Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Pages: 464
Publisher: Harper Collins
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenges: Debut Author Challenge, 350 Page Challenge
Release Date: February 15, 2011

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.

Stars: 4.5/5

Cover: A-

Plot:

OMG. I just fell in love with yet another author and book series. From the first page, Courtney Allison Moulton had me cheering for Ellie. I really took my time (well, I TRIED) reading this book because I just didn't want it to end.

Angelfire provided a unique twist to the whole angel/demon trend that's been going around.

It was fast-paced and action-packed, with a little bit of romance mixed in, too. It's a book that I've been recommending to people all week.

Characters:

I loved Ellie, and how fierce (yet relatable) she was. She was someone I could see myself being best friends with.

Will was the perfect guardian/lover-boy to Ellie. They both had such great chemisty with each other. 

My all-time favorite thing about the characters, though, was the way they interacted with each other. They talked to each other the way my friends and I do, not like an adult trying to sound "hip."

Writing:

Once I started reading, it was like there was an invisible force connecting me to the book. I just couldn't get enough of Angelfire! Courtney Allison Moulton's writing was smooth, and everything flowed really nicely. She was able to successfully weave romance into the action without making it seem like she was telling two completely different stories.

Ending:

I love the ending! It ends on a positive note, showing Ellie's strong and powerful side to a reaper. It makes you wonder where Courtney's going to take the story in the sequel, and I really can't wait to find out.

Cover:

The cover is gorgeous. It's dark and mysterious, and Ellie is showing her "don't-mess-with-me" side, which I LOVE.

Lovely Line:

I shut up when I saw Lauren's face. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes had rolled into the back of her head until only bright white orbs were visible. At that moment I tried to yank away, but her grip was as strong as a reaper's. Power leaked from the sarcophagus, oozed from it, and the energy crawled up my fingers through my arm and into Lauren. Her body jerked once and she released me. She staggered back, and I jumped away.

The Final Verdict:

Angelfire was the type of book that makes you want to hug the author a million times over for writing such a wonderful, original, exciting, and lovable book. It will be a long wait until the sequel.

FTC: NetGalley