Hades

January 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-In this sequel to Halo (Feiwel & Friends, 2010), angel Bethany, posing as an 18-year-old teenager, is tricked into getting onto a motorcycle driven by Jake, a demon in the guise of a hunky guy, and taken to Hell. Jake's out for revenge after Bethany rejected him in favor of her true love, Xavier, the almost-too-good-to-be-true human boy from the first book. Jake installs her in a swanky hotel in Hell as he waits for her to surrender herself to him. She finds a way to "project" herself so she can see Xavier and her archangel siblings Gabriel and Ivy as they try to find a portal into Hell to rescue her. She, Gabriel, and Ivy were sent to Earth to try to prevent the coming Armageddon between the angels and demons and her kidnapping hastens the likelihood of this occurring. Fans of Twilight will enjoy the chaste romantic love triangle, but other readers might find it a bit slow going, with its simplistic plotting and one-dimensional characters. The demons describe Bethany as being tough and feisty but she spends most of the time moping around and her passivity becomes increasingly irritating-until she finally acts to try to stop Jake from killing Xavier. Will Gabriel, Ivy, and Xavier find a way into Hell? Are Bethany and Xavier destined to find happiness together? The open ending leaves readers hanging as the story continues in the next book in this projected trilogy.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

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