In the wake of the Second Wave, the angel menace has exploded, and Alex and Willow are on the lam. Willow has a prophetic dream that points them to Mexico City, where they connect with a fledging group of angel killers. Alex takes the team in hand, training them for a rush attack in the Seraphic Council, an elite group already under watch by Willow's angel-father, Raziel, who wants "The Twelve" dead for sinister reasons of his own and will stop at nothing.
What Alex doesn't know is that there was also a boy in Willow's dream, one she felt overpoweringly attracted to. And when enigmatic Seb shows up in the flesh, he turns out to be another--possibly the world's only other--half angel.
Seb's been searching for Willow all his life...and as the team prepares for grim warfare against a divine enemy. Willow must weigh her love for Alex against the truth of her nature, with everything to lose.
In the second book in L.A. Weatherly's wildly romantic, action-packed trilogy, the angels are back with a vengeance, and they don't have heaven in mind.
So it's been a good few years since I last read L.A. Weatherly's Angel Burn. I didn't thoroughly love it, but it was still interesting enough and I bought Angel Fire two years ago--yeah, got a little behind--when it released. My memory of Angel Burn is practically nonexistent, but luckily Weatherly filled in enough gaps that I got the general idea of what happened. Angel Fire was a surprisingly good read even with its 600+ pages!
The story wasn't too complicated. It just had many parts. Seb--our newbie half-angel--is trying to find Willow. Has been trying to find the other half-angel that he's sensed for years. Willow and Alex are trying to stop the angels and find some other AK's to join together with. And then there's Raziel who wants to destroy The Twelve, a set of original angels. By destroying them he either destroys all angels or just these 12 who have been a major pain to him.
When Alex and Willow arrive in Mexico City, they are not aware of all the trouble that they are about to have thrown at them. First come in some other AK's. One being Kara, someone he knew from his past. Then there are others all around their age. It's clear that Alex is the one who has the most training under his belt, so Kara hands the reigns over to him to train the others to get into battling shape and take out The 12.
Meanwhile Seb is doing everything possible to find Willow. He knows she's close and when he does find her, there's an instant connection between the two. Seb has loved Willow even before he saw her and Willow just feels these insane feelings towards him. It's a complicated mess, to say the least.
I thought it was a little creepy how obsessed Seb was with Willow. He doesn't really hide his feelings all too much, and yet Willow is blind to how he really feels because she loves Alex. But when Alex starts getting a little crazy jealous, I can't help but feel bad for the guy because Willow remains so adamant that there's nothing between them, that he's her friend. Yet, she has nothing to say when Alex mentions her blushing over mentioning of Seb and certain situations. I totally felt for Alex, because I could see his point of view that his girlfriend is spending nearly all her free time with another guy.
Granted, though, I do see Willow's point as well. She finally meets another half-angel, something she thought would never happen. So yeah, she wants to talk to him as much as she can. The fact that it's a him though doesn't seem to faze her. And when Alex gives her the ultimate ultimatum, things don't go so well in the love department.
Raziel is a character that continues to befuddle me. He's all human hating and doesn't care about his daughter. Yet in this one, I got the impression that he does have some little, tiny feelings for her. At least in some sense. He doesn't want other angels to know about her, partly because of embarrassment, but maybe partly protecting? Then again, he does go about trying to kill her again. But still, there were just a few moments where he had some slightly positive feelings or thinking towards her that it has me wondering if maybe the beast can care!
I was a little miffed with the way the romance was going. Alex and Willow are "so in love". Yet I still can't help but scream, "you're teenagers!" I don't really go for the sex in YA books, but yeah, it happens. But when they go about proclaiming such deep love, I can't help but feel skeptical. Even with the "M-word" got tossed out at one point, I was like seriously?! At 18, you're thinking way ahead to marriage?
Despite some of the miscomings, I did enjoy this one a little better than the first. Perhaps because Alex and Willow had an established relationship, even with a fight that tears them apart. Of course the added love triangle was a tad annoying as well since Willow was practically blind to Seb's feelings for her. It was still enjoyable!
There was plenty of action involving battles with angels, betrayals left and right, secrets, misunderstandings...all things that can make for an entertaining, and sometimes nail biting read! There was definitely a lot of tension in this one and I am kind of glad I waited to read it now since the final book comes out later this year. Hopefully, I will find time to read it once it releases!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
I'm glad the second book was better than the first and that despite a few things, you enjoyed this one, Jessica. I agree with you about true love and teenagers. :)
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