Member Reviews
A young girl falls in love with a dark mysterious man...who is a demon?
This book is a fantastic story. It reminded me of the TV show "Lucifer", but aimed more towards younger audiences. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. However, I am hesitant to add it to the collection at the middle school library. The student demographic leans towards the conservative side of politics. Because of this I am cautious to bring the book into the library to avoid a spark in disapproval from the community.
However, the story was very sweet and romantic. Personally, I will be adding it to my private library. After re-reading the book after it's release, I will then binge watch "Lucifer" again.
The quick cut: A girl who wants to escape her sleepy isolated Vermont town when she finds out her boyfriend is something a little evil.
A real review:
Thank you to HarperTeen for providing the arc for an honest review.
Many high school seniors dream of spending their college years far away from home. However, what if you were destined for something closer to home? Would you still leave or stick with the path in front of you? These are the questions for Mica.
Mica has spent her life dreaming of leaving her isolated hometown in Vermont and starting a new life anywhere else. Being raised by a strongly Catholic grandmother, she longs to create her own path while everyone one tries to convince her to stay. When she quickly falls for a new boy in town with lots of charm, she feels understood in her desire to leave. Is he the perfect guy or her? Or just getting her to fall for a trap?
Yes, this book has a strong religion basis for it's story. However, if that's something you typically avoid, that shouldn't deter you with this one! The author did a really great job of using Revelation as a foundation for the story without making it feel like you're getting preached to. It's a very similar vibe to the TV show Supernatural, to give that feeling a bit of definition.
Mica is very much a main character who feels like any average teenager on the brink of adulthood. She wants to feel like her life is her own and right now everything about her life is defined by her grandmother. Seeing her learn the truth and embrace what that means is a fun journey, no matter how ridiculous the process is. It helps to have friends who will always stand by you too.
I loved the fast paced nature of the story and see the possibility for a sequel - I would absolutely buy it! However, there is a romance in this story that I wish got more fleshed out. I won't say any more than that, but it felt rushed in the end and would've been much better if the chemistry was better built out.
A fast paced story that will leave you wanting more.
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Wasn't at all how I expected. I didn't hate it I just didn't care for the other dude at all and it felt forced lol. Really liked the unique themes of this though, I've never read a supe book like this before so that was fun and different. I also really liked it was Latina heroine
I had a blast reading this book. This author was pretty creative with her story.
Think of Buffy meets Supernatural facing off evils. The main character is a bookworm who happens to live horror books. She lives with her grandmother but doesn’t know the whole story about the death of her mother because her grandmother refuses to speak of it. The main character unwittingly gets caught between two boys, one mysterious stranger who just moved into town and another who’s been one of her best friends for years. With a mysterious boy, she is beginning to discover her super powers. Not understanding what she’s going through especially with her nightmares which is warning her of dangers her loved ones will be in, she turns to her circle of close friends. They each other find out they all have some kind of super powers and nightmares. They all find out their parents have been having secret meetings which they have stumbled on accidentally. They all go on a journey fighting the evils.
I did not get bored once and I especially love how the author added scriptures from Revelations in each chapter. It had me wondering after I read a scripture what would happen in the chapter. It’s such a delight to read a refreshing fantasy/demon angel novel!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 3.5/5 stars?
Let me preface this with 1) I don't really know what I just read and 2) this would make an AMAZING short tv series or a movie.
I thought I was getting a cute romcom...nope. Teenagers are descended from angels and come into their powers to prevent the spawn of Satan from stealing a priceless relic and turning Earth into Hell. Like...WHAT? The romance part at the beginning is cute but also like SO many red flags with Sam...and then Mica finding weird strength and her and her friends having fire and brimstone visions while you're just going WHAT AM I READING.
I really like Mica and how action packed this was. I also like how it combined Catholicism with the whole "fighting demons and hell" and the influence of Puerto Rican culture (Mica is Puerto Rican) and how Abeula plays into the story.
Like...I kind of want more in this series because I'm curious about the lore and what not...but I think it's a standalone. It's left pretty open with potential for other stories with angelic teenagers...but like...I both loved this and questioned what I was reading??
SPOILERS
Full disclosure, I usually avoid religious material like the plague because of my own relationship with Christianity in the past, but holy hell, this was a fun romp and I didn't find it triggering at all! Yes, this is the usual good versus evil as in angels vs. demons, god vs. satan kind of situation, but what made this a safe space for me all the same was the fact that the characters in the book are not bible-thumpers; they take the lord's name in vain and the whole thing was actually pretty irreverent and cheesy in the best kind of way and I loved every page of it! Also, because the focus is on Catholicism and not Southern Baptism where I come from, that helped me put some distance between my background and where the story actually takes place.
I loved all the characters and relationships in this book, so much! Main character Mica's parents are gone but she is very close to her grandmother, with a bit of teenage angst and rebellion thrown in there for good measure, and I loved the way they could fight but still respect and love each other. I loved Mica's friend group (Zee was my favorite, because she was very "out there" but still loyal and sweet) and their interactions, and how they were all their own unique people with their own interests and hobbies. Mica and Rage are into tae kwon do; Zee is into crystals; and Barry is a farmboy who loves his pigs and cows. But even though they're all so different, they would fight to the death to protect one another. They were just such a great cast!
Love interest, satan-spawn Sam was awesome. I fell for him, too (I mean, the guy introduced Mica to her favorite author! Who wouldn't fall for him after that?) and I have to admit I was hoping the whole time that he and Mica would work out. I guess I had a hard time seeing Mica with Rage. Their blossoming romance didn't make much sense to me. It almost felt like Mica would fall for whomever showed her a little attention when she changed her affections from one boy to the other. Or maybe I didn't like their romance because Rage came across as creepy-possessive the instant Mica got a boyfriend. Rage was probably my least favorite character. I liked him more towards the end of the book. Once he felt secure in his relationship with Mica, he was less alpha-male and more best-friend material. Maybe he felt something was off about Sam, but it came across more as he thought he owned Mica and she wasn't allowed to date anyone else, which was gross.
This book went places I really did not anticipate! Animal sacrifice, hail satan, full throttle! I loved how everyone just started sprouting wings and trying to kill each other. I had a great time with the streets of lava and especially the mannequin coming to life at the diner. It just went absolutely batshit crazy towards the end of the book and I loved every minute of it. There were moments in this book that made me laugh out loud, and there were some that were genuinely scary. It was just so good!
Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book in advance. I loved it and would love to read more by this author, and more from this series (if it becomes one).
I think it was fun, entertaining and at times slightly cheesy read that I just definitely see myself going back again!!
Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.
Im probably not the target audience for this; I just couldn't engage with the characters enough so the book felt a little slow for me. But the premise is fun, so I know there's going to be people who will really get into this story.
2/5 stars. The best thing about this book was the cover. The cover is stunning. The idea of a demon-human romance caught up in drama was fun and exciting. The problem is that the book didn't follow through on it. For a good premise, the story was slow and hard to engage with. The two main characters don't seem to have any chemistry so I couldn't invest in them. The story felt young and undeveloped.
I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
This takes teen angst to the next level with the end of the world looming. You have love at first sight, and the desire to be independent of parents. But this is set amongst a long-standing fight between good and evil, holy and unholy bloodlines, one family against another. Thank goodness for friends! I loved the symbolism and the names with meaning. I even liked the incorporation of Spanish spoken by Abuela - it gave more weight to the relics and their history. This was a very entertaining story that is not just for young adults.
This was a book I wasn't completely sold on. The premise was interesting, but the pacing was off (it didn't pick up until the last third and a lot of it was bloated and meandering). The secondary characters didn't get a lot of development, and the supernatural twist (even more than Sam being related to Satan) didn't feel earned or organic.
One interesting angle was the exploration of the power of faith, but faith in this case meant a badass sword and superpowers, so more X-Men than Exorcist. Would recommend as a quick filler read, nothing more.
Breakup From Hell was an interesting book to read, and when I was super excited to see where the concept was going. Also the cover is just absolutely gorgeous! In this book we have our main character Miguela Angeles, shes tired of her abuela keeping secrets and controlling her and shes tired of her small city life and all of this changes for her once she meets Sam the new guy in town. And boy, is Sam absolutely thrown into your face which sucked for me because she has such interesting friends and learning more about them later on wasn't ideal in my eyes. Although throughout the story you learn more about her friends and everyone develops slightly together I just wish in the beggining we had more friend bonding less Sam. Regarding the love, I felt no connection to their romance at all, which truly disappointed me. I wanted to enjoy it but it just felt so rushed and like thrown into my face and cringey I hated it.What really saved this book for me was the powers, and the magic. I loved the inclusion of descriptions of Hell and all the magical abilities. I was in LOVE with Miguelas story of learning more about her history and who her mother was and uncovering all the secrets. Although I'm not the most religious either this book does have religious aspects and reading quotes from the bible before each chapter was interesting for me. Also the ending was confusing, maybe a potential sequel? I guess we'll see!
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperTeen for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is an advanced reader’s copy courtesy of NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This was a well written book, I can see a lot of people enjoying it. It was easy to read and understand while having a compelling storyline. I was a little surprised by how religious it was, but I suppose I should have been prepared for that. Despite all of that I did still enjoy it. I also can see parallels between Sam & Mica’s relationship and how an abusive relationship might look through the lens of a teenage perspective. I did have some issues with the slut-shaming aspect of Mica’s taunts to Rona. It seemed unnecessary to me. Despite that, overall, it was a fast read and enjoyable.
4 stars
I appreciated what this was trying to do, but the pacing was all over the place. The beginning was fine, the second half was the most interesting but jam-packed, but the middle felt a bit too meandering. It also didn't feel like there was enough time for development- a lot of important plot beats happened very quickly.
I personally didn't enjoy it all that much for that reason, but again, solid concept.
this was fast paced and fun, but nothing more than that.
i liked it I guess but itwasn't especially extroarindry or anything like that. I wish the characters were more complex and well develoepd.
I would still recommend it thouigh
Breakup From Hell takes teen romance to another level. Mica and Sam lock eyes the first time they see each other and fall deeply for each other. Sam seems a little too perfect and tries to get between Mica, her overprotective abuela and her friends.
Mica and her friends start having superhero powers and horrifying visions. Rona, Sam's sister, tries to break up the blooming relationships but being the biggest jerk in town, manipulating the townsfolk to alienate the teens.
When Mica breaks up with Sam, all Hell breaks loose, and Sam has to call on her Catholic Puerto Rican heritage to beat Sam and Rona.
Very engaging. Will recommend for acquisition for high school library.
Breakup from Hell follows Miguela "Mica" Angeles who is desperate to leave snowy small town Vermont for sunny California. She's tired of her grandmother trying to keep her as the sheltered good Catholic school girl and can't wait to break free.
When a mysterious boy name Sam moves to town he immediately shows and interest in Mica and strange things start happening. Soon Mica discovers her new boyfriend is literally one of Satan's sons and determined to destroy the town.
This book was funny/poked fun at classic teen fantasy tropes. I also liked the way it wove Christianity and the book of Revelation into the magic system. People may have mixed feelings about the portrayal of religion in this story but I thought it was very relatable from the teen perspective. It doesn't condemn or critique Catholicism. It gives you an as realistic as it can in this type of story, view of a regular Catholic school girl's life. And Mica being Puerto Rican, religion is very tied into the culture.
The pacing is a little uneven at times since it's quite fast in the beginning and slows down once the world is set up and reveals are made.
The writing is also very approachable for teen readers. There's a message in this story but it's not a heavy handed message.
Breakup from Hell by Ann Davila Cardinal is a supernatural YA romance/suspense story!
I loved Ann Davila Cardinal's writing. Her writing is well executed which had me turning the pages to my Kindle very quickly.
Everything flows smoothly and her characters are funny, strong and super enjoyable.
I thought the storyline was exciting, interesting and so much fun!
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
It was a unique, fun and quick read!
"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
There’s a lot going on in this book that should warrant much more time on the page.
Strange things keep happening to Mica and her friends - their parents are having secret meetings, sudden increases in physical ability, and dark visions - yet all of the characters seem relatively calm when they discover the explanation behind these events.
There are some underlying currents of romance and the friendship dynamics seem really interesting but the reader doesn’t get enough with the friends before Sam and his sister enter their lives.
This book sets itself up for a sequel, which I will consider reading.