Review: Angelfall, by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Genre: Paranormal/ Dystopia/ Post-apocalyptic
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.

Let Angelfall be an example for us that publishing houses don't always have the perfect choosing ability. This makes me want to read more self-published books; who knows what hidden gems we'll find?

Imagine this scene in which a publisher is arguing with his boss over Angelfall:

Boss: Look at this atrocity! Who is going to want to read this?!

Publisher: But I found it entertaining to read.

Boss: *scoffs*Entertaining to read? This is most certainly not an enjoyable book to read. Where are the vital components of a young adult book? Where is the insta-love? The love triangle? The perfect female lead? Angelfall does not conform to our standards.

Publisher: But, I think—

Boss: You think teens these days want to read a book like this – an imperfect protagonist, a guy who isn't over-protective and there to save the day? No.

Publisher: Isn't it better that this book takes a different approach to this topic, and doesn't severely underestimate the intelligence of our target audience?

Boss: No, it is not. People don’t like change. Look at all the copies of the books that go by our standards have sold. Look at all the copies that Fallen and Hush Hush have sold. People don’t care if it is virtually the same story but with different characters; they just care about the romance.

Boss: Meh. This book is utter rubbish.

*Tosses book in the trash*


This book has EVERYTHING I crave in my paranormal books. Every. Freakin. Thing.

Interesting plot? Check.
Believable heroine? Check.
Slow-developing romance? Check.
Goes in depth on angels, without any info-dumps? Check.
Well-written setting? Check.

I must say, my favorite part was when Penryn pretended to be an angel, by holding wings behind her back to give the illusion that she is an angel, in order to save Raffe. I swear, this had me laughing for at least 5 minutes straight.

And the fact that she slaps Raffe when she first meets him? That just increased my liking of her. This girl's got brains, she's tough, and best of all, she's funny.

The end had me horrified. This is certainly how a post-apocalyptic novel should be written, and it is written perfectly. I am waiting for that next book!

5 stars!