Review: Angelology

 

Book: Angelology

Author: Danielle Trussoni

Genre: Metaphysical

Publish Date: March 2010

Length: 464 pages hardback

How long it took me to read it: week and a half

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Angelology terrifies me a little bit.

There are things about the book that I liked immensely, such as some of the detail that really puts you in the setting with the characters, or the obvious thought that went into the complex plot. Also, I appreciate the subtle commentary on genocide, whether intentional or not.

But certain things caught me off guard -- little details that made the book less believable, and probably should have been left out. Or, the way the characters spoke. I don't care if you have a PhD, you're not going to speak like you're reading from a law book. Also, this book is obviously the first of at least two novels, which you don't discover until the unfortunate ending of the considerable tome. I felt a bit like I did when I read The Passage, by Justin Cronin -- You mean this isn't over? But I've just put in all this work! 

The reason those aspects of the book terrify me is because I'm not sure if the author created them or an editor did. And if the author did, why didn't the editor edit them out? And lastly, how did this book earn such a glowing review from The New York Times? The thought frightens me.

(By the way, the NY Times review is the sole reason I read this novel.)

And, yes, this book is a bit Da Vinci Code-esque. It's got your good guys running around New York City, searching for a relic while, of course, being pursued by the enemy. That book and subsequent movie did quite well, which is perhaps why I'm reading that Angelology author Danielle Trussoni has been offered a movie deal. Oh, that reminds me -- there's one more thing that terrifies me about this novel: It's Trussoni's first.

What the what?


Dear Lord, why do you hate me so?

All-encompassing jealousy aside, to assist you in deciding whether you'd like to read this book, I shall summarize it in a nutshell:

There's a young nun named Evangeline who lives in New York and is unaware that she hails from a long line of angelologists. She discovers her heritage after she meets a guy she is inexplicably attracted to, who is unwittingly working for her ancestors' mortal enemies: The Nephilim. To explain: Angelologists are a shadow society  that researches the evil hybrid descendants of angels and humans, called Nephilim, currently living on Earth. Both the angelologists and Nephilim are looking for a certain relic. I won't spoil any of it for you, because otherwise you might do like I did and figure out how the book was going to end by the time you're done with Chapter 1.

Which -- can I really blame Trussoni for that? I mean, we are supposed to foreshadow in our novels, right? Otherwise our high school English teachers would never have taught us about foreshadowing?

And to be clear: No, this novel is not based on historical fact. Some religions believe that angels procreated with humans in Biblical times, and for people who believe this, the novel might be more entertaining than it is for the average bear.

Overall I thought it was a decent read. It'd be a good vacation read, something entertaining that's not too intense because ya sort of already suspect you know what's really going on.

Next review will be Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, which has already made me laugh and cry, and I just started it Sunday.



P.S. You have until midnight tomorrow to enter my $25 gift certificate giveaway!