24 October, 2006

Angel of Ruin (Kim Wilkins)

I have mixed feelings about Kim Wilkins' books, but I usually pick them up if I see them in the library. She writes a good YA series about a teenage psychic, and while I've enjoyed one or two of her novels for adults, others didn't grab me at all.

Angel of Ruin (also published as Fallen Angel) is a little confusing. It seems to begin as a story-within-a-story type of thing, but the part I initially thought was the main story is merely a bookend to the tale that takes up the majority of the book. John Milton's daughters call upon a guardian angel, and an angel appears - but is he their guardian? Perhaps, Deborah Milton thinks, he doesn't mean them any good at all.

I enjoyed the character of the angel, and the idea that some otherworldly being was whispering in Milton's ear while he dictated Paradise Lost to his daughters, who act as his scribes. I think the story descends into not entirely convincing melodrama towards the end, to an extent, but I was still relatively enthralled with it - as much as I become enthralled with gothic fantasy/drama, anyway. It's an easy read, and if you're into gothic-style fiction, it's probably just your cup of tea.

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