Calling for Angels
by Alex Smith
Summary
Em is a little overwhelmed with her life right now. She’s worried about her family, and is having a hard time connecting with her best friend. She feels scared and alone until two very different boys show up and things begin to change in ways she never expected.
Review
Not your typical teen romance, Calling for Angels skilfully avoids the incredibly overdone angst-ridden teen love triangle. Alex Smith has done a wonderful job of capturing the voice and concerns of today’s teens without being overtly sexual or overly dramatic. Which comes as no surprise considering she’s a teen herself! Em is a strong character who doesn’t succumb to peer pressure in order to be popular or impress boys. And even though the book has fantasy elements, the issues that Em struggles with are realistic problems that actual teens could face. The other characters in the story felt underdeveloped in contrast to Em. Almost as if the author knew Em really well, but only had an idea about who the other characters were.
Plot is the one area where Calling for Angels was somewhat lacking. At first, I assumed it would be a story about Angels, but towards the middle of the book I felt like the story had wandered off course and wasn’t sure where things were going. The end did bring everything back together and close up the story nicely, but there was a point where I wasn’t sure what the book was about.
Verdict
Overall, Calling for Angels is quaint, well-written and age-appropriate story for teens with a bit of magic thrown in.
*I received this book for review from the Publisher.
