Rating: 4 Stars
After I finished reading this book I was thinking about what I liked about books when I was younger (a lot younger). The main thing was adventure. I loved stories that had magic and characters that I pulled for and got swept into their story. This is totally what happened to me when reading The Last Angel Warrior. Definitely a great adventure tale for young (and older) readers!
The story follows Kalib Andrews as he approaches his sixteenth birthday and discovers that there are, among other things, demons and magic in the world. A stranger tries to kill him one evening walking home from his job at the local diner. That same evening he sees a stranger with yellow eyes outside of his bedroom window. Then things get even creepier when a new teacher at school has the same symbol on a charm that they both wear and was a patron that asked too many questions when Kalib served him at the diner. This teacher seems just a little too interested in him. Then did I mention his parents tried to kill him just a couple of days later.
The world is not what Kalib thought it was. Then he finds out he is actually the last Angel Warrior. Whatever that is! Kalib will need to figure everything out soon because there is a prophecy that says he will be killed and his blood used to release a goddess from a prison of magic on his sixteenth birthday.
There was a lot of action in the book. Loved that! You know something big is going to happen from page one. Therefore, I was invested in the outcome from the very beginning. The action and mystery elements are the main star of the story. They are what made the book for me. The author was able to surprise me a couple of times with events I was not expecting. The unpredictability of the story was another plus.
There was not a great deal of character development which I missed a little. Yet I can’t fault the author because the type of development I like would bore a younger reader to dead. So taking into account the intended audience, I think there was enough to hold the story together. I also liked the various characters and how they interacted. The theme of true friendship was subtle but well done.
This story was described as young adult, but it read and felt more like a middle grade tale. Which was OK, since I read both. However, if you don’t care for stories geared toward the younger side of young adult this may not be the book for you. If that does not matter, then I recommend this to you. Lastly, there is no foul language or inappropriate scenes in this book making it suitable for readers as young as 8 provided they are not bothered by a story that is a little scary.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for me honest review.