Don't even get me started on Alexandra Adornetto's Halo series. I have read so many awful books in my short existence which try to figure in angels, or their fallen brethren, and while it works absolutely splendidly here and in Susan Ee's Angelfall, and Kaori Yuki's Angel Sanctuary, it was soul-crushingly awful in Lauren Kate's Fallen and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush series. I had to doff my cap to this book - it actually gets angel mythology. Also, this is the first book I've read where I nearly let out a wail of pain in my workplace while reading a particular part of the story. Each and every time this happened, I felt so horribly shaken up. Elizabeth Knox is also one of these rare authors who can seriously deliver literary punches to the gut. I really loved how whenever Xas (the angel in the story) is around, the writing takes on a hushed, religious tone. The book covers so many more themes, and it really made me think on a spiritual level from time to time. It is probably a lot better than the movie - which I haven't gotten around to seeing yet. Certainly not an accolade to be proud of, in any case. Now, some of you may be going: 'Vanessa, how on Earth could you call this novel 'criminally unknown'? A film starring Gaspard Ulliel, the handsome Frenchman from Hannibal Rising, and Keisha Castle-Hughes from Whale Rider (and its same director) was released in 2009!' Well, the film was critically panned by everybody who saw its first screening at a Toronto film festival, and the author herself said the film missed the point of her novel so badly it made her cry. I would read ten to twenty pages at a time and need some time to gather my feelings and think carefully upon what I had just read. Well, maybe not turning the pages as quickly as I could. But, The Vintner's Luck being as criminally unknown as it is, only readily available in its nation of origin (New Zealand), I feel I have to make a case for its beauty and sheer energy that kept me turning the pages. Okay, okay, that's a fairly bold statement to make. I have but one word to describe this book: gorgeous.

The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox