SHADOWS IN THE SILENCE by Courtney Allison Moulton

Shadows in the Silence
Courtney Allison Moulton

Rating: A-
Release Date: 01/29/13
Synopsis:
Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .
Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

My thoughts on the book:
Shadows in the Silence is a heart-wrenching, action-packed thrill ride that you cannot miss. This novel will rip your heart out several times and give it back to you. You'll get to where you're afraid to turn the page because something awful may be lurking on it, but you have to know what happens next. Moulton lures you into false senses of security while simultaneously crushing you. It's an emotional roller coaster, that's for sure. 

Ellie grows into her angelic identity more in this book, and through that the reader (and Ellie) feel as if she's losing a part of herself in the process. However, she carries on because she's just that kick ass, and she's willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity, if that's what it takes. I really respected her in this book. She was strong, yet emotional, and I could completely relate to her every step of the way. Likewise, Will's situation, while heartbreaking, feels like it was what was meant to be. Everything he goes through also shows how deep his and Ellie's connection really is. 

The plot was non-stop action and suspense. I could not put this book down. However, I do feel that Moulton dragged out the final battle a bit long. I felt like she could have shaved at least 100 pages off of the second half of the book and the story still would have kicked ass. It felt like unnecessary length was added in several places. I know that loose ends had to be tied up, but I just think she could have paced it a bit better. The ending was satisfying, though heartbreaking. When I finished this book, I felt like the war was over and the characters had grown as much as they could. Moulton did an excellent job of tying everything together. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book, and this series, to anyone who loves a good YA epic romance/adventure/angel story. All three books are amazing and not to be missed. 

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