Making Waves

Angels Unlimited #7

by Annie Dalton

Mel is swashbuckling off to the seventeenth century Caribbean – watch out, there are pirates about! New-look cover for an angelic series rebirth! Lately Brice seems to be behaving, so when Michael asks Mel to join him on a mission to the 17th Century Caribbean, she happily zooms off to pack her bikini. But the lush paradise of the New World has a dark side – piracy, slave ships, cruel plantation owners. Then Brice bumps into an evil ancestor, and without warning he abandons his mates, running off to Port Royal, the wicked Jamaican city where pirates rule like kings. Can Mel save their maverick buddy or has Heaven's favourite bad boy blown it for good?

Genres: Fantasy, Angels, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal, Roman

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2003

About the author

Annie grew up as an only child in the English countryside during the 1950s. Her father was not always around but when he was, he would tell her fantastical stories, often with her as the principal character. Annie missed him and his stories, which led her to the fantasy section at her local library, thus sparking life-long love of fiction.

After undertaking jobs such as waitressing, cleaning and factory work, Annie went on to study at University of Warwick and soon started writing.

Annie lives in Norfolk. She has three children, Anna, Reuben, and Maria (the inspiration for the first “Angels Unlimited” book, “Winging It”) and two grandchildren, Sophie and Isabella.

Reviews

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one surprised me and was great :)

[Linda Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed and learned from this! Fully expected to have a quick, fluffy read, but found surprising depth and important themes in it too. Would've loved to have read this as a child or young teen!

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation where we see a lot of personal growth from all the characters, especially Mel. The plot line is also interesting, as well as the time period. Definitely one of my favorites from the series.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand that I'm not the target demographic when it comes to this book series, but I have been revisiting it for nostalgia. As an adult, this one way by far one of my favourites in the series. The first chapter does a brief overview of how the series started (which is fair considering it's the 7th volume), and does a decent job at setting up a sense of foreboding for what's to come.
Like the rest of the series, Daltons use of outdated slang (even for the time this was published, which would have been around the time I was Mel's age, and yet Mel uses words like 'groovy' as adjectives. All it does is remind me of Austin Powers).

There was a bit of a weird little conflict early on in the book, in which Mel wasn't sure which commitment to honour despite making one to Brice first and that commitment being an assignment that makes a consideration of both Mel's and Brice's strengths and weaknesses, so it was integral for her to be there. The other commitment was her agreeing to watch kids giggle on stage for a while (which I'm sure they could manage without her). That being said, this conflict does set up a reason why Mel wasn't sent on her mission with Lola and Brice when they were, though she is afflicted with the same thing they were so surely they could have been together when that happened? She experiences amnesia, which every writer usually uses as a 'fade to black' moment and she'd have woken up in her bed the way she does towards the start of Chapter 4 anyway. I'm sure there was a reason why Dalton set up splitting Mel from her friends, I have yet to understand what it was however.

"I stayed still. Sometimes I wanted to run out of the room in pure horror at the things she was telling me. But I didn't. I didn't try to comfort her or make her feel better. I didn't try to make it my story by nervously interrupting to explain that all white people weren't monsters. I just sat totally still and listened and it was truly the hardest thing I have ever done." (p.135)

This book does includes the topic of historical slavery, which is a pretty heavy topic for a kids book but I think it's a good thing to talk about. It was surprisingly descriptive about the way slaves lived and were treated on the sugar cane plantations in particular at parts. I think Dalton does a good job at conveying how awful it was without going too heavy for kids that may be reading this. I think it's good because we all know slavery is 'bad', but parts of this book added a graphic and personal (in that we witnessed it through Mel's eyes) dimension to it.

Overall, I think the protagonist (Mel) experienced a bit of character growth in this volume, while the others (mainly Lola and Brice) overcame hurdles that may shape their character in future instalments. I'm still not sure how Dalton managed to fit this story in 202 pages, but I did enjoy reading it much more than I expected to, though I can't recommend it because nostalgia may be playing a part in that.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book

Mel, Lola and Brice go on a mission to 17th Century Caribbean. Things get complicated when Lola and Brice forget who they are. Mel needs to find a way to bring her friends home. It was great to continue Mel Beeny's exciting story. It is well written and draws you in.

[Kiki_chieuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je me suis sentie triste quand j'ai compris que Leo ne serait pas de la partie pour cette mission mais j'avoue avoir (honteusement) oublié ma peine dès leur arrivée sur Terre. Je n'ai réalisé que j'étais passé outre que lorsque Leo a retrouvé ses amis à la fin.

Leur voyage temporel en Jamaïque m'a fait rêver de plage, de sable fin, etc. Bah j'en ai pas vu la couleur ! Leur aventure est si riche que je n'ai pas vu le tome passé. J'ai apprécié le sujet de l'esclavage présenté différemment par rapport au tome sur Néron, avec celui du colonialisme. Si la part historique est secondaire, c'est un vrai plus.

Si le modèle des tomes reste plus ou moins le même de l'un à l'autre, leur périple est chaque fois différent. Ils frôlent toujours le danger, à différents niveaux. Les récits sont toujours addictifs.

[Tumelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read (started the series as a kid and finally decided to finish it after forgetting about it for years) and I enjoyed that they talked about the Taino and didn't shy away from speaking on the horrors of slavery.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Kit731 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tento díl byl pro mě.. hodně divný...

[JWinter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved this when I was younger, definitely on the younger side of YA.

[beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. Not one of my favs, but not terrible, and not too confusing. Right about the middle! The ending was really good though.

THEY WON! Yay! I'm so happy for Brice. He's finally done it. He can be a proper angel. <3 Brice I hated that they were separated though. You just don't do that. Ever. But I liked when Mel was talking to Helix.

I might not read much tomorrow, as I'm marathoning PLL S2. I'm currently about halfway through episode 7... I love PLL! Even though I'm only on season 2. But I've read up to book 13, so that's gotta count for something, right?!

[Missa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this book is really good its about mel beeby going olden jamaica and her helping her friends get their memory back. she is an angel who died by being in a car crash and then she woke up and ending up starting THE HEAVENLY ANGEL school because she was chosen
i would recommend this book to people who like angels n faires n things.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty exciting actually, although slave!Lola was kind of painful. I loved the setting.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that we could see Cat's relative. The plot was definitely interesting and it's such a quick read.

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

angels unlimited is a perfect and untouchable series send tweet