Angelfire (Angelfire, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 19, 2010 Melissa-The Book Addict rated it it was amazing

Wow, just wow. I am sitting here staring at my screen after literaly just finishing this book and all I can come up with is Wow! Three little letters seems to me to be a lame review so I will see what I can do here but I am rather speachless. I think this might have been one of the best books I have ever read! I LOVE Ellie! I like that she isn't super girl, she really doesn't want to be super girl. She just wants to be normal and have a cute car, movie nights with her friends, and the ocassinal Wow, just wow. I am sitting here staring at my screen after literaly just finishing this book and all I can come up with is Wow! Three little letters seems to me to be a lame review so I will see what I can do here but I am rather speachless. I think this might have been one of the best books I have ever read! I LOVE Ellie! I like that she isn't super girl, she really doesn't want to be super girl. She just wants to be normal and have a cute car, movie nights with her friends, and the ocassinal party. I also appreciate that she isn't portrayed as perfect as the book goes on you can see that she is flawed and does make mistakes sh also seems very ready to own up to those meistakes as much as she can. Now while I am sitting here saying she isn't super girl the description above says other wise, these powers are something that she never wished for or asked for its just her. You watch her remember and cope with things as the story goes on, she never truly backs down from her purpose or duty but there were times where hiding under the bed might have been a nice option. Again I say I LOVE Ellie!! Now I also happen to love Will. There were times where I think Will broke my heart, he is so devoted to Ellie and his responsibiltys to her. Watching Ellie grow to accept and remember herself and powers and overcome old fears and work threw new revelations was a rollercoaster for me. Some scenes I was holding my breath wondering what was going to happen next. I'm not sure now that I've gotten going that I ever want to stop prasing this book (ok maybe I'll stop when I can praise the second one). The dynamic between Ellie and Will seemed so genuine to me that I really can't wait to see where there story ends up. I also really liked the bad guys in this book, not in the cheering them on kind of way, but in the they were some well done spooky guys. There is nothing like some good old fashion well written evil to keep me interested. The other thing I have a problem with in some books is how the action scenes are written some times they aren't easy to follow or the pacing is way off for the scene but I feel the author did a great job with them. There are a few things I would have liked to have seen addressed before the end of this book, but I'm sure as the series goes on they will be addressed. The one thing that sticks out to me like a soar thumb is I have a feeling on one of the characters that I just can't shake, I feel this person may not be what they appear and I really am curious as to how this is going to work into future books if I am correct in my theory. If I could give this book 6 starts for Wowing me so throughly I would but alas I am only given 5 to work with. So I am going to have to give this book 5 stars and hope and pray that the wait for book number 2 isn't too long. ...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Logan rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult

First impressions: This book engaged me from the first few pages. We meet Ellie in a normal high school classroom, then are soon introduced to a mysterious boy, followed by a death. Needless to say, I was eager to keep reading.

Lasting impressions: The fight scenes are really stellar in this book. Moulton has an ease with which she communicates what's happening without miring you in details or slowing the pace. These scenes were the high point of the book for me.

Negative impressions: I felt like First impressions: This book engaged me from the first few pages. We meet Ellie in a normal high school classroom, then are soon introduced to a mysterious boy, followed by a death. Needless to say, I was eager to keep reading.

Lasting impressions: The fight scenes are really stellar in this book. Moulton has an ease with which she communicates what's happening without miring you in details or slowing the pace. These scenes were the high point of the book for me.

Negative impressions: I felt like the subplot with Ellie's friend Landon was underdeveloped. He has a crush on Ellie, but it never really goes anywhere, and then he sort of ends up with someone else. There wasn't a lot of emotion tying me to Landon and I felt like he could have been erased from the story and it wouldn't have mattered.

Overall impressions: Although I'm not sure that I'm as crazy about the angel/demon genre as your average YA reader, I did enjoy this book a lot. I thought the mix of the contemporary high school setting with the mythology and mystery of the Grim setting was really exciting. I loved that Moulton chose an average high school girl and then built up this mysterious backstory that made her timeless as well. The flashbacks were nice glimpses into the Preliator's (as Ellie is known) past, and I didn't find them distracting at all.

One of the things that really keeps you turning pages is the need to know more about Ellie's past. Since much of the novel hinges on her gaining back her memories, you really feel her anxiety and impatience to remember so that you, as a reader, can find out the answers as well. Moulton does a nice job at the end of giving us a huge payoff for all of that pent-up frustration, and I am eager to see where the next book goes.

Ellie's relationship with Will is simply wonderful. Will is a great character - darn near perfect in my mind. He does have some of that brooding male mystery, not because he's written to be sexy and mysterious, but because he doesn't know any other way to act after 500 years with only one purpose to his life. Moulton smartly chooses to have Ellie frequently call him out on this, with tongue firmly wedged in cheek, so that we laugh at his stiff, quiet, and evasive manner right along with her. It's a nice reminder that sometimes we don't have to take our men, or our books, so darn seriously.

This is a solid debut for Moulton that perfectly blends the fantasy of reaper slaying and the heaven vs. hell fight with contemporary realism. Ellie is a normal girl struggling to come to terms with a past she can't remember, a world she can't quite make sense of, and the responsibilities of remaining a popular high school student. Her strained relationship with her father and the wealth of knowledge she gains at the end of the story provide more than enough plot for her tale to continue, and I look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy. ...more

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