Review: The A-Word by Joy Preble

The A-Word

A Sweet Dead Life Novel

by Joy Preble

Publication Date: May 13, 2014

Published by Soho Teen

Pages: 272

Source: Publisher for Review

Add to Goodreads

Purchase Amazon / Indiebound

from Goodreads

Jenna Samuels is about to turn fifteen. It's been almost a year since her stoner brother, Casey, bit the dust. Almost a year since he returned as her guardian angel, along with his "angel boss," Amber Velasco, the hot twenty-something former EMT. Almost a year since Casey and Amber used up their one-time-only angel power of flight to save Jenna from the evil Dr. Renfroe, swooping down to catch her as she tumbled off the balcony at the Houston Galleria. In short, a lot of A-word shenanigans and a mostly happy ending.

Except now Casey's begun to wonder why he's still hanging around—not that he minds protecting Jenna. She's a handful, but there's got to be a bigger picture, right? Something to distract him from his on again/off again, doomed relationship with cheerleader Lanie Phelps, who has no idea her boyfriend is, well, dead. After all, he can't use his angel wings anymore. Neither can Amber.

Enter Bo Shivers, Amber's "angel boss"—a mysterious A-word guy Jenna and Casey didn't even know existed. Whiskey-guzzling. Handsome in a grizzled way. Unpredictable. Okay, make that crazy. Bo lost his angel wings in an earthly flight a long, long, long time back—and he's been a thorn in Angel Management's side ever since. But Bo knows something is coming. Something big. Something that was worth forfeiting wings for Jenna... something that might just change everything for everyone.

My Thoughts

I signed up to participate in The A-Word tour because I'm always enjoy discovering new authors. I had not read any of Joy's books before, and this one sounded like it would be really entertaining. It was after I had been accepted to participate in the tour that I realized it was the second book in a series. I was so worried that I needed to read the first book to understand the background and what was going on. Thankfully when I did start reading The A-Word, it gave me enough background to catch-up and know what was going on and it can be read as a stand-alone.

The A-Word was an all out hilarious read. Jenna is a character that has a wicked sense of humor and I looked forward to reading whatever would come out of mouth next. She tells her story journal-style which helps move the pacing along and "catches" the reader up on things they might have missed. I liked this style of storytelling.

Some of my favorite moments were between Jenna and her brother, Casey. Their sibling banter was entertaining because they would give each other a hard time,  but you could tell there was so much love between them. I enjoy reading stories about siblings, and this one was made even more special because of Casey's role as Jenna's Guardian Angel. It wasn't the obligation that he felt to protect her, but there was an immense amount of pressure from it too. 

I enjoyed the mysterious parts of The A-Word as well. Why were these angels keeping all of these secrets from each other and why don't they know the sources of their powers? What is the larger power at hand? And when Jenna gets in the mix of it all, how can they keep it from her? The thing is, they can't - she's a curious girl and wants to figure it out and that is what made The A-Word enjoyable and entertaining.

I'm happy to have discovered this book and this new-to-me author. Liking the book so much and Joy's style of storytelling and her characters, I must go back and read the first book in the series, The Sweet Dead Life.

Disclaimer:  I received this ARC from Soho Press in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.