Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, #1)

by Susan Ee

The incredible internet phenomenon that already has over 8,000 different five star reviews. (And counting.)

'An explosive, pulse-pounding journey' - Star

'The new Young Adult fantasy phenomenon' - Grazia

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.

Including making a deal with the enemy.

• ISBN10: 0983597014
• ISBN13: 9780983597018
• Publish Date: 1 February 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Feral Dream
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: I enjoyed listening to the audiobook because I thought Caitlin Davies was a wonderful narrator. She sounded conversational without going over the top and didn't try too hard to come up with voices for all the characters. The narration flowed well and sounded very natural, which I liked.

Angelfall itself was a good book too. Humans and angels interacting on the same plane was something new to me. It was interesting to see individual angels with their own traits. They were distinctive characters that didn't fail to surprise. As with a lot of dystopians, there were periods of time that nothing seemed to be happening. Everyone was just trudging along in the hopes of reaching a destination. Those times hardly ever hold my interest. Nonetheless, I liked Angelfall.

I loved this! I've had this book for over a year and I can't believe I hadn't read this sooner. I really, really enjoyed this book, I loved that even though angels were the paranormal beings this book revolved around religion wasn't thrust into your face. I'm dying to read book two and I'm sad to see book three won't be out for another whole year. So long to wait!

[Katie King]

**4 stars**

Angelfall leads off with our heroine, Penryn, and her mother and sister making a desperate attempt to escape the condo they live in. Six weeks earlier, angels had come to Earth, bringing a wave of death and mass destruction. Penryn and her family come across a group of angels punishing another angel by cutting off his wings. Penryn interferes, but pays the price: her sister Paige is taken during the angels' retreat. Thus begins the journey to the angel stronghold; Penryn for her sister, and the angel, Raffe, for his wings.

Okay, so the premise sounds really unoriginal. Before reading this, it's easy to predict that the angel is called "hot" and "sexy" numerous times and falls in insta-love with Penryn. In a way...that's true. But this is so much more.

Raffe is strong, secretive, and NOT tripping over himself at the sight of Penryn. Penryn is a tough cookie, banding together with Raffe only as a means of finding and rescuing her sister. They take turns helping each other out, but only to advance their cause or prevent detection. As they make their way across California, they situations they face help the reader feel how they learn to rely on another. When it came time for the kiss, Ee wrote the scene perfectly. You'll see what I mean.

The mother is utterly insane and it is too easy to sympathize with Penryn when she is reluctant to see her. Paige goes from a feeble, disabled girl into something creepy as hell in a scene that's delightfully disturbing.

As for the plot, Ee took something decidedly trendy and gave it a creepy twist. Though you see bits and pieces of the twist in the beginning, the last 1/4 really takes the cake. Some may say it felt 'unnatural' in the story, but I say it was a welcome breath of fresh air. Being a self-published, self-edited debut, it is hard to criticize Ee's writing. It obviously isn't the best, but pointing out any flaws just feels like nitpicking to me. Ee did such a great job on her own that I cannot in good conscience complain.

The one flaw I will mention is the lack of information we receive. Although the angels don't know why they are on Earth, someone must have an idea. What was it like when they first came? Why was Uriel experimenting? What was he up to in general?? What is the divide between the different archangels/angels/demons? Et cetera. Most things we learn about the angels just add to the confusion. Maybe this is on purpose. Maybe Ee wants us to experience Earth from a human's point of view - becoming consistently more confused about what's going on. Maybe it was just a simple oversight. I hope she addresses this is further novels.

Summary
A strong debut that brings a welcome change to an oversaturated genre. The almost horror-like twist is refreshing. Limited background information leads the reader astray and sometimes, off a cliff. Regardless, I eagerly await the sequel.
 

[MurderByDeath]

This is a re-read for me; I was going through my archives, trying to update this blog and my presence on the new site, bookhype.com, when I came across is and just felt like I needed to re-read it.

It held up well, though my original rating was 4 stars, and on the re-read it gets 3.5.  I'm not sure why, except that on the second read, I found parts tedious.  But it remains a compelling read.  I still didn't really connect with Penryn as a character, but Raffe became more compelling.

The same elements of it disturbed me that disturbed me the first time around; I don't think I'd really like to see the imaginings of Susan Ee too up close and personal, but the story remains, to a degree, haunting.

[boghunden]

Some things are just not my cup of tea. Angels and mermaids are one of them. Because this is a book about angels, I was skeptical before I started reading it. I'd read quite a few reviews which all talked about a "kickass heroine," and that was all it took for me to pick up this book - and the fact that the main character had to save her disabled sister.

Unfortunately, this book was just a dull experience. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I couldn't feel the characters and I didn't really care about them. That makes it quite hard to like a book. Penryn's mom was supposed to have a mental disorder/disabillity, but to me she just seemed ignorant.

As far as the plot goes, I guess this book deserves some kind words: there was absolutely no insta-love! It took a lot of pages before the romance started to happen, and I really liked that. They actually got to know each other before they got intimate with each other. I guess that's the most kind words I have for this book. I didn't really feel like much was happening...

I won't be continuing this series.

[girlinthepages]

This book came recommended Goodreads via a friend who shares my love of paranormal fiction and romance. She claimed she read it in one sitting and that it was a must-read, so naturally I immediately went to Amazon and found it for less than $5 in paperback. So instead of ordering my textbooks, I happily dropped this into my cart and had it in my hands two days later.

Now, I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I am a sucker for paranormal books that deal with angels. Sadly, many books in this genre are disappointing, riddled with weak plots, poor writing, or completely ridiculous love triangles. I was delighted to discover that Angelfall avoids all three of these problems, and adds a twist to the genre by setting it in a post-apocalyptic society. This end-of-the-world setting is fantastic because it makes sense, as there are multiple times in the Bible when God and his angels intervene and cause destruction as punishment (the great flood, the destruction of Sodom, etc). This book hammers down the often-forgotten concept in popular culture that angels are warriors, not cherubic spiritual beings who are meant to lazily float in heaven all day long.

I applaud Susan Ee for doing her biblical and mythological research about Angels while adding her own imaginative twists. She expertly weaves in tales of Nephilim, the Daughters of Man, the hierarchy of angels, and other biblical tropes to form the foundation her world building, while adding her own unique (and sometimes disturbing) twists. She blends dystopian, paranormal, and sci-fi together and chooses her setting as the Northern California Bay Area, and as a California native I was jumping up and down with delight. So rarely are books set in California set anywhere but the beaches in SoCal, and it adds a level of realism to know where in the world the book is set, as so often post-apocalyptic books never really disclose where their characters are in pre-apocalyptic geography. Knowing exactly where they are lends a lot more realism to the plot, especially if you've ever visited San Francisco or the Silicon Valley.

Ee also does a great job at developing strong characters as well. I was delighted to discover that Penryn shows a lot of agency for a female protagonist, without being emotionally unreachable. She's relateable even as she's shoving steak knives in her pocket and holding people hostage for information. The brief moments throughout the book where she reflects upon her childhood with her schizophrenic mother provides an interesting look at mental illness and the impact it has on family relationships. Penryn may not be the one hundred percent full feminist protagonist that many readers are still waiting for (for instance, there are times when I wished she would have spoken up more) but she's a strong step in the right direction, as she's sassy, resourceful, and never deviates from her main goal from the beginning of the text. Also, most of her dialogue is realistically hilarious:

“I never kid about my warrior demigod status."
"Oh. My. God." I lower my voice, having forgotten to whisper. "You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I’ll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That’s what you are.”

For some reason that line had me in peals of laughter, possibly because this book kept me up until all hours of the night reading it.

Yes this book has romantic undertones but it's not forced upon the reader, and is secondary to the major plot elements (which is a realief because both characters have bigger issues to deal with). Raffe, the angel she teams up with, is witty but also realistic in his often cool detachment and business-like attitutde...which is a nice reminder that these paranormal creatures are not humans and should not conveniently fall head over heels for some ordinary female protagonist. There is an undercurrent of chemistry throughout the book that will probably develop throughout the next in the series, but there was so much other great, interesting, intriguing, and disturbing stuff going on that the romance isn't the main thing that will make me return to the series.

Also, a point of clarification for my rating: one of the reasons I didn't give Angelfall a 5/5 star review is that some of the imagery is really quite disturbing, and I am not usually one who is a fan of the horror genres. Yes, it did add greatly to the dark, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the book but I was taken by surprise because I wasn't expecting such imagery from the YA genre. To me, it was even more graphic that Hunger Games (which may not be saying much, but I'm not a big zombie/gore/horror person). And while I'm sure some of my questions will be answered when I pick up the sequel, it does feel a bit mind-boggling in this book when you have angels alongside gruesome science experiments, cannibalistic demons and reanimated, stitched back together corpses...

But it all serves as just more reasons to pick up the next one! However horrifying, I can't not read the next one, so Ee has done her job at creating a strong readership for her series.

Final Thoughts: I give this book 4/5 stars for it's original yet historical take on the angel genre, strong and original characters, and dealing with difficult issues such as handicaps and mental illness. Don't get me wrong, if you love romance this won't disappoint, but it's a subtle brewing tension rather than hitting you in the face with the obvious five chapters in. If you don't do well with disturbing imagery, I might stay away or at least not read it right before you go to bed (a mistake I made that jolted me awake at 6am on a Sunday morning). This book is less than 300 pages but will have you finishing in no time as it's writing style and short chapters prove it impossible to find a satisfying place to take a break from the story.

Recommended for: Those who want a more realistic and graphic depiction of the post-apocalyptic world, those who appreciate a not-obvious and realistically building romance, those who gravitate toward darker depictions of mythology. For those who read and enjoyed: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Lux Series, Hunger Games.

[KitsuneBae]

This review first appeared on Thoughts and Pens

Books like Angelfall are one the few reasons why readers shouldn’t give up on reading paranormal stories and picking up self-published books. The journey might be taxing but once you come across stories like Angelfall, all those hitches you’ve passed by will be greatly compensated. It is amazingly unique and greatly depicts Susan Ee’s superb devotion to the genre.

Rather than being your typical fluffy angel read wherein you daydream about being saved by a chiselled, glowing, haloed, creature of goodness; Angelfall will deliver you straight to a world of macabre and horror where angels are the warlords of blood and suffering. There will be no escape from it and the only thing you can do is to accompany Penryn and Raffe in their gruelling journey.

The first thing that I love about Angelfall is that it started strong. I was immediately thrust into an action filled scenario that got my adrenaline pumping. And the main characters immediately stood out to me. Penryn and Raffe are perhaps one of the oddest pair that you would stumble upon in Ee’s world of apocalypse but oh boy, they are a perfect match made in heaven. They have equal levels of bad-assery, arrogance, loyalty, ambitiousness and cunning. They’re two creatures who know what they want and wouldn’t rest until they get it. I SHIP THEM! I TOTALLY SHIP THEM, dammit!

And don’t get me started about the secondary characters. Penryn’s mom is a curious subject with her schizophrenia disorder. I am not an expert on it but based on my reading, Susan’s portrayal of the disease is almost realistic. However, her tendency towards violence is something that is subject for debate because schizophrenics are socially withdrawn and are more likely to hurt themselves than those around them. Another character that caught my attention was Paige. Heaven knows how I struggled not to kill the bastards who made her into a monster. Uriel and his cronies should be the ones sporting the devil’s wings and suffer eternal punishment in Hell for what they did. Grrrr.

Another asset of Angelfall is its fantastic world-building. The future Northern California is a perfect picture of anarchy and melancholy. The destruction felt authentic without resorting to terrible info dumps. It was scary with Ee’s talent of manipulating the book’s atmosphere to become dark and chilling.

Angelfall’s plot is also a gem. It’s an apocalyptic story laced with a seraphic mythos and sci-fi elements. Further to that, there’s a political intrigue amongst the angels here which is quite surprising. I mean, angels are supposed to be busy with fighting the Devil’s spawns but Angelfall tells us again that it’s not one of those riffraff books that failed to provide a concrete foundation about angelic community. For all their honourable reputations, angels are scheming, malicious bastards. There’s so much going on in this book that it’s hard to put down.

The only downside that I can point about Angelfall is that it has a huge parallelism with The Hunger Games in terms of plot driver. Everything that happened in THG was triggered because Katniss was uberly loyal to her sister. And her actions set things in motion that eventually led her to become the symbol of the rebellion. And here in Angelfall, our young heroine’s exploits are also the product of her relentless need to protect and save her sister. However, I was just glad that Paige’s role is more than that of Prim’s. And thus, I am willing to overlook the said likeness.

To conclude, Angelfall is not your average angel book. It exudes a sinister aura that will certainly make a great masochist out of a reader. Yes, it is painful…it is full of corruption…it is carnage contained in a book but despite all that, you will choose to read it… you will choose to endure.

Apocalypse is coming.

[nannah]

Quick question before I begin: did this book exist as a Supernatural (CW) fanfiction before it became what it is now? It feels like the plot's apocalypse (angels attacking humans without knowing from whom their orders really come from or why but obeying them without question), among other details, could come directly from the floors of the show's writers' room. That, or things are just all starting to sound similar these days. I haven't really read a lot of angel YA fiction, so maybe I'm not the best person to be making judgements.

But speaking of the apocalypse itself, that's one big problem I had with Angelfall. There's never a reason given as to why it happens. I get that this book is the first of a trilogy and that the angels themselves don't know why it's happening, but as a reader it's hard to accept that the book can just end without giving some sort of explanation as to why it began in the first place. It also weakened what conclusion it had, as it couldn't really close anything regarding the apocalypse plot because it didn't have a reason for opening it (especially seeing the angels couldn't really care less about the why and the most our protag, Penryn, seemed to give this whole matter was a passing couple of thoughts).

The writing really wasn't spectacular, either. I just really couldn't get past how emotionally empty and telling the prose was. It just felt like breathing shallowly. There was even a chapter where she just used the words "Art Deco" about twenty times to describe everything in the room. Not to mention I can't even count the number of times that Penryn had to stop the scene in order to marvel at the "Olympic" beauty of Raffe, the fallen angel. His perfect body, velvety skin, firm chest, or whatever else she spewed out during those moments. The writing had some truly horrific moments, too, like that kiss. Ogh, that kiss. "My body melts into his and I'm hyperaware of the hard muscles of his chest against my breasts, and the warm grip of his hands around my waist and shoulders, the wet sliding of his mouth on mine." Goodness gravy, please no.

I also had some problems with the sexist themes going on in the book. Firstly, Raffe goes on about the Nephilim, but only mentions angels with the Daughters of Man, and mentions that the wives of the angels received worse punishment than the Nephilim themselves. Later, to get into the aerie, Penryn must put on a small red dress and some makeup (and I'm treated with a lovely ounce of slut-shaming, thank you, Ee). Why? Oh, because the angels like to take in (only the most) beautiful human women to wear on their arms as they party. I also learn that there's angel women--but human/angel interaction seems to only exist when it's to demean human women.

Characters here were nothing special. It might have had something to do with the lack of emotion with the writing, but I couldn't connect with these characters. They seemed two-dimensional, more like bursts of sarcastic dialogue than actual people. Or, in a few instances, just personality quirks instead of being characters, like the Weasley twins--oops, I mean, Tweedledee and Tweedledum (really), two red-headed twins.

Now, I'll give this book one thing: it certainly was addicting. I kept reading it and kept going. I can't even really say why. Things kept moving (though where it was going, I couldn't say). Things kept happening, even if there wasn't a clear reason. It did make for good action.

I don't even know if I want to talk about the ending, though. It was gruesome, yes, and horrifying, but I didn't connect with it. What reason did it have to be so absolutely grotesque? There was no build up. Also, why didn't Raffe hear Penryn's heartbeat or breathing and know she was alive when he was bringing her back to her family at the end? Angels have excellent hearing, as was said many times throughout the book. She was right against his chest at the time. Am I to believe he couldn't hear that? Along the same line, am I supposed to believe that not once did Penryn wonder if Raffe was somehow short for Raphael? Not once?

In any case, maybe this novel just wasn't for me.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2013 cleaning my shelves challenge

3.5 stars
Originally published here. Re-reviewed here. 

Angelfall is one of these books. You know, the kind that takes over the reading community by storm? The kind everybodyseems to unanimously love? Naturally, I was pumped up for this book. I wanted to be wowed by it. I wanted it to be the first Angel book that blew my mind all the way to mars.

For the most part, it wasn't. But there was a ton of epic shit going down there at the end, and just for that last 30% I'll be picking the second book up... probably the moment book three comes out, so I could binge read.

This book is not all puppies and rainbows. Unless we're talking about man-eating puppies and rainbows of blood, in which case, maybe it is. This book is bloody dark. Much darker than I expected (I always seem to forget how much crap dystopian worlds are capable of). It has death, and it has munching on body parts, and it has people (creatures? beings?) playing Frankenstein. Which is so not cool.

The conclusion? Don't read it at night. And if you do, make sure all the lights are on, so you'll at least be able to see the monsters coming.

The story is told from Penryn's point of view, as she navigates this angel ravaged world in her quest to find and save her little sister from the angels who kidnapped her. (Why are the angels destroying our world? No idea. Actually, no one seems to know. Which kind of sucks for us.)

I really liked Penryn as a main character - she was loyal and tough, hardened and strong... but the thing I actually liked most about her is how she is not looking to save the world. All she wants is her family in one piece, and even that is too much weight on her young shoulders.

Her journey companion is Raffe, an angel who had his wings cut off. They both want to get to the same place, for different reasons, so they decide to cooperate. And if on the way they discover the other is not so bad? That Raffe may be an angel - the creature ruining our world - but he's also gentle and caring? Loyal? Well, that's alright. And okay, he sometimes comes out too confident and condescending... but it really works for him.

Side note: the way Penryn says Raffe's name is pronounced (like Raw Feet) is actually a name we have here, in Israel. My sort-of grandpa (long story) is called Raffie, so that was fun to read of.  

Together Penryn and Raffe were actually... kind of awesome. They don't embark on an epic romantic relationship... yet... but boy do the sparks fly. And in the end... *le sigh* - Raffe is so sweet. The two of them are. I want them together, Susan Ee, and I even have theories and suggestions to make it happen! Email me! We can talk about them!

But admittedly, the first 70% of the book were just "okay" for me. They were mostly travel, and hiding, and running, and you know - stuff like that. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything amazing.

But those last 30%? Boy, the epicness. They were fabulous. And utterly heartbreaking, for so many different reasons. I didn't know one could snuff so much heartbreak into one end -it was kind of impressive, and completely depressing. Nothing good happened.The situation looks beyond hopeless... which makes me excited to see how Susan Ee gets them out of it. At least I hope she will... without killing one of my favorite main characters.

This book is also the epitome of mysterious and intriguing. So many things seem to happen backstage, and we have no idea why or how or what the bad guy's end game. I have so. many. damned. questions. And something tells me I'm not going to get any answers any time soon... *Sobs*

Lastly... sorry for all the cursing. This book just brings all the best out of me *wink*

Originally published here. Re-reviewed here. 

[Mercy]

Una historia diferente a las que he leído aunque sigue teniendo algunos tópicos. Todo el rollo del apocálipsis, los ángeles vengadores, los demonios y esas cosas que estaban en las bodegas que eran como fetos que me tiene intrigada porque no acabo de entender que eran (?. Me ha gustado Penryn, una chica con agallas, que no le importa enfrentarse a alguien más fuerte que ella y hasta puede salir vencedora. Ama a su familia por encima de todo y hará lo que sea para mantenerla a salvo. Pero, hubo ciertas cosas que no me convencieron mucho. *cof*pelea*Ana*cof*.
Raffe, por el momento me es indiferente. Se porto la mitad del tiempo como un completo idiota y la otra mitad, a veces tierno y otras, era de nuevo un idiota. Aunque su situación me hizo entenderlo un poco. Vaya, no soy tan insensible pues. También la madre de Penryn, quiero saber que onda con ella. A lo que no le veo el punto es a lo que pasa con la hermana de Penryn. Eso es muy desconcertante. Y otra cosa, ¿qué hicieron los humanos para acabar así?
En general, me ha gustado, excepto por una cosa: la narración en primera persona. Ya hace mucho tiempo que no le encuentro gracia a libros con este tipo de narración y, seguro ese es el problema, pues me cuesta mucho acostumbrarme. Y, aunque la mayor parte del libro no me importo esto, por la situación en la que se encuentra Penryn. El final, me ha dejado un tanto descolocada y me ha dejado más o menos indiferente. La razón: En situaciones de ese tipo, por lo general el chico o chica se desmaya y es hasta después que conocemos vagamente lo que paso (esto cuando la narración es en primera persona) Pero aquí, no entendí la situación. Penryn está medio muerta, Raffe la carga y ella se entera de todo lo que pasa como si estuviese moviéndose, cosa que no es así, pues ella está INMÓVIL, pero lo que ella describe es como si fuera girando su cuello y observando todo. Sí, si veía pero no todo el panorama, pero al parecer, por lo que leí es como si así fuera. Y luego, en el camión, no sé yo que tipo de camión sería, pero ella podía ver el exterior y se daba cuenta de todo... Entonces ¿cómo hacía para ver? En fin, una historia con varios toques de originalidad aunque tampoco es algo nuevo. Perfecta para pasar unas dos tardes e imaginar el día del juicio final con ángeles sexys y malvados y... eso. Pero sí, el final me ha dejado lo suficientemente intrigada para querer que llegue noviembre para su continuación y que la portada me encanta *-*