3 Stars: A Good Read
Series: Angelfire #3
Hardback: 469 Pages
Publication: January 29, 2013 by Katherine Tegan Books
Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:
She must fight for Will.
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.She must fight for humanity.
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.And Ellie must save herself.
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.
This review is so, so very hard to write. I have been a huge fan of the Angelfire trilogy thus far, and I really wanted to fall madly in love with this book like with the prior two books. The battle scenes are just as epic as always, especially the final battle, and I love the characters as always. I’m also still a fan of the gory details of battle. A book where the fate of the world is at stake never has felt real to me unless there lives are lost and sacrifices are made. However, the beginning of this book threw me off, and it took me a while to get back into the story.
Ellie has always been a strong-willed, independent girl that will have her way or else (and it’s no threat when she’s deadly with two blades close at hand), so it wasn’t like I didn’t expect her to be as rash as always. However, she really loses it at the beginning of this book. Remember what happened at the end of book two? Now, Ellie’s love for Will and the desire to save him blinds the better judgment that she should have with all the fighting experience she’s accumulated and remembered from some past lives. She runs around far more recklessly than she’s had in the past in a way that threatens both her life and that of Will whose life depends on her living to find the cure, and that alienated me at the beginning of the book. As much as Ellie’s emotions overriding her common sense is justified, I don’t think I’m a good match-up with characters letting passion override their rationality.
Things do get better when Will comes back in the picture. Those who have been a fan of Will and Ellie’s steamy chemistry will swoon many times over as the two grow closer together. Their love scenes are a welcome break from the high-tension chase to find the tools necessary to defeat Sammael and Lilith. I adore seeing the two of them together; at the same time, I prefer more action and adventure in a story, and there was just a tad bit too much romance for my liking. Cadan is just as sweet as always; there is one scene where he loses control of himself, but Ellie knocks him back to his senses. I still love the guy to death and enjoyed learning more about his past. As much as I support Will + Ellie, it’s heartbreaking how he has to watch the girl he loves be with another guy.
Ellie and her comrades have come so far since book one. It’s been a joy watching them grow and seeing how far they’ve come. More friends are lost even as more comrades are gained, and Ellie must put all that she cares about on the line to save the world from the clutches of the Fallen and the demonic reapers that serve them. In the journey to the final battle, much has been sacrificed. Lives, hopes, and dreams. While this book wasn’t my favorite in the series, it is still a good, solid conclusion to the Angelfire trilogy.
An ARC was provided by Harper Collins for review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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