Release Date: August 18th, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Where to Buy:
Here's the Summary:
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 Raffe, an injured enemy angel. Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, 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.
My Thoughts:
I'm not going to break this one down into my "the good, the bad and the ugly" categories since this isn't a read-to-review book, but Angelfall was so incredibly good I couldn't pass up an opportunity to rave about it for a few paragraphs.
First of all, this was everything I had been hoping for in
Alice in Zombieland (and if you follow me on Goodreads, you know I was sorely disappointed!). Angelfall was gritty, intense, deliciously disturbing yet wonderfully poignant.
So let's start with Penryn's family, which, in addition to Penryn, who is a semi-normal teenage girl (well, as normal as one could be in a post-apocalyptic world), consists of a disturbed, schizophrenic mother and paraplegic younger sister, and they are trying to survive is a world that is in ruins after the angels came to destroy it. Yes, angels destroyed our world! Their family dynamic here is gut-wrenching and harrowing (and when you read about some of the things her mother does, you'll know why I say harrowing), but somehow still manages to give you warm fuzzies. Because despite everything, they still love each other and stick together as best they can. Kudos to Ms. Ee for being able to pull that off. And as the summary states, one of the angels takes off with her disabled sister, which spirals us into the events to come.
Now for the state of the world. Not only did the angels destroy it, they're still stationed on Earth and kidnap small kids (like they did Penryn's sister) for... well, I'll let you find that part out on your own. But it was horrible. Not that we get many true answers as to why they did it, but I assume that will be answered at some point in the next two installments. Lets just say there were many times in this book that my jaw was hanging open and I had to actively pull myself back together to keep reading.
DID I MENTION I LOVE THIS BOOK?
Lastly, there was the gorgeous and contemptuous angel Raffe who'd had his wings cut off by fellow angels, and after Penryn helps saves him, he grudgingly agrees to help her find her sister. Of course there's some selfish ambitions involved on his part - he wants to try and get his wings back. But who could blame him? And yes, a forbidden romance is hinted at, though never fully engaged. Maybe in the next book? I hope so! The rest of the book follows their travels, and little pieces of the overall plot are put together along the way. For instance, we find out that there is a human rebellion planning a counter-attack on the angels, and that there are little demon creatures that like to eat humans, but it isn't clear yet why they're there or where they came from. And in addition to destroying the world and kidnapping kids, the angels have taken a fancy to many human indulgences, including, um... our women.
We'll leave it at that.
So... to say that I loved this book would be an understatement. It was one of the most well thought out, exciting and gut-wrenching Young Adult, Paranormal books I've ever read. And that still doesn't even cover it. If you love grit and suspense with a touch of the warm fuzzies, you'd be doing yourself a horrible disservice if you don't pick up a copy of this up immediately! Just be forewarned that parts of Angelfall are not for the squeamish. If you can't tolerate hints of gore, this isn't for you.
About the Author:
Susan Ee is a USA Today bestselling author of the Penryn & the End of Days trilogy, ANGELFALL, WORLD AFTER, and END OF DAYS. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages, and her short films have played at major festivals. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her imagination to bust out and go feral.
Sign up to hear about her next book at www.susanee.com or follow her on Twitter @Susan_Ee.
