Type: Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal, Light Romance, Angels!, Reapers, kick-butt heroines, amnesia (sorta..), Series
About the book: First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.
Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.
Now she must hunt.
My Review: There were parts of this book that I really, really loved. And I don't know if the rest of the book was just so-so for me, or if what I liked out-shined the rest of it so much that it fell way behind. Ellie was alright for a main character, but I didn't really enjoy her around her friends so much. I liked her better when it was just her and Will, training or just talking. And I loved their relationship. Each time Ellie is reincarnated, even when she gets her memories back, she's a little different, and this time more so. I loved watching Will and Ellie reconnect. They know each other so well in some ways, Will knowing Ellie more since he has all his memories, but at the same time, they are both someone new to the other. And I really felt that, so in that regard, the author did a truly wonderful job.
I also very much enjoyed the Reapers. The idea of the reapers, the mythology between those that fight for heaven and hell.. all of that, was absolutely fantastic. Well thought out and incredibly interesting, I, just like Ellie, kept wanted to ask more and more questions. To learn more about the world Ellie was born into/thrown into. And I can't wait for the second book so I can hopefully get more answers and more experience. By now, my readers will know how I feel about any sort of mythology in my books (for those that don't - I LOVE IT!), and it was refreshing to see Sumerian mythology and history cropping up. I'm not saying Greek mythology is overdone, I'm still a huge fan after all, but seeing Sumerian is new and fresh, something different.
As for the rest of the story, I really didn't care to learn more about Ellie's birthday present (a car), her friends, or any of her actual teenager-y duties. And these are all things that are important to Ellie, so of course they play a large role in the story. I'm not sure if I thought they weren't as well done or as well developed, I just know they sort of gray-ed out in my memory, especially when compared to how truly intriguing the Reapers and Will were. I know Bastian was supposed to be the villain of the story, but I just wanted to learn more about him than anything. The person I truly hated was Ellie's father. I hope we learn he's actually a demon or something in the future books. I really want him to have a reason to be such a complete jerk.
Cover Lovin': I really like this cover. I think it fits the story perfectly, and I was pleased to see the cover model actually resemble what I thought the heroine would look like. And it's great to get a visual of the sword she uses.
Recommendation: Good for teens and adults alike. There is light romance in this book, so probably geared towards those that would enjoy it, but as I said, it is LIGHT... parents need not fear - they do nothing more than kiss. Darn (in my opinion).
Final Rating: FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). I did enjoy this book. It's a quick read, and I didn't want to put it down for long. I loved the relationship between Ellie and Will, and that sense of them knowing each other, but it still being so new and different.
Book two in the Angelfire series, "Wings of the Wicked" will be released this month, January 31st, 2012! Have you read "Angelfire" and/or are looking forward to "Wings of the Wicked"? Share your thoughts in the comments! Want to pick up a copy! Click the titles above to go to Amazon.com! Click HERE for the author's website.
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda ~!~
