Book Review: Hades (Halo, BK 2)

By: Alexandra Adornetto

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

To Be Released on: August 30th, 2011

Source: arc from publisher to review

3 stars- I liked it

Purchase from: Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Venus Cove from the Dark Forces.

When a party game – a séance – inadvertently releases Jake from the Underworld, he disguises himself and tricks Beth into taking a ride on his motorcycle. When the highway opens up and swallows them, Beth learns too late that she’s now a prisoner in hell. What happens to angels there? As her archangel brother, Gabriel, her sister Ivy, Xavier, and her best friend, Molly search for her, Beth must weigh Jake’s bargaining for her freedom: one night with him, and she will be released back to Earth.Can Jake be trusted in this wager? And is he also using Beth to engineer the fall of the archangel Gabriel? Xavier has already lost one love – when Jake tricks him into thinking that Bethany is dead, his grief and anger result in a betrayal that will leave Bethany – and readers – wondering if he is so good after all.It will be up to Beth to use everything she’s learned about her powers as an angel – and about love – to free herself and those she loves from the clutches of Hades.

Hades is the sequel to Alexandra's US debut, Halo, and picks up right where book one ended. This time around the story centers more on Beth and her trip to Hades. In Halo, she along with her brother and sister are sent to earth on a mission, and during that time she met one of the fallen, Jake, who of course is from Hades.

I was really intrigued with Jake in Halo and I liked seeing more of him in Hades. It didn't take him long to live up to his promise he made to Beth in Halo. Not long after the story starts Jake ends up capturing Beth and takes her to Hades. Okay, really he tricked her, and then kidnapped her and drove her to Hades on his motorcycle. The cover, which I think is very fitting of the story, is from this scene. Despite the fact he's such a great villain, he was one of the characters who kept me invested in the story. Jake is someone I felt bad for and at the same time I understand his natural tendencies. I mean, he is after all on the original fallen angels who now rules one of the circles in Hell. Of course he's going to be naturally bad, but I liked seeing a different side of him at times, and I was really surprised with how charismatic he could be.

There's a lot of interesting characters living in Hades. There's a few that surprised me with their character twists and a few I really enjoyed getting to read about. Beth's new found friends, as well as Jake on occasion are there to save her when her best intentions find her in a lot of trouble, and this happens more than a couple of times. I was surprised with how Hades itself is described. It has house penthouses, night clubs and all the worldly things that would entice people to either fall or make their deal with the devil if they found themselves in a certain situation. There's a few things that happen there that give readers a glimpse of what hell is like for a few unnamed characters.

I was hoping that with the sequel I would be able to connect with Beth, but like Halo, I found myself really frustrated with her character and not able to connect with her at all. One of the things that bothers me was how rash she was to make a decision before thinking it through, which is the main reason why she had to keep being rescused from the trouble she found herself in. The other thing that bothered me is how naive she still is for being an angel. I had excepted her to be a little bit more in the know on things. Don't get me wrong she is as innocent and pure as they come, and I love how good hearted she is, but as a protagonist I was hoping she would have been a little bit stronger.

Halo fans will enjoy knowing that Gabriel, Ivy and Xavier are very much apart of Hades. Their roles aren't as big as they were in Halo, but they're still here. Gabriel and Ivy will of course do anything to save Beth as well as Xavier. He's still the fabulous, hunky, fearless boyfriend who will do anything to save his girlfriend. To contend with him is Jake. I know I already talked about him, but I think some readers will find this bad boy/angel's cocky attitude and good looks irresistible. The romance is strong, the characters a bit more in depth, and there's a few great twists in the story.

While I'm still not as in love with this series as I would like to be, I thought it was a good sequel to Halo. There's a lot of things that happen in Hades that kept me turing the pages. It's a fast paced read and one I think fans of Halo will really enjoy.