Children of Angels: Book One of the New Nephilim Series

Kathryn Dahlstrom
WinePress Publishing (2012)
ISBN 9781606152164
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age 14) for Reader Views (6/12)

“Children of Angels” by Kathryn Dahlstrom is the story of Jeremy Lapoint, a 7th grader who is suddenly thrust into a world of angels and demons.  After miraculously discovering that he could fly and that he had a guardian angel, Jeremy received an invitation from the Higher Humanity Institute (HHI) to join their program for superhumanly gifted kids.  But after some exploring, Jeremy learned that the HHI was not all as it seemed.  The HHI was infested with demons that wished to exploit the kids there.  Will Jeremy be able to save everyone, or will they be overcome?

The book threw me into the story with little background information.  I didn’t know anything about what the villain would do if he was able to defeat the heroes.  The only thing that classified him as a villain was that he was a demon (presumably with default evil intentions).  While the overall storyline was entertaining, the plot wasn’t very developed and things seemed to happen a bit too quickly to be believable.  For example, Jeremy managed to almost perfectly learn the art of sword craft in about 24-48 hours and almost single-handedly ward off a demon army.  I liked Jeremy as a character, but things like this made him a little harder to relate to.

The book’s message was about getting strength from believing in God. This message, though, sometimes seemed rather heavy-handed and repetitive, getting in the way of my full enjoyment of the book. When Jeremy’s faith in God became weak, his abilities also waned.

I would recommend “Children of Angels” by Kathryn Dahlstrom to people who enjoy reading Christian-motivated fantasy books.  There was a bit of action and a touch of science fiction.  It was a moderately entertaining read and I finished it shortly after I got it.

Make comment on weblog

FTC Disclosure