As much as Billi desires a normal teenage experience, that isn't possible since she is a Knight of the Templar. She's the only female and the youngest member. Her father is the leader of the order, and sees Billi as any other Knight -- he's hard and unfeeling. She spends long hours training and gets no love or praise from her father.
So it is understandable that when Billi is attracted to Mike, she keeps their relationship a secret and tries to meet him on the sly and have a normal teen relationship.
Billi's best friend, Kay, has just returned from his training to be an Oracle for the order. He can read people's minds and see their auras. Billi is uncomfortable and somewhat hurt since Kay hasn't been in touch with her for over a year, and supposedly they were best friends. They are trying to figure out this new relationship, but they don't get much of a chance.
So things go bad pretty quickly. Kay and Billi both make mistakes that cause the wrath of the fallen angels, and in particular the Angel of Death to come upon the earth.
There's not much romance here, even though the blurb might indicate it. This is an action-packed horror story. There's some gruesome descriptions of battle, and a lot of tension throughout the book but especially at the end. It's a very dark book. The descriptions of the ghuls, watchers, and even the settings are bleak and horrible.
Chadda moves the plot along at a steady pace, and keeps you entrenched. The only minor problem (especially for younger readers) is that the details of the mythology and history of the order sometimes get a bit confusing.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to teens (boys or girls) who enjoy a dark, paranormal thriller. And there are lots of those teens!
Published by Disney Hyperion, 2009
Copy obtained from the library
327 pages
Rating: 4/5
I've had my eye on this series for a while and thought about picking it up. I always got the sense that the romance played a bigger part. While that's a bit disappointing, I don't think it would deter me from enjoying it now that I know that before hand. I'll think I'll pick this one. Thanks for a great review, Annette!
ReplyDeleteI might have to keep this in mind for a Halloween read ..horror and I just don't get along. ;)
ReplyDelete