Angelfall by Susan Ee | Book Review

(Penryn & the End of Days #1)

Published: May 23rd 2013 (originally January 1st 2011)

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…

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My Rating:  4.5/5 (Amazing)

Book Information

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton

Genre(s): Young-adult fiction, post-apocalyptic fantasy, paranormal

Page Count: 326

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 144477851X

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This was used for the Popsugar challenge: A trilogy (book 1)

I was planning on doing a mini-reviews for this trilogy on one post, but in the end (with the help of Casey‘s opinion) I decided against it. Now I have the chance to ramble and fangirl for a longer period of time! 😉

Quick Summary

When angels capture her crippled younger sister, Penryn Young will do whatever it takes to get her back, and that includes teaming up with one of the enemy: the wounded angel Raffe. The angel agrees to take Penryn to the aerie where her sister was taken as he’s headed there to get his wings back and in search of revenge. But will Penryn be able to survive the oncoming war and save her sister at the same time?

Plot

I can only say one thing about the plot: it was amazing. I loved how Susan Ee managed to balance out between fast and moderate paced scenes, not to mention incorporating angels in this post-apocalyptic novel. Her world-building was on point, and there was not one moment where I felt comfortable stopping! I could clearly picture this gripping world she created, this dystopian kind of world where angels are the bad guys. The scenes flipped rapidly from horror, action, humor and romance, without missing a single beat. I loved it!

Characters

If I loved the plot, I absolutely LOVED the characters. (Yes, the caps make a difference.) Penryn was just one of the best protagonists ever; a brave female character who can kick butt and be witty? A no-brainer! She is an independant girl, forced to be the sole caretaker of her mentally ill mother and younger sister. The weight of the world is on her shoulders, and does she break? Of course not, and that’s one of the things I loved about her.

Her loyalty to her family and her caring nature is what I also really loved about her; everything she did, everything she went through, was to save her little sister, and the persistence and determination she showed was simply astounding. She’s also quite smart and sassy, and I loved how she doesn’t lose those qualities over the course of the book.

Next, Raffe. Oh my god, I loved him! He is gloomy, mysterious, dark, but these qualities only made me want to know more about him. When he occasionally lets his true person show, I got to see who he really was, and I loved that person! His good looks don’t hurt either. 😉 No matter how powerful and off-limits he may be, he has true kindness within him, and I got to see more of it shine through along with Penryn in the next books as well. Then, of course, there is the strong chemistry between him and Penryn! Their comments to one another, their interactions, all add up to a perfect chemistry with a slow-burn kind of romance.

Lastly, the side characters! What I loved in Angelfall was that Susan Ee explored the other characters quite thoroughly and gives us adequate glimpses into who each person is. Penryn’s mother is one of those characters, as are the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Penryn’s mother hears things from demons and from the devil, etc, and I feel like Susan Ee executed her part quite well. As for Dee-Dum, they reminded me quite a bit of Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter; they were sneaky, and quite the jokers!

Overall, I loved the characters. They were all outstanding, and I will always hold a place in my heart for Raffryn!

Writing Style

Susan Ee’s writing style was simply gripping. There’s no other way to put it, I was captivated by her story the minute my eyes set on the first page. I could simply feel Penryn’s emotions so deeply, the scenes, the action, everything, as if I was there myself. There was brilliant prose, fast paces scenes, and crystal-clear descriptions that I adored.

Overall…

Read. This. Now. I swear, if you’re into YA Fantasy and post-apocalyptic novels, and you haven’t read this, I will chuck you with a baseball bat across the continent. Because this book was filled with amazing prose, characters, world-building and storyline. It will keep you captivated until the very end, twisting your heart in all kinds of emotions. All in all, it is an amazing read, and this is just the beginning!

Oh, and if you want some extra Angelfall awesomeness, check out the fanmade book trailer below:

That’s it for today, folks, so happy reading! What are your thoughts on this book [if you’ve read it]? Let me know in the comments below! What are your thoughts [even if you haven’t read it]? Also let me know in the comments!

But remember, if you haven’t eaten this yet, and want to, you better eat it soon!

-A