Illuminate (Gilded Wings, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Sep 22, 2011 Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: angels-nephilim

Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5/5

Illuminate is a triumphant debut novel full of mystery, suspense, and even unexpected romance. I was surprised by how much I liked Illuminate, only because it hasn't gotten the best reviews. Everyone was saying how slow and boring it was, but I liked that all this mystery was taking place in a confined space. I wish I could tell you more about this book, but that would totally take away some of the appeal of it. You know something's Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5/5

Illuminate is a triumphant debut novel full of mystery, suspense, and even unexpected romance. I was surprised by how much I liked Illuminate, only because it hasn't gotten the best reviews. Everyone was saying how slow and boring it was, but I liked that all this mystery was taking place in a confined space. I wish I could tell you more about this book, but that would totally take away some of the appeal of it. You know something's off about Haven and her best friend and this random geek being sent to work at a historic hotel and not having to go to school. That's every kids dream! Okay, maybe only for people like me who are total suckers for mob history, but still. I loved everything about the setting, and I think this story needed a slow buildup.

The romance in this book was... interesting. From the ending, I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen. It's obvious that Haven falls for Lucian right off the bat. He's a gorgeous guy that's brooding and seems to have some sort of relationship with Aurelia, AKA bog boss lady. It's all kinds of forbidden, but Haven doesn't even know the half of it. But Lucian can't keep who he is secret for long, and as Haven begins to piece things together, she realizes that Lucian is not all he's cracked up to be. But is it too late for her heart? Or is there someone else? You'll have to find out. But the romance aspect itself was predictable once you got past a certain point. It was more like I was waiting for the inevitable, but Lucian continued to surprise me.

This book is pretty dark. Like possibly selling souls dark. But I think that's why I didn't mind the boring stuff. You could feel that something was going to happen, and Agresti wrote in a way that was exciting. I didn't know this was going to be a [insert popular YA genre] book, but I think it's a great one. It gave a whole new perspective on the genre, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Honestly, I have no idea what's going to happen in the second book. But I think it's safe to say that some of the characters are going to come back with a vengeance, and we still don't know exactly what Haven's powers are. Also, the cover is gorgeous. A special thanks to Anna for letting me borrow her ARC of it (even though it took me forever to read it). Definitely pick this one up. This book wasn't slow for me, but if you feel yourself getting bored, push through. It's worth it! ...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Carrie Ardoin rated it really liked it

Shelves: posted-on-blog, arc-tour, angels

Haven Terra is just a typical high school girl until she, along with her best friend Dante and classmate Lance, get pulled into a special internship which will last an entire semester. They are thrust into the beautiful, mysterious world of the Lexington Hotel, where every person there seems unbelievably perfect...and it's not long until Haven finds out why.

When she begins getting strange messages in a blank diary, she also learns that there is much more to her than she ever imagined. And it wil Haven Terra is just a typical high school girl until she, along with her best friend Dante and classmate Lance, get pulled into a special internship which will last an entire semester. They are thrust into the beautiful, mysterious world of the Lexington Hotel, where every person there seems unbelievably perfect...and it's not long until Haven finds out why.

When she begins getting strange messages in a blank diary, she also learns that there is much more to her than she ever imagined. And it will be up to her and her friends to combat the evil that is going on behind closed doors.

My first thought upon finishing this book...WHEW, I'm glad I finished reading this! It was a looooong 532 pages. My first thought when I started this book...Haven Terra is a ridiculous name. And I still stand by that. LOL.

For me, this book's most important parts didn't really kick in until about halfway through. But once they did, I was hooked. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my FAVORITE books, so I was very excited that Illuminate did a unique and interesting take on it. The idea of it taking place in an opulent, historical hotel was just icing on the cake.

Despite her dumb name, I really came to like Haven. She grew quite a lot throughout the course of the book, and became strong and respectable towards the end. The same for Lance, he was a great character and he stayed as such for the entire book. The only thing I really had a problem with was Dante (and this is the same problem my fellow reviewers seemed to have). Just because he's gay doesn't mean he has to be such a caricature of a gay person...not only flamboyant, but an expert chef, stylist, and hairdresser? It was a bit hard to swallow.

Aurelia and even Lucian were slimy, creepy villains that were easy to hate. The fact that the Devil, AKA The Prince of Darkness, was actually being called "The Prince" kinda made me LOL.

I had many questions while I was reading this book, but towards the end, most of them got answered. The only other things I had issues with were: 1) Haven unquestioningly begins taking orders from the random book, which is super demanding and not at all polite in its' messages; and 2) It was just a little too convenient that the tunnel and peephole to Aurelia's office could be accessed from Haven's room. To me it seemed like maybe Aurelia should have known about that? IDK.

Anyway, this book earned between 3.5 and 4 stars from me, so I rounded up. Here's hoping the next book will be quite a bit shorter...because I'm quite looking forward to it. ...more

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