Review: Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

My rating: 2 of 5 teacups


I realise it was probably a mistake to read another angel book so soon after finishing Angelfall, but it was amongst the gushing reviews and comments on the aforementioned that I read about these two books sharing a similar theme. This theme being that, rather than having pretty, sparkly, heaven-sent angels, the authors used the more traditional, violent creatures who have come to earth in order to take over. However, this is where the similarities between the two novels end.

Angel Burn has a much heavier focus on romance. In fact, the majority of the book is taken up by the development of the relationship between the male and female protagonists who are, of course, drawn to each other from the very beginning. I cannot help but be annoyed when the heroine pauses in life-threatening situtations to ogle this novel's piece of man candy. Is this normal behaviour? Surely myself and Penryn cannot be the only ones to prefer survival?

Naturally, they are already eternally, unconditionally in love by the novel's half-way marker. I also would guess that the equivalent of about sixty pages in total is given to Willow and Alex's kissing sessions. Way too much of this rather large book was about the romance. And what was the plot, exactly?

Like Article 5, like The Other Life, the bad guys are not actually that important. They are merely the tool needed to get the two lovebirds on the run together and allow for the road trip romancing to take place. Unlike Angelfall, the angel mythology is so underdeveloped. This could quite easily have been a book about vampires, werewolves, aliens - take your pick. You'd only have to change a few words and phrases here and there.

Perhaps it would not have been so bad if the romance hadn't been so damn corny as well. I'm not totally immune to the charms of a sexy guy in a leather jacket and the call of a touching romance, but this pulled some scenes that I'm pretty sure only Disney can get away with. You know what I mean, one of them is lying on the ground and no, please no, you can't be dead... I love you and then their eyes flicker open! Oh, please.

If you're a hardcore PNR fan or haven't already read way too much annoying paranormal novels then this could be for you. If you've read Angelfall recently, though, I recommend waiting a good while before reading this because, in my opinion, it pales in comparison.