Unnatural (Archangel Academy 1) by Michael Griffo

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Unlike most of the books I received to review, I actually asked a copy of this one; why? Well since I wanted to understand a little all this talking about Twilight and Co and I didn’t want to read THAT series. Young adult and het romance together were a little too much for me, so when I heard about a gay vampire teenager series, I thought, good, this I can read. I was not at all discouraged by the not-so-positive reviews I read around mostly because my idea was that who was writing them was not a teenager and you have not to forget this is a book that not only it’s classified by the same publisher as “young adult”, it was even released in a special line, K-Teen, that is targeting a young adult reader. So when I read comment like, everything seems too “youngish”, my reaction is “geez, have you or not read the book details? This is a Young Adult book! You should give positive point to the author to have been able to meet the target!”. Also since Michael Griffo is the pen-name of an author of a previous Gay Romance targeting a more adult reader, and having read that romance, I can tell you that he can be very, very adult-like if he wants.

Going back in track and talking about the story, even if the book is almost 500 pages long, it took me only 2 nights reading it since it flowed like water. The vampire theme is good, and with a twist that makes it original among so many trite similar novels, but all in all it was not even so predominant: I had the feeling the plot centered more around the romance between Michael and Ronan than not on the paranormal nature of Ronan. The novel had very much the feeling of a high-school romance and the issues that Michael and Ronan initially faced were more that of two young boys being in love and not being sure of each other feelings. Even the “evil” plot that is endangering their relationship seems more the plotting of jealous high-school mates than that of real dangerous villains.

True, to some readers all above could sound like the novel doesn’t have “deepness”, but again, I would like to highlight the real target of this book, i.e. teenagers; the average teenager wants enough complexity to be engaged but not too much to be “bothered”, the pace has to be fast and light. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the quality has to be low since the target is Young Adult, I’m saying that the “tricks” to attract a Young Adult are different. Me from my side enjoyed quite a lot that the fire between Michael and Ronan ignited easily and without much obstacles, I don’t particular enjoy when the drama of first love is diluted for long. And another point I enjoyed was that that same love was also “sexy” and physical; even if they are both teenagers, these are young men and as such they have strong sexual impulses; again don’t get me wrong, this is far from being an erotic romance, but at the same time, the two boys will be able to enjoy themselves and their young age.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=18732

Amazon: Unnatural (Archangel Academy)
Amazon Kindle: Unnatural (Archangel Academy)
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758253389
ISBN-13: 978-0758253385

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading%20list&view=elisa.rolle