Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Date: May 21, 2011
Number of Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Age Level: Young Adult
Synopsis:
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 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 of being whole again.
My Thoughts
I’d been in the mood for a good angel story for a while. After looking up some books, I came across Angelfall. It’s the first in a trilogy called Penryn and the End of Days. It looked really good, but unfortunately, my local public library didn’t have them. So, I put in a request for an inter library loan. This way, I was able to read all three of them (Angelfall, World After, and End of Days).
I was immediately sucked in. The writing was beautiful and the characters were three-dimensional. The author created a post-apocalyptic world that was believable and immersive.
Basic Plot
The story follows Penryn. She is trying to survive in the world after the angels decided to come down to earth and take over, destroying whole cities just because they felt like it. She not only has to fend for herself, but also her little sister who is wheelchair bound, and her mother who suffers from mental illness.
While on the move, she crosses paths with a group of angels attacking another angel. She watches as one of them rips the wings off the angel before snatching her sister and flying away.
Even though angels and humans are sworn enemies, Penryn and the angel, Raffe, come to an agreement: Penryn will help Raffe get his wings reattached and Raffe will help Penryn get her sister back. It’s a reluctant deal, but they are both desperate and know that they can’t do it on their own.
Did I Like It?
I really grew to love Raffe. Really, I loved everything about this series. Toward the end of the first book, it does take a bit of a science fiction/horror twist and it does have some gore, but I still loved it. I devoured this series. As soon as I finished one book, I went straight into the next. It was truly sad when I finished the trilogy.
I loved it so much that I later found another angel series to read, The Rephaim. It was really good as well, but I do prefer Angelfall. I highly, highly recommend this series. It was definitely my cup of tea, and I hope it will be yours, too.
My Rating out of 5
Accelerated Reader (AR) Info
Level: 5.3
Points: 13
Quiz Number: 155809
Word Count: 81,770
Interest Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Let’s Chat!
-If you’ve read the book, who was your favorite character?
-What other angel books have you read and enjoyed?
Comment below! I’d love to hear from you!
