Angel (Angel Trilogy, #1)

by L. A. Weatherly

[Jo]

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. From Amazon UK

I was so excited to read Angel when I received it to review. I had heard nothing but extremely enthusiastic praise, and it sounded amazing! Plus, on top of that, it involved angels, and I can't get enough of them lately. So I picked it up expecting to be wowed, and thankfully, I was.

Willow, our main character, is psychic and can tell the future. She just thinks she has a gift, but in reality, she's a half angel. And Alex, an Angel Killer assassin, has been sent by the CIA to kill her. Cue a whole lot of trouble coming Willow's way. Why? Because angels aren't exactly the nicest beings around. Yet Willow might be the only person who can save humanity.

Angel mythology in this book is pretty awesome, and it creeped me out when I first started reading. Angels are coming into our world to feed. They feed off of human energy. Which means they appear to humans in their angel form - gloriously beautiful, amazing winged humanoid beings seemingly made of brillliant white light, touch the human and absorb their energy, while the human is... well, completely blissed out and amazed and filled with wonder. They come to adore angels and want to be "blessed" by them, not realising that they're suffering from angel burn, which will lead to serious illness - physical or mental - and eventually death. Vampirism in it's most freaky form, if you ask me. I was actually really disturbed while reading. Seriously unsettling.

The action in the book is pretty great too. Almost throughout, there's a sense of urgency to keep moving, to keep safe, and when the fighting does happen, it's fast, it's violent, it's dangerous, and oddly beautiful, with these angels flying around. And you wouldn't believe how violent angel fanatics can be when they're told there's a threat to their precious angels. he climax to the story is so fast paced and suspenceful, you're sitting on the edge of your seat. It's huge! Seriously, the action and the mythology are enough to keep you turning every page.

If I'm fair though, there was some disappoint me for me. The anticipation of seeing whether or not Willow and Alex will get together was brilliant. The tension, the yearning, the trying to fight it - it was all fantastic, and had me practically begging to just get to it already. But once they did, it all got kind of cheesy, in my opinion. There was too much gazing and touching and repeating the same things. One would ask a question about their feelings, only to be asked it themselves a few paragraphs later. There were several pages of non-stop clichéd swooning. I stopped believing it. It just didn't feel true to the characters who had so much chemistry and tension beforehand. It was just too much for me.

Saying that, I still loved the story. It was addictive, it was different, unique, and the plot was just brilliant! Despite the romance part letting me down, the paranormal part was just genius, and I'm really looking forward to the second book in the series, Angel Fire, which will be released in June 2011. A pretty awesome story, definitely worth a read!

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog