Angel Burn (ARC), by L.A. Weatherly

In the paranormal genre, anything is possible and that is definitely the case in this book about angels, by L.A. Weatherly.  Willow is your average girl with psychic abilities, just telling her friends' fortunes and enjoying her special gift even if she knows some people find it weird.  Until one day when she ignores her own bad premonition and sees a vision of her friend that changes everything.  Soon she finds herself at the center of a huge conspiracy involving angels and humankind.  They're not as sweet as we all thought...  They're not protecting us or helping us in any way.  They're using us.  Using us until we're dried husks of the people we were before.  Until we're dying of disease or crazy, lost in a haze of confusion.  And Willow is connected in more ways than one.  Thankfully she has an angel assassin named Alex to watch out for her and help her find the truth.  Together, they crisscross around America creating a road trip of epic proportions and reminding me of many of my own travel experiences.  Of course it helped that most of the settings are places I've been to or even lived (including Denver, Colorado)!  I definitely loved that aspect of this book, because I've been on many road trips myself and it brought me right back to the long days in a car or having to stay in less-than-wonderful hotel rooms.  I especially related to Willow when she was struggling to gather enough toiletries and clothes, realizing how much she was missing.  I usually take a lot of my essentials for granted until I find myself without one of them on a trip (haha).  Anyway, that was a nice element in this book that I found especially relatable.  As for my recommendation, this book would be great for anyone who likes paranormal, romance, action, travel, angels, fantasies, twists on old concepts, YA or adventure.

Favorite things:  Willow (in many regards), because she breaks gender-stereotypes with her love of mechanics and I always love girls that do "boy" things; the different take on angels; the various settings, including many that I know personally; the travel element; the designs at the beginning of each chapter (they're an intricate pattern of swirls and lines); the fight scenes and action elements including gun shooting and the concept in general.

Criticisms:  Willow spent a lot of the book with a self-deprecating attitude that got old; it was written in alternating perspectives, which isn't normally a problem for me, but it switched back and forth from the first-person to third-person each time and that was distracting.  It's easy to read a book from either point of view, but when it switched (sometimes very abruptly) it broke my willing suspension of disbelief for a minute as I was brought back to reality to think consciously about what just happened and reacquaint myself with what I was reading.  Other than that, it also lagged in a few places and was very long, so I felt that some of the 450 pages could have been trimmed down for a more concise story.  I would've liked this book more if the perspective had been omnipresent or the same choice for the whole book and if it had been shorter.

Overall:  4 out of 5 stars...  could've been better, but I'm still going to read the next one whenever it comes out.  Angel Burn is scheduled for release in May of 2011.  :)

Note:  I was able to read this book as part of an ARC tour in exchange for my honest review.  I did not pay for this book, however that did not affect my opinion or review in any way.