Angelfire

January 17, 2011
Although the angel subgenre isn't languishing, reworking traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs to suit one's plot still takes chutzpah, and first-time author Moulton has no qualms about amping up her fight scenes with the risk of damnation. Not for her 17-year-old kick-butt heroine, Ellie Monroe, who is eternally reincarnated, but for those she fails to protect, who are dragged to Hell. Ellie doesn't know she's the powerful "Preliator" at first, and is more concerned with her lousy grades, her parents' fighting, and the car she's getting for her birthday. When Will, a handsome stranger, approaches her, she thinks it's flirtation until a monster attacks. Will awakens Ellie's latent power, most importantly her ability to wield angelfire to destroy demonic "reapers." Moulton attempts to work in and revise so much angelic lore that the nature of the reality Ellie has awakened to is a bit garbled. The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon clarity of the fight scenes, however, is unimpeachable. Ellie can be maddeningly slow on the uptake, but this is one heroine who's happy to take matters (and angelic swords) into her own hands. Ages 14–up.

August 1, 2011

Gr 10 Up-How can a normal 17-year-old suddenly deal with an awakened power, learn to wield magical blades properly, save the world, and fall in love with her 500-year-old Guardian? These questions are answered as angels, horrible beasts, and superpowers meet in the Detroit suburbs where Ellie attends high school. Her nightmares start to make sense when she is introduced to the dark world in which reapers are intent on destroying her as well as the rest of humanity. Handsome and mysterious Will helps awaken her powers and guides her as she discovers who she really is. Fans of the supernatural genre will recognize echoes of recycled plot devices such as the returned savior who needs training, dark and swirly tattoo markings, and an ancient book that gives details on fighting demons (to name a few). Though the writing is rushed and loose, offering plenty of cliches, the story does have a fair dose of action, clothes, shopping, drama, and romance. First in a planned trilogy, with a media blitz and flashy author website to bolster sales, this is likely to be requested where supernatural romance adventures are a hot item.-Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2011
Spoiled rich girl discovers she has a destiny to kill demons and maybe prevent Armageddon. Ellie is the Preliator, a reincarnated fighter with angelic connections, destined to kill Reapers before they kill people and send their souls to Hell. Her guide is Will, who has watched her back for 500 years and has really intense green eyes. Despite magical flaming blades, a convoluted but interesting angel angle and forbidden romance, this first-in-a-series ultimately fails because Ellie is so intensely unlikable. On her 17th birthday she receives an Audi, which is quickly destroyed, and seems more upset at the car's demise than the death of her favorite teacher. Too much time is devoted to minutiae (dress shopping, who likes who, drinking) at the expense of the paranormal plot, which is all exposition and action scenes. Ellie's habit of turning her back on deadly enemies mid-fight to run to check on Will and the inability of anyone to ever kill anyone else get old pretty quickly, and the late-breaking random appearance of a sexy bad-boy reaper is just pandering to the love triangle trope. The most amazing thing about this book might be the fact that it manages to avoid any references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer despite obvious parallels and a final line that sounds like it could've come straight from the show. Yes, the teen appetite for the formulaic appears bottomless and angels are the new vampire, but this one never rises above mediocre. (Paranormal romance. YA)

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