Angelfall

First in Penryn & the End of Days
by Susan Ee

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.

Rating:

Recommendation:
Anyone looking for a dystopian YA novel, filled with angels, slight romance, and some of the gritty.

Whoa. There's a lot of love for this book. And, I mean, that's great and everything ... but I guess this just proves what a weird mofo I am. Oh, I liked the book. It was good and all, but, I didn't love it. I had ... issues with it - or certain aspects of it - and in the end, it was just, you know. Meh.

But. Self-published? Then this is definitely one of the better ones. I actually finished it, see? And it didn't actually invoke angry, angry emotions. I'd totally read the sequel once it's out - and if a movie is made I would be there on opening night.

Anyway. Most of my ... indifference towards Angelfall is probably due to it being the first of a trilogy, leaving a lot of things somewhat surface and underdeveloped, and many questions unanswered. But I always believe that a book should be able to stand on its own, part of a series or no.


So let's get cranking. In the world of Angelfall, the world has been ravaged by attacks by - you guessed it! - angels! Apparently under orders from God Himself, they descended upon our world and started a cleansing like none has ever seen before. Cities and indeed, human civilization, are left destroyed, forcing people to fend for themselves against looters and gangs.
Enter Penryn (which I thought at first was the name of a place), who was trying to lead her schizophrenic mother and crippled younger sister to safety, when a small group of angels came crashing down before them. They flew off, leaving a half-dead angel behind, and taking Penryn's younger sister with them.

And the rest of the novel is dedicated to Penryn's journey towards the aerie to rescue her sister, guided by the "fallen" angel, Raffe.

Spoiler: (only highlight over if you're prepared to be majorly spoiled)
Raffe happens to be Raphael, but that's no secret. I mean Raffe? Raphael? It doesn't take a genius. This is perhaps my first disappointment. Of course our main hero and future love interest has to be someone important. Like, being an angel itself is not important enough. He has to be feared and adored by his kind. What kind of Romantic Interest Hero isn't greatly renowned?
I think this is very typical in YA. We can't have a normal, average heroine with a normal, average hero.
End of Spoiler.

One thing I must appreciate is the way the romance developed. Well, it was obvious they would end up falling for each other from the start - I am reading a YA novel, after all - but at least it didn't take the shortcut of instant sparks and the omigod he's so hot I don't care that his species is killing off mine kind of nonsense.
What I clearly don't understand is why they had to fall for each other at all. Raffe was all handsome and Adonis-like (and yes, this comparison was actually made several times in the book), and also since he was helping Penryn find her sister, it did warrant the development of some sort of attachment on her part.
But on the other hand. Come on. An Archangel? Falling for a human girl? Scratch that. A human TEENAGE girl?
The mind boggles at how special she must be - and, I mean, she wasn't spectacularly different. She knew how to fight, she makes for a great older sister, but, a lot of other humans are like that, too.
Or maybe it was because she ... never left him to die that he grew attached to her? Oh honey. If your life was in my hands, I wouldn't have left you to die, either.

While we're on the subject of Raffe. One thing that bothered me was the portrayal of angels - the fact Raffe spoke like some sixteen year-old high school jock trying to sound cool. Except it comes off as lame. I did not feel a sense of ... celestial-ness from him. Nothing angelic other than the fact he ... looks like Adonis. And formerly had wings. Oh yes, the angels had cut off his wings and Penryn has them hostage.
And although he was still dreamy and at least not stalkerish or freaky, I still wanted my angels to feel like angels, you know? Just a smidgeon?

And Penryn. The average-but-not-so-average heroine, who has important boys falling for her and treating her with special cupcakes. The one who was never actually properly described other than the fact she had brown hair, so I could almost imagine myself being her.

Oh my, what a smart little cookie she was. She's always coming up to such brilliant conclusions I am just in such awe at her brain-power.

A sign proclaims that Life is G_od. It's hard to tell what product the sign was selling because the sign is singed all around those words as well as on the missing letter. I assume the sign used to say Life is Good.

Really, Penryn? I thought it used to say Life is Gbod or some other such nonsense! I mean, it's not like it's a universally known motto to a universally known brand or anything!

Another note on Penryn. There's something that just doesn't sit well with me. She reckons all men are out to rape her:

Too much of my thigh is showing, and the last place I want this kind of attention is where I'm surrounded by lawless men under desperate conditions.

*

I'm not sure if it's meant to be this tight, but it only adds to the sensation of being naked in front of savages.

I don't know about you, but I like to give men a little more faith. Do you honestly think, Penryn, that you are the only one capable of holding onto your own sense of morality and not go around looting and raping?
It does not necessarily mean to foolishly trust every man you see, of course, but I expect you not to go around making holier-than-thou assumptions, either.

... and finally, the way almost every other women is portrayed is so typical and abhorrent.

I'm about to get Raffe for lunch when a honey-haired woman saunters over to him on her long legs. Everything about her walk, her voice and the tilt of her head invites a man to get a little closer.

*

A brunette in a black dress with skin so white she looks like a vampire leans into him suggestively. Everything about her oozes sex.

But really, the problem isn't specifically how they were physically portrayed, but how they were characterized. They gave Penryn the typical dirty-look when it was clear Raffe "belonged to her", and all the other basic woman-on-woman hating.

Anyway. Enough about characters. The actual story progression was engaging enough to make up for any small tiffs I had with Penryn or Raffe, hence kept me going. The turn of events - although fairly predictable - still happened in a way that never took away the entertainment value.

Except! Oh boy what a spoilsport I am. I just didn't like the fact that the final climax had to revolve around a fucking party. Because, you know, what do angels go to Earth for other than to check out the nightclub scene?

I'm sick of YA novels making excuses for the heroine to wear a fancy dress and look pretty just so the freaking hero can see how beautiful she actually is.

However, despite all my complaining and winging and overall nitpicking, this was a good read and I do genuinely recommend it to fans of dystopia with a hint - just a hint - of romance. The love aspect was never the pushing force in Angelfall, except for the love between sisters.

Oh. But if you don't like gritty details, graphic violence towards children, then I do suggest you to stay far, far away!

* * *

BONUS!

My dream cast

3) Obadiah West

Because I want to have Sean Biggerstaff in here somewhere, okay?!

2) Penryn Young

I don't know, sometimes I think Hayden Panettiere is too good to be Penryn. She's nowhere as naïve or freaking ditzy as Penryn sometimes make me imagine her to be, but I'm hoping the movie-Penryn won't be as naïve nor ditzy as book-Penryn.

1) Raffe

Yes, I know what you're thinking ... Channing Tatum?! But he's too old! Well this just proves my point. Archangel. Billions of years old. Older than earth. Falling for a teenage girl. You see how wrong this is?