Book picks similar to
Rise from Darkness by Ciara Knight


angels
young-adult
paranormal-romance
fantasy

The Scarlet Thread


D.S. Murphy - 2016
    After I saw my little brother’s death but failed to stop it, my parents abandoned me to a juvenile detention facility. I don’t let people touch me anymore. Not my fingertips, not my skin, not my heart. I make my own clothes by stitching together the donations we get; usually a bunch of crap that fits like a parachute. My sweater is a patchwork of different shades of inky, dark squares. I make plain gray skirts that hang to my knees, with cute or funny T-shirts sewed in. They clash ironically with my unsmiling face. My Allstar high-tops are black and frayed, like my soul. I also wear a chunk of brightly colored legos around my neck. My little brother was working on it the day he died. The day I failed to save him. It’s unfinished, so I’ll never know what it was meant to be. Most days, I just try to get by. But then I got a visit from a cute guy, who tricked me into giving up my secrets. He said I was special. That he needed me. For a while, I believed him. But once I found out what I could really do, I learned everybody wanted the power I possessed. The power to destroy deities. To kill gods. To end the world... or to save it. My heart is torn, and those I loved most betrayed me. I'm trying so hard to do what's right, but nobody can tell me what that is anymore, and the moral boundaries I'd always let define my life have been shattered. Whose rules should I obey now? Or do I have to make my own? The Scarlet Thread is a dark fantasy for fans of Greek mythology and Gothic romance. Fans of Fallen and Percy Jackson will be captivated by this mashup of fallen angels and forgotten gods.

A Touch Mortal


Leah Clifford - 2011
    Still, she never thought a summer fling with Az would end up costing her mortality. Now, there's no way of telling what will happen when Eden's fingertips graze human skin. The power that builds inside her, Touch, strips away morals and logic. Some people only feel a high; others are overcome by their darkest thoughts. Worse, word's gotten around that her Touch can kill her own kind, a skill Luke and the Fallen are desperate to harness. The last thing Eden needs is the rumor to spread. Especially since it's true.With the Fallen closing in, and loyalties in doubt, Eden must rely on the guy who broke her heart to keep it beating. Working with the Upstairs, Az is determined to defeat Luke and win back more than just Eden's loyalty. But Eden will be damned, literally, before she lets him off the hook that easily.

Illumine


Alivia Anders - 2012
    Haunted by vivid nightmares and hallucinations of the event she does anything she can to pretend she's like every other normal girl in High School. Only Essallie is far from normal. Able to conjure blue fire and a shimmering silhouette of wings from her body, she seeks the only known solace left to her name; her first home in Belfast, Maine.But she soon realizes that her return home is only the beginning of a long and twisted road taking her as far from her humanity as possible, with Kayden, the demon originally summoned to slaughter her, leading the way. Unable to touch her but oddly curious, he joins Essallie in her search to find out just what she is. But neither of them were prepared for the secrets they've begun to unravel, secrets that will change Essallie and everyone around her forever.

Angelfall


Susan Ee - 2011
    Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

The Beautiful and the Damned


Jessica Verday - 2013
    She’s a witch who casts spells on men so she can steal their cars. He spends his time being judge, jury, and executioner to the truly evil in the supernatural realm.When the blackouts Cyn’s been having ever since her time in Sleepy Hollow start escalating, she finds herself unable to remember where she’s been or what she’s been doing. Frightened, she seeks guidance at a local church, and it’s there she meets Avian.The unlikely pair soon discovers that her blackouts are a side effect of what she truly is—an Echo—a conduit for souls of the dead. The only way to prevent Cyn from losing complete control is to return to Sleepy Hollow and vanquish the source of her power—but she may not survive the process. And if she does? She won’t ever be the same...

Demon Kissed


H.M. Ward - 2011
    By surviving, Ivy is drawn into the conflict between the Martis and the Valefar. The war between these two immortal forces has raged for millennia without distraction. Until now. Ivy is an anomaly-she is the only person who has ever walked away from a demon kiss alive. Her survival gives her unique and deadly abilities. Too powerful to ignore, Ivy is a threat to both armies. These two ancient enemies will stop at nothing to kill the seventeen-year-old. Surviving is nothing new for headstrong Ivy, but her survival has never depended on another person before. This time it does. And if she misplaces her trust, she's dead. To her horror, she starts falling in love at the worst possible time-with the enemy. He appears to be protecting her. But she can't be certain if he is trying to help her, or help himself to her power. For Ivy, trusting the right person is the difference between love and survival, or a deadly demon kiss.

Hidden


Marianne Curley - 2013
    Confined to her home in a secluded valley, home-schooled by her protective parents, and limited to a small circle of close friends. It's as if she's being hidden. But something is changing in Ebony. Something that can't be concealed. She's growing more beautiful by the day, she's freakishly strong, and then there's the fact that she's glowing.On one fateful night, Ebony meets Jordan and she's intensely drawn to him. It's as if something explodes inside of her--something that can be seen from the heavens. Ebony still doesn't know that she's a stolen angel, but now that the heavens have found her, they want her back.

The Watchers


Lynnie Purcell - 2011
    It focuses on 16-year-old Clare Michaels and her journey to her mom's hometown of King's Cross. Long aware of her heritage - that she is the daughter of a fallen angel - The Watchers focuses on her first interaction with the world she has always hidden from. Her first interaction comes in the form of a handsome, young high-schooler, Daniel Adams. He is her clue to the world she has always been afraid to face openly...but is he a danger as well?

Sleepless


Tracey Ward - 2013
    I can't control it. My mind is a mutinous SOB that takes over when I go to sleep. I'm just a girl trying to get some shut eye while it decides to throw a rager that can land me just about anywhere in the world.The base of the Eiffel Tower.The shore on the coast of Ireland.The third baseline at Wrigley Field.Sounds exciting and fun right? Wrong. My not so superpower is unpredictable, uncontrollable and annoying as hell. It's also how I met Nick.Every cloud has a silver lining. Nick is mine.Nick is extraordinary as well. He can't feel fear. Never has, never will. It's worked out for him as a PJ in the Air Force, one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, but where it's not helpful is with his social skills. Nick is cold, distant and apathetic.He's also my hero. And if he's to be believed, I'm his.I first met him when he died and that wasn't even the weirdest moment of our relationship. Neither is this moment here and now, trapped together in an island prison on the Behring Sea. It's a long, strange story between his death and this prison. One full of sheep, docks, Jabberwocks and a very special stone. I could tell it to you if you'd like to hear it. I've got time...*Contains mild language and sexual situations.

The Beautiful Ashes


Jeaniene Frost - 2014
    don’t miss this fan-favorite tale from New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost.Ivy has always seen things that she cannot explain. Strange things. Otherworldly things. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse--her hallucinations are real, and her sister is imprisoned in a realm beyond Ivy’s reach. The one person who can help her is the dangerously attractive rebel who’s bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.The fate Adrian has fought to escape is here - but he never expected the burning need he feels for Ivy. With destiny on one side and desire on the other, Adrian must help Ivy search for the powerful relic that can save her sister. Yet he knows what Ivy doesn’t: the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could destroy the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side, Adrian on the other, and nothing but ashes in between...Originally published in 2014

The Second Sign


Elizabeth Arroyo - 2013
    So when she’s exiled to the middle of nowhere for getting kicked out of her fifth school for fighting, she doesn't expect to meet Jake. Much less fall in love. But Jake is quickly drawn to the eerie beauty of her violet eyes while Gabby is unsettled by their undeniable connection.When a demon guardian comes to collect her soul, she refuses to give it up. She’s not a demon. She can’t be. Her father and twin brother are angels. The demon gives Gabby twenty-four hours to decide her allegiance, and then starts killing her short list of friends, leaving a message behind: She is the Second Sign.As Gabby and Jake begin to unravel the mystery behind the Second Sign, she learns Jake may be the key to saving her soul. But it means a sacrifice has to be made that will change their lives forever.

Lailah


Nikki Kelly - 2014
    She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

The Ultimate Sacrifice


Talia Jager - 2011
    This is somewhat difficult because she has the ability to inflict pain on others with her mind, which is why she was sent to a special institute for kids with various gifts. It is here Kassia met her best friend Mira. Their lives will change forever after Mira is attacked and Kassia finds out her talent is much more powerful when she saves her. Little did she know that this act would attract the attention of demons. Suddenly she is on the run from them with her boyfriend, Mira, and a few of their close friends. Realizing she can't outrun the demons, she seeks the guidance of a shaman. The shaman tells her the heart breaking news that the only way to protect her friends and the institute is through her own death. Join Kassia on her journey of friendship, love, and the conflicts she must face to protect those around her.

Torn


Christine Hughes - 2013
    Not only isn’t she the normal teenage girl she thought she was, Sam must now take her father’s place in the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In addition to dealing with a devastating betrayal—and having feelings for someone she’s forbidden to love—Sam must also fight the growing darkness within her as she struggles to make a choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the temptation of the Exiled. Both sides require sacrifices Sam isn’t sure she can make.

Untethered


Katie Hayoz - 2013
    In fact, there are times she can’t even manage to stay inside it. Junior year is off to a less than stellar start for Sylvie: Her parents are splitting up, her little brother is sitting at her lunch table, and she’s the target of the school bully. Plus, she accidentally astral projects, slipping out of her body again and again at all the worst times. Sylvie is cast as the class freak and a medical misfit. She wishes she were somewhere else. Someone else. But it's only when her best friend catches the attention of the boy Sylvie's loved in secret since the fifth grade that Sylvie makes up her mind to do something drastic. Sylvie intends to get Kevin by any means possible -- even if it involves treachery, deceit, and the dark side of the paranormal. After years of trying to ignore her ability to astral project, Sylvie finally decides to embrace it. But she also decides to embrace the shadows that accompany her on her out-of-body experiences. Opening herself up to the shadows and their evil, Sylvie comes up with a malicious plan. She is positive her scheme will give her what she wants, but she doesn’t count on it all spiraling out of control.Untethered by Katie Hayoz explores the intoxicating and dangerous world of jealousy and obsession when coupled with paranormal ability. It is a touching, sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking novel that speaks to the self-doubt lurking in us all. ****Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion ***Runner up in the Mslexia Children's and YA Novel Competition.