Bookworm Blogger #YA: Review: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

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.

Review:
The second in the Angelfire series, Wings of the Wicked is a non-stop action-packed adventure following on from Angelfire.

Ellie has worked through her mothers grounding (at the end of Book 1) and is now back into killing reapers with Will. The relationship is strained. They both love each other but Will is still haunted by Michael's warning that they must not be together. Ellie being Archangel Gabriel but in a human body, of course. This time they're joined by Marcus and Ava and join forces on the side of good to rid the earth of evil.

Cadan (Bastians minion) pops by with unusual sincerity and a penchant to do some kind of good, although Ellie is still unsure whether he is truly evil or not. She heeds his warnings. She's still attracted to him but mindful of his past.

Nathaniel proves to be a true guardian angel for Will, and with a small amount of help from Lauren, begins to help Ellie and Will heal their pain.

But nothing works out as planned.

Will discovers more about his family history and it isn't all good. Marcus starts a relationship with Ellie's BF Kate, Cadan has a difficult heart to heart with Ellie, and evil creeps up on Ellie frequently when she least expects it.

Now her enemy is two Vir, human-like reapers that want to take her alive. They have the Enshi and its time for the Awakening of whatever lies in the sarcophagus. All in all, nothing can give Ellie a break in this book. Deeper she goes into her memories of other lives as Gabriel and heartache is sure to follow her around.

Will is both her curse and her salvation in this book. He's never stopped loving Ellie but she discovers some truths about his past that are particularly painful. As for Cadan, I liked him in the other book but this one I thought he was brilliant. He stepped up when it was needed and proved his point.

And Ellie? She tries to retain her normal human self by immersing in school and friend activities, to remain normal as much as possible but it isn't always easy.

I loved how all the characters have grown in this book. The thin threads that combine their lives remain (somewhat loosely) tied. No matter what happens they are always, in most ways, there for one another.
This book is a lot less about reapers this time, and much more about the Angels--Fallen or otherwise. The intricate back history is more relevant now that ever before and if Ellie fails in her quests, the earth will become everyday Hell. No pressure!

But none of it is important when tragedy strikes. The ending is such a cliffhanger that you want to scream Nooooo!

The sequel to Angelfire should not be missed!