Review – Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Posted January 18, 2013 by Emma in Blog / 6 Comments

Title – Angelfire (Angelfire #1)
Author – Courtney Allison Moulton
Genre – Paranormal YA
Pages – 496
Publisher – HarperCollins
Source – Library


First there are nightmares. Then come the memories. Now she must hunt.

Ellie can’t shake the terrifying dreams about monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her. Then she meets Will and 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. When they meet 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. Will holds the key to Ellie’s memories, whole lifetimes of them, and she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. In order to survive, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives, the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Angelfire is a very deceptive read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Its been a long time since borrowing a book from the library and I couldn’t pass up the time to read. I have way too many books to read as it is, but you know how a library makes you feel and just imagine working in one, it heaven. Anyway back to the review.
Unfortunately the plot wasn’t original or fresh from my perspective. It became rather repetitive, making it less consistent in the attempt wow me, however I still enjoyed the read all the same. Ellie, a young teenager enjoying a life of her own, though he nightmares suggests otherwise. On the day of her seventeenth, a dark, handsome stranger watched and waited… Will has waited 24 years to awaken the power within her, for Ellie to engage in her Preliator side… a reaper hunter of Satan’s Army. The most powerful reaper is after her and her soul and, Ellie, the only one of her existence is tied of being awakened, she want to fight. She wants it to end.  Moulton used a lot of historical context of the Angels, Gods and Guardians. At first I was intrigued, but as the story goes on, I found I was getting slightly bored with the depth of Ellie’s existence and the growing war between good and evil. As a whole the plot keep me engaged for the majority of the time, however more pressing focuses allowed me to continue turning the page.
In Ellie’s world, she is just an average, sixteen going on seventeen year old girl that wants to a normal. But now she has this purpose, she feels constricted and a freak. Ellie, is a strong, confident, passionate young woman, now she doesn’t know whether she is going to live or die in a couple weeks. She has always had a friend, a guide, a Guardian to stand by her, Will. Will is your strong, resourceful, young…well he appears 24 but he’s actually 600 years old…man. He is also conflicted from the feeling he portrays, but when he is near Ellie he shows that emotion, that vulnerability of a just a young boy in love with a girl. I feel that he has risked a lot for Ellie, he’s immortal and will do anything to protect, yet he is an infuriating character.

“Will, I’m in love with you. You’re the only one who understands what I go through every day, the only one I can share this world with.”


I think for me Moulton’s greatest achievement was her development of the characters. Aside from the plot you could build a beautiful story between Ellie and Will, the chemistry, the past, present and future lives they will both share together make it very intimate. The ‘more pressing focuses’ I mentioned are largely around the romantic side of them. It was a struggle at first to acknowledge where they stood with each other. They clearly have very strong feelings for each other, yet Ellie wants to make that step, yet Will is unwilling not too, hence his infuriating persona towards his character. However, what I see is that they are dancing the tango; they know each others movements, feelings and strategies  They are the perfect beings together, whether other’s say so or not.

“I hate… I hate when you die. It destroys me. I know  have no right to be so upset, because I’m not the one losing my life, but it breaks me apart inside. I’m not very good with words, and I don’t know how to explain to you how I feel. I get lonely when you aren’t with me. I miss you. And every time you die, a little piece of me dies with you.”

There was one part of the book that oddly reminded me of Pushing the Limits with Echo’s father and step mum; Ellie’s father. They have similar qualities, yet the complete opposite; Ellie’s father is an abusive both physically and emotional to herself and her mother. However, her mum just stands and pretends that love will conquer all. But that possibility seems very far away. As secondary characters go, they did build the story in a constant flow, like Nathaniel another immortal and Lauren, the physic. 
Moulton creates a very good debut novel. I was astounded by the very thought that she wrote this novel for NaNoWriMo in 30 Days and got it published. That is dedication and passion! Overall, this book was a very pleasant read and one that I got through pretty quickly despite the review. I’m looking forward to see what’s next for Ellie and Will in this trilogy. 
Rating: 3.5 – 4 (Still Undecided) 
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6 responses to “Review – Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

  1. Sam

    This was written during NaNoWriMo?? I had no idea! Like yourself, I had some mixed thoughts on this overall (I think I rated it 3 stars at the time), but I did still enjoy it well enough. I hope you enjoy the next book, Emma. 🙂 Great review!

  2. WAAAAIT, REWIND! Did I read that correctly, or do my eyes deceive me? Did Moulton seriously right a full-length YA novel in 30 days?!!! That's incredible. That should go in the World Record Book or something! I agree with you, that really is an admirable amount of dedication and effort.

    Anyway, great review Emma! Ever since I saw the front cover for Angelfire, I've been dying to read it. However, I'm sorry you didn't find the plot very new. It always sucks when you don't feel like you're reading anything different and unique. Still, I love how the relationship between Ellie and Will grows! Nothing better than a bit of lovely romance in a book, right? 😉

    Emma the quotes you share with us are fantastic! You always seem to pick out the most adorable ones!

    Thanks for sharing :Dxxx
    p.s. This comment would have been longer, but my pizza is calling me to leave the computer and join it at the table :)xxx

  3. I didn't know she wrote this for NaNoWriMo, wow! This story, the way you describe, sort of reminds me of the Fallen series. I'm more of a character girl, so the fact that the plot isn't very original doesn't bother me as long as I'm invested in the characters. I'll have to check this out, Emma. Wonderful review. 🙂

  4. AMAZING review, as always, Emma! 😀 This looks quite good, despite its flaws. I'm glad you enjoyed it overall.
    AND OMG – she wrote this in 30 days!? I would love to take part in NaNoWriMo one day but it would be an absolute mess at the end of the month… it would take me months to write a good YA book 😛
    Thanks for posting! <3

  5. Great Review! I have had this on my TBR list for ages and I'm glad you generally enjoyed it. I can't believe that she wrote it in 30 days… That is effort! I'm not sure if you have heard of a book called Venom by Fiona Paul, but I posted a review of it on my blog and I would appreciate the comments for it 😀 An absolutely brilliant review!
    ~Daniel~
    http://bookomatic.blogspot.com.au