From the Bookshelf of YA Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction…

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)

Susan Ee

Start date: March 1, 2017

Finish date: March 31, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Amy (DemonKittie)

Why we're reading this: March 2017 BOTM
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Mar 25, 2013 Christina (Ensconced in Lit) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow. This was voted as my next read by my loyal blog followers this month and boy, they were right.

Angelfall by Susan Ee focuses on a teenaged girl, Penryn, who fights to protect her small and dysfunctional family in a post-apocalyptic Silicon Valley where angels have destroyed much of the technology and population. She has a psychologically unhinged mother who is no longer on medication, a sister who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, and no safe haven or regular food or water source. She meets ...more

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Oct 06, 2014 Badz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2015, kickass-heroines

Wings on the cover and Angelfall as title. This book screams angelic presence. So I was expecting the typical Angels of God story or at the very least, fallen angel-ish--something along the lines of Hush Hush. That's how I got it all wrong.

In Angelfall, angels are not the spiritual beings of god that would bring eternal peace and harmony on earth. They are the exact opposite. The world was on the brink of permanent destruction and the angels are behind it. They swooped down in all their mythical ...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Brianna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really liked Penryn. :). She was one of the smarter YA heroines I've read. She thought everything through before she did it, and I was never annoyed with her.

Raffe is such a mystery. I'm excited to see what happens with them in the second book. I can't wait to read it. ...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Ruth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: summer

*sigh*

I don't even know where to start. You don't come across books with such a high rating (4.38) very often. Especially, if it's a self-published book. I even failed to find a negative review. Everyone's loved this book so far. I guess, it's pretty obvious why I've picked up this book ready to love every teeny tiny bit of it. Unfortunately, I did not fall head over heals in love with Angelfall. Why? That's a mystery to me.

There is no doubt this book is well-written. It even has great characte *sigh*

I don't even know where to start. You don't come across books with such a high rating (4.38) very often. Especially, if it's a self-published book. I even failed to find a negative review. Everyone's loved this book so far. I guess, it's pretty obvious why I've picked up this book ready to love every teeny tiny bit of it. Unfortunately, I did not fall head over heals in love with Angelfall. Why? That's a mystery to me.

There is no doubt this book is well-written. It even has great characters to give the story the right seasoning. I mean, Penryn is one of the strong heroines who is brave and willing to do almost anything to save her family but she never looses her humanity, softness and femininity. Raffe is tough as nails and yet somewhere deep inside he's also gentle and kind. Not to mention he's incredibly, out-of-this-world kind of handsome and super hot. I loved their dialogues and couldn't wait for them to get a chance to say more. The smart-ass witty comments they gave each other made me laugh out loud.

I feel sorry for Raffe, really it's heartbreaking the struggles he face with his wings. I can only imagine how hard it must be to be unable to do anything about something so truly wholly yours being taken away. And who Raffe really is? I honestly never saw that coming. I now that probably makes me look stupid but way to go for camouflaging that from me. I usually pick up on that kind of thing pretty quickly.

Angelfall is an action-packed, fast-paced book. For an unknown reason though, it didn't consume me and didn't make me stay up late just so I could read some more. It had all the right elements but somehow it failed to entertain me as much as it should. I could say it's because the setting got a bit ridiculous and hard to get used to but that would be a lie. If a story's good enough it can make you enjoy almost anything, even the things that may not be your cup of tea, the way the Dauther of Smoke and Bone does.

I really enjoyed the first 1/3 of the book until they stumbled upon the resistance camp. Starting from there it all kind of turned into a ridiculous set of events and let's be honest, ridiculous people. Scratch that, it wasn't just people but also angels and weird creatures (I still have no idea what they were supposed to be).

I could easily get into the whole angel world, it was exceptionally believable, possibly because of the history and bible background the author took time to study and understand. I failed to believe the rest though. Why would angels be sleeping with human women when 1) they knew they could end up creating the terrible nephilim and 2) there are female angels who look a lot better than human women who they also often refer to as monkeys. Also the thing with the monster devil kids and scorpion-angel creatures was a little over the top.

I wish there was a lot more information about the whole angel attack and a lot of other things I felt were left unanswered. I mean, I don't expect to find out everything in the first installment but it would be nice to at least get some answers. As a reader I like the satisfaction of learning new important details and insides. It makes me feel like somehow I've accomplished something by getting there (I'm not sure it's entirely possible to explain that feeling) and it helps me connect to the story better. I'm always hungry for secrets and revelations so I guess I will always want to know more.

I know I've said some bad things about this book but don't get me wrong - I did enjoy it. I liked it a lot in my own way. I even wish I could give it 4 stars but I just can't do that right now because I tend to idealize the books once I'm finished but those were really things that bothered me while I was still reading. Now I'm thinking that maybe it was only because it was so freaking hot when I was reading it that I failed to like it more. Maybe I wouldn't even have liked the Hunger Games in this kind of weather. I honestly hope that is the case and I actually do like Angelfall a lot more than it seems. Yeah, I'm sure that's it. So I apologize for all the bad things I've said earlier and I will be definitely looking forward to reading the next installment as soon as it comes out. I hope book #2 proves my theory and disproves all my complaints! I'm eager to hear more about Penryn and Raffe, I love both of them! ...more

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