Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Bethany and Xavier are even closer since battling Jake Thorn and his evil influence (in Halo) and Beth and her angel siblings must still protect 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.

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy: The Book Depository

     I’m a huge fan of Halo, so when I received this review request from Fiewel & Friends I felt two things: Honored and extremely ecstatic!  I replied immediately and couldn’t wait for Hades to come in the mail!  When I finally received Hades, I was extremely enthusiastic to find out what was in store for Bethany Church and Xavier Woods.

     When I started, it took me a while to get used to Alexandra Adornetto’s style of writing once again, but I adjusted.  Alexandra Adornetto differs highly from other writers.  She brings something to YA that many others do not; she writes poetically.  Her words are graceful, fluent, and descriptive, without becoming overwhelming.  It is always a pleasure to read her work.  Ms. Adornetto just writes so beautifully.

     The end of the first book in the trilogy, Halo, definitely left some clues as to the occurrences in Hades.  I had suspected that Bethany would end up in Hell eventually, due to Jake Thorne’s “obsession” with her, but Ms. Adornetto definitely made Hades unpredictable.  Unfortunately I can’t share those instances with you :( (I’m keeping this review spoiler free :] )  I was pleasantly surprised by some of the humor in the book.  I really enjoyed some of Xavier’s sharp comebacks directed toward Molly.  Even Ivy and Gabriel exhibited some humor that actually made me laugh!  

     One thing that bothered me about Hades was that both the cover and the summary gave away the first few pages of the book and by few, I mean about 20 pages.  That was really disappointing.  At first I wasn’t really motivated to dive right in because I knew what was going to occur but, Bethany’s friends’ plan for a seance on Halloween definitely jazzed up the storyline and made me want to keep reading.  With that being said, I have to say that Ms. Adornetto definitely made Hades much more action-packed than Halo.  Of course Bethany and Xavier were battling Jake Thorn before, but this was just a whole different ball game.  I really enjoyed Hades.

     I’m not going to do much of a character critique since most of the characters were also in Halo, but I will do my best!  I really enjoyed getting to see another side of Ivy, although Gabriel mostly remained a Static character.  I still find Xavier extremely dreamy, so nothing’s changed there :) .  I really enjoyed both Hanna and Tucker’s characters and the fact that they were human.  I also really liked Jake’s girlfriend.

     I really enjoyed both Halo and Hades and I can’t wait to see what happens in Heaven! Final Grade: