ANGELFALL, By Susan Ee

From 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 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. 

 

Christina: I can pretty much sum up this book in one gif:

So we’ve all read books that start out with a bang, and then just tank from there. Well, my lovelies, this is not one of those books.

The apocalypse has come and the angels have pretty much destroyed everything, humankind as we know it is a thing of the past, and Penryn, along with her small family are just trying to survive. They spend the majority of their lives hiding (from the angels and the gangs that have taken over the streets), they scavenge what they can, and are just trying to make it through another day. That all comes to an end when Penryn’s 7-year-old sister is plucked from her wheelchair and flown off into the sky. (this is all in the summary so no spoilers here)

Enter Raffe, an angel, and Penryn’s less than willing companion. Now I haven’t read a ton of angel books, but I have read a few, and what I love so much about Ee’s angels are that they aren’t just humans with wings. These are no halo-wearing, harp-playing visions, they’re terrifying and brutal, have an epic superiority complex, and pretty much see humans as nothing more than monkeys. A fact Raffe is sure to remind Penryn of whenever he can. Raffe is HOT, yes. But he’s no swoony boy throwing out line after line of flowery dialogue (he’s swoony but you’ll see what I mean). Raffe is a warrior and grows to respect Penryn for her strength and bravery and epic badassness. That is totally a word because holy hannah, not only is this girl smart and resourceful, but she’s about as badass as they come. Along with all of this, Ee does a fantastic job of making us like and understand Penryn.  Also, I loved that her ability to fight isn’t just a random detail thrown in to make Penryn seem tough, but rather a by-product of her upbringing. Which brings me to another point…

This story is about layers. Penryn can fight for a reason. Raffe’s secretiveness begins to makes sense. Something happens at the beginning of the story and then BAM, it fits like a key to a lock in the end. Full disclosure: there are some pretty intense (read: MEEEEEP!!) scenes in here, so consider yourself warned. Also, this is part of five book series, and though there’s a full story arc in this one, there are still A LOT of unanswered questions.  No epic cliffie, just enough to make you count down the days on a special Raffe calendar until you can get your hands on the next one. *whistles*

Gah, it’s so good. In fact, I’d say it’s right up there with The Hunger Games in terms of action and suspense. And did I mention that it’s ONLY $.99??!! That’s right, Angelfall is self-published, available now (Barnes & Noble and Amazon), AMAZING, and less than a dollar. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

This one gets:

1. Badass Chick On Board
2. Swoony Boy Alert
3. I Will Reswoon Soon
4. Straight to the Favorites Pile

Have you read? Thinking of reading? TELL ME AND WE’LL FLAIL TOGETHER. We’re giving away two e-copies, so let us know if you WANT! (Trust me, you do).

About the Author: Susan Ee is the author of Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1). Her short stories have been in various publications including Realms of Fantasy and The Dragon and the Stars anthology. She is also a filmmaker whose latest film played at major film festivals and on cable TV stations throughout the U.S. She studied creative writing through workshops at Stanford, The Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Clarion West. Twitter – Website – Goodreads – Facebook