Title: Angelfire
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton (site)
Will Be Published: Feb 15th, 2011 by HarperCollins/ Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 464
Preorder: $12.14 Amazon $13.49 Book Depository
Series: Angelfire #1
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: 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. (Goodreads)
Initial Thoughts: I'm a bit wary when it comes to angel stories. They usually end up being pretty cheesy. However, angels battling reapers sounds pretty awesome. The gorgeous cover certainly helped to grab my attention as well.
Review: This book was wonderful. I loved the witty, tough main character. Ellie spends more time kicking a** than swooning over boys, which makes for an exciting, action-packed read. Her exploits don't fly under the radar, either. Her family and friends notice that something's going on, especially when she goes flying through a sliding glass door in front of everyone (favorite scene!). She has to struggle to keep her new nightlife from interfering with her normal life. Her background is only outlined in this first novel, there are still plenty of questions left in my mind about what exactly is going on. The romance with Will was almost more of a battle than a wooing. You get glimpses of the devotion he feels towards her, but he doesn't bend over backwards to please her at every turn. I love that it wasn't a love-at-first-sight kind of story. I can't wait to read more about their past. There were brief flashbacks in the story, but Ellie isn't retrieving her memories as quickly as she should be. What she does remember only makes her (and me) more desperate to remember the rest. It looks like there were some huge events that Will wasn't there for. This was a very fast, exciting read. I'm dying to read the next book!
Quick Review: Angelfire was a fast read with plenty of action, a sassy main character, and a unique take on the popular angel theme.
