Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee
Publisher: Feral Dream
Publication date: May 21st, 2011
Number of pages: 254
Format: Kindle
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add to Goodreads

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

This story begins with the flow of a feather ruffling through the air. The start of something new. Something different. Something... unexpected.
The world has changed after the takeover of angels. They have demolished everything in sight. Responsible for every horrible thing that happened, and that is the way they liked it.

Six weeks later, seventeen, Penryn, her mother and little sister attempt to run after they stumble upon a confrontation between angels, one of the angels do the impossible... swoop in and take off her with little sister. First comes shock, then anger and determination to find and get her back.

She soon finds an unexpected ally, in the form of Raffe. He is an angel who she finds wingless out in the street after a lost battle, and Penryn decides she can't just let him die like that and takes him under her wing, so to speak, and help him heal up in hope that he might have information on where the others had taken her sister.
Joining forces with the enemy was not something Penryn liked, nor was it easy, but if it was the only way to discover what they did with her sister, well... then she would do what it takes.

It's not often that a book like this surprises me. It caught my attention right away. The world building, the characters and the writing. The author managed to hook me in to the point where I never wanted the story to end. The love that Penryn had for her family was admirable. It's something I think we all can relate to... doing whatever it takes for family, and love.
And then there was the relationship she had with the enemy, Raffe. It was one of the main drawing points for me in this book. I was hooked on their every move, and even though they basically hated one another, I wanted something to happen between them. I wanted them to see they weren't just using one another.
I was happy with the progression of their relationship as they moved throughout the book. I look forward to see where things lead in book 2, when that may come out.

The world, the fact that angels have taken over the world was an interesting concept. It's not something you see much... probably because when you think of Angels, they are meant to be good. They are meant to protect humans, and not ruin everything there was to earth and to humans. Like I said, interesting concept.

Verdict: 5/5