Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Title: Strange Angels	Loved it	Graded
Author: Lili St. Crow
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Elements: Vampires
Series: Book 1 of a series

Dru Anderson has been “strange” for as long as she can remember. She travels from town to town with her father, hunting the things that go bump in the night and eat the unwary. It’s a weird life, but a good one–until it all explodes and a zombie busts into her new house.

Alone, terrified, and trapped in an icy town, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. Can she trust the boy who is just a little too adult–and just happens to get bit by a werwulf? Or the strange blue-eyed boy who tells her she’s heir to a long-forgotten power? Can she even trust her own instincts?

Because Dru is not the first in her family to be killed by the darkness of the Real World. The monsters have decided to hunt back–and now Dru has to figure out who to trust, who to fight, and when to run. And not incidentally, she has to figure out how she’s going to get out of this alive. And she has to do it by sundown, or it’s all over…

I like reading about girls who kick butt, but the things Dru has to go through even from the start? Wow. A hunter, she's somone who doesn't open up to outside people (meaning everybody) but she has to after her dad turns into a zombie and attacks her, and she kills him.

And that's just the prologue.

She's all alone, but lucky for her there's Graves, a classmate who took her under his metaphorical wing. After a lifetime of being close to her family members, I thought Dru grew up a lot. She seemed more human, and she wasn't as one track minded on the mission, having Graves to take care of too.

After killing the zombie formerly known as Dad, she doesn't go into a downward spiral. It's not guilt that makes her hear his voice in her head, rather he's the voice of long standing reason in her head, the one who prods her to "move move move, or get killed damnit!". After all, both she and her dad knew the risks of going into the hunting business and this day was sure to come. Dru really impressed me then, by how she held herself together and kept things going.

But that's just one part of it. The action that followed was utterly exhilarating and I wasn't disappointed one bit. There was one scene however that put the D in DUMB for me. When you're running away from the big baddie, you don't stand there and fight over who drives you out of there. That's just stupid. Fight after you get out of there safely.

All in all, it's a thoroughly satisfying read that leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to find out what's in store for Dru in the sequel, Betrayals.