Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Sep 22, 2011 D.G. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, reviewed, audiobook, post-apocalyptic

Re-read in audio Nov 9, 2013 - Bumped rating to 5 stars. It really deserves it!

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This is a thought-provoking book, wrapped in an end the world setting. It may seem weird to mix a post apocalyptic world with heavenly beings but now that I think about it, I’m surprised this is the first “Apocalypses brought by Angels” story I’ve read, given that anybody who’s vaguely familiar with the Book of Revelation knows that angels and the end Re-read in audio Nov 9, 2013 - Bumped rating to 5 stars. It really deserves it!

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This is a thought-provoking book, wrapped in an end the world setting. It may seem weird to mix a post apocalyptic world with heavenly beings but now that I think about it, I’m surprised this is the first “Apocalypses brought by Angels” story I’ve read, given that anybody who’s vaguely familiar with the Book of Revelation knows that angels and the end of world go hand in hand. The Apocalypse (as it’s also called) forms the base for some of the action in this book, including the way Angels attacked the Earth (peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake) or the appearance of scorpion-tailed creatures with human appearance and wings.

At the beginning, this book reminded of The Hunger Games (young tough heroine rescuing sister, with no father and a mother who’s “out there”) and Daughter of Smoke and Bone (angel and heroine are enemies.) These similarities faded quickly though and the story stood on its own.

Penryn is definitely my kind of gal. She doesn’t whine or puts her head in the sand. Instead, she makes the tough decisions and lives with the consequences. She doesn’t dwell in the past or the way the world used to be, she knows there’s no point in wishful thinking. She doesn’t berate herself if she fails and just keeps going. Also, she doesn’t let her feelings get in the way of what she needs to do. At one point, Raffe thoroughly humiliates her (I really felt for her) but she composes herself and puts it out of her mind. She doesn’t forget it but she realizes that saving her sister is more important than anything else.

With this description, I don’t mean to imply that Penryn is a robot or unfeeling but the contrary. She's loyal, loves her sister dearly and resents her parents because she’s had to make all the hard decisions and can’t count on them. At the same time, she feels guilty about those feelings and tries to do the best for her mother. She’s tough, but sometimes the façade collapses and we can see her vulnerability and realize that she’s just a really young woman in an untenable situation.

As I was reading about the destruction of cities we love, the deaths of millions of people under the might of an army stronger than the humans could conjure, it dawned on me that this is how some countries in the Middle East must feel after the onslaught of American forces. I know they think we are the bad guys but it’s more difficult when you really understand why you are cast in that light. And I couldn’t help but feel a terrible sadness at the futility of war. When? When will this stop?

Although Penryn is only 17-years old, this is really grown-up book. The author doesn’t gloss over the terrible consequences of war, the realities of sexual desire or the question about the existence of God. They all have a place within the story and they are very well handled.

All I can say is that this book was terrific and that I cannot wait until book 2. I’m sure I’ll be pre-ordering it as soon as it’s available! ...more

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Oct 24, 2015 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, dystopian, fantasy, science-fiction, wish-list-physical, own-ebook-read, post-apocalyptic, mythology, reviewed, romance

12/17/2020: Reread! Love this series.
09/19/2018: Read for the second time.

There are a couple of things that really drove me to reread this series. This series has been at the forefront of my mind since I finished it. I think that it is a combination of things. First, I absolutely adore the main character, Penryn! She is exactly the type of heroine that I love! She is fierce. She's strong, selfless, and determined. She will put her loved ones before herself every time and she doesn't know how to ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Marla rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, romance, series, recommended-to-me, paranormal, dystopia, angels, wait, buddy

3.5 stars. In full disclosure, I should tell you that I'm not a fan of fallen angel stories. I think most of it stems from, fallen angels being heroes offends my religious beliefs. Also, why would a divine being get involved with us lowly humans romantically? Knowing this, some GR friends suggested that I read this series, so after dragging my feet, here I am.

I definitely liked this better than Fallen and Hush, Hush and I think it was faster than Daughter of Smoke & Bone, but the world building ...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Asmaa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bring-out-the-tissues, young-adult, series, books-i-heart, aaah-l-amour, hahaha, caliente, book-titles-that-rock, crush-on-the-writing, wish-you-were-my-boyfriend

RATING: 5/5

My very own Raffe: the too-hot-for-his-own-good: Jake Madden

Note: I bookmarked it like 20 times and now I couldn't come up with a favorite quote it is so hard to choose!

This book is a true hidden gem: I didn’t know what to expect; maybe a fluffy read, maybe a badly written self-published book that I would mildly like; but certainly not to fall crazy and madly in love as in where-were-you-my-whole-life and how-am-I-supposed-to-go-on-without-you, kind of love.

I had to lock myself in ...more

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Nov 29, 2015 Nancy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: on-kindle, paranormal

I loved the whole premise of the book, to the extent that for several years I have wondered whether there would be mileage in writing a book where the archangels came to earth. Well, this has proved that yes, there is definitely mileage and this is a brilliant example of it. I really loved the characters, I loved how Raffe was an agnostic angel (that made me laugh, it was brilliant), I loved Penryn and I really enjoyed the way that the world was only explained piece by piece. I think this was a ...more

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Apr 10, 2017 ☘KathyD☘ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-young-adult, genre-romance, genre-romance-series, genre-paranormal, book-kindle, audio-audible, pages-200-299, genre-fantasy, genre-dystopia, zz-2017

This was an interesting take on the apocalypse. I enjoyed this story quite a bit...Penryn is not your typical heroine. She is tough as nails for being only 17 years old and loyal to a fault. Her doubts about herself or questions about whether she should care about certain outcomes, makes her even stronger in my opinion. For his part, Raffe is a very detached character, but somehow shows a bit of humanity. I felt this was a strong start to this trilogy and look forward to seeing where it goes fro ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, post-apocalyptic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'll be honest, to begin with I struggled with this book. But by the end, I didn't want it to end.

This book begins shortly after the end of the world - something brought about by the Angels. Following natural disasters the Angels descended and killed and terrorised those humans that survived - but why?

Penryn is a young girl struggling to look after her wheelchair bound sister and a mother with mental health issues, when she gets caught in the middle of a fight between Angels - one actually havin ...more

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