For dedicated fans only, and with more coming.
After many reincarnations, the Archangel Gabriel has emerged as a spoiled, wealthy, 17-year-old fashion-addicted girl who fights demons. The combination does not convince.
Nevertheless, the story of Ellie and her guardian, Will, continues in this second installment of the Angelfire saga. Beginning in near–chick-lit mode, most of the story focuses on various romantic entanglements with occasional action sequences until the climactic scenes finally emerge. Ellie knows she loves Will completely and forever, yet she’s still extremely attracted to several others, including Cadan, a demon (but she trusts him). Will, besotted with Ellie for over five centuries, constantly turns up to save her from danger. Once the narrative takes a dramatic turn, suspense struggles to take precedence over the romance, with Moulton pausing two major fights for kissing scenes. Much of the story frankly seems thrown together. Drenched in emo, everything is extreme, with frequent use of italics. Extreme fights, extreme romance, extreme clichés (“I couldn’t lose them both tonight. I couldn’t lose Will. I couldn’t lose him”) combine with such silly dialogue as “This is not right! Annihilating the human and angel races is not right” to lend the book a distinctly pulp-fiction flavor. Depictions of some of the demons are rather imaginative, however. Even demons can fall in love, it seems.
For dedicated fans only, and with more coming. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-200236-5
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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