Angelbound

Title: Angelbound
Author: Christina Bauer
Series: Angelbound #1
Length: 524 pages
Publisher: Ink Monster (November 12, 2013)
Rating:


Description from Goodreads:

Eighteen year old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She’s not your every day quasi-demon, half-demon and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory’s arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she hasn’t lost a battle yet.

But as she starts her senior year at Purgatory High, the arena fights aren’t enough to keep her spirits up anymore. When the demons start to act weird, even for demons, and the King of the Demons, Armageddon, shows up at Myla’s school, she knows that things are changing and it’s not looking good for the quasi-demons. Myla starts to question everything, and doesn’t like the answers she finds. What happened seventeen years ago that turned the quasi-demons into slave labor? Why was her mom always so sad? And why won’t anyone tell her who her father is? Things heat up when Myla meets Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, a super sexy half-human and half-angel demon hunter. But what’s a quasi-demon girl to do when she falls for a demon hunter? It’s a good thing that Myla’s not afraid of breaking a few rules. With a love worth fighting for, Myla’s going to shake up Purgatory.


My Thoughts:

Angelbound by Christina Bauer has everything a reader could want. Ms. Bauer delivers a kick-ass rule breaking heroine, super nifty powers, hot guy forbidden romance, evildoers, the fate of the world resting in a teenagers hand, and all of the action you could desire. One of the more impressing aspects of this book is a new and different take on supernatural religious/afterlife beings. It isn’t very often that an author can achieve this. With so many stories these days revolving around angels and demons it can be hard to come up with a “new take” on this story line. Another cool little tidbit is that there isn’t a human involved and I loved it!

Anyways, onto more important things. The main character is Myla a half demon teenager who battles souls in purgatory sending the losers to Hell and victors to Heaven. She is smart, full of sass, and can kick some serious butt. When trying not to get killed by evildoers she is either being an outcast at her Quasi high school or trying to ferret out information on her mother’s mysterious past which includes the identity of her father. Purgatory is ruled by the ghouls and her people are considered sub creatures. The Ghouls are full of self-importance, naiveté, and are blissfully ignoring all of the warning signs of a demonic Purgatory takeover. The Thrax (demon hunters), Angels, and the Demon King Armageddon are all converging on Purgatory. Her mother is hiding her past and the identity of Myla’s father, who she really is, and what happened in the first rebellion. Everything is about to come to a breaking point and Myla is right in the middle. I really enjoyed the action in the book, but my favorite part was the love element. Romance comes in the form of Myla and the Thrax prince. They make an amazing couple. Both are kick-ass, funny, and truly want what is best for their people. Trust me…the Prince…he is definitely swoon worthy. If you are looking for a book with tons of action then you have picked the right book. Regarding the action and controversy Angels, demons, and the fight to send souls to Heaven or Hell is a subject matter that could quickly turn heavy, but Ms. Bauer gives Myla a great sense of humor. She provides quick wit and rebellious comic relief making for one fantastic tale. Although dealing with what is seen as religious elements Angelbound does not touch on the subject of religion and in my opinion nothing was “preachy”. Although Angelbound is a pretty long book it was fast paced and created an atmosphere and world that readers will dive into. The only thing that could have been improved was the background info and depth of the secondary characters. Specifically, I am referring to the other two teenagers and main ghoul in the story. They were interesting characters, but I felt not enough information was given about them and although interesting they fell a little flat at times. Other than that I absolutely loved Angelbound and cannot wait to buy the sequel. I highly recommend it if you are into the angel/demon story lines. I give this book a 4 STAR rating.