Amaterasu Reads: ARC Review: Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. It was hard to form an opinion when I didn't know what to think of it, like going through uncharted territory, where you can't expect anything. That's what's good about Angel's Fury. Expect the unexpected.

Title: Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce
Pages: 304
Release Date: July 4th 2011
Published by: Egmont Books Ltd
Source: Publicist (thanks Jo!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary (from Goodreads):

I've started to have dreams while I'm awake. I remember music I've never heard ... I've got all this extra stuff in my head, but I'm forgetting things from my own life. I feel like I'm being taken over.

Cassie Farrier has always suffered from terrifying nightmares. On a trip to Germany she recognises scenes from her dreams and finds evidence of a sixty year-old massacre. Fearing for her sanity, her family sends Cassie to a retreat where she meets others with symptoms like her own and finds out that she has lived a number of past lives.

However, the Doctor at the retreat is not what she seems. Cassie and the boy she comes to love must escape the Doctor’s influence but can they also escape the misery of their shared past?

I didn't really see what the title had to do with the entire plot, so when I started reading this, I never thought Angels would really play a part in the story. Well I was wrong.

No solace can be found in Cass' slumber, as every night after sleepless night is filled with nightmares. Each night Cass dreams of a Jewish child named Zillah, and her death in the hands of the Nazis. Why she dreams of her she doesn't know, but when a trip to Hopfingen brings her to the same location in her dreams, and other details she thought was just a part of her imagination became real, and finding out that she speaks fluent German before she ever learned to speak English as a toddler, Cass knew she needed help. Going to Mount Hermon and seeking help of a doctor specializing in dreams seems the only way, but as Cass finds out more about her dreams and how it's related to her past lives, she also uncovers a terrifying prophecy that just might set her free or end her life.

Do you believe in reincarnation? I'm not sure I do. Dreaming about vivid things is one thing, but dreaming about your past life is a separate thing I've yet to believe. Cass makes sleeping seem like a terrifying thing to do. A girl who's haunted by visions she can't understand. Cass thought she was a freak and it scares her so much to think that she's losing her mind. Seth was an unconventional male lead. He's no shiny, knight in shining armor, nor a hero. He was just a boy suffering through violent, dark dreams like Cass. He might have been the "boy next door" type if his dreams didn't take so much away from him. Readers will be able to feel the struggle of each character while getting to know them, and won't be able to help but connect with them, no matter how much near they are in losing their grip of their individual realities.

The doctor and the other teenagers who suffers the same way as Cass felt like a demented, twisted version of X-Men, where children with powers are trained, the strongest trait of their previous life honed, to be used for a much more sinister purpose. Pandra is the poster child for an evil prodigy, and I have to admit she alone made the hairs at the back of my next stand up in fear.

I didn't make the connection to the title until I was nearing the end of the book. Reading Angel's Fury is like a treasure hunt, you get clues about what happens next but you have to wait and see what you can find out as you flip through from page to page. The truths about what Cass, Seth and the others were unraveled in great timing (just when you think you wouldn't have any clue why they were there) and the story felt complete from there.

Bryony Pearce takes the readers into a chilling, psychological ride, where Angels and Nephilim exists, desperately searching for redemption from Him. A one of a kind, original novel, Angel's Fury is a heart stopping story with a vulnerable, yet determined heroine, well-developed characters and a steady plot!

Content (plot, story flow, character):