Oleah Chronicles: Truth Review: Angel

Book: Truth
Author: Michelle Johnson
Series: Oleah Chronicles
Standing: Book 1
POV: 1st person by Angel, past tense
Genre: YA paranormal

Source: ebook, author (thank you, Michelle!)
Pages: 220
Release: May 25th, 2015

Favourite line: "What's done is done. But what is to come, neither you, nor I, can predict...I say we live in the moment."

Rating: 5 stars

Blurb: (Goodreads)
What would you do if everything you thought to be true in your life was a lie?

Sixteen-year-old Angel Seriki must face overwhelming truths about her family when she meets Zander Black, a new student to her high school who is smart, charming and devastatingly beautiful. The revelations he uncovers to her about her family's past changes everything, and as her relationship and feelings for Zander deepen, so do the risks involved. She must now accept her fate and face the true reality of who and what she is. Even if that means giving up everything, including being human.

                        ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

A fantastic debut novel! I read this all in two sittings!

Angel is your normal girl, trying to survive the world known as high school. But upon meeting Zander, everything starts to change for her. Her parents suddenly turn fearful, keeping things from her, and Angel becomes hard-pressed to find out what's going on. What she discovers is nothing like she imagined. A destiny literally out of this world, with powers unheard of, all combine into the frightening concept known as the truth.

I really liked Angel. She's an introvert, which is to say mostly quiet and shy, and dislikes attention. She avoids loud parties and big crowds, and has all the love she needs between her best friend Julie and her amazing parents. However, when push comes to shove, Angel isn't afraid to take charge and act. She firmly believes in her own heart and the goodness of others, and is simply pure both heart and soul. She's a very realistic character, which I absolutely loved, and it was so easy to imagine her as any normal girl living somewhere in my neighbourhood.

Julie, Angel's best friend, was awesome. She offset Angel's character perfectly. Loud, energetic, and extremely happy for Angel's sake, she was all over Angel when it came to Zander. Julie was absolutely loyal to Angel, and never missed an opportunity to be excited for Angel for anything. Yes, she tried to get Angel out of her comfort zone, but if things ever went south, she pulled back right away. She's the kind of girl you'd want as your best friend, the kind who loves you so much that she can't stay angry at you for very long. Julie and Angel share a close friendship, and I loved every moment of it, smiling the entire time.

Zander. Oh, Zander. Needless to say, he is awesome and sweet and super cute with Angel (I mean, he insists on calling her "Princess," which is adorable). Zander is a generally good guy, yet haunted with a past he can't wipe away. Originally sent to Earth by the sorceress Sindrell to track and kill Angel, things didn't go as planned as his time on Earth and time spent near Angel made him realize everything he believed was wrong. He instantly became Angel's guide to her true heritage, and offered her the answers no one else was giving her. What I loved was that Zander was the fact that Zander was facing his own set of problems. Apart from trying to defy Sindrell, he also harboured intense shame and guilt of having tried to kill Angel before on her home planet. Because of that, he knew with certainty that Angel's parents would kill him the moment they laid eyes on him, remembering him as the killer he once was. Zander struggles to work things out with Angel, to make her and eventually her parents believe that he isn't the same person he was before. 

I absolutely loved Angel's parents. They were awesome! In many YA books, the parents of main characters usually are not present, or even their real parents. This was not the case, and I was glad! Angel's parents were fantastic and fun, and very present. Yes, they were a little overprotective, but they cared so much about Angel and were very involved with her life, just like normal parents are. Everything they do is with Angel's best at heart. In return, Angel loves her parents very much, and it pains her a lot to see them hiding something from her. What I particularly liked with Angel and her parents' relationship was Angel's concern for her parents. She knew that her parents were hiding something from her, but it wasn't curiosity that drove her try to discover their secret; it was her general concern for them, her fear that something bad was happening to her parents, and if that was the case, she wanted to help them. You can't help someone if you don't know what the issue is, after all!

The concept of an Oleah was new to me, but I enjoyed it. It was new, and though at first was a little hard to imagine, it was refreshing to read about. The details weren't overwhelming, and it was easy to fall in love with the Oleahs, their cultures and their traditions. I'm really looking forward to learning more about them!

The ending. Oh god, the ending! Angel was beyond awesome, and her parents' reactions in an attempt to protect her were super cute. And ZANDER. My heart stopped when...well, if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about. The ending introduced a new set of elements and characters, taking the book to new heights, with promise to continue to develop characters and places new and old in the next book. But still...that ENDING! What on earth is Angel going to do??? Argh, I'm dying to know what happens!!!

All in all, this was a great read. The writing flowed easily, the characters realistic, the pacing perfect, and the setting in a place I'm familiar with. (Toronto! I live nearby! A novel with reference to Ontario, yay! :D) The narrative was witty, which kept me unable to put it down, and the world is thoughtfully both creative and original. The only complaint I have is that it was too short, as I was devastated when I realized I only had five pages left. I really hope the next one comes out soon!