Book reviews by Mobilism's Book Review team
Sep 3rd, 2012, 6:20 am
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TITLE: Angelfall
AUTHOR: Susan Ee
GENRE: Post-Apocalyptic, Supernatural
PAGE COUNT: 290 (approximate)
RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon // Barnes & Noble
MOBILISM LINK: Here

Review:

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.




Angels? Seriously?

These were the two main thoughts that went through my mind when I saw this book. I'm not a 'when angels fall' kind of reader. I find the books desperately depressing and more than a little too far-fetched for my liking. However, it's amazing what desperation can lead you to reading. Besides, it had a decent cover!

The lead female character is Penryn. What can I say about her? Well, she's smart. And she's strong, emotionally and mentally. She has had to take care of both her mother and her little sister for quite sometime; it's made more difficult in that her sister is crippled and in a wheelchair. She's loyal and she's responsible and has taken a massive load onto her shoulders for a person who is only 17 years old.

The two lesser female characters are Penryn's mother and her sister. Penryn's (or Pen, as she is known in the book) mother is mentally ill and is an... shall we say 'interesting' character within the book. As stated before, her sister is in a wheelchair. While the circumstances surrounding her being in a wheelchair are never really explained, there is enough allusion to make you suspect something incredibly tragic had happened.

The male lead is the angel Raffe. As stated in the synopsis, Raffe ends up being stripped of his wings and has to learn how to be 'human'. He is more than the 'Strong, Silent Type', he almost takes it to an extreme, but at times will show an amazingly gentle soul.

During the course of Pen's desperate escape from the city, she is cornered on a deserted street due to Raffe's confrontation with other angels. Pen attempts to draw the other angels' attention from Raffe and instead causes all of their attention to fall on her and her family; this results in her sister being abducted and taken to what is eventually known as 'The Aviary'. The story centers around Pen's resolution to find both her mother and her sister and get them all to safety. You learn that Pen is resourceful and has been well-trained in martial arts.



There were several things that I greatly enjoyed about this book. The first being that all of the fight scenes involving Pen were written very convincingly. Even down to remarking on the joke that I have with my husband:

Why yes. Because in 'real fights', the villians will always wait their turns to attack you.


In the fight scenes, it is realistic, rough and dirty. Pen has to use all of her knowledge and skills and the villians don't just stop because she's managed to get a few shots in. And given that it is a post-apocalyptic setting, desperation for survival make the fights all the more down and dirty.

The connection that you see beginning to develop between Raffe and Pen is believable as well. There's not an immediate "Oh My God, I can't live without you!' moment. As it grows, the reader feels it starting to creep into them, as well. You can't help but wish that the two of them could just work it all out! You spend the whole book wondering, "Is there going to be more? Oh No! - she's never going to trust him now! Wait... maybe...!" It's written in such a manner that you have to keep reading if for no other reason than to see what's going to happen between the main characters.

I personally loved the dialogue and the descriptions of Pen's thoughts. It was believable, or as believeable as an Angel Revolution Apocalypse can be at any rate. Raffe's dialogue could be a bit stiff at times, but when you look at the fact that he's a Fallen Angel, you find that you can usually overlook it.

The ending of this book, the final scene, almost had me in tears. It was heartbreaking and well written.



Now... there were a couple of things that I had a hard time with. I can't go into great detail, given that to do so would create the need for major spoilers. However, I can allude to them.

The first issue is what the angels are doing with all of the abducted children. Personally, I found this a completely unnecessary plot device, but since there's a sequel coming out shortly, I figure that it's probably going to be central in that piece.

Secondly, I was never able to really figure out what the angels were doing in the city other than what was going on with the abducted children. It seemed like towards the end, the author sort of jumbled a lot of information together and left the reader to sort it out.

The last issue I had is what ends up happening to Raffe. Again, I felt that it was a bit overdone and not really necessary as many other things had already hit you in the gut. Not only that, but I was not completely clear as to why it was done. Again, as I stated, the end of the book felt like an overload of information.


All in all, it was great read and I found that I was able to read it fairly quickly. The writing was excellent and well-paced for my liking and while I had a hard time suspending my disbelief on some of the points in the book, overall I found that I really enjoyed it! I definitely recommend it to other supernatural lovers and to people who enjoy reading post-apocalypse books.
Sep 3rd, 2012, 6:20 am
Sep 24th, 2012, 10:53 pm
I understand this is set to be a series. Would you recommend reading it now, or waiting for the sequel(s).
If it can stand alone, I'd be happy to give it a try....if it hinges on Book 2, count me out for now
Sep 24th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Oct 4th, 2012, 8:38 am
ptb4life wrote:I understand this is set to be a series. Would you recommend reading it now, or waiting for the sequel(s).
If it can stand alone, I'd be happy to give it a try....if it hinges on Book 2, count me out for now


It works as a standalone and you can see where it's setting up for the sequel, if that makes sense? If this were the only book in the series, you'd still have a good bit of closure at the end of it.
Oct 4th, 2012, 8:38 am
Oct 4th, 2012, 4:26 pm
I have read this book not so long ago, and I completely agree with your review. I loved it, but didn't really appreciate the ending, though. Not because it was bad (it really wasn't, it almost had me in tears too) but because I felt it left me hanging a little, and we don't even have a release date for the next book. I’m just a little anxious to know what will happen next.
Oct 4th, 2012, 4:26 pm
Dec 8th, 2012, 7:28 pm
Never got my hand on the book! But after reading your review, I am determined to read it! :)
Dec 8th, 2012, 7:28 pm
Sep 8th, 2013, 8:27 am
I kind of liked the book. I did find the concept strange, but every story has to start somewhere.
Sep 8th, 2013, 8:27 am
Nov 1st, 2013, 7:28 am
I first got my hands on this one days after the initial release. As an adventure, it can be to read a series in one shot, but this one is to good to wait. I burned through the first book in days and it was both fulfilling and saddening. The writing structure and the characters were fantastic. I can't wait for the sequel and that is a wonderful thing.

As readers today we can be so spoiled to have to actually wait months if not a year to resume the adventures of our favorite characters. I can't wait to learn what adventures Raffe and crew will experience and that's a good thing as I have literally hundreds of other books seeking my attention. This way I can experience other worlds in time and enjoy other authors gifts until book two when it will be time to once again dive whole hardheartedly into this world.

it's no different than watching your favorite film trilogy in one evening on DVD vs. having to wait a year for each theatrical release and really absorb and understand each film as it's own experience.

If you love truly creative character driven fiction you owe it to yourself to check out Angelfall without apprehension. If you love it all you have to do is wait; if you pass it up you will be missing out on something truly special until the mainstream get a hold of this gem with their talons.

Do Not cheat yourself, grab this wonderful story now.
Nov 1st, 2013, 7:28 am
Nov 2nd, 2013, 9:58 am
It kind of reminds me of a movie that came out a few years ago. It was called Legion I believe.
Nov 2nd, 2013, 9:58 am
Nov 4th, 2013, 7:01 pm
Hmmmm interested in reading this now
Nov 4th, 2013, 7:01 pm
Nov 6th, 2013, 10:52 pm
I liked it! I can't wait for World After!
Nov 6th, 2013, 10:52 pm
Dec 25th, 2013, 6:00 pm
I actually like this book and I also read World After. Can't wait for the third book. It thought the second book was a bit short but still a good read.
Dec 25th, 2013, 6:00 pm
Feb 24th, 2014, 11:40 pm
Good book, but I felt that something was missing ;/ I don't know quite what :/
Feb 24th, 2014, 11:40 pm
May 21st, 2014, 5:55 pm
I totally enjoyed reading this book and the sequel! It was definitely a grimm take on angels in books. Reminds me of the show Supernatural. The sequel was amazing as well. I can't wait for book 3 to come out!
May 21st, 2014, 5:55 pm

Nay Denise

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/25185510-nay-denise
Christian Blog: www.daughterofincrease.blogspot.com
Fiction Blog: www.nayspinkbookshelf.blogspot.com
Apr 28th, 2015, 7:04 am
Book 3 is almost here! I heard it is amazing!
Apr 28th, 2015, 7:04 am
Sep 11th, 2015, 6:05 am
I've heard about this book, I actually have this book on my ereader but haven't managed to push myself to read it. I'll try now though, Pen seems cool. Thank you for the review!
Sep 11th, 2015, 6:05 am