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angelbound

(I included the back cover too, because the artwork is so awesome!)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 532

Point of View: First (Myla)

Released: December 17, 2013

Predictability: 5 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Funny story, I saw this book on sale for .99, but when I went to buy it, it wasn’t on sale anymore. I contacted the website, not because I really wanted the book, but because I thought they should know Amazon messed up. Well turns out it was my mistake and it had been on sale yesterday. The publisher Ink Monster sent me a free copy of the book anyway! (Which of course didn’t affect my judgement of this book at all.)

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA, due to one make out session. (Not sex, but parts are named.)

This was actually my first ever review! I’m reposting it before my review of Angelbound Armegeddeon for those of you who haven’t read the first book. (And since only one person was following my blog back then, I don’t think anyone else has read this review. Hi Kat *waves at first follower*)

My Summary: [Sorry my summaries used to be a little longer winded]

Myla is a quasi demon (meaning part human) living in purgatory. Around twenty years ago demons invaded purgatory and left ghouls running things. Myla’s mom is super over-protective and won’t say anything about her life before the war with the demons or even about Myla’s father.

Myla spends most of her time at school, but every so often she’s called to duty. When a soul enters purgatory they can choose trial by combat. Since she was twelve Myla’s been required to fight to the death in the arena against theses souls. As the best fighter they save the nastiest ones for her, but she’s not your typical almost eighteen year-old. She enjoys her battles in the arena, particularly when it’s against a demon and she keeps extensive notebooks on how to beat the various demon races.

Myla’s best friend Cissy (who has the tail of a golden retriever, yes it does wag when she’s happy. Okay, enough about tails…) has a huge crush on a boy at school, so when said boy invites Myla and a guest to his party she can’t say no. At the party, abandoned by her friend, Myla meets the frustrating prince Lincoln. He’s a demon hunter who thinks all quasis are evil, but Myla can’t stop thinking about him and not just about punching him. Well, that too.

My Review:

I don’t know what it is about me and tail fascination. I’ve just always wanted one. So naturally the reason Angelbound caught my eye is the main character has a tail. (The author actually uses her tail to show emotion and humor too.)

The Good:

Angelbound is told in a fun voice with plenty of humor and I liked the strong sassy heroine, Myla. It might just be me, (because I couldn’t pry the book out of my fingers to go to bed.) but this book was a quick read.

Romance is a strong part of this book and it’s well done. Though the conversation where they got to really know each other is only told about afterwards.

Angelbound has interesting characters and good world building. The author takes her time to really make us care about the characters and to establish the world.

The Bad:

There are a few slow spots towards the beginning, but I’m glad I kept reading, because it quickly picks up. (This is the author’s first novel so she makes a few mistakes like repeating things that didn’t need to be repeated.)

I did notice several errors, but I’m very nit picky about that sort of thing and often find such in books. There weren’t many and they didn’t take away from the book.scala

 

I didn’t review Angelbound, Scala because it was really more of
a novella (150 pages) than a sequel. It was good, but I wanted more!

 

Angelbound Armegeddon

angelbound-armageddon

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 250

Point of View: First Present (Myla)

Released: October 12, 2014

Predictability: 4 out of 5

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA due to one make out session, and swearing.

 

 

Warning: Skip the summary if you haven’t read Angelbound!

My Summary: 

It’s been five years since the events of Angelbound. Myla and Lincoln are now married with a three year old little boy, Maxom.

The king of hell, Armegeddeon (No the subtitle isn’t referring to the end of the world) has been plotting his revenge against Myla since she sent him back to hell. And what better way to get back at her than by threatening her son?

My Review:

The overall story isn’t quite as good as the first one, but the writing has drastically improved. (No repeating of information or unnecessary scenes.)

The Good:

We finally get to see some of the other realms. With so many beautiful and dark settings there wasn’t time for more than a quick tour, but I enjoyed seeing more of the world. We also learn more about the history of the first two large scale wars, the first against Lucifer himself.

The pacing picked up as the story progressed and by the end there was no place to stop where my characters were safe.

I liked all of the relationships. Myla’s marriage felt true as did her love for her son.

Maxom feels like a real little kid. (I could definitely tell that the author is a mom.) I liked his kid-logic and I loved the tail snuggling!

A couple of new characters were added, I particularly liked the spunky Hildy. (and the magical monkey Kiya was adorable!)

There were many times I was afraid it was going to be too easy for our main characters or they were going to make stupid mistakes, but the action in the end was well done with just the right amount of unpredictability.

Myla’s still the same strong heroine from Angelbound, but she’s grown up a bit in the years since then. (Okay, only a little bit.)

The Bad:

The mood of this book was darker, which makes sense given the circumstances, but I missed the funny sassy Myla. There were still a couple humorous instances, but overall she was all business.

I also missed some of the supporting characters from the first book. Both Myla’s best friend Cissy and her mom are barely in this book at all.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but I recommend starting with the first in the series. There’s too much world building for this one to make sense on its own.

maxonI kept thinking that she was hinting at a sequel with Maxom and I was right. The next book in the series, Maxon, will be released on May 12, 2015!

 

 

 

How do you feel about time jumps between novels? I personally hate them, because I always feel like I’ve missed something in the time I wasn’t with the characters.