Angel Burn
- L.A. Weatherly
E-Arc courtesy of netgalley and Candlewick Press
Already published in the UK as Angel
Willow knows she’s different from other girls. And not just because she loves tinkering around with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into peoples futures, know their dreams, their hopes and their regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where she gets this power from... But Alex does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows Willows secret and is on a mission to stop her. The dark forces within Willow make her dangerous and irresistible. In spite of himself, Alex finds he is falling in love with his sworn enemy.
Willow is psychic - she can touch your hand and know what paths are available for you. Alex has been trained since birth to find and kill Angels. Together they may be the only hope for the world that’s slowly being invaded by energy sucking Angels. And therein lies both the strengths and weakness of this book.
For the first 150 pages I was hooked intrigued by this strong girl - labelled weird by her classmates but who has to deal with a physically there but mentally absent mother and a mechanic to boot. Alex was just as intriguing – obsessed with destroying the creatures that killed his family but still intelligent enough to question his orders. Their separate stories were on a collision course and exciting, building the tension as well as explaining the realities of this world to us. However, once Williow and Alex meet and start their road journey I found the action slowed enormously as focus switches to character rather than action. It moved rapidly into the usual romance vein of hating each other to not being able to live without each. The final part of the story has the pace pick up again as the two are separated again by circumstance until a big finale. I loved each character separately, but together they lost a spark – at least for me.
However, I really enjoyed the set up – angels not being good but actually invading and making human’s sick seemed really unique. I found it quite creepy the way people responded to the angels’ draining of their essence and it added to the tension of what Alex and Willow had to fight against. The writing was well done – simple yet layered and great at getting the essence of character across. It was a fun read if a little slow in the middle.
Recommended for fans of Twilight and Buffy. 7 out of 10.
Fans of Twilight..eh not thanks, but then I did like Buffy
ReplyDeleteHm... I like the new aspect to the angels and the psychic angle, but not sure about not being able to connect to the couple. Will think about this one. Thanks for the great review.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the different play on Angels with this book. It was creepy. I liked the story, and I will be reading the next book because I'm so curious as to how exactly the Angels will be defeated or why Willow even exists, but I didn't like the change of narrative style. It was too much, especially at the end.
ReplyDeletewith all the angel books coming out, i was surprised that Weatherly took a unique approach to the whole heavenly angels. we usually consider angels to be good, to protect. but in this book...it's the total opposite. i'm glad that Alex realized to move past what Willow is in order to find happiness...so looking forward for part two :)
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