alyram4's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 round down
I have one question.
What's the big man in the sky thinking about all of this? š¤š
Honestly though, I liked the second half more than the first. I've heard some crazy good things about this trilogy, so my expectations were pretty high. As far as dystopian/angel books go, this was good. Not my favorite, but it definitely kept my attention. I found the first half to just not resonate with me too much, but I did start to get invested around the halfway point. The ending is by far the best thing about this book though, so there's that!
Also, Penryn kicks ass. That is all.
I have one question.
What's the big man in the sky thinking about all of this? š¤š
Honestly though, I liked the second half more than the first. I've heard some crazy good things about this trilogy, so my expectations were pretty high. As far as dystopian/angel books go, this was good. Not my favorite, but it definitely kept my attention. I found the first half to just not resonate with me too much, but I did start to get invested around the halfway point. The ending is by far the best thing about this book though, so there's that!
Also, Penryn kicks ass. That is all.
ivy_owl's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't like it but I feel strangely compelled to read the rest
EDIT: I'm not reading the rest.
EDIT: I'm not reading the rest.
caro_j's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
clarissep's review against another edition
5.0
Itās been quite some time since I wrote a decent review. As I was reading this book I told myself I needed to jot down mental notes that would help me come up with my usual book analysis. I wanted to talk about the plot and the pacing and all that technical stuff, but as I plowed through the story all I could think of was how much I was enjoying it. In the end I just followed my gut and gave it the five freaking stars I felt it really deserved.
This is the sort of book I can sit down on a lazy rainy afternoon with and finish in one sitting. Heck I wouldāve done that if I could but life got in the way. Every time I had to put this down I found myself thinking about it all day long, counting down the hours until I could get home and open it again. For the amount of time I could squeeze in to read these days, I finished this one in what I would call a very short time.
I found myself hungrily flipping through the pages, maybe because it was such a quick and entertaining read. I found myself dreading the fast pace at which I was nearing the end. And after I was done all I could think about was how much I looooove this book. It was all I could think of in fact that I was afraid I couldnāt write anything coherent about it. But because I want people to understand why this is such an awesome book, I will attempt to organize my thoughts.
This story is narrated by seventeen-year old Penryn, who by the way is in the running for my personal Most Kick-Ass Female Heroine of the Year award. Being inside Penrynās head is really nice. Sheās hilarious and observant and very clever. I hold on to every thought she has as she describes events and people through her own usually astute understanding.
The reader follows Penryn as she goes on a wild adventure in what is now a mere semblance of the Bay Area with an angel named Raffe. Her mission: to retrieve her sister. Now Raffe is a bit of an enigma to Penryn, as are all angels, but Raffe all the more because she actually witnessed him getting his wings cut off. The angels who cut off Raffeās wings were the same ones who flew off with her sister, so I guess in a way Penryn is drawn to him since they both lost something important to the same enemy. As Raffe lies bleeding on the ground, Penryn decides to take him to some āsafeā place to question him about where the angelās base is. Heās very reluctant to help a human of course, but then this is where our story starts. Raffe and Penryn know better than to trust each other, but one canāt help but follow how their relationship unfolds in the midst of all their funny banter.
I just loved everything about Penryn. Her thoughts are clear and crisp, which since this book is entirely narrated by her in the first person makes the storytelling just as easy to follow. I love how brave and loyal she is, how stubborn and spunky. I never for a second of reading this book doubted or questioned her choices, never judged her or deemed her overdramatic, never wanted to clunk her in the head with a fire hydrant. She was no Mary Sue by a long shot. She made her own decisions and came to her own conclusions and did not rely on some super hot angel to help her. Oh and did I mention she knows karate? She actually studied self-defence her whole life. Aināt she cool?
I really liked Penryn a lot, and I think that played such a big part in how much I enjoyed this book. On the other hand, I also liked Raffe a lot. There are so many things I want to know about him which Iām sure will be explored in the next books, but I kind of get a sense of the type of person he is already from here. He still is a puzzle, but itās the sort one would take pleasure in piecing together little by little. I honestly canāt wait for Penryn and Raffe to figure each other out eventually. It may or may not help them think more clearly about this whole war and the issue of which side to take.
I also loved how Susan Ee turned the whole angels-are-holy concept over its head and made me see a whole different angle of possibility. I mean, this story is just way more interesting than if she stuck with a regular angels-are-the-good-guys-demons-are-the-bad-guys type of trope. It even allowed her to create an intriguing dysfunctional society among the angels, allowing for some political elements to come into play. It gives more depth than simply labelling the story as an apocalyptic one that involves angels razing the earth. WHY? Iām always curious about motives behind events and charactersā actions in a story. Thatās probably the reason why I couldnāt put this down. I needed to make sense of things just as much as Penryn did.
How did this happen? I went from reading zero angel books to reading two in a row and now Iām hooked! My opinion about angel books being a danger zone for cliches still stands so I am still wary, but this ladies and gentlemen, this is a freaking angel book!
Forget everything you know about angels, about how they are shining bright gentle beings from the sky. In this world, angels have descended upon the earth and actually brought about the apocalypse, and they donāt even know why theyāre doing it! Theyāre not even sure if the instructions really did come from āupstairsā. I liked how disturbing the story can get sometimes. Itās an easy and entertaining read but it knows how to get real! There is no shortage of blood and gore and corpses, half eaten dead bodies on the ground or hanging on treesā¦ The explanation for those are not 100% clear on the first book yet by the way, so it only serves to pique my interest more.
Gah why did I wait so long to order the second book! I was so afraid I would be burned like with the last angel book I read! Iām suffering a bad case of Angelfall withdrawal right now. It aināt pretty, but itās worth it after such a wonderful wonderful ride.
If anybody has recommendations for angel-themed books that are as good as this, I beg you to fire away below!
This is the sort of book I can sit down on a lazy rainy afternoon with and finish in one sitting. Heck I wouldāve done that if I could but life got in the way. Every time I had to put this down I found myself thinking about it all day long, counting down the hours until I could get home and open it again. For the amount of time I could squeeze in to read these days, I finished this one in what I would call a very short time.
I found myself hungrily flipping through the pages, maybe because it was such a quick and entertaining read. I found myself dreading the fast pace at which I was nearing the end. And after I was done all I could think about was how much I looooove this book. It was all I could think of in fact that I was afraid I couldnāt write anything coherent about it. But because I want people to understand why this is such an awesome book, I will attempt to organize my thoughts.
This story is narrated by seventeen-year old Penryn, who by the way is in the running for my personal Most Kick-Ass Female Heroine of the Year award. Being inside Penrynās head is really nice. Sheās hilarious and observant and very clever. I hold on to every thought she has as she describes events and people through her own usually astute understanding.
The reader follows Penryn as she goes on a wild adventure in what is now a mere semblance of the Bay Area with an angel named Raffe. Her mission: to retrieve her sister. Now Raffe is a bit of an enigma to Penryn, as are all angels, but Raffe all the more because she actually witnessed him getting his wings cut off. The angels who cut off Raffeās wings were the same ones who flew off with her sister, so I guess in a way Penryn is drawn to him since they both lost something important to the same enemy. As Raffe lies bleeding on the ground, Penryn decides to take him to some āsafeā place to question him about where the angelās base is. Heās very reluctant to help a human of course, but then this is where our story starts. Raffe and Penryn know better than to trust each other, but one canāt help but follow how their relationship unfolds in the midst of all their funny banter.
I just loved everything about Penryn. Her thoughts are clear and crisp, which since this book is entirely narrated by her in the first person makes the storytelling just as easy to follow. I love how brave and loyal she is, how stubborn and spunky. I never for a second of reading this book doubted or questioned her choices, never judged her or deemed her overdramatic, never wanted to clunk her in the head with a fire hydrant. She was no Mary Sue by a long shot. She made her own decisions and came to her own conclusions and did not rely on some super hot angel to help her. Oh and did I mention she knows karate? She actually studied self-defence her whole life. Aināt she cool?
I really liked Penryn a lot, and I think that played such a big part in how much I enjoyed this book. On the other hand, I also liked Raffe a lot. There are so many things I want to know about him which Iām sure will be explored in the next books, but I kind of get a sense of the type of person he is already from here. He still is a puzzle, but itās the sort one would take pleasure in piecing together little by little. I honestly canāt wait for Penryn and Raffe to figure each other out eventually. It may or may not help them think more clearly about this whole war and the issue of which side to take.
I also loved how Susan Ee turned the whole angels-are-holy concept over its head and made me see a whole different angle of possibility. I mean, this story is just way more interesting than if she stuck with a regular angels-are-the-good-guys-demons-are-the-bad-guys type of trope. It even allowed her to create an intriguing dysfunctional society among the angels, allowing for some political elements to come into play. It gives more depth than simply labelling the story as an apocalyptic one that involves angels razing the earth. WHY? Iām always curious about motives behind events and charactersā actions in a story. Thatās probably the reason why I couldnāt put this down. I needed to make sense of things just as much as Penryn did.
How did this happen? I went from reading zero angel books to reading two in a row and now Iām hooked! My opinion about angel books being a danger zone for cliches still stands so I am still wary, but this ladies and gentlemen, this is a freaking angel book!
Forget everything you know about angels, about how they are shining bright gentle beings from the sky. In this world, angels have descended upon the earth and actually brought about the apocalypse, and they donāt even know why theyāre doing it! Theyāre not even sure if the instructions really did come from āupstairsā. I liked how disturbing the story can get sometimes. Itās an easy and entertaining read but it knows how to get real! There is no shortage of blood and gore and corpses, half eaten dead bodies on the ground or hanging on treesā¦ The explanation for those are not 100% clear on the first book yet by the way, so it only serves to pique my interest more.
Gah why did I wait so long to order the second book! I was so afraid I would be burned like with the last angel book I read! Iām suffering a bad case of Angelfall withdrawal right now. It aināt pretty, but itās worth it after such a wonderful wonderful ride.
If anybody has recommendations for angel-themed books that are as good as this, I beg you to fire away below!
lunalara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
reasonpassion's review against another edition
4.0
Angels are not always good creatures, especially when the "voice of god" is no longer speaking with heaven's message and like fundamentalist fanatics the angels do only what they're told. Add in a storyline of an apocalypse gone horribly right, angelic factions that are just as problematic as human only with more power and characters that are not cookie-cutter and progressively interesting, the result is a book I smirked at the beginning, got intrigued by a third and was quite interested in how it would end by half-way through. Definitely looking forward to the next in what could very well be an excellent fun series.
readinglunatic's review against another edition
5.0
I love dystopia but I don't normally like books to do with angels. I get bogged down by them. This book though is a perfect combination of the two. Enough of the Biblical to make sense without overloading you. Highly recommend it, especially for fans of Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden Trilogy.
lizzy_22's review against another edition
5.0
now THAT was an angel book!
Hard to compete with the fantastic reviews for this book and I donāt think Susan Ee needs any more help selling books but I will say a few things about what I liked in Angelfall:
There wasnāt any immediate falling in love between the two characters. They are, from the beginning, enemies. And the slow trust and attraction that builds between them is only hinted at since they are companions not so much by choice but by necessity.
Extraordinary angels that come in all different flavors, sizes, shapes and colors. How I loved that there were some good, some bad, some black, some white, and some even striped!!
The ending! Oh my goodness, the ending broke my heart and wow, Susan Ee has hooked me in for the ride and I am so glad that she did!
Hard to compete with the fantastic reviews for this book and I donāt think Susan Ee needs any more help selling books but I will say a few things about what I liked in Angelfall:
There wasnāt any immediate falling in love between the two characters. They are, from the beginning, enemies. And the slow trust and attraction that builds between them is only hinted at since they are companions not so much by choice but by necessity.
Extraordinary angels that come in all different flavors, sizes, shapes and colors. How I loved that there were some good, some bad, some black, some white, and some even striped!!
The ending! Oh my goodness, the ending broke my heart and wow, Susan Ee has hooked me in for the ride and I am so glad that she did!
lazlothedino's review against another edition
5.0
So I was very, very skeptical about this book, especially after reading the synopsis....the plot just didn't seem like something I would enjoy and grab on to. I really only read it because I wanted a paranormal-y book I hadn't read yet and this was on my to-read list. But WOW! I really, really enjoyed Angelfall! Susan Ee is awesome. There were a couple of times where I even stood up and walked around my room while saying things like "awkward, awkward, AWKWARD" and then had to immediately race back to keep reading because I NEEDED to know what happened next. (not want, need) I probably read this book in about four hours, which is really fast for me. Angelfall is just the bomb, truly. I went online and looked to see if there was a second book before I was even halfway through it. Susan Ee is brilliant. I really love the plot and the whole concept of the story and just UGH i love it all!!!!!!!! There is probably one part about this book I didn't like and it was the wing thing at the end (I know spoilers bad me, but it needed to be said and I was vague) because just no. No. Angelfall is fantastic and I kind of want to go read it again and I finished it yesterday afternoon.
Now, Penryn. She is so badass!!!!!! She cares about her sister more than anything else in the world and for a lot of heroines (and heroes) thats what leads to their downfall, their weakness. But damn all it does is make Penryn stronger! There is really no distinct moment I can think of that just proved it for my it was more like right from the very beginning you can just tell and then as the story goes on she keeps doing these amazingly brave and stupid and wonderful things! I love how snarky and sarcastic she is but also how awkward and how she can't, for the life of her, come up with a good enough come back. I love how she never falters, she sees what she has, good or bad, takes it and makes it work in the best way possible for her. And she isn't afraid to get a little dirty in the process. (she eats cat food...just saying) Penryn is awesome and amazing and the BEST!!!
Let's move on to Raffe. Oh Raffe, you aloof stubborn angel. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe his smile when Penryn pretended he was heavy or his sarcasm when they first talk but somehow he got through my "man this main guy character is an ass" radar and he just became funny and in a way sweet. (okay I'm going to have to spaz so all who don't want a little spoil skip this sentence) OMG OMG OMG when she had the nightmare in the guest house and he came and cuddled with her to make her calm down and OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (okay I'm better now) Oh! And I was soooooo surprised when I found out who Raffe was, I even went to go look up (on Wikipedia) what he did. (what about you?) Raffe is just so amazing, you should read Angelfall as a gift to yourself for reading this post. (Btw he's shirtless....a lot....*slow smile* thats right.....abs....) He's just the coolest, really and this thing at the end and *clamps hand over mouth* As you can see I really need someone to talk to about this.
MOVING ON! This book is amazing and fantastic and wonderful. And you should read it because abs, I mean angels, I mean Raffe and Penryn. I could never describe this any better even if I tried and not in the sense that I described it perfectly now in the sense that this is so far below what it deserves but I have no words good enough to describe it better so this is as good as any of us our going to get. But trust me Angelfall is spectacular and you should definitely, definitely read it.
Now, Penryn. She is so badass!!!!!! She cares about her sister more than anything else in the world and for a lot of heroines (and heroes) thats what leads to their downfall, their weakness. But damn all it does is make Penryn stronger! There is really no distinct moment I can think of that just proved it for my it was more like right from the very beginning you can just tell and then as the story goes on she keeps doing these amazingly brave and stupid and wonderful things! I love how snarky and sarcastic she is but also how awkward and how she can't, for the life of her, come up with a good enough come back. I love how she never falters, she sees what she has, good or bad, takes it and makes it work in the best way possible for her. And she isn't afraid to get a little dirty in the process. (she eats cat food...just saying) Penryn is awesome and amazing and the BEST!!!
Let's move on to Raffe. Oh Raffe, you aloof stubborn angel. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe his smile when Penryn pretended he was heavy or his sarcasm when they first talk but somehow he got through my "man this main guy character is an ass" radar and he just became funny and in a way sweet. (okay I'm going to have to spaz so all who don't want a little spoil skip this sentence) OMG OMG OMG when she had the nightmare in the guest house and he came and cuddled with her to make her calm down and OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (okay I'm better now) Oh! And I was soooooo surprised when I found out who Raffe was, I even went to go look up (on Wikipedia) what he did. (what about you?) Raffe is just so amazing, you should read Angelfall as a gift to yourself for reading this post. (Btw he's shirtless....a lot....*slow smile* thats right.....abs....) He's just the coolest, really and this thing at the end and *clamps hand over mouth* As you can see I really need someone to talk to about this.
MOVING ON! This book is amazing and fantastic and wonderful. And you should read it because abs, I mean angels, I mean Raffe and Penryn. I could never describe this any better even if I tried and not in the sense that I described it perfectly now in the sense that this is so far below what it deserves but I have no words good enough to describe it better so this is as good as any of us our going to get. But trust me Angelfall is spectacular and you should definitely, definitely read it.