Review: Angelfall - Susan Ee

(Amazon UK) (Goodreads)

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 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.

 

My review of Angelfall:

Angelfall really wasn’t at the top of my to-be-read pile. My expectations going into it were honestly not that high as I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy books based on angels and because of that I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Angelfall was my first taste of the angel paranormal genre and I was utterly captivated by its original and gripping plotline. I loved the mix of the paranormal with the post apocalyptic genre. I also loved how the angels, stereotypically portrayed as figures of peace and hope were the agents and harbingers of death and doom. The whole juxtaposition in their portrayals just made the book and its bloody events even more shocking.

Right from the beginning I was thrown headfirst into the story and was instantly gripped by the rich and fast paced plotline. I continuously hurried back to the book at every chance just to know what happened next as it was just such a thrilling and the ultimate ‘unputdownable’ book. I loved how dark and sometimes twisted the book was, with a few shocking and disturbing scenes that really made me feel a little scared and unsettled. I can’t fault this book one bit for its action packed narrative which constantly moved from one gripping scene to the next leaving me wanting more and more of Penryn and Raffe and their adventures. It was full of suspense, danger, intrigue and on-the-edge of your seat moments. The world was so vivid and gritty; so realistic in its portrayal of a world destroyed at the hands of deadly angels. A world torn apart and filled with death, poverty, desperation and hopelessness – a great post-apocalyptic setting that held me tight in its grip.

The characters were the type that just jumped off the page; they were so realistic, so well fleshed out and fully developed. Penryn was the epitome of the perfect strong and feisty protagonist, an independent and determined young girl. Strong female leads seem to be highly popular in books lately especially in the dystopian genre, a plot device that I appreciate but I loved the fact that there was a valid although tragic reason behind Penryn’s feisty attitude, survival skills and self defence skills. I loved her selfless attitude as she travels through the dangerous landscape towards the centre of the Angels lair to rescue her young sister. She’s fierce and won’t let anything or anyone stand in the way of her goal and I loved her for it.  Her mother is also such an intriguing character although she is slightly unnerving but I hope to learn more about her in future books.

I loved the dynamic relationship between both Penryn and Raffe; a young girl and a powerful angel putting their differences aside to work together. Their bickering just made their growing relationship seem so sincere and realistic, full of emotion and tension. Their relationship just strengthened as they continued on their journey, fighting and struggling together, relying on one another to reach their destination. I loved Raffe. He is just so strong, selfless, caring despite being an angel of the apocalypse. The ending of Angelfall has undoubtedly left me dying for more Raffe!

Angelfall blew me away with its dark, eerie and heart-stopping storyline, its vivid and terrifying world and its feisty characters. The ending nearly shattered me and it left me wanting more and more, eventually leaving me wondering and worrying about the fates of the characters that I have grown to love and what awaits them next in World After.