Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire
Courtney Allison Moulton
Book on of Angelfire Trilogy
Harpercollins / February 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.



Most people say that it’s the cover that first catches their eye and pulls them in. Some say that if for no other reason, a great cover was the only reason they opened the book in the first place. For me, the sole reason why I chose to read ANGELFIRE was for its amazing blurb. I remember reading and thinking to myself “I HAVE to read this.” because the whole idea of a teen girl turned warrior playing an important role in a battle between Heaven and Hell, with angels and soul sucking reapers sounded too good to resist. The blurb spoke to me, telling me that it would be an exciting read but now that I’ve finished it, I realize that the story gave me so much more. Aside from the action filled twists and turns, it gave a truly sweet and romantic story of a young girl coming again into an extraordinary legacy and meeting the boy that has stood by her side for a multitude of lifetimes. It was beautiful. It was heartbreaking and I couldn’t help but enjoy the experience.

ANGELFIRE tells the story of Ellie who on her seventeenth birthday discovers that she’s more than the average teenage girl facing every day teenage problems. Little did she know that her world was about to shaken and set on a different path through meeting Will, the mysterious boy that kept turning up trying to talk with her. He claims she is special, that she is the warrior meant to rid the world of reapers – monsters who eat humans and take their souls to Hell. Not wanting to believe him, she tries to ignore him but along with the nightmares she has and an encounter with an actual reaper, Ellie has no choice but to accept the facts – she is the Preliator, the only mortal in the world that has the power to kill reapers. Destined to reincarnate each time she’s killed, Ellie has once again come into her powers and Will is her Guardian who has sworn to protect and defend her. With her memories slow to return, Ellie begins training, testing her strength and battle skills. Too soon, Ellie is forced to confront the enemy and learns that Bastian, a powerful reaper is searching for a dangerous weapon that he hopes when he turns it loose, will destroy Ellie’s soul, effectively stopping her from reincarnating. She needs to stop the threat but at the same time must deal with shock after shock as things begin to unravel, revealing truths she never saw coming.

ANGELFIRE is an amazing story that really captured my attention from the beginning and held my heart by the end. The author has a very relaxed style of writing which made it easy to follow and I really appreciated how my head didn’t hurt as she introduced the mythology that comes with angels. It was important information but she did it in a way that I didn’t feel like it was all just thrown at me with the hope that something stuck. I was able to understand it without having to stop throughout the book and reread parts because I’d become confused. There was a great flow to the story which made it easy for me to stay part of the storyline and again, I just really loved the whole concept of the story. It was a great take on the battle between Heaven and Hell and the power that one person has in holding back the tide of evil.

Ellie was such a great character. I can’t even begin to imagine how mind blowing it must have been to have this stranger approach you with the story that you are this powerful warrior that needs to go out and fight evil. I loved that although she doubted him at first, when she realized he was telling the truth, as much as it terrified her she didn’t stay in denial and faced it head on. I think that’s what impressed me the most about Ellie – she was having to fight without her full memories, with a lot of questions about who she was and incredible FEAR but she stepped up to the plate. She didn’t hide, she didn’t complain, she didn’t say “Umm.. too bad I don’t want to.” She was incredibly human despite the fact she had angelic powers and I can’t wait to see what happens next for her.

Will. Now here was a boy who broke my heart. He was Ellie’s guardian and has had to watch her die over and over through the centuries, each time having to search for her again to protect and help her come into her powers. He lives solely for her, because of her and it just seemed so tragic to me that it seemed he was defined solely for his purpose – Ellie. He lived and breathed for her and I loved being able to learn more about him as more of who he is was revealed. My heart truly did connect with him because he seemed so noble but at the same time had this sense of being oh so tortured. He had an incredible sense of duty but unfortunately his heart became involved and I really felt for him as it warred inside of him. There was a depth to Will I enjoyed and like Ellie, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him because I know there’s so much more to him. I love what I’ve seen so far and now I’m hungry for more.

This really was an amazing story and one I think readers – teens and adults – will love and connect with. It’s provides a great experience for those that enjoy storylines filled with good versus evil battles, brave heroines and protective heroes who fall for each other and are in danger from not just their enemies but the breaking of their hearts. There’s a great balance to the book, the intense moments being tempered by the sweet and I just can’t stop smiling about how much I liked it. Definitely a book to read and add to your bookshelves. Happy reading!!


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