Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

****1/2

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven's warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell's strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.
She's been warned.


Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian's new plan to destroy Ellie's soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian's schemes, the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.
 She'll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be Hell to pay.

You know how when you love the first book in a series, you are apprehensive about the rest?  Don't worry about that with Wings.  Wings continues the struggles of Ellie and her friends.  Ellie is trying desperately to balance her duties as the Preliator and her life as a high school senior, while trying to figure out where she stands with Will and how she feels about Cadan.  But of course, the battle between good and evil doesn't wait for prom...



The Bad:

Wings is long, which is not really a bad thing, because it is also excellent, but be prepared to set aside some time to read it.  I stayed up most the night on a Saturday and woke up early on Sunday to finish.  You are also introduced to many more characters and types of Reapers, but if you read Angelfire, you should have little trouble getting them straight. 

The Good:
The characters.  The story.  The phenomenal writing.  Take your pick.  Wings is a truly fascinating story.  The characters draw you in and won't let go with their snark and fun. 

To call Wings action-packed is an understatement, but to say it is also overflowing with emotion is not.  I finished Wings feeling (well beyond feeling that I wanted to read Book 3 immediately) completely drained and exhausted from the emotional toll the story took on me.  Neither Bel nor I could pick up another book for days it had that much of an impact.  And my literary crush Will is so sweet and really needs a lot of love in this book people! 

If you liked Angelfire, you will love Wings.  If you haven't gotten tired enough of me talking up Angelfire to read it yet - I say what are you waiting for?!  Read it now so you can get to Wings! 

I say again, you should all go check out Courtney's website for her graphic art of the characters and to stay tuned for updated on the third and final book in the series.  Also, Courtney is hosting a giveaway of some fine Angelfire Swag (which looks completely awesome!)  http://courtney-allison.blogspot.com/2012/02/fear-reaper-countdown-to-wings-of_13.html

~Shel




We were lucky enough to participate in the Wings of the Wicked ARC for the ARC Tour hosted by The PageTurners Blog and we thank them for the opportunity.