Angelfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days Book 1)
Author: Susan Ee
Genre: Dystopian, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Source: Secret Santa
Publisher: Hodder (23rd May 2013)
Blurb:

It’s been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Including making a deal with the enemy.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

ANGELFALL is the first book in Susan Ee’s dystopian PENRYN AND THE END OF DAYS series. It tells the story of seventeen-year-old Penryn whose disabled younger sister Paige is kidnapped by an angel. The story follows Penryn on her quest to reclaim her sister, who she is determined to protect at all costs.

Going into this book I was a little dubious about whether I would like it or not. I have read my fair share of urban fantasies and paranormal romances where the trope has worked, but equally I’ve read my fiar share of books where it hasn’t. ANGELFALL was a pleasant surprise. Although it falls brilliantly within both the dystopian and urban fantasy genres, it also holds an undercurrent of the horror genre – reading it I felt a little nervous and unsettled right until the final page. You can definitely tell that Ee’s angels are based on biblical lore.

One of the things that really stood out to me in this book was the strong bond Penryn feels with her little sister. I really admired the way her dedication pulled her through the book, through one terrifying situation after another. I also really loved the way that Ee wrote the interactions between Penryn and Raffe. There was, I think, a definite connection between the two but it didn’t detract from the story playing out on the pages.

The story is narrated from Penryn’s point of view, and Ee does a good job at delivering the information we as readers need to make the world believable without really info dumping on the page. The information flows within the narrative itself so you pick it up as you go along, and it was nice to have the basic premise of the world explained – even though we’re not given everything, there’s still enough for it to feel believable.

ANGELFALL is the first book in the PENRYN AND THE END OF DAYS series, but it didn’t have that first book feel to me. Reading it felt like stepping into a half familiar world. If you are a fan of darker dystopians and urban fantasies then be sure to check this series out. I will be keeping an eye out for the second book in this series.