it does take a bit of getting u...more Unwelcome is a wild ride of romance, lust, family politics and a hell of a lot of sexy vampires. With so many plots winding their way around our boys, Archangel Academy has never been more hectically intriguing. It’s hard to know if there’s a betrayal lurking around the corner that you just can’t stop reading.

Like Unnatural, there are so many POV’s that continue switching back and forth between paragraphs. It’s the only book series I’ve seen do this so often that it does take a bit of getting used to. It was probably my one pet peeve, but it’s not that difficult to follow. Michael and Ronan still center the book, but the other characters are very distinctive in their own rights. I’m not sure how the author managed to keep track of everyone’s personalities when writing this but it is interesting to read how each person interprets different situations nonetheless.

While the first book did take a while to get into things, here we’re thrown straight into Ronan and Michael’s lives together. Both water vamps now, a special breed, much more humane than their regular counterparts, Michael is adjusting to his new life, both supernaturally and as an openly gay teenager. They’re very much in love, with plenty of flirting, love declarations and both cheeky and tender situations. I really enjoyed all the aspects of the romance, even the not so perfect moments, which gave the paranormal aspects of their lives some realism to fall back on.

With Ronan as the older vampirically, he’s always acting as the protector in their relationship. Keeping too many secrets with the intention of keeping Michael safe seems to be a character flaw of his. He’s always holding things in, and it annoyed me to no end. I prefer when characters say what they’re thinking, but then of course where would the angst be in that. Ronan’s not just a part-time liar though. He’s also very good at peacekeeping, whether with his boyfriend, his outsider brother or his eccentric mother, Edwige. Ronan comes across a lot older than his years, making the stubbled cover model that portrays him just a bit more believable.

I love whenever I come across Edwige's scenes. She was definitely not built for motherhood. Not that she holds any ultimate malice towards her children, just mild contempt. She just doesn’t embrace the loving finesse needed to deal with them. Reading her can be quite the task. She has so much going on, plotting and scheming, looking for love, looking for beauty, dealing with remnants of her past and trying to half pull off a dinner party for a bunch of people who would rather be drinking blood than trying the dip.

I enjoyed delving deeper into the history of our characters. It linked together with Unnatural in a way that made sense of things, while still leaving more to be discovered. With all of the different threads running together at once like I mentioned earlier, it’s fun when things finally click and you have the ‘that’s why’ moment. The series is forever building, raising the stakes in the interspecies war. The vampires, not the water vamps, are getting even more cunning in their attack. With Brania and Nakano as well as some new vampires lurking, Archangel Academy is once again the center point for secrets, betrayals, lots of blood loss and fog ridden midnight rendezvouses. The lush British boarding school is the epitome of creepiness, but in a weird sense, I wouldn’t mind going there myself. Great friends like Fritz and Phaedra, an enigmatic, but scheming Principal and a live in boyfriend dousing Michael with adorable British idioms made Unwelcome a bloody mouth-watering sequel.(less)

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Feb 13, 2012 Darth Sparhawk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Solid second entry in the "Archangel's Academy" series. Once a bullied gay teen from Nebraska, Michael Howard has become a powerful vampire, connected to the lost civilization of Atlantis. He has found new friends in the Archangel's Academy, and, most importantly, the love of his life, the equally powerful vampire Ronan. However, forces of darkness are moving to conspire against his joy and entire race. David Zachary, the charismatic leader of the evil vampires, has become the new Headmaster in...more

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Oct 20, 2011 CorLostForWords rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog-tour, for-review, teen-book-scene-blog-tour

Source: Received from publicist. Many thanks goes to Kensington Books, and Teen Book Scene for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 3.5/5

Unwelcome picks up right where Unnatural left off. Michael is at Archangel Academy, and he is at the start of a new semester. After the events of the previous semester, he is hoping to just relax and enjoy the company of his new boyfriend. However, evil still lurks and is no...more Source: Received from publicist. Many thanks goes to Kensington Books, and Teen Book Scene for sending me a copy of this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 3.5/5

Unwelcome picks up right where Unnatural left off. Michael is at Archangel Academy, and he is at the start of a new semester. After the events of the previous semester, he is hoping to just relax and enjoy the company of his new boyfriend. However, evil still lurks and is not done with Michael and Archangel Academy yet. The vampire factions are at the precipice of a war, and immortality may be cut short at any time. Danger and intrigue abound at Archangel Academy. Will Michael and Ronan survive, and will they still be united together?
Unwelcome was an engrossing read. Many new characters were thrown at the reader, however they were a welcome addition to the Archangel Academy crew. New villains rose to the challenge, and previously reliable friends are unwittingly crossing into enemy territory. There is still a lot of head jumping in the book as the point of view switches between several characters per page. Once you are used to the narrative style, and know the characters, it is easy to follow along with the different perspectives. I did find that in Unwelcome the head jumping was more refined and fluid as it would follow a set train of thought with a few characters. Michael would be going to confront his father, and Brania would be going to confront hers and it would switch back and forth between both of their conversations, much like a tv show of sorts.
Several new characters were added to the already large cast, and they brought both humour and suspense with them. We glean more insight into some of the new characters, and more tidbits are revealed about the different vampire factions, however there are still some aspects that are cloaked in secrecy yet. Hopefully they will be revealed within the next book as they will let us know more about the different factions and how they came to be.
Many intriguing twists are revealed in Unwelcome and it kept the story moving. Griffo is not afraid of killing characters once he is done with them, so be warned, some of your favourites could end up on the chopping block.
All in all, a solid follow-up to Unnatural. Relationships evolve to give us a new perspective on situations that we hadn't previously seen before. New family members entering the picture add another dimension as well as we get to see more of the vampire world and the inner workings of set family dynamics. I'm intrigued to know what will happen next for Michael, Ronan and their friends.(less)

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Nov 18, 2011 Avry15 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, paranormal-romance, supernatural, young-adult, vampires, fiction, angels

One drop
Two drops
Three drops
Four
Water is mixed
With blood once more

Shadows and light
on a crimson stain

will the sun prevail?
Or will darkness reign

As expected, :), this is the poem symbolizing the story of Unwelcome, the 2nd Archangel Academy Novel by Mr. Griffo.

In this book, Michael is now a water-vamp and he will experience changes both physically and emotionally, that most of the time, he and Ronan argued. He discovered the dark past of his mother’s death and the true identity of his father.

Saio...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Ashlyn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, genre-m-m, genre-vampires, genre-young-adult, genre-ya-glbt

This was such a letdown after liking the first book so much. And the story itself is not bad, it's the way it's presented. The book drags and drags and drags that when you get to the end and the climax you don't care and just want it to end!

It was also full of inconsistencies. I don't remember once in book 1 them saying Vaughan was a vampire and suddenly it's like this is known info. And laser beams from their eyes? Really?

The book could have easily done with 150 pages less. Everything is so flo...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Alec rated it 4 of 5 stars

(THIS REVIEW IS RATED PG 13!)

I think this story line is absloutely amazing, but I do have some things to say about this book. I ususally don't have things to say that are bad, so this may be my first.

So first of all, I hated that this story was in third person, but I was able to see why it was so important to be that way. But the way it switched characters every five seconds was unbelieveably annoying. I got kinda lost throughout the book.

And second, he made the characters unbearably corny. I me...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was one of my favorites. Even though it starts off kinda slow it starts to get interesting later on with unexpected arrivals. For example in the first book Imogene disappeared after Penry died but half way through this book she comes back and is a a water vampire thanks to Edwige. This book had a really interesting turn of events when the previous principal died and is replaced by a vampire named David Zachary. Everyone soon loves David and is willing to do anything for him without que...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Sheree rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires-and-weres-books

Unwelcome was a good book, I find that it shows not only the evilness in people that hate you but also the evilness in people closes to you. In this story you are able to see that even people who love you can betray you without even knowing or do it unwilling.

It shows that even as you shower someone with hatefulness they can still find love and even with secrets there love can grow.
I think this book was a little slow to come in, also that the main character is not really learning anything that...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Damian Serbu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just like the first, Griffo has written a compelling novel. I found this one a little more complicated to follow and not quite as mesmerizing. Still, that's a minor complaint in what is a terrific series. Book II does a lot to push the story forward. I especially like the complication of Michael struggling with his identity as he becomes a young adult; he's no longer a perfect little teenage angel - he's a complex individual struggling with the world around him. And of course he and Ronan are st...more

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May 11, 2012 Paul Wilson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just finished the second book in this series. Really enjoying it! Will take some time off and then dig into the third to see how this finishes up!

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Mar 10, 2012 Sean Kennedy rated it 2 of 5 stars

More of the same, except Michael is even more annoying - especially on his birthday.

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May 19, 2013 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lot more action and insight to the past then the first one.

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Dec 30, 2011 Cristina Rodriguez rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'm still lost with worlds.. but I think I may just have to get book 3 when it comes out in march 2012.. this is the fist time I buy a book that I'm so lost ......

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Dec 07, 2012 Bradley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, lgbt-books, young-adult

This is book 2 of a gay-themed vampire book series.

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Feb 13, 2012 Sodapop rated it 5 of 5 stars

Just like the first only better!

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Mar 06, 2013 Kelley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Still one of the cutest couples. As my daughter would say, I totally ship them!

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Aug 18, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: done-done

I liked this book reading the next one soon:D

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Mar 03, 2012 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sad that there is only one more book left in the series

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Apr 24, 2013 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

loved this book! If i didn't have school to side track me from my reading, i would have finished it must faster, however this one keeps me wanting to read on and on. I enjoy the romance along with the plot line, working hand in hand, it creates hour upon hour for me to get lost in the world that Michael Griffo so wonderful paints for his readers.

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Jan 05, 2012 Cassie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: already-own

I liked this one as much as the first book in the series. It had a lot of the same things I enjoyed from the first book and a lot of the things that annoyed me, the most prevalent being the constantly switching POVs.

I also had a slight issue with Michael and Ronan's relationship, the trouble they kept having with one another throughout the book seemed force and, at times, it made Michael seem like a whiney teenaged-girl.

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Jul 23, 2012 Alejandro rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-books

I'm completely fascinated!! It's amazing!!!

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Sep 22, 2011 Kim Yu rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found the first book in this series thrilling and page turning. The 2nd installment was Blah!! I just couldn't get into it. All the different perspectives. It just didn't thrill me.

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Sep 24, 2011 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampire, young-adult

Prtty decent story, though the POV jumping gets hard to follow at some points. Hope there is more back story in the next one.

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May 23, 2013 Carly marked it as to-read

May 22, 2013 Sam marked it as to-read

May 22, 2013 Mtsnow13 marked it as to-read

Shelves: contemporary, m-m, young-adult, series-read, less-than-400-pages, paranormal-vampire, romance

May 20, 2013 Ladawn Murray rated it 3 of 5 stars

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About Michael Griffo

Michael Griffo was born, raised, and has since relocated to New Jersey. He is an award-winning playwright and all of his plays have been produced throughout the country and in London. Two of his plays -- CLOUDY and 5G/10B -- have been published in Smith & Kraus's Best 10 Minute Plays for 2 Actors: 2005 and CLOUDY is licensed by Playscripts, Inc.

His first novel, BETWEEN BOYFRIENDS, was written...more

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Unwelcome (Archangel Academy #2)

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