Angelfall

Penryn & the End of Days, Book #1

By Susan Ee

ISBN# 9781444778519

Author’s Website:  http://www.susanee.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

It’s been six weeks since the angels descended on Earth and left nothing, but destruction in their wake.  Now everybody lives in fear.  Fear of the angels that are still here, fear of the street gangs that have taken over the desecrated streets and abandoned buildings, and fear of dying a horrible slow death like starvation.

Seventeen year old Penryn is leaving the only home she knows with her wheelchair bound little sister and her sanity challenged mother, who is now completely off her meds.  They are out to find safety and food.

Shortly after leaving their apartment they come across a group of angels and see them cut off another angel’s wings right in front of them.  She goes to the injured angel’s aide and gives him his sword that got knocked out of his reach and helps fight them off.  The other angels leave, but one grabs her little sister, Paige, and flies off into the sky.  Penryn’s mother disappears and now she finds herself on a journey with the injured angel, each on their own mission to get back what they have lost.  However, right when they seem to finally make progress on setting things right, it all goes horribly wrong.

I’ll start off by saying that I’m not a huge YA (Young Adult) fan, but this book really didn’t read like the typical books that I’ve grown to detest in the genre with immature characters and even more immature storylines.  I actually enjoyed the characters and found Penryn to be rather mature for her age, but I guess having to take care of your handicapped sister will do that to you.

I also really liked Raffe.  He was the strong silent type that you grow to rely on.  He got Penryn out of many jams and put himself in danger on several occasions to save her.  Even if she didn’t follow his advice to run!  He had a strong moral ethic about him, but was always quick to crack a joke as well.

Penryn’s mother was quite a character as well, always popping up at the strangest of times and letting her crazy fly.  It gave Penryn a lot of mixed emotions throughout the story.

This was an odd yet interesting book, but the ending didn’t really read like an ending to me.  I know the goal is to get you to read the rest of the trilogy so the author kept some things to herself on this one.  And, maybe one day I’ll venture on to the next book.  Unfortunately, there was nothing that really made me want to rush out to read it though.  It’s a decent read, but just nothing that entices me to read further to see what happens.  But if you like dystopian reads and your angels to be a bit evil, then this could be the book for you!