Angelfall

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1)

Overview: 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.

In Angelfall, Susan Ee creates an chaotic apocalyptic setting for the world. As you read in the overview, gangs are ruling the streets and angels are bringing humanity to a horrifying end.

I loved the way the book started. Peryn, her mother and her sister are trying to make a daring escape out of the city with what little they had to the safer hillsides. No gangs had caught them sneeking away yet and luck seemed to be on their side as they darted for cover from car to car. That is, until they run into some dangerous and unexpected trouble and her sister is kidnapped.

The novel is in Penryn's point of view. She is an independent individual who's family's survival rests on her shoulders. Her attitude and strong will reminded me of the character Katniss from The Hunger Games by Susan Collins. Penryn was willing to take whatever risk to get back her sister back from the angels. Including bribing the enemy (an angel) to help her in exchange for his wings.

Raffe is the angel who is caught up in a deal with Penryn. His wings are in the hands of the half-starved teenage girl (Penryn), meaning he had to help her if he ever wanted them back. He was a really serious character and yet he was still able to give the comic relief the reader needed once in a while with his sarcasm. They made a perfect team when they set out on a mission for Penryn's sister and Raffe's wings.

Since this book is during the ends times there are some gruesome scenes. The author does a good job describing it, but the imagery and just the thought of some of the scenes may cause a couple of weak stomaches to turn.

The suspense and surprise were ongoing throughout the book. Every time I turned the page I was expecting one thing to happen but the author give the plot another twist and surprised me. When Susen Ee was describing suspenseful scenes I found myself almost jumping up out of my seat as I was reading. I definitely recommend this book for ages 15+.

There is going to be a book two and the author says she is hoping to write around five books in the series.

 Here is the author's website and you get the first 5 chapters free!
 http://susanee.com/angels/angelfall-free-chapter.html