ARC Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Title: Angelfire
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Series: Angelfire #1
Pages: 464 (Hardcover)
Source: ARC from NetGalley
Challenge: 2011 DYAC
(Goodreads)

Release Date: February 15th 2011
Published by: HarperTeen

Summary:

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.

Review:

So I had this indifferent look plastered on my face the moment I decided that I was going to read Angelfire. And then by the time I really started reading the book until I finished it, the indifferent look was still glued to my face.

I don't want to think that this book took all my emotions away, because that wasn't what really happened. Instead, it was just incapable of eliciting any emotion from me. I think it would've been better if something about the book got on my nerves, at least I would have had a reason to read the sequel with anticipation. Maybe so I can rant about it to my friends. Or anything to talk about the book. But in Angelfire's case, I don't have much to say about it except "it was okay." And obviously, there was nothing I absolutely loved about this book either. So, yeah. The thing about this book is... it was bland. Period. Will was not exciting. Ellie was not exciting. The plot was okay. The premise seemed exciting, but I don't know. It didn't click to me. Anyway, it was also far from horrible.

The biggest disappointment, however, was Will. I was so looking forward to mooning over him (apart from when I used to think that Will was some kind of a Gary Stu. Though that was long before I read the book). I like swooning over YA hotties. (Who doesn't?) They are one of the reasons why I enjoy YA so much. But with Will? No spark. Having read some excerpts before actually reading the ARC, I got the impression that Will was -as I've mentioned- a Gary Stu. He seemed to be ultra powerful and indestructible. (And I was rather turned-off) Which he and Ellie actually were. Ultra powerful, I mean. I guess them being ultra powerful was justified, though. Because like any other warrior going to a battle, they got bruised and punched and hurt senseless as well. They were destructible as opposed to what I perceived them to be. And for that, I am thankful. I just don't like Stu's and Sue's. I mean, who does?

I don't have much to say about the plot. Some parts dragged a little bit. The 'intense' parts didn't get to me. The romance was predictable. That's all. But on the brighter side, I actually like that Ellie is not like the typical female YA MC where the girl is from a not so rich family who has only had one friend in her entire life. Those unpopular, uncool and invisible girls who do not care about how they look. Unlike them, Ellie has a social life. Her family is undoubtedly rich. She goes out with her girl friends and boy friends every Friday nights to watch movies.She wears make-up before going on a mission. She hosts parties, owns an expensive car and wears a sexy nurse outfit for Halloween, but she is no slut. I think that's what separates her from other Supernatural YA female MC's. She is a perfectly normal rich teenager (with family problems) who just wants to be a normal teenager and not kill ugly monsters.

I'm not ecstatic to read the sequel, as all you readers might have guessed already. Though, should I acquire a copy, there is no doubt that I'd read it. I still want to know what will happen to Ellie and Will now that their love turned out to be the forbidden kind. :P

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Barnes & Noble

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About the Author:

Courtney Allison Moulton lives in Michigan, where she is a photographer and spends all her free time riding and showing horses. She has always loved reading about ancient mythologies, dead languages, and telling scary, romantic stories. ANGELFIRE is her debut novel. For more information about Courtney, visit her online at www.courtneyallisonmoulton.com.

ANGELFIRE and its two sequels, WINGS OF THE WICKED and HYMN TO THE FALLEN, will be published by HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books in 2011.

Stalk the Author: Goodreads /  Website / Blog / Twitter / Youtube

Read Kay-c's take on Angelfire here. :)

~Mithee

ARC Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton