Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee – so underrated!

(via 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.”

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Author: Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Dystopia, Paranormal

Published: May 23rd 2013 by Hodder and Stoughton

Pages: 326

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Goodreads / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble

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When I first started reading Angelfall, I was wary and unsure if I would like the whole angel concept. But after the first few chapters, I was pleasantly surprised and I liked it so much more than I thought I would!

Angelfall is a typical dystopian survival story where society as we know it doesn’t exist. The world is deserted and pretty much taken over by angels. Everyone is fending for themselves, moving from one abandoned building to the next, searching for food, hoping not to encounter an angel or gangs that might raid you.

I really liked Penryn as a character. She has been taking care of her wheelchair-bound little sister, trying to make it as comfortable as possible for her and their schizophrenic mother. Her mother often has a mind of her own and can’t always separate the real world from her imagination. It has taken its toll on Penryn but she stays strong throughout it all!

Penryn is a kickass character who knows how to defend herself in almost any situation! She can fight grown-up men who believe they can undermine, objectify or talk down on her because she is a woman. But she absolutely does not take shit from anyone! She fights people like a champ! It was so nice to read about such a badass and empowering character! GO PENRYN!!!

Penryn goes on a journey with Raffe, an angel that she has just met, to save her sister after she was taken by a group of angels. Raffe is a handsome young man/angel and I think the main reason why I liked him so much is the fact that he reminds me a lot of myself with his sarcastic remarks and dry humour! It was very enjoyable to read the dialogue between the two of them! I could easily relate with him humour-wise and when it comes to teasing others 😀

One thing that actually made me laugh out loud was when they first introduced each other and Penryn said “Raffe sounds like raw feet” ha! *giggles*

It was delightful to read about Penryn and Raffe’s relationship, I really loved the dynamic between the two! It was a hate-to-love kind of story which you guys know I’m OBSESSED with!!!

They are wary of each other when they first meet but Raffe “breaks the ice” with his arrogant, sarcastic and teasing attitude. Boy, he really loved bugging Penryn!

I liked that it wasn’t your typical girl-falls-in-love-with-handsome-boy-insta-love kind of story. Their relationship developed at a realistic pace and the romance kind of creeped up on them very subtly. In the first half of the book they both know that their alliance is only temporary and once they both get what they want they’re going to part ways. You don’t really know that they care for each other until I’d say the last third of the book! It was refreshing to read.

I am so excited to see how their relationship develops in the following books of the series!

The way the scenery, and the world in general, was described reminded me a lot of The Walking Dead! With everything being deserted, people raiding places for food, avoiding bumping into other groups/gangs it felt very similar (which isn’t a bad thing!). In TWD it’s the zombies that need to be avoided and in Angelfall it’s the angels!

I did have two (minor) issues with the book though *booo*.

Firstly, I felt like the world-building was missing. We don’t really get to know how the world turned from the society we know today to a deserted place that is occupied by angels. It doesn’t really explain where the angels came from and what they’re doing on this earth. I was hoping for a little pre-history that explained everything but it sadly never came!

Secondly, we have Penryn’s sister Paige who uses a wheelchair because she hasn’t been able to move her legs since she was 2. But she doesn’t let it take away her spirit! There is a particular scene which I really liked where Penryn is thinking about her sister and I thought I’d share a quote!

(Side note: Paige’s friends all have disabilities like her. One was born with malformed hands, the other one is quadriplegic, etc.)

“People stared and skirted around these kids […]. Whenever a particularly bad incident happened to any member of her flock, Paige gathered them together for a theme party. […] They’d joke and giggle and know in their bones that they were strong together. Paige was their cheerleader, counsellor, and best friend all rolled into one.”

I was so happy about that scene and I thought “Hey, this is great rep!”. Penryn’s sister was embracing her disability and didn’t let it wear her down and I was so happy to read about that…

…until the end of the book. It was going so well but the ending kind of ruined it. I won’t say what happened because it would spoil some stuff but just know it was a tad bit disappointing (and ableist) 😦

I honestly didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did but it was a very fun, action-packed read with a few dark and twisted themes and I was pleasantly surprised with how nicely this story progressed and the way it all turned out!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 OUT OF 5 STARS)

I feel like Angelfall is sooooo underrated but it’s actually a really good book (minus the two issues I had with it) so go read it if you can! 10/10 would recommend 😛

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Thank you for reading!

Have you read the Angelfall series yet? Do you like paranormal fantasy stories? Do you know other good stories about angels? Any recommendations? Let’s chat in the comments!