Review: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee *9.5/10 Stars*
12:31 PM
by Susan Ee
Page Count: 283
Release Date: May 21st 2011
Publisher: Feral Dream
Source: I own a copy
My Rating: 9.5/10 Stars
Summary (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.
Recommended for ages 16 and up.
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.
Recommended for ages 16 and up.
My verdict
I feel like a vampire who's been thirsty for centuries...only for more of dystopian books than blood. Really, why didn't I touch this genre before? Anyway, this book was amazing, apart from a few glitches(?)/errors(?)/maybe I missed something somewhere in my reading frenzy(?) (more on that later I guess).
The thing is, I didn't even decide that I'm going to read this when I did. One night I'm sitting and browsing through the kindle app on my android phone, thinking of what to read next, when I casually open Angelfall and start going through the first page. Just like that. And when I realise I'm not browsing for books anymore but reading this very title, I'm already through 26% of it. This has happened to me many times before, but not recently.
Angelfall drew me in from the first page itself. No slow buildup there, no boring introduction to the story line or the characters. You are launched right into the middle of this post apocalyptic world ruled by angels (who by the way are as clueless about what they are supposed to be doing on earth as the earthlings themselves) and just keep running (literally!).
Though towards the end it kinda sorta started losing me. Just for a bit though, then we were back on track on the roller coaster ride, with a good enough ending. I liked it enough for me to eagerly wait for the sequel World After. This easily manages to earn itself a place in my best-books-ever pile.
But maybe I missed something somewhere. I think when Penryn finally finds Paige, we are told the battered and stitched up children are all naked (that's how she can see the extent of the damage and the grotesque stitches running on their bodies, right?). Then after Paige chews on the lab angel, it's mentioned there's blood dripping down from her mouth and drenching her 'clothes'. Well seriously, maybe this was some glitch/error or maybe I missed something somewhere...confused...
First this (Chapter 37):
“Against the white wall are stacks and stacks of children. Some stand stiffly...about ten or twelve years old. They are all naked , stripped of anything that might protect them. All have distinctive autopsy stitch marks in a Y shape starting at their little chests and going down to their groins.”
Then this (Chapter 39):
“Paige hunches over him. Her little hands grip his shirt to get a better hold on his trembling body. Her hair and clothes are splattered in blood. Her face drips with it.”
Again, confused...
So this is what made me knock off half a star (sorry, I tend to get a little too obsessive compulsive at times!), other than that, I enjoyed Angelfall thoroughly.
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