Pages: 352
Published: October 08th 2013 by HarperTeen
Series: N/A – Stand Alone
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
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Rafael Angelos just got handed the greatest gift any teenage boy could ever dream of. Upon arriving at his new boarding school for senior year, he discovered that he is the ONLY male student. But what should have been a godsend isn’t exactly heaven on Earth.Raffi’s about to learn that St. Mary’s is actually a hub for demons-and that he was summoned to the school by someone expecting him to save the day. Raffi knows he’s no angel-but it’s pretty hard to deny that there’s some higher plan at work when he wakes up one morning to discover a glowing circle around his head.
I was really excited to pick up No Angel. I had recently read Fang Girl and thoroughly enjoyed it. Helen Keeble had a way of taking the paranormal genre and turning it into a fun comedic twist so I couldn’t wait to see her take on angels.
Raffi, the main character, was just mediocre. There was nothing specifically about him that I disliked, just as a whole, I didn’t enjoy him and thought his character was rather empty. I didn’t find a lot of development behind him, which is a shame, because there was lots of room for that seeing as how he had just learned he was an angel, but he was definitely the same Raffi from beginning to end. I did really enjoy his sidekick Krystal. I thought she was quite spunky and I liked her uniqueness. In a school of girls that were competing for looks and popularity, Krystal didn’t much care for that and certainly marched to the beat of her own drum. Faith grated on my nerves continuously. I’m not exactly sure when it started in the book, but by the end of it I was glad to be done with her. Like Raffi, I can’t exactly sum up why she annoyed me but she definitely wasn’t a favorite of mine. One of my main flaws with No Angel, if you can’t tell, was the characters and character building. I didn’t find an attachment with any character, and while I really liked Krystal, I still wouldn’t have cared much if say, something awful happened to her.
The storyline was interesting. I thought it was rather predictable as we went along but about halfway through there were several twists thrown in to spice it up. I found it hard to figure out who was trustworthy or not, and that really helped with the pacing of the book towards the end. The pacing, initially, was quite slow, and I actually put the book down.
I enjoyed the angel lore that is mentioned throughout the story. Angels are definitely one of my favorite supernatural creatures in the genre so I enjoyed seeing Raffi’s journey of becoming one and trying to figure out exactly what he was. While it didn’t go into too much depth and there could have been more, it did add an enjoyable twist to the story.
The comedy portion of the novel, definitely made the story. I really like Helen Keeble’s writing style in that aspect. The humor really makes her stories as it separates them from the usual supernatural tales.
While I did not enjoy No Angel as much as Fang Girl, it did turn out to be a fun read and I would recommend it. If you enjoyed Fang girl and the Keeble’s comedic writing I don’t think you will be disappointed with No Angel.
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