Book Review: Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

By: Courtney Allison Moulton
Published by: Harper Teen
Released on: January 29th, 2013
Series: Angelfire #3
Source: arc from publisher to review
4.5 Stars: I Really Enjoyed It!
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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

Here's the thing I don't like about series, they END! Let me insert *series I love*, because that's be honest, there are some series that just need to end, but this isn't one of those series. I started reading this book before it was out, and I didn't finish it until recently, because in my mind if I didn't finish reading it, then the series wouldn't be over. *sigh* What a fabulous ending it was too. Courtney wrapped this series up perfectly. Sure there's still a few unanswered questions I have, but I like that. I don't want a series to be all nicely packaged up, because then it doesn't leave me wondering and carrying on the story in my head. Okay now I'm sounding crazy, but I know some of you get what I'm saying. This series ended the way it should have, with changes, heartbreak, love, A LOT of action, a war, and hope! 

One of the things I liked about this book is the way Courtney wrote it. Between the moments of me sighing, crying, laughing, fist bumping the air over those kick butt action scenes and wanting to yell NO!, and I enjoyed all the little things that occur that lead up to the bigger moments. There's a few twists, and a shocking discovering I didn't even see coming. I really enjoyed this book! Given that this is the final book in the series, and with it's impending war, the theme is darker, it's a bit sad, but at the same time, there are plenty of laugh out moments that had me wiping a tear or two from my eye. I loved the humor and the oh yeah, hot moments, that were in this book. Let's just say things happen between two characters that fans have been anxiously waiting to have happen. FINALLY! 

I liked that this book/series grew with it's characters. They've all grown and changed a lot since book 1, and I loved how they've all changed. I never would have imagined how things would have worked out between Ellie and Caden, and Ellie and Will from Angelfire to now, and I love what has transpired between each of them. It's not just the main characters, but those fabulous side characters who have all stepped up and changed in different ways. Two of my favorites are Kate and Marcus! They're the two friends you'd hope main characters like Ellie and Will would have. Given that this is both a character and plot driven book, at least in my mind, I loved how the two merged together. There's a lot that happens in this book, and I enjoyed seeing what every character's role was in preparing for War, and during the War. Though it stinks, some characters do die.....

Main character wise, I love how Ellie's grown into a fierce character who can thrown down and kick the crap out  of any demon, while at the same time she has this other side to her that's reserved for those moments when she's with Will, and those other moments when she's sitting with her good friend Caden, and they're dishing it to each other. She stands firm in what she has to do, and despite making some hard choices, I admire her for doing what she felt was right. Will. He's definitely changed a lot, and I love the Ellie has made him see  the hope that love brings with it. He's a completely different person when they're together. I LOVE how supportive he is of Ellie, even if he doesn't want her to make the choices she does, he stands by her and gives her the support she needs. Caden, well that's just say he's shocked me the most! Sure there's a part of me that loved his bad boy ways, but the Caden he is now is AWESOME! He's become that trust worthy, confident friend that Ellie needs. I love that these two act like they've been friends forever. Plus, he just says it how it is to Ellie, and he too gives her all of his support.

This series wrapped up in the most fitting way possible! I don't think it could have had a more perfect ending. Really. I'm throwing out huge props to Courtney for going through a fabulous battle. There's been one too many books I've read that have copped out a bit on the ending of a huge fight scene, but this war was well written! There's causalities of war, and a heart breaking scene, but there's also a scene that will leave you sighing, and hopefully, and just... it's good! This is definitely one of my favorite angel series. I will say there is a well written sex scene in this book. It's not a graphic one by any means, but one that was written in a very tactful way.