A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

A Touch Mortal
Leah Clifford
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Pages: 422
Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 stars

Eden didn't expect Az. Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long, happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.
And that's only the beginning of the end.

A Touch Mortal....how to describe it? Well, I liked it. It was good. I take that back, A Touch Mortal is absolutely mind blowing and freaking fantabulous. I had heard about it months before its release and was simply counting down the days until it was out, and once it was, things kept coming up - keeping me from reading. Let me just tell you, A Touch Mortal was worth the wait and more.

A Touch Mortal is honestly unlike any other book you'll read. It is unique in about every way possible. It is like nothing I have ever read, and definitely very far from the other angel books out there now. It also is raw and real - the dialogue isn't the cleanest thing in the world, and I thought it really made it authentic. The characters became even more real through even the littlest details.

The entire idea of A Touch Mortal was brilliant. I loved every aspect, with Siders and the angels and the way they live. It was great. It was something completely new - this was my only issue with the book at times. It would take me a few pages or need to reread several scenes to completely understand things. I mean, that only happened like 2 or 3 times, but once I got it, it would make so many things make more sense.

I loved the twists and turns A Touch Mortal took me on. There was so many moments I was literally gasping out loud – at the amusement (or horror?) of those around me. I would not even come close to guessing major plot details. Clifford allows readers to guess, and be right, about several smaller details, but after that, it’s a complete field day.

None of the characters in A Touch Mortal were at all like one another. They filled every type of person you can think of and then some. They were all so different, yet I found them all linked in other, more subtle ways. I felt most of the characters were easy to relate to and really get in their head, and try to experience life the way it is for them in this alternate world. Leah Clifford is not afraid to make her characters suffer - they are tossed down so many paths and some of them suffer quite a lot.

Much like she's not afraid to give her characters a hard time and sort of throw them down many paths, she's not afraid to make readers suffer. Clifford builds the plot throughout the entire book with an absolute explosion at the end, only to leave readers turning the page to find acknowledgements. The wait for book 2 will be painstakingly awful, as the many possibilities of what could come to happen are infinite.

This is a must read. As in stop reading my review and rush to the nearest book store to you. I started this book at the airport, waiting for my flight, read until I boarded the plane, only to pull it out and read straight through my flight, leaving me shocked that the plane was pulling into the terminal. I was absolutely captivated by Eden and Az's world. I was transported there, sucked in, and didn't want to leave.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire
Courtney Allison Moulton
Publisher: Harper Collins / Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: February 15th, 2011
Pages: 464

Rating: 5 stars

This debut, the first novel in a trilogy, is achingly romantic, terrifying, and filled with blistering action.

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Have you ever loved a book so much you simply have no words to explain your feelings for it? This is slightly like my feelings for Angelfire. I have no critism for this book what so ever. I found it to be perfect in every way, and I am very excited for future works from the marvelous Courtney Allison Moulton.

Angelfire was one of the most original fantasy books I have ever read. Right off the bat, you experience Moulton's world and her version of reapers. When most people think reapers, they think hooded guy in a cloak with a scythe. Moulton's reapers come in a whole range of terrifying beings, from giant wolf like reapers to those that can appear human. Then you throw characters like Ellie and Will into the mix, who are most definately not human The world is absolutely fascinating. It's set in the world as we know, but there's this world that coexists with the world called the Grim.

With creatures as enticing those, and a world that cool, when you throw the awesome characters into the mix, it nearly throws you over the edge. All the characters feel so real. You fall for Will on about page 2. He is bad-ass and a character you can't help to love! Ellie's friends, Kate, Landon, Chris, and Evan, are a ton of fun, and every time they walk on the page, you can be sure it'll be a good time. Ellie is your average teenage girl, and it's fun to watch what learning what she is does to her life.

The action and combat in the book is bloody brilliant! Both are seriously I think the best I've ever read. Tied in with the intriguing plot, Angelfire is a winner. The romance of the story is exceptionly awesome. It was so sweet, and I was instantly drawn to it.

Angelfire is a book that will simply blow you away. With just this one book, Courtney Allison Moulton has earned a spot on my list of authors I auto-buy whenever a book comes out. It's that good. Between the epic plot, the amazing world, and the charming cast of characters, Angelfire is a book you will be sorry to miss.