There must be Angels playing with my heart - ANGELS review

 

Angels

 

Rachel Churcher (@Rachel_Churcher) 

 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

 
‘My blood runs cold, My memory has just been sold, My Angel in the centerfold’ sang the J. Giles Band in 1981 – I was reminded of that song when I read Angels.

 

Billed as “The LGBTQ+ YA story you've been waiting for: friendship, identity, attraction, disasters ... and finding your wings.”

 

Angels are a fascinating part of legend. Humans have recorded accounts of angels living among us for as long as we can remember – from those of biblical fame such as Gabriel in the New Testament and the Angel of Death in the Old, these are beings ‘shaped in the image of God’ – a little higher than us mortals and usually packing at least one pair of wings.

 

In Rachel Churcher’s new angel-em-up, they don't have powers, but they do have wings, wings which they tend to keep to themselves until one breaks ranks and becomes a famous model ‘Kane’ and from then on, all bets are off.

 
Meet 16-year-old Mel Abbott – your usual off-the-pegged young woman, she well remembers the day she saw Kane's taboo-shattering billboard. A beautiful model showing his wings on Oxford Street, on a photo as tall as a building.

She’s understandably in love with this Adonis, her bedroom filled with posters of his chiseled abs and eagle’s wings – so she’s overwhelmed when she gets the chance to meet him in the heavenly flesh. Alas, it’s not too much of a spoiler to say things don’t get well and a chain of events is set in motion that will have major consequences. Can she find a way to free herself from his shadow, and what will her future hold?

Angels is a pretty standard coming-of-age story, it’s a celebration of friendship and desire, heartbreak and identity. I try not to read many young adult novels as I generally like my fiction a bit darker and fiercer but for an interesting premise, I’ll give them a go. 

 

It's an easy read, Churcher writes in a nice, relaxed manner and explores themes of friendship, identity, attraction, and finding one's place in the world. 

 

If this all sounds like your bag, or a decent Christmas present for the YA reader in your life then grab a copy and connect with your inner 16-year-old girl!, and find your wings along the way.

Out of a potential 5, you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - Angelic coming-of-age heartbreaker)

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