WICKED (Celestra #4) by Addison Moore

 The Reading Cafe is featuring the books of Addison Moore.  Stay tuned for our Interview and Giveaway with Addison on Wednesday March 28, 2012

WICKED is the 4th instalment in Addison Moore’s Celestra series. Now that Skyla Messenger has meddled in the lives of every one including the recently deceased, the past continues to haunt her—every step of the way. On that note-the pace is fast: there is NO lull in the adventures: and my anxiety level is beyond my grasp.

Thanks to her own stupidity, Skyla must now face the ramifications of her actions. Thinking she was doing a ‘friend’ a favor, Skyla’s angel-blood has infused a resurrected Chloe from the dead, but now she must face the consequences. Chloe is beyond pissed. All the secrets that Skyla and Chloe have shared through the Light Travel have come back with a vengeance. Sklya is now targeted by a much stronger and newly-alive Chloe. Revenge is a bitch and her name is Chloe. Chloe will stop at nothing to rid the world of Skyla Messenger.

Logan Oliver continues to profess his love for Skyla, but trust is a major issue. Knowing that he was keeping secrets and only revealing on a ‘need to know basis’, Skyla withdraws deep into herself to hide her feelings for Logan Oliver. Now that Skyla is aware that most of the population (including her immediate family) of Paragon Island is somehow connected by blood to the Countenance, it is now necessary to be mindful of everyone. But Skyla refuses to heed the warning from both Logan and Gage, and continues to seek answers to her questions-without thinking ahead. Death and destruction follow Skyla wherever she goes. But it is the betrayal by the one who professes an enduring love-that will send Skyla over the edge.

Gage Oliver, who also professes his love for Skyla, has secrets as well. As the former ‘boyfriend’ of Chloe, Gage appears to be continuing where the couple left off, prior to Chloe’s murder. But Skyla is beyond exasperated and confronts Gage. His only response-is he has to do this-for Skyla. Gage and Skyla’s relationship was developing-one of mutual respect and love-but Chloe’s presence has Gage by the proverbial ‘hairs’ and he must do what he can to protect Skyla.

Marshall Dudley, once again, continues to seek out Skyla at every opportunity. Professing his love for the 17 year old, gives the word pervert another face. As a high school teacher, he is all over the female population, but his sights are set on Skyla-alone. His propensity for getting ‘caught’ in mind-altering situations, makes you wonder-just how powerful is Marshall the Sector. Still, we are not sure if Marshall is truly evil or good. He is battling his own demons-they are riding hard-but at what point, will we meet the ‘real’ Marshall Dudley. And to further complicate the issue, Skyla does have feelings for Marshall-although we are not sure if they are real or imagined. But Skyla needs Marshall almost as much as he needs her. His ability to ‘show’ Skyla glimpses into the future, propel Skyla into some situations that have been caught by those hoping to blackmail Skyla into silence.

Skyla’s Light-travel into the past offers a glimpse into life with her father. Skyla’s true heritage comes to light, when her father reveals that her ‘real’ mother is a ‘Caelestis’-a most powerful council Angel. But at this stage, nothing is revealed about the circumstances of how she became part of the Messenger/Landon family. Hopefully, Addison will expose the reality of the situation. We do see glimpses of what may have occurred-perhaps Tad Landon is well aware of Skyla’s true identity- but at this point, Tad is more of a comedic prop in the parenthood department. But it is her ‘sisters’ that seem to be the cause of much heartache for Skyla. Blackmail is hard, when it involves your own family, especially when it is by someone you thought you once loved.

Skyla’s group of frenemies continue to attack at random. Michelle’s spiral into demon-haunted nightmares results in a crazed young woman with a propensity to cut her hair at strange angles and intervals. Ellis, as a young Count, has yet to reach into his powerful heritage, but something tells me, he may be one of Skyla’s only hopes for rescue. Pierce and Nat’s relationship takes a stumble, when Skyla is attacked at every opportunity by Pierce, hoping for angel-infused blood and Brielle, her latent BFF, is now pregnant with her brother’s child-what better way to build up the next generation of the Countenance. And Holden’s disembodied spirit keeps Skyla on edge, because revenge is a nasty word, even by a ghost.

But it is the amount of blood shed, near death experiences, random attacks and the numerous killing rampages by these ‘teens’, that have me wondering…if not for the age of the characters…could you really call this series….Young Adult? I have said on many occasions-Young Adult fiction is not for the young any more- there are just as many adults reading YA fiction as there are teens. The content is violent and graphic. A high school teacher having sex with young teenage girls is unethical immorally and technically illegal-although he is a paranormal supernatural being-I am not sure where to draw the line. But this is NOT the first time that in Young Adult fiction, where a person in a position of authority, has been caught in a compromising position with a young female student.

Reviewed by Sandy