Yo, so you should go read my review of Angelfire, Wings Of The Wicked and my interview with Courtney Allison Moulton to avoid spoilers for the series, obviously I will not post spoilers for Shadows In The Silence.
1438 pages later and I’ve finished reading the Angelfire trilogy by Courtney Allison Moulton. YOU GUYS. Shadows In The Silence was an awesome send off to a series that I was heavily invested and totally sucked into. ALSO! I love it when a series has a big payoff and the ending doesn’t leave me wanting to punch the book in the end, and you guys, the payoff in Shadows In The Silence was fantastic — I feel like as a reader, I got exactly the ending I was hoping for without any sort of contrivance. By that I mean — the ending didn’t feel stupid or fake where everything contrives to be perfect and nothing bad happens, nope instead it just absolutely fit the overall trilogy and yes, some blood was shed along the way. AND TEARS, on my end. And laughs. Pretty much the feels were involved while reading Moulton’s last Angelfire book.
At the end of Wings Of The Wicked, Will is in pretty dire straits. Seeing as how one of the Vir attacked him with poison, Will is dying. Ellie is super bereft, and so she is determined to do whatever it takes to save Will, because she loves him and all. Meanwhile, Lilith and Sammael are planning something evil which could spell the end of days for mankind. And so, besides finding an antidote, Ellie also has to find the Hallowed Glaive which will basically destroy the Fallen as long as she wields it in Gabriel form. ONLY the thing is, it could kill her. Stakes are freakin’ high and legit. OH OH and there is pretty much a bloodbath in the beginning of the book, so if you like a whole lot of action and fighting, definitely continue this series.
FRIENDS! Ellie is all grown up. Wahhh. She’s so much more adult compared to Angelfire. This is because Ellie has been through a lot of terrible things, and instead of shrugging it off in the next chapter or the next book, it changes her as a person and that change echoes throughout the book. She’s a lot more serious, less of a school girl, ya know? And I am not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s actually great to see a character mature over a lot of pages. Like, I will admit, I’d totally be Ellie’s friend in the first two books, but I’d much RATHER be Shadows In The Silence Ellie’s friend, because she’s loyal, dedicated, and strong. I like to surround myself with people who meet those qualities — most especially loyal.
If you’ve read Angelfire and Wings Of The Wicked, you know that there’s so much swoon laced in those books. You know that you’ve been waiting forever for Ellie and Will to seal the deal because you are a pervert like me. You guysssss PAYOFF. That’s all I can scream without spoiling you. What I especially loved about this whole series is that there was never a love triangle or even a question of one. PLus, the romance is so sweet. Like, Will is not a bad boy at all. Sure, he’s her guardian and has tattoos, but he’s essentially a nice guy who would do anything not to hurt Ellie. He puts her needs before his own, and vice versa. They have a relationship that’s one of the most positive that I’ve seen in young adult paranormal books.
For such huge books, this trilogy is filled with action and non-boring things. Like, most of Shadows In The Silence was ‘questing’ and battles — as the characters were either fighting the Vir or they were looking for sacred objects. FURTHER! We got to travel all over the place in Shadows In The Silence and it’s awesome because part of the travels took the characters to my neck of the woods practically. Yay, upstate NY, yay! AND! We got to go to Europe. And to the Middle East. Pretty much all over the world. I love that, because hey if the characters have the money and the ability to travel, I darn well want them to go all over the place. PLUS PLUS PLUS, there is a big huge showdown and I’m all clapping my hands and covering my eyes and pumping my fist, because I have that sort of reaction to war scenes. And yo, Armageddon — yes, that noise makes an appearance because it’s a place, not an event. And sigh, I just want you guys to read the big huge battle scene because it is SO awesome.
Confession: I bought the novella A Dance With Darkness like five seconds after finishing Shadows In The Silence and I pretty much never read those — although I kind of want to make an effort to do so. I think that if you’re on the fence about this series, maybe you should give it a shot. I quite liked the mythology, the adventure, and most definitely the romance. Like if you’re looking for YA paranormal without any sort of love triangle, with a girl who is fierce, and with a rich backstory, definitely read the Angelfire trilogy.
Disclosure: Received for review
Other reviews of Shadows In The Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton:
Me, My Shelf And I – ‘The wait for the book is worth it”
Once Upon A Twilight – “My heart ached when the end came”
Proud Book Nerd – “I found myself quite happy that I saw it through to the end”
Books by Courtney Allison Moulton:
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Sounds fantastic; great review!
OK I skimmed this review with one eye because I still haven’t read book three and I’m nervous about spoilers, but it looks like the coast is clear. I am SO excited to read this! Hopefully I can make some time this weekend.
I’m thrilled to hear I can expect a big payoff—like in the “this is an amazing, action-packed finale” sense, and also in the “PAYOFF wink, wink” sense. Love Will and Ellie so much! And yay for no triangle! 🙂