Heather Terrell

When sixteen-year-old Ellie meets up with a boy from her past, she discovers that the two of them share inexplicable powers and that they are somehow involved in an ancient conflict among fallen angels that forces them to choose sides, with terrible repercussions.

Fallen angel

Fallen Angel

Monicap

I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure how this book would turn out. Especially since, on page 18, I set this book aside in favor of Endure by Carrie Jones.
See, I used to be able to read two books at the same time. what would happen was I would read the one book until I got to slow or boring part, then switch. So on and so forth until both were finished.
I can’t do that anymore. I don’t know why. possibly because I haven't gotten deep into books with slow or boring parts, but I haven't been able to that for about… four months. I’ve become a very one-track minded reader.
So, when I shifted attention away from this book especially since I hadn’t gotten very deep in it, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able back into it.
My fears proved unfounded as when I finished Endure earlier his afternoon, this book immediately commenced with the sucking-of-me-in.
Now, when the ‘v’-word came up, I was offended. You see, when in a book, the main character becomes convinced of something, that, in my mind, is the author trying to convince the reader of the same thing. But seriously. The ‘v’-word, and this book. How stupid does this author assume us readers to be?
1.	The title. As I said, one does not title a vampire book ‘FALLEN ANGEL’.
2.	The cover. As I said, there are rarely feathers on the cover of vampire books.
3.	Her parents. Biological or not, what are the chances that her parents )who are, like, missionaries) would give birth to and/or rear a vampire?
4.	Her name. Ellspeth. Call me crazy, but that’s a hokey name for a vampire. I mean seriously. If you gave birth to, or adopted, or was told to raise a vampire baby, would you name that baby Ellspeth? I wouldn’t.
5.	I could probably come up with more reasons, but I promised myself that I shall not hold anger over this issue. It was explained, and I was therefore appeased.
Now, the Ekeziel thing happened, an then Michael was kinda… uh, brainwashed-ified? Yeah. See, the thing is, I kind of thought that Michael was bad on his own. Wanted it, even. Why? I’m not sure. Possibly cuz he’s the one that brought up the ‘v’-word. Maybe cuz I just don’t trust Nephilim boys when THEY’RE TOO FREAKING STUPID TO EVEN KNOW THEY’RE NEPHILIM. Okay, seriously, I get the confusion towards the beginning, but after meeting professor McMaster, reading the Book of Enoch and TAKING TO EZEKIEL about it, it should be fairly obvious you’re Nephilim, but you’re still saying I have no idea.”? That is just not cool. At all.
Ruth has got the most awesome normal person ever.
Also, and there is no reason in particular reason I think this except that I want this to happen, but I’m betting her dad is Samyaza.

Bands to listen to: I was actually listening to a playlist with multiple bands on my iPod as I read this, but while reading, the bands I really noticed had songs that fit the book as they played and I read, were VersaEmerge (I mostly have songs off their EP Perceptions. I don’t think songs from their album would fit quite as WELL, but they’d probably still work) and Within Temptation (any album. They have a lot of angel symbolism in their songs, plus, their songs are just stinking GOOD)

Elizabeth Neill

I really liked this book and her take on fallen angels

Jessica Nottingham

For the past 20 minutes I've been sitting here typing and erasing, over and over. I'm still at odds with myself exactly how to express my feelings about this book. Fallen Angel was one of the 2011 books that I was really looking forward to when it first appeared on my radar. The cover was stunning, the synopsis sounded more than promising, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy to read. I was really hoping that this would the be the book about angels that changed my mind about reading about them. I'm sad to report that it just didn't happen the way I'd hoped.

Let me start with the fact that Fallen Angel does bring some new angel lore to the table. Heather Terrell manages to take a storyline that has been done, and done again, and twist it into something fresh. While I was reading I was definitely intrigued by the way that she incorporated everything that I had already learned from other books, but then added new information. I can't share much without giving away an essential part of the story, but I will say that it was really interesting! As I neared the end of the book I actually found myself intrigued at what was going to ultimately happen with the characters.

Unfortunately it took me a long time to even feel like I was partially invested in the characters. I've learned over the past few months that not all characters are easy to get to know at first, and so I always take the time to read on. A lot of times they will get more depth to them as the story progresses. However, Ellie and Michael just never seemed to be that fleshed out to me. Ellie was a typical teenage girl with supernatural powers, nothing more and nothing less. I didn't feel any uniqueness in her or any real personality that made me want to bond with her. Michael was the same way. A beautiful and mysterious boy who pops into our main characters life and becomes essential. I would have so loved to know more about the two of them.

My other big issue was that their romance was so rushed. I don't mean that they moved quickly, but rather that the book was a little too short to allow them to fully develop feelings for one another. Weeks would pass by in a matter of sentences, and I wasn't sure why Ellie was really so attracted to Michael. Was it simply their destiny? Was he an amazingly sweet guy who showered her with attention? It might seem a small quibble, but honestly that sort of thing really does matter to me. I like to know why the characters I'm following feel the way they do. Emotion is an important part of feeling invested for me.

Really, overall, I liked Fallen Angel enough to finish it and feel good about the ending. The second half of the book picks up rather nicely, and a lot more action is thrown the reader's way. If only the pacing had been a little more even I think I might have liked it even more. I'd definitely give this book a solid library recommendation. Check it out and see what you think for yourself. After all, as I always say, I am not the ultimate opinion on any book. You might fall in love with Ellie and Michael, and I'm okay with that.

Fallen angel

Reviews

Highlights