Angel Fever by L.A. Weatherly

Caution: You may find spoilers below.

I'm a bit late, but I wanted to talk about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two installments in this series, and the third one was no exception.

What I Liked:

• Willow, Alex and Seb's characters. I feel like they really remained true to themselves throughout their appearances in the series, which can sometimes be hard to find. 
• The author's handling of grief. For some reason, reading about a character's grief is so bone-shatteringly anathema to me. I just dislike it. However, I found that I didn't have that aversion to Willow's mourning in this book. 
• The balance between end-of-the-world drama and romance drama. Sometimes, I find myself either yearning to go back to the two characters' love story or to the action of the overall blot. This was not so here, as I believe Ms. Weatherly perfectly captured the best of both worlds. 
• Willow's hair journey. I really, really liked that L.A. Weatherly chose to make Willow's hair kind of representative of her symbolic journey through the novel. It was a nice literary touch without being blatant or contrived.

What I Didn't Like:

• Too short! I need more!

Final Thoughts:

• Willow is still one of my favorite heroines in YA literature. 
• I was way happier than I should have been about the hair thing. 
• If you're a fan of the series, read this, obviously. If you haven't, and you like the whole YA, supernatural thing, give this a go. Really, it's very well-written and has compelling characters.

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly

This is the sequel to Angel Burn. Yesterday, at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I was on page 200 of this 638 page book. I just finished now (10:31 PM). OH MY GOD!

My Thoughts

1. The first 200 pages were a little slow, as they mainly comprised Alex and Willow drifting apart to enable the formation of a love triangle, but, by the time you get to page 350, 400, there is MAJOR squee going on!
2. This book has everything: love, loss, grief, passion, adventure, tragedy, death, compassion - Ah! 
3. SEB! Oh, wow! He is perfect! Bad boy with a heart of gold, curly hair, accent - he is just amazing! My heart broke for him as much as it broke for Alex! 
4. Something that I love about this book is its sense of real tragedy. So many young adult books lack what I'd call grit. They don't feel grounded in real, raw human emotion, but this IS. Oh, man, I can't tell you how amazing this book is!
5. The cast of supporting characters was very fully realized and the setting - the stark, beautiful landscape - was just amazing and captured so sincerely by L.A. Weatherly. 
6. This is another one of those books - the kind that makes your heart contract so that you can barely speak. The kind that makes you laugh out loud and brings tears to your eyes for characters you never thought you really cared about. The kind of book that becomes a part of you, becomes as much a part of your consciousness as your friends or parents or life experiences. This is the kind of book that makes people love reading. If I hadn't decided to become a writer after reading Harry Potter, I'd decide right now. 
7. This book was so great, plot-wise as well. It's broad and sweeping but also a very human experience and I can't explain why but this was an amazing book. I feel like for a book to be truly a great book, then you can't explain why. If you can choose an individual element that you like more than the rest, than it's not a great book; it's a good book, written by an author with a great sense of humor or whatever the element might be. 
8. This is one of those books...it's just...poignant. And engaging. I feel so emotionally spent right now. Totally in a good way, of course, but I want to express how vivid this was. And sensual. It's like the author and I am have the same taste in romance or something, the way this was written so perfectly to my tastes (except for the hair cutting part. I am absolutely neurotic in my preference for long hair and I teared up when Alex cut Willow's.). 

Who Should Read It:

• This is for the romantics out there. You know who you are. 

I have no idea what I'm starting next, but I've got lots of options! 

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

Oh my God! This book was fabulous! It takes place in a world where angels are actually evil (well, most angels) and they feed on the life force of humans, giving them angel burn, which can be anything from cancer or MS to depression or other mental illnesses. The main female character is Willow Fields, half-angel and psychic.  The male lead is Alex, Angel Killer (or AK) and assassin sent to kill Willow. However, he realizes she's different and that Project Angel (run by the CIA) has been infiltrated by the angels. So, they embark on a mission to save the world from the next wave of angels...falling in love in the process!

My Thoughts:

1. Wow! This book was VERY good! It's another one of those books where I almost don't want to try to pick out individual things I liked, because it was all so great that it almost didn't feel like a plot and characters and a setting and such, but just this world with no edge or formula to it. 
2. First off, the book is given through multiple perspectives. Mainly through Willow (in first person) and Alex (in third person) and some from Raziel (head of the bad angels) and their contact inside the Church of Angels. First off, hearing a romance from both perspectives is something I absolutely adore! Especially since Alex is so very romantic about Willow and Willow is such a lovely character. Another thing I liked about this was that lots of books sort of do alternating chapters, like Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry series, which is great, but this one just shifts whenever it suits the plot, kind of like what Cassandra Clare does. I think it gives the story a more natural flow, I guess, and I really like it. 
3. Willow is great! I find it hard to like a book if I don't like the main character, and I absolutely loved Willow! She was fun and sweet and spunky and selfless and romantic and just a perfect heroine. 
4. Alex! Oh, wow, Alex! First off, dark hair and blue-gray eyes? SO hot! He was so so so great! You think he's this tough guy type, just into killing angels, but when you get his thoughts about Willow, you find out that's he's really pretty romantic and sweet and when he thinks about his brother Jake there's just so much vulnerability I wanted to cry for him! He is an AMAZING love interest! I would so brave the angel apocalypse if it meant spending time with him! 
5. The Alex and Willow romance is to die for! Oh, wow! I haven't read a romance this believable but still compelling since Etienne and Anna in Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins! Their physical scenes are just so ... so ... charged! It's amazing! It's the perfect combination of just lying next to each other or Alex commenting on how soft Willow's hair is and heated kissing. My heart was all a-flutter the entire time :). This, to me, was the perfect romance. So many relationships that I see in real life are purely physical and/or between two people who don't think they're old enough to know what love is and I just hate that. This relationship is a full on, love at first sight, undying devotion, I would DIE for you love. And that is the only kind of love worth having. And reading about, of course. 
6. The style was just so expressive. I finished this last night around 11 o'clock (which I blew off reviewing my friend's essay to do, but no sacrifice is too great when a book is concerned) and I can honestly tell you I cried non-stop for the last 30 or so pages. I cannot believe I have never heard of L.A. Weatherly until now. I got some BN gift cards for my birthday (Woo! I'm an adult.), and I plan to purchase everything she's written tomorrow. 
7. This book had a very satisfying conclusion AND a sequel! It's the best of both worlds! 
8. The actual plot of this book was great! Adventure, action, save-the-world type awesome! 
9. This book is just one of those books that is amazing! I can't explain it, it just is. I haven't done the book justice, but I hope I've given you an idea as to how amazing this book is!

Who Should Read It:

• Romance fans! Oh, my God, you will die!
• People who are looking for a new take on a supernatural element. 
• People who like to read! L.A. Weatherly just does an amazing job!

Final Score: Infinity/10!

For more info, check out the author's website here. I recommend you go to the UK one. They have an about the author section then links to different blog posts she's done, and they are AMAZING!

I'm going book shopping tomorrow, so who knows what will be next!