Angel Eyes, The Angel Eyes #1

Typical Brielle: "Ali was eighteen, Dad. My age. A little bit younger, really." My body-my skin, even-feels so heavy with the icy weight of it all. "I could have stopped the whole thing."

Brielle is coming back from the city, the city that offered so much for her talent. Everyone keeps telling her that it wasn't her fault, but she knows... She knows she could have saved her friend. Now back in Stratus, Oregon, Brielle can't seem to find peace anywhere. The the new boy in town starts hanging around with her. Jake isn't a normal guy. With healing hands and an intense heat radiating from his body, he intrigues Brielle. But will she accept the gift Jake reveals but only God can give? Is she ready to see the world for what it really is?

"Angel Eyes" is a beautiful and captivating story. The plot keeps one intensely invested, and Shannon Dittemore makes her prose come alive in every sentence. Brielle's struggles are real and easy to relate to.

The story idea itself - a girl who can see the Celestial, the angels and demons - could easily have become just another story to add to this world's ever-growing collection of horrors and thrillers. Yet the author keeps her story as Biblically grounded as can be. Although obviously some license is taken, little or nothing contradicts Scripture. Shannon Dittemore depicts the battle going on between angels and demons, making the concept outlined in Scripture come alive in the imagination.

One thing that could be improved, though, is mentioning Jesus Christ. The book contains at most one allusion to God's incredible gift of Jesus' death and resurrection. While Brielle learns to accept God's existence and sovereignty, her attitude toward Christ is not described. However, Angel Eyes did an amazing job of reminding of the truth that is easy to forget, that the real battle is the one we do not see.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

"Angel Eyes" is the first of the Angel Eyes trilogy. The second and third books are "Broken Wings" and "Dark Halo."

I love this story. I found it intriguing, spell bounding, and it was hard to put the book down. My first Christian book was by Frank Peretti and it was about normal, everyday people along with Angels and demons and what was happening behind the scenes in the celestial. I loved it and wished other Christian writers to write their books somewhat on the same line. Shannon Dittemore has been the only other Christian fiction writer to do this.

I hope Shannon Dittemore continues to write more books especially this type of writing.

I'm a sucker for beautiful prose. Maybe that's why I ended up enjoying this novel in spite of myself. Normally I dislike angel/demon spiritual warfare stories. Not only do I find their theological underpinnings questionable, but too often they come across as unintentionally comical. I'm also not a romance fan, especially of the teenage variety. This book includes all those elements, but won me over through its amazing writing and characterization.

Author Shannon Dittemore really fleshes out her characters, both human and supernatural. In less capable hands these situations would be overly melodramatic or cutesy. Instead the dramatic tension developed naturally through the unaffected actions of the characters. Brielle's character presents a real challenge, but Dittemore capably drew a full-bodied, intriguing personality rocked by tragedy without drowning or wallowing in it. Jake also manages not to come across as limp or whitewashed, but is a full bodied character who's both funny and filled with deep wells of emotional strength. Their courtship is beautifully drawn through truly gifted prose. No emo kids to be found in these pages.

The story also defied my expectations. The angel/demon conflict actually felt plausible and suspenseful, and the author wisely doesn't attempt to explain every single aspect of life through the lens of that conflict. Instead she acknowledges that we can't know everything spiritually and that we're not the ones who are solely responsible for fighting evil. The paramount message is one of faith in spite of fear, weakness, and mystery, stepping into courage through the power of God. Brielle's arc is one that begins in heartache but doesn't end with all her pains erased. Instead she learns to live through the pain, choosing to move beyond her guilt and bitterness.

The chapters encompassing the main climax were slightly confusing to me. There were several villains introduced just before this final act began, making it difficult for me to keep track of who was doing what. But the writing and groundwork laid prior to this moment was so compelling that this flaw didn't detract from the emotional intensity of the scene.

Even after her mother's untimely death, Brielle was having a pretty decent life. Living with her dad in the little town of Stratus, Oregon, they share a quiet existence together. When discovered by a talent agent at the age of sixteen, Brielle's life changes dramatically - for the better. As the only daughter of a logger, life as a ballerina in the big city is too tempting an offer to turn away. Two years later she returns home, much changed by her experiences. Death stalks her every breathing moment, and with it a jaded and jarring disappointment in the human race.

Brielle learns there is a world she cannot see, at least not until she sees with Celestial eyes. She can only see with her Terrestrial eyes, and the world that is opened up to her brings her beyond the point of her disbelief and the Maker who controls it all. What will it take to make her see the Truth? Will it take her death before she finally believes?

First, I'm going to say that book was an attention grabber. Secondly, while I feel that it was indeed written primarily for young people, the truths contained in this novel are for everyone. Thirdly, Dittemore's correlation between the Biblical Elisha and her presumably in-the-present setting was intriguing, enthralling, and breathtakingly mysterious all rolled into one. Last but not least, the ending definitely leave you hanging and wanting more, but that's just something you'll have to discover for yourself.

Even after her mother's untimely death, Brielle was having a pretty decent life. Living with her dad in the little town of Stratus, Oregon, they share a quiet existence together. When discovered by a talent agent at the age of sixteen, Brielle's life changes dramatically - for the better. As the only daughter of a logger, life as a ballerina in the big city is too tempting an offer to turn away. Two years later she returns home, much changed by her experiences. Death stalks her every breathing moment, and with it a jaded and jarring disappointment in the human race.

Brielle learns there is a world she cannot see, at least not until she sees with Celestial eyes. She can only see with her Terrestrial eyes, and the world that is opened up to her brings her beyond the point of her disbelief and the Maker who controls it all. What will it take to make her see the Truth? Will it take her death before she finally believes?

First, I'm going to say that book was an attention grabber. Secondly, while I feel that it was indeed written primarily for young people, the truths contained in this novel are for everyone. Thirdly, Dittemore's correlation between the Biblical Elisha and her presumably in-the-present setting was intriguing, enthralling, and breathtakingly mysterious all rolled into one. Last but not least, the ending definitely leave you hanging and wanting more, but that's just something you'll have to discover for yourself.