Saturday, June 16, 2012

Book Review: Angel Burn (Angel #1) by L.A. Weatherly




Title: Angel Burn (Angel #1)
Author: L.A. Weatherly
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publishing Date: May 24th 2011
Length: 464 pages
Keywords: YA fantasy, romance, angel
Source: Netgalley

They're out for your soul.
And they don't have heaven in mind...


Willow knows she's different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people's dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. she has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil.

Summary by Goodreads





I had the copy of ANGEL BURN for several months until I got to it. With all the people raving about it, I simply couldn’t ignore it any longer. I definitely had great expectations, which were not entirely fulfilled.

It’s right that the story starts with a hot guy and hot car. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Still I didn’t feel any connection to the story or the characters in the beginning. ANGEL BURN is mainly told by Willow as a 1st person narrator. She is shown in her usual school and domestic environment in interaction with her family and school pals. The hot guy is Alex whose parts of the story are told from a 3rd person point of view. Alex travels around the US to search for suspicious angel activities and fight them.

These two characters, Willow and Alex are supposed to fight each other. It’s Alex’ job to extinguish every single angel in the country. Willow is half-human half-angel. I think you get the conflict.
I don’t know what it was about the story, but I somehow didn’t really get into it until the half of the book with a hesitant relationship between Alex and Willow developing.
When they are together they are both characters that are easy to like, easy-going and convenient to be around. Alex is a very attractive and strong, well-trained, well-skilled and clever boy who does have bunch of fans I’m sure of.

Great about ANGEL is that L.A. Weatherly created an entirely new concept of heavenly angelic being. The United States are plagued by an invasion of angels and there are even more about to come. Angels in ANGEL BURN are nowhere near friendly and good-willed, they feed off humans and steal their energy to live off it. There’s a big conspiracy hiding behind the angel cult the people are living. That’s definitely an aspect I found interesting about ANGEL BURN.
There are large parts of the story in which we also see what the enemies are up to.We get to read the story from Raziel's and his subjects' perspective which unfortunately felt dragging and bored me.





 1) of exciting chases
2) of the best hiding spot in the world
3) of finding your other self
4) of a new concept of angelic beings
5) of unexpected allies





3,5/5 ***/* ANGEL BURN- Willow and Alex, the new pair of supposed enemies falling in love and a totally wicked angel invasion. Anything better for angel fans?

Wild pursuits, great efforts put into hiding the key to fighting the angel pest that infected the country, making new allies and new enemies, overcoming the past and starting into a bright new future, falling in love with your supposed enemy. That all is ANGEL BURN! A very promising and enjoyable mixture of story elements, that is only realised after half of the story.
I did enjoy ANGEL BURN in the end, but large parts of the story were simply too uneventful for me. I love me a book with a high page count, in this case I would have preferred a cut version only written out of the perspectives of Willow and Alex. 




* Dont miss the sequel ANGEL FIRE!

* Read an excerpt of ANGEL BURN here

* Watch the US book trailer here

* You can have a look at the photostream and follow Alex and Willow on their trip through America. 

* Visit www.angelfever.com for further information about L.A. Weatherly and her books. 

4 comments:

  1. Hm... I've wanted to read it for quite some time, too. But a few months ago I read not-so-good reviews about it and I just couldn't decide. However, that new idea of the angels you describe sounds really good! :)

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  2. So sad you didn't like it more, because I adored this book! But I'm still happy you ended up still liking it :) I found this take on Angel Lore fascinating and frightening and I loved the two protagonists - plus I loved the action! this was such a full packed book, and there was a lot of happening!

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  3. Great review!!! Well written. I liked the book too.

    LG
    Lilly

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  4. Great review! I feel the same way, but there's something about the way the author does this mythology that still intrigues me. Probably my favorite angel book. I usually don't like them.

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