snowbenton's review against another edition
3.0
Teenage Penryn is living in Silicon Valley with her wheelchair-bound young sister Paige and her paranoid schizophrenic mother when the angel Gabriel comes down from heaven and is killed by humans, kickstarting a global reign of angelic terror. Penryn is tough and brave and loyal and a wonderful heroine, and she is joined in her fight to save her family by the wingless angel Raffe, a brooding enigma of a creature (though I feel he should be allowed some slack as he did have his wings cut off). I wish Ee hadn't skirted around the issues of religion that make angel literature so much more compelling than, say, vampire literature, because an entire book about a human woman and an angel man running from place to place is never going to be as engrossing as a story that confronts the fears and needs of humanity.
geo_ix's review against another edition
5.0
I seriously hate most Angel books, especially YA because they're, as my partner calls it, airy-fairy. This is NOT one of them books. It's kickass, with a heroine that's actually realistic, and family members that are even more fascinating (schizophrenic mother, wheelchair bound sister), and they're shown realistically.
It's all kinds of crazy messed up, and while reading I would say that thanks to the action and headspace of the heroine, who's perspective is the only one we see, it's nothing like a normal YA book. It could pass easily as adult due to all the fighting, gambling and end of world shit that goes down. But still can pass as YA because it's not offensive. If that makes ANY sense?
Now I'm going to break my promise of reading more series I've already started before continuing the first in a series books I've picked to read each month, and go ahead and buy the second book in paperback so I can read it as a free read next month when it gets here. I'm not really sorry though.
It's all kinds of crazy messed up, and while reading I would say that thanks to the action and headspace of the heroine, who's perspective is the only one we see, it's nothing like a normal YA book. It could pass easily as adult due to all the fighting, gambling and end of world shit that goes down. But still can pass as YA because it's not offensive. If that makes ANY sense?
Now I'm going to break my promise of reading more series I've already started before continuing the first in a series books I've picked to read each month, and go ahead and buy the second book in paperback so I can read it as a free read next month when it gets here. I'm not really sorry though.
buffywnabe's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of the ARCs I got at BEA this past June. I took it because it sounded interesting, and it was a good read. I debated between a 4 and 5 when I first rated it, but since then I've decided to stick with the 4, and I'll explain why in a bit.
Our main character is 17-year-old Penryn, yeah, kind of a strange name, and a little weird to say in my head as I was reading. But unique! We begin in the future, after the angels have come to Earth and attacked humans. We don't know why they did this, or why some people are still alive, like Penryn and her mother and sister. They have decided to leave their home in search of a better, maybe even safer place to live. Her sister Paige is in a wheelchair. So that is one obstacle to travel. Another obstacle, is that they must travel during the night. The daytime is now when the human gangs are in charge. At night of course people are more scared because of the dark, and angels, etc. So as they start out, they get just a little ways when all of a sudden they see an angel come crashing down, being chased by other angels. The ones ganging up on this angel cut his wings off. Penryn feels that she must try to help, and so jumps out for a distraction, also hoping her mom and sister can get away while she distracts them. Unfortunately, Penryn's mom is a bit out of it, and doesn't think to grab Paige's wheelchair. So as Paige tries to get away on her own, one of the angels grabs her out of her wheelchair and flies away with her. Penryn now must find her sister, and obviously her mother won't be any help. So she decides that she must keep track of this angel and use him to get her sister back. She takes his wings as something to try to hold over him. Which does work.
The angel is Raffe. He doesn't want her help, but ends up finally giving in to a point. They travel to where he says her sister will be. Getting kidnapped at one point by a human resistance group. Luckily they have the sense to hide Raffe's wings, and when he's dressed, you can't tell he is an angel, other than just how drop dead gorgeous he is. Eventually they are able to get away from the resistance group, but they have gotten some info and made some friends here who will be helpful when they reach their final destination.
I won't give anymore away. Just to say that I like that Penryn's character is a strong girl. She's had to be, her home life wasn't great. You get to find that out through the story. The attraction/bond between her and Raffe unfolds at a reasonable pace. It's obvious she would be attracted to Mr. Perfection in looks. He has a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor that I liked as well. But he doesn't seem to care for her quite to the same degree, but enough to save her several times. I'm glad to hear that this is a sequel, as the ending leaves you really hanging.
I don't quite understand what the angels are doing in their lab at the final destination, I really am interested in the reasoning behind that. Also, Raffe thinks he'll get other angels to put his wings back on, and I want to see what happens with what they do to him at that point.
A good story, but once again, reading it before it is published only makes it that much more torture to now have to wait for the next book in the series to be released.
Our main character is 17-year-old Penryn, yeah, kind of a strange name, and a little weird to say in my head as I was reading. But unique! We begin in the future, after the angels have come to Earth and attacked humans. We don't know why they did this, or why some people are still alive, like Penryn and her mother and sister. They have decided to leave their home in search of a better, maybe even safer place to live. Her sister Paige is in a wheelchair. So that is one obstacle to travel. Another obstacle, is that they must travel during the night. The daytime is now when the human gangs are in charge. At night of course people are more scared because of the dark, and angels, etc. So as they start out, they get just a little ways when all of a sudden they see an angel come crashing down, being chased by other angels. The ones ganging up on this angel cut his wings off. Penryn feels that she must try to help, and so jumps out for a distraction, also hoping her mom and sister can get away while she distracts them. Unfortunately, Penryn's mom is a bit out of it, and doesn't think to grab Paige's wheelchair. So as Paige tries to get away on her own, one of the angels grabs her out of her wheelchair and flies away with her. Penryn now must find her sister, and obviously her mother won't be any help. So she decides that she must keep track of this angel and use him to get her sister back. She takes his wings as something to try to hold over him. Which does work.
The angel is Raffe. He doesn't want her help, but ends up finally giving in to a point. They travel to where he says her sister will be. Getting kidnapped at one point by a human resistance group. Luckily they have the sense to hide Raffe's wings, and when he's dressed, you can't tell he is an angel, other than just how drop dead gorgeous he is. Eventually they are able to get away from the resistance group, but they have gotten some info and made some friends here who will be helpful when they reach their final destination.
I won't give anymore away. Just to say that I like that Penryn's character is a strong girl. She's had to be, her home life wasn't great. You get to find that out through the story. The attraction/bond between her and Raffe unfolds at a reasonable pace. It's obvious she would be attracted to Mr. Perfection in looks. He has a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor that I liked as well. But he doesn't seem to care for her quite to the same degree, but enough to save her several times. I'm glad to hear that this is a sequel, as the ending leaves you really hanging.
I don't quite understand what the angels are doing in their lab at the final destination, I really am interested in the reasoning behind that. Also, Raffe thinks he'll get other angels to put his wings back on, and I want to see what happens with what they do to him at that point.
A good story, but once again, reading it before it is published only makes it that much more torture to now have to wait for the next book in the series to be released.
demetria_books01's review against another edition
4.5
Nie ma już Ziemi jaką znaliśmy. Nasza cywilizacja upadła. Miasta płoną, wszelkie środki komunikacji zostały zniszczone, więzi społeczne prawie całkowicie zanikły. W dzień zgliszczami rządzą gangi, ale to nie ich ludzie obawiają się najbardziej. Anioły, do których przez wieki modliliśmy się o ochronę i pomoc, stały się naszymi największymi wrogami. Mordują tych, którym udało się przetrwać pierwszą falę ich ataku. Nie znają litości.
Siedemnastoletnia Penryn na własne oczy widzi jak uskrzydlone istoty porywają jej młodszą siostrę. Mimo przeciwności postanawia ją uratować. W tym celu sprzymierza się z jednym z oprawców, któremu podobni jemu obcięli skrzydła. Wyruszają w długą i męczącą podróż przez zrujnowaną Kalifornię, próbując dostać się Gniazda Aniołów. Czy ich wędrówka skończy się szczęśliwie? Czy Penryn uda się ocalić siostrę?
Niesamowita, wciągająca, niekiedy przerażająca powieść z bardzo dobrze przemyślaną, choć czasem pokręconą fabułą. Ogromnym plusem jest brak jakichkolwiek nudnych momentów, cały czas coś się dzieje, akcja cały czas jest wartka. Cały czas również wyczuwalne jest napięcie między bohaterami, a także ich strach przed tym, co będzie dalej. Powiem szczerze, że oczekiwałam czegoś odrobinę innego, czegoś w stylu ,, Nowej Ziemi". W pewnym sensie nie dostałam tego, czego oczekiwałam. Dostałam za to coś o wiele, wiele lepszego. Książka momentami jest przewidywalna aż do bólu, ale nie przeszkadza to w ogóle w jej odbiorze i wiem, że powinnam to zdanie umieścić w minusach, ale jest tak nieistotne w ogólnym rozrachunku, że nie widziałam potrzeby rozpoczynania nowego pseudo-akapitu.
Niesamowicie przypadli mi do gustu bohaterowie, no może z wyjątkiem matki Pen, która jest... jak to delikatnie ująć- psychopatką, totalną świruską, kimś kogo należy się obawiać. Książce dodają uroku zabawne dialogi między postaciami oraz cięty język i zadziorny charakter Penryn. Ta dziewczyna to istne tornado- wie czego chce, walczy o to, co kocha, uparcie dąży do celu, lawiruje między różnymi sferami swojej osobowości równie bezproblemowo jak ja między półkami w bibliotece. Odrobinę przypominała mi Celaenę Sardothien ze ,, Szklanego Tronu", pod niektórymi względami była do niej zadziwiająco podobna. O Raffem mogę powiedzieć tylko tyle- odrobinę irytująca postać, której mimo to nie potrafię nie darzyć sympatią.
Co do zakończenia, jest nieziemskie, zaskakujące, zatrważające, czyli cytując Anitę - ,, ROZPIERNICZAJĄCE SYSTEM" !!! Nie mogę się doczekać sięgnięcia po kolejny tom!!!
Podsumowując, książka jest genialna. Równie genialna jak jej okładka, która jest tak niesamowita, prześliczna i zachwycająca, że aż mogłabym na nią patrzeć godzinami... gdybym tylko posiadała prywatny egzemplarz ,, Angelfall".
Siedemnastoletnia Penryn na własne oczy widzi jak uskrzydlone istoty porywają jej młodszą siostrę. Mimo przeciwności postanawia ją uratować. W tym celu sprzymierza się z jednym z oprawców, któremu podobni jemu obcięli skrzydła. Wyruszają w długą i męczącą podróż przez zrujnowaną Kalifornię, próbując dostać się Gniazda Aniołów. Czy ich wędrówka skończy się szczęśliwie? Czy Penryn uda się ocalić siostrę?
Niesamowita, wciągająca, niekiedy przerażająca powieść z bardzo dobrze przemyślaną, choć czasem pokręconą fabułą. Ogromnym plusem jest brak jakichkolwiek nudnych momentów, cały czas coś się dzieje, akcja cały czas jest wartka. Cały czas również wyczuwalne jest napięcie między bohaterami, a także ich strach przed tym, co będzie dalej. Powiem szczerze, że oczekiwałam czegoś odrobinę innego, czegoś w stylu ,, Nowej Ziemi". W pewnym sensie nie dostałam tego, czego oczekiwałam. Dostałam za to coś o wiele, wiele lepszego. Książka momentami jest przewidywalna aż do bólu, ale nie przeszkadza to w ogóle w jej odbiorze i wiem, że powinnam to zdanie umieścić w minusach, ale jest tak nieistotne w ogólnym rozrachunku, że nie widziałam potrzeby rozpoczynania nowego pseudo-akapitu.
Niesamowicie przypadli mi do gustu bohaterowie, no może z wyjątkiem matki Pen, która jest... jak to delikatnie ująć- psychopatką, totalną świruską, kimś kogo należy się obawiać. Książce dodają uroku zabawne dialogi między postaciami oraz cięty język i zadziorny charakter Penryn. Ta dziewczyna to istne tornado- wie czego chce, walczy o to, co kocha, uparcie dąży do celu, lawiruje między różnymi sferami swojej osobowości równie bezproblemowo jak ja między półkami w bibliotece. Odrobinę przypominała mi Celaenę Sardothien ze ,, Szklanego Tronu", pod niektórymi względami była do niej zadziwiająco podobna. O Raffem mogę powiedzieć tylko tyle- odrobinę irytująca postać, której mimo to nie potrafię nie darzyć sympatią.
Co do zakończenia, jest nieziemskie, zaskakujące, zatrważające, czyli cytując Anitę - ,, ROZPIERNICZAJĄCE SYSTEM" !!! Nie mogę się doczekać sięgnięcia po kolejny tom!!!
Podsumowując, książka jest genialna. Równie genialna jak jej okładka, która jest tak niesamowita, prześliczna i zachwycająca, że aż mogłabym na nią patrzeć godzinami... gdybym tylko posiadała prywatny egzemplarz ,, Angelfall".
karaboureview's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Cannibalism, Death, Child abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Blood, Body horror, Injury/injury detail, Slavery, Sexism, and Ableism
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Trafficking, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, War, and Abandonment
cm_kayla's review against another edition
3.0
ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Minor Spoilers
From Goodreads: “It’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…”
My thoughts: I’ve been dying to get my hands on these books after seeing a smattering of reviews on the booktube community. When I first saw it, it seemed like it was from a smaller publisher and a bit more indie than other books by other famous authors which is always intriguing. I had no idea what it was about and had never read the description from the back of the book until netgalley provided it and when I realized, I was rather hesitant. I’ve read a lot of dystopian but the closest book I’ve read to an ongoing apocalyptic novel was The Fifth Wave (which I LOVED!), however they do give me a little bit of anxiety.
Regardless, I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. It started off quite dark as we see just this wasteland that earth has become and how our main character Penryn and her family has to hide out in fear not only of the killer angels but of humans who are not obligated to follow rules. The entire west coast is desolate and filled with fear and it’s not long before we get our first look at our main angel antagonists. When we first meet Raffe I had to laugh a bit. The only other story I’ve been involved in that featured angels was Supernatural and with Raffe’s black hair all I could think of was Cas. Which, isn’t so far off considering Supernatural’s angels aren’t exactly the kindest of God’s creations. Raffe and his personality also relate very close to Cas’ disinterest in human society and dry humor. Raffe is very sarcastic and full of himself, but it seems like Penryn is as well.
I felt the first part of the book was rather slow and it took around 100 pages before I felt anything started moving. I enjoyed the scenes at the camp and was surprised at their inability to guess that Raffe was an angel. Dee and Dum were interesting characters, but it gave me this Tim Burton esque feel that flipped the world around in my head. It went from a real-life (as real as you could get) to being very animated with the introduction of those characters. I’d agree they were a bit like Fred and George but I also do not really trust the characters at all. This will be interesting to follow in the next novel.
The book did get a little gory and gross near the end. Strewn bodies, torn ligaments, it was a little too descriptive for my taste and became 10x more dark than I was expecting at the end. The fight scenes were OK, but I’ve always gotten bored with action sequences. I don’t want to say much more as to spoil the ending, but it felt very similar to the end of City of Glass (if that’s the right one), and I’m still unsure of how I felt about it. It was super creepy, super gross, but I am intrigued enough to continue with the series!
Characters: I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the characters. I felt like Penryn’s interest in Raffe was really obvious and seems ridiculous when compared to the real life problems of her sister and like…the destruction of earth, yeah? I liked Raffe more than I did Penryn and felt like she was a bit immature when it came to some of the situations. She entered a lot of scenes saying whatever she felt and she made a lot of stupid decisions. Regardless, they weren’t annoying, but they weren’t the greatest characters.
Setting: According to Christine, she thought the world was laid out very well in this novel, but I felt the opposite. I had a very hazy picture of the entire world. I made up things as I went, which is usually how I do with novels regardless so it wasn’t a big deal. It’s not hard to think of a destroyed world with all the dystopian movies out.
Netgalley has also provided me with a copy of World After which is the second book in the series so expect that soon! The final book will be coming out May of this year!
Minor Spoilers
From Goodreads: “It’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…”
My thoughts: I’ve been dying to get my hands on these books after seeing a smattering of reviews on the booktube community. When I first saw it, it seemed like it was from a smaller publisher and a bit more indie than other books by other famous authors which is always intriguing. I had no idea what it was about and had never read the description from the back of the book until netgalley provided it and when I realized, I was rather hesitant. I’ve read a lot of dystopian but the closest book I’ve read to an ongoing apocalyptic novel was The Fifth Wave (which I LOVED!), however they do give me a little bit of anxiety.
Regardless, I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would. It started off quite dark as we see just this wasteland that earth has become and how our main character Penryn and her family has to hide out in fear not only of the killer angels but of humans who are not obligated to follow rules. The entire west coast is desolate and filled with fear and it’s not long before we get our first look at our main angel antagonists. When we first meet Raffe I had to laugh a bit. The only other story I’ve been involved in that featured angels was Supernatural and with Raffe’s black hair all I could think of was Cas. Which, isn’t so far off considering Supernatural’s angels aren’t exactly the kindest of God’s creations. Raffe and his personality also relate very close to Cas’ disinterest in human society and dry humor. Raffe is very sarcastic and full of himself, but it seems like Penryn is as well.
I felt the first part of the book was rather slow and it took around 100 pages before I felt anything started moving. I enjoyed the scenes at the camp and was surprised at their inability to guess that Raffe was an angel. Dee and Dum were interesting characters, but it gave me this Tim Burton esque feel that flipped the world around in my head. It went from a real-life (as real as you could get) to being very animated with the introduction of those characters. I’d agree they were a bit like Fred and George but I also do not really trust the characters at all. This will be interesting to follow in the next novel.
The book did get a little gory and gross near the end. Strewn bodies, torn ligaments, it was a little too descriptive for my taste and became 10x more dark than I was expecting at the end. The fight scenes were OK, but I’ve always gotten bored with action sequences. I don’t want to say much more as to spoil the ending, but it felt very similar to the end of City of Glass (if that’s the right one), and I’m still unsure of how I felt about it. It was super creepy, super gross, but I am intrigued enough to continue with the series!
Characters: I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the characters. I felt like Penryn’s interest in Raffe was really obvious and seems ridiculous when compared to the real life problems of her sister and like…the destruction of earth, yeah? I liked Raffe more than I did Penryn and felt like she was a bit immature when it came to some of the situations. She entered a lot of scenes saying whatever she felt and she made a lot of stupid decisions. Regardless, they weren’t annoying, but they weren’t the greatest characters.
Setting: According to Christine, she thought the world was laid out very well in this novel, but I felt the opposite. I had a very hazy picture of the entire world. I made up things as I went, which is usually how I do with novels regardless so it wasn’t a big deal. It’s not hard to think of a destroyed world with all the dystopian movies out.
Netgalley has also provided me with a copy of World After which is the second book in the series so expect that soon! The final book will be coming out May of this year!
munderoon's review against another edition
4.0
I... I don't know what to say.
I'm SO surprised by this book! I've never thought this would be SO good, although my sources told me.
I don't want to give ANYTHING away, because in my opinion, everyone should read this fantastic book.
It's funny, it's thrilling, it's passionate and although there are some lengths sometimes (very few!!) it does a great job.
I love Raffe and his sarcasm, his humour. The plot twists kept me glued to the pages, I couldn't turn them fast enough. Gosh... why isn't it fall yet?
Totally overwhelmed!!
I'm SO surprised by this book! I've never thought this would be SO good, although my sources told me.
I don't want to give ANYTHING away, because in my opinion, everyone should read this fantastic book.
It's funny, it's thrilling, it's passionate and although there are some lengths sometimes (very few!!) it does a great job.
I love Raffe and his sarcasm, his humour. The plot twists kept me glued to the pages, I couldn't turn them fast enough. Gosh... why isn't it fall yet?
Totally overwhelmed!!
jessthebookworm's review against another edition
4.0
It has been 6 weeks since angels arrived on earth and started destroying everything. Penryn is trying to survive along with her mother and sister, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult as supplies run low and gangs take over.
One day on a supply run Penryn's sister gets taken and she sees an angel get mutilated by one of his own kind. He's her only chance of finding out where her sister could be and so she rescues him and has to work together with her enemy.
This was an enjoyable read. The world was set out vividly and I liked the characters. It definitely got intense at the end, and I'm very keen to get my hands on the other books in the series because there is so much I need to know.
One day on a supply run Penryn's sister gets taken and she sees an angel get mutilated by one of his own kind. He's her only chance of finding out where her sister could be and so she rescues him and has to work together with her enemy.
This was an enjoyable read. The world was set out vividly and I liked the characters. It definitely got intense at the end, and I'm very keen to get my hands on the other books in the series because there is so much I need to know.
anabelscorner's review against another edition
3.0
finally finished this one. only took me over a year. It was okay.