Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

I am a sucker for YA paranormal romance. Of course, Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly caught my attention right away. Angel Burn is the U.S. release of Weatherly's first book Angel in the Angel Trilogy, originally released in the U.K.

The Prologue from Alex's POV immediately hooked me. This was a story about Angels, but they were the enemy, sucking the life energy out of mortals. And Alex is an AK-Angel Killer. A specially trained operative for the CIA who hunts and expertly disposes of these nasty creatures. Until he is sent to kill Willow and discovers something about her that forces him to question everything he knows. 

Willow is psychic. After a reading for a popular girl, she discovers the existence of Angels-and the truth that they are not as divine as the rapidly growing Church of Angels religious following would have you believe. Trying to save her schoolmate from a bleak path, Willow quickly finds herself the target of a Church of Angels directive to exterminate her. Running for her life, Willow is rescued by the stern, but gorgeous Alex. Together, they must figure out the Angel's plans-and what it has to do with them. 

The book was fast-paced with a delicate balance of action scenes, romance scenes, and everything you crave in between. It was an absolutely refreshing story with a completely different take on Angel's than I have encountered before. And I am an AVID reader. So why only a 3 star rating? Simply put, the amateur writing. 

Weatherly forces the reader to navigate through multiple character's stories. We start out with Alex, then switch to Willow. Fine, I can handle a switch between the two main characters. But she frustratingly breaks a common literary rule-she switches from 1st person narrative for Willow and 3rd person limited narrative for Alex. Tsk, tsk. Just as the reader gets used to this minor inconvenience, Weatherly produces a long chapter, 3rd person limited, from the Angel Raziel's POV. This is to add background and context, but it just aggravates. Raziel's POV introduces the character of Jonah. Briefly, we follow Jonah's narrative before returning to the Willow-Alex storyline. Periodically, Jonah's POV is inserted. Sure, it added a level of suspense as the reader discovers facts about the enemy that the heroes are unaware of. But I found the practice to be lacking and LAZY. Additionally, it broke concentration and pulled focus for the reader making it more difficult to identify with the protagonists. 

But that wasn't all...

The romance was over-the-top cheesy. I accept a certain level of unrealistic puppy-love with YA romances. It's what turns a dreamy crush into an all-consuming TRUE LOVE. I expect it. But Weatherly turned it more ridiculous than a Stephanie Meyers novel by taking great characters with amazing, complementing qualities and reduced their attraction to solely a physical one. Sure, Willow and Alex care about each other deeply and the reader can feel  their love for one another, but it comes across as solely superficial. Instead of admiring each other's strength, bravery, loyalty, or kindness, the reader must survive on "Your silky soft hair is so beautiful" and "I love your washboard abs" (note: not actual quotes from the book). And the climax of them FINALLY professing their love was drawn out, overly boring, and well, quite anti-climactic. In the end, Willow and Alex learn more about themselves and each other, secrets are revealed, and choices must be made, but it all ends a little flat and I don't feel that the characters have grown. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading the story once I learned to accept the inconsistent narrative/POV debacle and mentally developed the characters a little more instead of relying on Weatherly's bland impressions. I will read the second book in the trilogy, Angel Fire (and most likely, the third when it comes out), but I'm not going to expect much development. 

U.K. Cover

U.S. Cover