Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Book:  Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
Series or Stand-Alone: Series, Angelfire #1

Pages: 464
Genre: Young Adult / Urban Fantasy

Purchase A Copy: Amazon | Book Depository 
Publication Date: February 15^th, 2011

How I Got This Book: ARC Tours at Dark Faerie Tales

Description (From Goodreads): This debut, the first novel in a trilogy, is achingly romantic, terrifying, and filled with blistering action.

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Good god almighty my friends, that was a book. I am going to warn you right now, this review is going to be a great big love fest. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed Angelfire, but believe me, I am going to try.

Let’s begin with the characters, shall we? With Ellie, Moulton creates a perfect mix of sugar and spice. She has a ton of zingers, but she has a HUGE heart. She is very protective of those she loves and is willing to do almost anything to keep them out of harm’s way. She is also a very strong character. She refuses to see things in black-and-white; she questions things and isn’t afraid to voice her opinions. Oh and kiddies; simply put – Ellie can kick some butt. She thinks she is a normal seventeen year-old girl, but she couldn’t be farther from the truth. She is actually a reincarnated reaper-killer/complete-badass. She can be killed, but her soul never dies. She has come back to earth countless times and always retains her powers and memories on her seventeenth birthday. This time around however, things go a little haywire. First of all, it took Ellie almost four decades to return and this time her memories don’t exactly come flooding back.

But fear not my pretties, because Will has her back. Oh, Will, you are so perfect. Will is Ellie’s guardian and has been for centuries. While he seems to fear human attachment and emotions, he is absolutely devoted to Ellie; he would do absolutely anything to keep her safe. Now, before you haters start pointing fingers about stalkers – let me explain. Will is NOT a creeper. He is not a super, super, old dude preying on a 17 year old girl. Will & Ellie have centuries of history together and it is his JOB to protect her. He isn’t some possessive creeper – he is in awe of Ellie and completely respects her and let’s her do her thing. Plus… he is a stone-cold fox and he is a Journey (yes, that FABULOUS band – don’t scoff, you know you love it) fan and plays the guitar. Oh, and don’t even get me started on their chemistry. I mean, these too are absolutely on FIRE. But, honestly, I think my favorite part of their relationship is that it is actually balanced. They have so much respect for each other and they really depend on one another. But, I think that Moulton is going to put that forbidden love stuff on thick and not let them actually be together until the very end. Although that makes me want to go scream into my pillow, my psychic powers are pointing me in that direction.

Now onto the plot. Can I just say, WOW. Moulton somehow managed to produce nearly 500 pages of brilliant and exciting straight up fabulousness (yes, that is now a word). The storyline is absolutely insane, in a completely spectacular way.  I mean, there are Angels, Demons, Reapers and all kinds of craziness tossed in there. And I bought into it 100%. So there is now a crazed dog/reaper thingy the size of a truck chasing our heroine? Okay! I’m down with that. Her writing is so descriptive and complete that you have no choice but to believe it. 

Plus, man, this woman is funny. Ellie’s internal (and external) dialog is full of wit and charm. There are some great one-liners peppered throughout the book, some of which come from Ellie’s various exchanges with her evil victims. These humorous remarks are reminiscent of cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer  - they have that same over the top edge. 

Honestly, I could go and on and on about Angelfire, but I am going to stop myself before I give something away. Let’s just say that you absolutely need to read this book – if you don’t I may have to stick Ellie on your butt. Believe me, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of her flaming swords. I am absolutely in awe of this book, Courtney Allison Moulton is certainly one to watch!

Review: Early to Death, Early to Rise

Book: Early to Death, Early to Rise (Kim Harrison)
Stand-Alone or Series:  Series, Madison Avery  #2)
Pages: 228 
Genre: Young Adult
Preview at Harper Teen
Description: Seventeen, dead, and in charge of heaven's dark angels—all itching to kill someone.

Madison Avery's dreams of ever fitting in at her new school died when she did. Especially since she was able to maintain the illusion of a body, deal with a pesky guardian angel, and oh yeah, bring the reaper who killed her to his untimely end. Not exactly in-crowd material. It's amazing that her crush, Josh, doesn't think she's totally nuts.

Now Madison has learned that she's the dark timekeeper, in charge of angels who follow the murky guidelines of fate. Never one to abide by the rules, she decides it's time for a major change to the system. With the help of some unlikely allies, Madison forms a rogue group of reapers who definitely don't adhere to the rules of the heavens.

But as she grapples with the terrifying new skills that come with being a timekeeper, Madison realizes she may not be prepared for what lies ahead—unless she gets some seriously divine intervention.

 Sadly, this is the only Kim Harrison series I have read, so I have nothing to compare it to, but Harrison is spot on with the Madison Avery books. I love the concept behind these books - the argument between which is right choice or fate? The characters are also fabulous and entirely unforgettable. Madison - the protagonist is the Dark Time Keeper, who just happens to be dead. She is in control of the dark reapers and Barnabas, who has gone rouge. Her entourage is simply hilarious, I love when Nakita and Barnabas banter, the two of them supply plenty of comic relief.

  

Speaking of comic relief, Madison is a complete and utter hoot. She is desperately trying  change heavens rules while trying to fit in as a normal teenager. She makes so many mistakes, which makes her charming. I have always had a thing for unlikely heroes/heroines, and Madison is a far cry from what you expect a heroine to be. 

Honestly, I don't think there is a character in this book that I don't like - expect people like Ron, who I am suppose to despise. All of my favorites from the first book are back; Madison, Barnabas, Nakita, Josh and even Grace.

  

There are also some new introductions through in this book, some characters who I think we will be seeing again and some we won't. Paul, the rising light keeper makes quite a splash in this book and in Madison's life. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that I have taken quite a fancy to him. He is no Barnabas, who is simply my favorite, but I still like him.  

The plot was a lot smoother than in Once Dead, Twice Shy, which was nice. It was a short book and the plot grips you early on and doesn't let up until the last page. I appreciated that, like the first book, it did not end in a cliffhanger. There are plenty of places for the story to continue, but this book closed all of the craziness that it opened within its plot. 

Although I loved this book, I do have one gripe. Why isn't Josh in more of it? He is Madison's main love interest and he is only in the first chapter or so. I was so excited at the end of Once Dead, Twice Shy when the four of them were presented as sort of a package of rebel superheroes, and then he is basically missing from this book. I am now more confused then ever about which guy I am leaning towards for Madison. At the beginning, I was slightly pro-Josh, but then he was MIA and now I am leaning towards Barnabas. Is that even possible? A Dark Time Keeper and a rouge fallen angel? Why not, I say. They had some great scenes in this book and I love when he flies her around. However, I could also go with Paul, the rising Light Time Keeper. Wouldn't that be something? The Dark Time Keeper and the Light Time Keeper? I guess we will just have to wait and see where Harrison takes it.

I am eagerly and rather impatiently, anticipating the next book. I cannot wait to see what happens with Madison and everyone next. I enjoyed this book immensely; it was an exciting quick read with plenty screen time for my favorites, Nakita and Barnabas.