When Ash Rains Down (Kingdom Come #1) By Cecelia Earl [Review]

RELEASE DATE:  January 4, 2017
AUTHOR: Cecelia Earl
GENRE:  Young-Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance.
SUMMARY: Being crowned homecoming queen and enduring a week at the center of her classmates’ attention is eighteen-year-old Julia White’s worst nightmare—even with Cole, her long-time crush, as her date. But when Julia is attacked by a green-blooded demon that vanishes in a plume of smoke, she comes face to face with what real nightmares look like—in the flesh, and all of the homecoming stuff hardly matters anymore.

As a frightening wave of crime infiltrates her small Wisconsin town, Julia tries to avoid Nicholas, a brooding, infuriating relative of Cole’s, who insists she’s the reason behind the corruption. He claims the culprits are demons who are after powers that only she—a human-angel hybrid—possesses. It’s unbelievable, of course, until he takes her to a hidden battlefield where warrior angels train to fight soul-siphoning demons—and her own angelic wings unfold.

When angels and demons draw battle lines, endangering everyone in their way, Julia has to find a way to protect them all, including herself. Because as it turns out, she’s the devil’s most powerful weapon against the angels, and he’ll stop at nothing to claim her.

The final battle between Heaven and Hell has begun.

Well, this was an okay read but not impressive enough to amaze me. I picked this up solely because of it’s beautiful cover and also because I love the concept of angels and demons in paranormal genre. This book felt like a typical YA paranormal read that I’ve already read so many times before. Honestly, I probably would’ve loved it if I had read this ten years back. Basing on the synopsis, it’s pretty easy to predict what’s gonna happen next and the heroine seemed kinda annoying too. Nonetheless, It wasn’t a bad read because I enjoyed  it and readers who are new to this genre would definitely love this book.

Eighteen Year Old Julia White is a high school student who lives with her mom and her little brother Noah. She works at her mom’s dingy diner named Melissa’s and dreams on providing better life for her mom and brother. She doesn’t have any social life and wants to graduate early so that she could find a decent job and when she was crowned as a homecoming queen, it becomes her worst nightmare because it gets everyone’s attention on her especially her long time crush/homecoming king, Cole who wants to take her on a date. Her life  turns pretty much upside down, when a green blooded monster attacks her and vanishes in a smoke. And here comes Cole’s infuriating cousin Nicholas who warns that her life’s in danger because of her heritage and also claims that angels and demons are actually real and she’s the reason behind all the increasing crime and corruption lately in her town. Julia doesn’t believe Nic’s words until he takes her to the battleground where she finds Angels and demons fighting against each other. To protect her family, Julia needs to embrace her mixed heritage and join the fight against the demons.

Julia is a bit annoying for my taste but I can also understand her situation because she just only wanted the best life for her family. It was pretty hard for me to connect with her mainly because of her personality. She’s constantly jealous of other people’s life who has lots of money and sometimes mean too. I liked Cole, he is charming, handsome and  mysterious character who hides many secrets. Nicholas is definitely my kinda guy who is broody, infuriating and very tempting. There isn’t any triangle in this book yet but it’s possible there’s going to be one in the next book. The romance between Cole and Julie is okay but it didn’t interested me much. I wish there was more Nicholas in this book but I guess we’re going to see him more in the next  book. The supporting characters are not bad but they aren’t memorable enough to describe.

The plot wasn’t original but it was decent enough to enjoy. The book started with a slow pacing with all the normal contemporary high school drama but thankfully the pace eventually picks up in the second half where the real action starts. Honestly, I liked the second half more than the first half of the story. The story was told in Julia POV but I think I would’ve loved it more if it was written either in dual or multiple POV. I enjoyed the writing. For a debut author, the writing is good and easy to understand. I also liked the concept of the book but I wish it wasn’t too predictable.

Overall, It was a good read! I really think It was a good debut for the author and I hope the next book going to be much better.

Recommend it?
Yes!

Just because I didn’t loved it, It doesn’t mean it was a bad read. This book really has potential and many readers will probably enjoy it more than me.

MY RATING:  [3/5 Stars]

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