"Angelfall" Book Review

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and The End of Days
Number in Series: #1
Copyright: 2012; Feral Dream LLC; Amazon Children's Publishing.
Genre: YA / Supernatural / Paranormal / Suspense / Apocalyptic / Angels
Pages: 284
ISBN: 9780761463276
My Rating: 4.5 / 5
Content Rating: PG-13 / 15+ (for some alcohol/drug use, violence, some swearing, blood and gore, scary images, and suspense)


This book was impossible to put down.

It pulled me in and refused to let me go until the very end... even now I still feel it clinging to me.

Within the first paragraphs, I was already in love with the author's writing style.  Not only do we have a heroine who has a strong powerful voice, but she also has purpose to that voice and why she is the way she is.  The author did an excellent job of portraying that in a very narrative way.

This story takes place after the Apocalypse has occurred.  Only, in this war, angels were not there to protect the humans of the world... they were the destroyers of it.  The angels attacked, wiping out nearly all civilization.  The few who survive now hide from the terror in the skies.  Even the deadliest gang members retreat to their safe houses when the night falls.

The day belongs to the refugees and raid gangs.  But at night, they all clear out, leaving the streets deserted by dusk.  There's a strong fear of the supernatural now.  Both mortal predators and prey seem to agree on listening to their primal fears and hiding until dawn.  Even the worst of the new street gangs leave the night to whatever creatures may roam the darkness in this new world.

p.3

Enter Penryn, with her schizophrenic mother and paralyzed little sister.  They are attempting to escape in order to find more supplies and hopefully a safer place to rest their head.  It's night and the streets are quiet.  As they move through the destroyed city in Northern California, it's only a matter of time before an attack happens.

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world.  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 fight 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 Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister, and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

--Book synopsis

One thing I absolutely love about this book is that it is not a romance.  Yes, romance tales are wonderful, but this author has a way of telling a main story where each character has their own agenda, and falling in love is not one of them.

I felt Ee did a good job at keeping the action engaging, even during the "slower" times in the book, like when Raffe and Penryn are getting to know one another.  Not only does this keep the pace of the book going strong (continually drawing you in) but when the intense moments arrived, you knew they arrived.  These dramatic moments were pronounce.

By having this story told in first-person, it kept us in the action.  I know several YA books written in first-person, but I haven't read one quite as thrilling as this.  Ee does a masterful job at telling a story from this perspective.

Finally, the author's amazing ability for twists and turns throughout the story is mind boggling.  There were things I did not see coming (especially towards the end during the climax).  Ee has an amazing imagination and really takes a spin on angels in a way I haven't seen done before.  Not only is this a war against the humans, but it's a war between angels--a political war nonetheless--all because the Messenger was killed:

Like most people, my first introduction to angels was through the looping footage of the Archangel Gabriel being shot.  I can't help but wonder if the angels would have been less hostile if we hadn't immediately killed their leader.  At least, they think he was killed.  No one knows for sure because the body wasn't recovered, or so they said.  The legion of winged men floating behind him dispersed with the panicked crowd, quickly disappearing into the smoky sky.  I wonder if Raffe was part of that legion.

p.101

This book is rather intense and has more blood/violence than I normally care for (hence the 15+ rating).  However I do admire Ee's creativity with angel mythology and how angels run things.  The characters felt "alive" and well-rounded for me, more so than other YA books I have read.  Penryn is an awesome female lead character with an attitude, and Raffe isn't your normal "tall, dark, handsome, bad-boy" sort either.  Yes, he does have good looks (he's an angel after all), but there's a lot more to his character than what we read in this book.  There's a wall he hides behind and we don't get a glimpse into his character until the very end.  Even then, it's not much to go on, but I love how Ee is developing him.

Also, one of my favorite characters is Josiah.  He's great, though I'm still on the fence as to which side he's fighting for... You'll know understand when you read about him.  He definitely sticks out in a crowd, and his eyes are to die for. ^-^

Overall this book is well written, very engaging, full of twists and turns, with major battles being fought (both external as well as internal).

The way in which the book ends leaves me thirsty for more.

As Penryn herself asks:

Who will guard against the guardians?