Review: Ellie is an ordinary girl until she turns 17 and finds out, well, she isn't so ordinary after all. She is the Preliator, a timeless warrior destined to be reborn over and over, to hunt the Reapers, creatures that steal human souls taking them to Hell.
This was an unexpected surprise. I've been postponing reading this one, because I was afraid I wouldn't like it, or that it wouldn't be great; but I was wrong and actually loved it.
Starting with Ellie, I love she isn't your typical damsel in distress - she is the main character in the fight against the Reapers. She also tries to balance her human life, teenage drama included (friends, parties, parenting problems), with her fighting life, that includes lying to everyone she likes. Bonus, she fights with swords!
Will is Ellie's Guardian, responsible for finding her in every new of her lifes and waking her up as a warrior, besides protecting and guiding her. He's a pretty adorable guy. It's hard to resist when someone is saying all the time their purpose in life is to serve and protect us. (Joscelin, from the Jacqueline Carey Kushiel books, I'm thinking of you.)
The relationship that builds up between the two is absolutely delicious, with a certain chemistry that feeds on the fact that these two actually have known each other for 500 years. The thing is, one can remember it (Ellie is having some trouble remembering her other lives), and the other is probably in denial over his feelings. The romantic part was so annoyingly slow that I jumped chapters a couple of times to check when the good stuff was coming.
Some other interesting characters: Kate, the friend that says the craziest things; Nathaniel, the librarian-who-can-find-anything; Bastian, the on-call bad guy - and about whom we end up knowing nothing about; an Caden - he is promising as one of those characters you don't know which side is he on, but he was underused. He shows up is the middle of the book once and then in the ending, where is role was not explained at all.
The plot could use some polishing, as the book is quite big and it drags on in the middle. I'd cut some social events Ellie goes to and some of the fights against the Reapers too. Don't get me wrong, the fights are awesome, and bloody, and everyone is always getting injured or being slammed into a wall. But story-wise they do nothing and are just fillers that lead the story nowhere.
The ending, well, I wasn't expecting the revelation we got, but it is quite interesting and promising for the next book. And this one ends with a closure, not with a cliffhanger, which is also a bonus in my book.
The worldbuilding and the mythology are very complex and compelling, but I wish some things were better explained and there were more revelations. The author definitely has some stuff to get better in her writing and plotting, but she created a fascinating world and has a lot of good ideas here. I loved the book because it reversed the main characters' roles, because it has an awesome mythology, because I was swooning at Ellie and Will's coupling, and because I'm dying to get my hands on the next book (coming in 2012).
Pages: 464
Publisher: HarperCollins (imprint Katherine Tegen Books)
Glad it was this good. I've been reading mixed reviews, so I was also afraid of not liking it... :)
ResponderEliminarYou sure make it sound like a promissing read.
ResponderEliminarI've heard good things and bad things about this book, so I was in doubt, but if everything you pointed out is true, I think I'll give it a shot.
One question thogh, is this YA? I thought it was adult, but you said some things that make it soundlike YA.
It's much better than some reviews make it sound. I realize more demanding readers might not like it because of its flaws, but I enjoyed it a lot. ;)
ResponderEliminarYes, Ana, it's YA. ;) I thought the girl in the cover was very misleading, as Ellie is only 17 years.
*wishlists it*
ResponderEliminar