Angelfall by Susan Ee

Synopsis

Its six weeks after the angels came and destroyed earth as we know it; the apocalypse of biblical proportions has arrived. Only a few humans survive hiding, fending for themselves whilst keeping safe on the savage streets wrought with superstition and fear especially at night.

The angels revisit frequently and no one is safe. Penryn a 17 year old girl is caring for her younger sister whose wheelchair bound and her erratic mentally ill mother. When they decide to move from their home they encounter a group of angels one of whom is badly beaten. Penryn is shaken but this was nothing compared to the desolation she feels when the angels spot her sister and fly away with her.

Penryn will do anything to get her back, including making a deal with the enemy.

Review

I’d not read many angel books prior to Angelfall nor had I heard of Susan Ee, but when it came on an Amazon daily deal e-mail I decided to give it a go. I thought I might like it but I wasn't expecting to be blown away...yet I was. I was gripped within the first few pages, it was unlike any other book I’d read, and I just couldn’t put it down.

The plot is set in a post apocalyptic world which is described throughout the book and I think it was as gripping as what she was describing was the world as we know it now. The descriptions of streets jammed with empty cars and littered with abandoned mobile phones are haunting, this made the plot more real in that you could imagine how it would be in your own life. Susan Ee’s plot builds exquisitely from a lonely feather falling from the sky to the image of Angel Gabriel hovering over an under siege Jerusalem. Every scene is described in such a way that it makes it such a gripping read. I think it is the main reason that the book is almost impossible to put down.

Penryn is a 17yr old girl who’s had to contend with a lot in her life, and her back story unravels throughout the book revealing how she became such a strong determined young woman reminding me of Katniss in The Hunger Games (another strong survivor). Her determination to reach and save her sister makes you want to route for her in her quest.

The male lead Raffe an angel, who appears near to death in the beginning, is described beautifully whilst allowing your imagination to build him in your head. The simmering undercurrent of the love/hate relationship between Penryn and Raffe keeps you gripped, whilst you find yourself routing for them and hoping their relationship will develop. Despite this there is no obvious romance per say  and you couldn’t categorise this as a romantic novel, Susan manages to thread her descriptions of the two main characters relationship as being potentially romantic without directly indicating it may happen, allowing the reader to develop their own hopes and dreams for Penryn & Raffe.

As you’ve probably realised by now I loved this book and can’t wait for the release of the next book World After (Penryn and the end of the day’s book 2) on the 19^th November 2013. I would highly recommend this book  I rate this book