Title: Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days #1)
Author: Susan Ee
Release Date: May 23rd 2013
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought from Fully Booked
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...Angelfall is one of those rare books that very easily engages readers. I had to put it down a couple of times, but I was instantly sucked right back into the story when I picked it up again, like I never stopped in the first place. Penryn reminded me of Katniss Everdeen with how she had to take care of her mother and younger sister, but I think that's where the similarities end.
There was a time when I felt like all the heroines I'd been reading about were becoming stereotypical - smart, brave, short-tempered, and kickass - and then, suddenly, they stopped coming. Maybe I started looking for them in the wrong books, but the last kickass heroine I read of was Tris from Divergent, and that was last year, so Penryn was definitely like a breath of fresh air in the sea of lovesick girls - not that being in love is a weakness. Even when Penryn unknowingly started falling for Raffe, she still had her priorities sorted out, namely her family's safety. She always put herself second to them, even shoving her hurt, uncertainties, and fears into a locked compartment of her heart because she wouldn't let those puny feelings jeopardize her family's survival.
Raffe, on the other hand, was like a closed book doused in sarcasm and danger. Except for the rare moments when he let his guard down, he was a mystery to solve. I could never guess what he'd do next, and aside from his love for his wings, sword, and Penryn, I now realize that I don't really know much else about him. Which is sad because he's probably the most honest-to-God angel I've ever read about. Also, there's just something about a superior creature's weakness and defeat that gets to me worse than a human's. The odds were not in Raffe's favor, and every time that proved true, my heart just broke.
Penryn and Raffe's romance is probably one of the most well-developed I've ever read. Their relationship may have been forged out of necessity, but they slowly started truly caring for one another and they unraveled each other with actions, not words. People say that communication is key, and I believe that too, but in a world like the one Susan Ee created, words are either a luxury or a detriment.
I was wary of the fact that we're given only the "angels came down from heaven and blasted everyone and everything apart" how of the apocalypse aspect and not much else. I've been a Catholic my entire life and I've always been taught that angels are God's minions in his heavenly work, not instruments to end humanity, and since this is fiction, I'm pretty sure we could have been given a damned reason for the angel apocalypse! Sadly, until the end, we are left in the dark, but only because the angels themselves are blindly following orders from way up, so fine, I'll let that go for now.
An intense and unpredictable adventure set in a uniquely-imagine future, Angelfall is a book to be devoured. I can't imagine anyone having a hard time reading this, and now I can say that it truly deserves all the hype. Thank heavens I have the sequel sitting beside me or I might have gone bonkers already.
MY FAVORITE PART was when Penryn Hulk-smashed the assclown soldier up in the hills/mountains.
RATING:
I am reading World After right now, so good! The intesity of both books make them so easy to read and get immersed it. I agree, I think it lives up to its hype.
ReplyDeleteAshley @ The Quiet Concert