A Peek in the BiblioBin (44)

Welcome to our Stacking the Shelves post! Stacking the Shelves (or as we like to call it, A Peek in the Biblio-Bin) has been created by the lovely ladies at Tynga Reviews.

Stacking the Shelves is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This is what we have in our bin this week. Tell us what's in your Biblio-bin!

 For Review:

Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton



Bought:

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally



 

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.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

**** 1/2

From HarperCollins:

First there are nightmares.

Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.

When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

I know I previously mentioned that Angelfire is one of my surprise favorites of 2011; however, I recently re-read Angelfire when we received the Wings of the Wicked ARC for the ARC Tour hosted by The PageTurners Blog.  I was a little nervous that Angelfire may not live up to the hype in my head on a second read, but that was just silly.  Angelfire is the first in the trilogy telling the story of Ellie, the Preliator.  An ancient warrior who is reborn over and over to fight the demonic reapers and prevent the Apocalypse, ie the Second War between Heaven and Hell.

The Bad:

Keeping the different types of reapers separate and organized in my head was a little troublesome on my first read, but I definitely have them down now.  That was the only issue I had with Angelfire. 

The Good:

I love the characters that Courtney has created in this series, even the demonic reapers.  Plus, Will is my literary crush for 2011.  Angelfire is a riveting, compelling story with touching romance and mysteries that will keep you hanging on.  And seriously, Will.  Love. Him.  Check out Courtney's website for her graphic art of the characters, phenomenal - I seriously want some of the bookmarks she has created! http://www.courtneyallisonmoulton.com/

I could not put Angelifre down (really, ask my family, they were annoyed that I would not put the book down to spend time with them).  I had the pleasure to read an ARC of Wings of the Wicked and I have to tell you, I was not disappointed, not in the least.  Bel got to read it first and the moment I was done my phone rang for the post-game wrap up!  We will have a full review in the next few days.  Check out this beautiful cover:

~Shel