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Thu, February 9, 2012

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton Review

Wings of the Wicked
By Courtney Allison Moulton
Jan. 31, 2012
Katherine Tegen Books, 528 pages
Source: Publisher

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.

Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes, the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be Hell to pay.

— Amazon.com description

Maybe when I read the first book in this series (Angelfire) I wasn’t in the right mood? Because I don’t remember loving it. I liked it, but I don’t remember freaking out over it. Was I on paranormal overload?

Well, WHO CARES, doesn’t matter now, because when I read this sequel, it was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for and I was FREAKING OUT.

I think it’s that I go for forbidden romances. OH, THE TORTURE! Will loves Ellie and has forever. Like, literally, FOREVER. Well, 500 years. And she loves him but they cannot be together and aghhhh the tension my heart I cannot handle it all.

I completely enjoyed it. Okay, let’s be critical for a moment: I totally skipped ahead during some of the fight scenes. Yeah, bad reader. I just like to get to the kissing parts, what can I say? But, look, if you haven’t read a paranormal series in a while and you are in the mood for a torturous romance (as I was), this will hit the spot!

Mon, August 15, 2011

If I Die by Rachel Vincent (Soul Screamers #5) Review

If I Die
By Rachel Vincent
September 27, 2011
Harlequin, 352 pages
Source: Review copy from the publisher

Everyone else is talking about Eastlake High’s gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck, but Kaylee Cavanaugh has bigger things on her mind. Kaylee’s a banshee—her scream is a portent of death.

But the next scream might hit too close to home. Kaylee’s borrowed lifeline has almost run out.

Yeah—it’s a shock to her, too. So to distract herself from her own problems, Kaylee is determined to defend her school against the latest supernatural threat. That hot new teacher is really an incubus, who feeds from the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend’s delinquent ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren’t quite human either.

But Kaylee’s running out of time, and those who love her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

— GoodReads.com description

Is this the last book of the series? I hope not because IT IS SO GOOD.

Seriously, why aren’t more of you reading these books?

Okay, I know that if I’m all like, “Well, it’s about reapers and the Netherworld and demons and bean sidhes (banshees),” you’re just gonna give me THAT LOOK. You know the look.

But whatever! Trust! Have I steered you wrong before? I hope not.

Look, here’s why it’s good, and it’s not even the paranormal bits: I totally changed my loyalties over the course of the books. Usually, the first boy to even give the main character a LOOK in a book has my allegiance. Yeah, I’m easy. But in these books I was just…won over. Allegiance changed. Final answer.

That’s all I’m saying because I don’t want to spoil anyone by even discussing the basic plot. Fans of the series will be happy with this installment, and soon-to-be fans…get going on book 1! Make it happen, people.

PS: TOD. OMG.

Thu, February 3, 2011

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire
By Courtney Allison Moulton
February 15, 2011
Katherine Tegen Books, 464 pages

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.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.
— Amazon.com description

Okay, this is going to seem a little weird, but bear with me. The best way I can sum up this book is:

So, it had the otherworldliness of Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series. And definitely had some Buffy-esque butt-kicking girl power. Plus, the “spans generations and lifetimes” love story of The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller.

Overall, that’s a great combo, right? Well, sort of. To be honest with you, I skimmed over a lot of the battle scenes and couldn’t quite keep up with all the paranormal mumbo jumbo. Because of that, it took me awhile to get into.

But, have no fear, by the end I was soooo into it—and that’s because of the romance. (ALWAYS with me. I know. It’s an issue.) Talk about unresolved sexual tension…500 years’ worth! Oy.

So, some pros and some cons. In the end, the book left me craving more. It didn’t necessarily move me, but it did intrigue me. Count me in for Wings of the Wicked, the sequel out in 2012.

If you like this book, you might also like: Buffy! I mean, c’mon. Who doesn’t love Buffy?

PS: Many thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for sending me a review copy to read on my Kindle, may she rest in peace.

Wed, September 8, 2010

Firespell by Chloe Neill

And the second…

Firespell
By Chloe Neill
2010, Signet, 256 pages

Lily’s parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’s hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie’s creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.

They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users. It’s too bad Lily doesn’t have powers of her own to help. At least, none that she’s discovered yet…

— Amazon.com description

“Most people are oblivious to the currents around them, to the hum and flow of the city,” Scout tells Lily. “We’re part of that hum and flow. The magic is part of that hum and flow. Sometimes people say they love living in Chicago— the energy, the earthiness, the sense of being part of something bigger than you are.”

Oh, hi, Chloe Neill! Did you know I would be reading this and write that part just for me? HELLO! I wish there was magic in Chicago, my home sweet home. Totally digging that this paranormal series is set in an area I looooooove. I’m not sure if I would have responded to this book differently if it weren’t based in my hometown, so let’s all just accept I’m biased and move on.

Lily’s been shipped off to this creepy old boarding school with a bunch of richy-rich mean girls. Thank goodness she meets Scout, whom I totally picture as Eva Amurri. Their friendship is teasing and funny and very true to life. Too bad Scout’s messed up in all sorts of bad shizz…

Which brings on the paranormal. So it’s not very original. And it’s a little slow to get to the action. But things pick up at the end, when I found myself really invested in the outcome. It’s a nice start to an original series that I’d read more of. Which I will! In the sequel, Fright Night Bites. (I don’t know whether to laugh or cringe at that title?)

On the plus side: Cute werewolf boy. And I usually HATE werewolf boys. So kudos to Neill for that one.

On the down side: Yeah, I said I love the Chicago stuff, but some of the references I was like “Oh, seriously? Rainbow Cone? You’re bringing that up?” But I’m probably just a snob. Also, she writes this about a fancy wallet: “It’s not real; just a good fake I picked up in Wicker Park.” Wait, where can you get good fakes in Wicker Park?!?!

Moral of the story: Lily said it herself: When the opportunity rises, do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing.

If you are interested, just for a quick paranormal read, check out the sequel, Early to Death, Early to Rise.

Wed, September 8, 2010

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

I just read two boy point-of-view books in a row, so why not two reaper books in a row? Let’s break the first one down…

Once Dead, Twice Shy
By Kim Harrison
2009, HarperCollins, 240 pages

Madison’s prom was killer—literally. For some reason she’s been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.
Now she’s stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn’t know why the dark reaper is after her, but she’s not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

— Amazon.com description

So Madison’s dead, but not really? I guess she died, but then awoke in a morgue and stole an “amulet” (power source?) from something called a “dark reaper” that is now giving her the illusion of a body when she wears it around her neck. With the help of a “light reaper,” a guardian angel and her 100 percent human crush, she’s got to…do something…I think…to like, save people?

Yeah, well, on the downside: Listen, I know this doesn’t make much sense, and it’s not just because I’m explaining it poorly. That’s really how I felt most of this book. I’m all for characters “changing roles midseason,” as a friend of mine puts it. But when a good guy turns bad so quickly and without any explorations of his motivations, all you’re really left with is a major case of whiplash. I found myself skipping through large portions of the text, and a lot of the resolutions just seemed all too convenient.

But listen, on the plus side: It was still a fun read. I really read it in one evening. And the main character’s a strong girl with plenty of spunk. I can’t knock that!

Also…there was a guardian angel who was like a saucy version of Tinkerbell.
Everyone loves a Tinkerbell.

Moral of the story: Don’t fear the reaper?

If you are interested, just for a quick paranormal read, check out the sequel, Early to Death, Early to Rise.