Review Detail

I first heard about this book at Thomas Nelson's website, then it was on NetGalley, and then there The Teen Book Scene hosted a blog tour. You can be sure that by then, I knew a lot about this book and couldn't wait to get to it myself! Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. Angel Eyes was a very unique paranormal, but with a (too) strong romance plot and a Christian influences that made me slightly uncomfortable.

Plot:
It gave you several hints throughout the book as to 'Ali' and what exactly happened to her, but you don't find out till quite late in the book. One of the biggest questions I had was what was 'Damien' going to do and how Brielle was involved in all this.
It started out like a contemporary novel. After having experienced a traumatic incident involving her best friend Ali, Brielle, moves back to the small town feeling lonely and pained. She meets new kid Jake who is gorgeous, sweet and is interested in her, and he's the only person she feels comfortable around. But then it starts to diverge into the paranormal elements and pick up speed. By building on existing lore and adding plenty of details and fascinating background about the angels, the author succeeded in creating a very believable story.
The writing was maybe slow-paced at times (there was a LOT of crying on Brielle's part) and the plot wasn't exceptional, but the author's writing style was beautiful and the emotions expressed by the characters were very real and some parts were truly moving.
Nevertheless, I am curious to know what happens in Broken Wings (Angel Eyes #2)

Characters:
As I've said before, Angel Eyes is a very character-focused novel. The author put a lot of time in creating each of the characters' pasts and showing their emotions in a way that the reader can feel too. It was most likely the beautiful characters who kept me fascinated in this book. Ms Dittermore took plenty of time and details to bring the characters and the settings to life. Brielle was a relatable character even with her tormenting past and Jake is just such a sweet guy, you can't help falling for him!

Extra Thoughts that don't Deserve a Separate Category
The romance in this novel just makes you smile. It's kind of cheesy, but overall, Brielle and Jake had a very sweet relationship. They weren't instantly in love or falling all over each other; instead, they were comfortable around each other and were happy just to be around each other. Most importantly, there was no love triange! Hurray!
The alternating POVs let the reader peek into the mind of the antagonist and see what he was planning, which kept me super intrigued.
Since I'm not a religious person, I was left feeling a little uncomfortable by all the God references and thoughts about faith, but I didn't feel like the author's views were pushed on me in any way so that was a relief.
Yay! Pretty cover =D