Reviews

Angelfall by Susan Ee

jessdone's review against another edition

4.0

This was a great book and a perfect intro into a dark (dark as in horrific not as in angsty) trilogy. I’d read a couple reviews before picking up the book and all of them claim this book is dark, but this first book is not very dark for most of the story. Yes, we are in a destroyed civilization. There is a certain level of lawless danger and grime required to make the scenario real. The first three quarters of this book hit all the standard post apocalypse/ unlikely ally beats. Then the last quarter of the book hits and it starts to become something special. 

While there is intensity change, it’s earned. Little hints and dangle plot threads deliver all at once. I recommend readers make certain they can read straight through to the end once our leads make it to the aerie because there’s no one will want to put the book down once the actions starts.

I love the cast. There are more notable women than men in this book and all of them are fully developed and different from each other. It shouldn’t make me so happy, and the gender of characters shouldn’t matter so much. But it matters because this is a pleasant anomaly and not the norm.

Along this vein, I appreciated how Paige and Penryn’s mom were portrayed. It integrates their disabilities into their characters, but it doesn’t define them. In Paige’s case, her pacifism defines her, but what informs it may be the coldness others have treated her and her friends because they look different. Penryn’s mother’s defining characteristic is her ability to survive. Yeah she’s erratic, paranoid and leans in when sane people lean away but crazy aside (which the series plays with what is crazy in a world as unpredictable as this), she survives against staggering odds. 

  I like how Penryn’s survival skills make sense with her back story and I love she has a less than perfect home life. If angels hadn’t come to earth in her world, Penryn’s life would still have qualified as difficult and would have still made her an interesting character to read about. Too often the events in the stories are what’s interesting, not the characters. Remove the angels and I still want to see Penryn survive her crazy mother and a world that’s shown itself to be cruel to others who fall outside the norm.

The series isn’t perfect. Raffe’s dynamic with Penryn, especially in this book, is cliche of the genre and has some problematic elements I never care for. The whole human resistance side plot is blah. It develops more in later books, but this first one, not so inspired.  

I would recommend the series. If you’re on the fence at the end of book 1 (which with such an awesome ending why would you be on the fence) I would still suggest you keep reading. This first book is the weakest of the three and it’s still awesome.

ludacrystal414's review against another edition

3.0

I'm so conflicted. I wanted to like this book. I did I guess. The ending was good. But I skimmed in order to finish. 2.5 stars if I could.

haemelle's review against another edition

4.0

So I made the mistake of reading the last 50 pages while eating my dinner...But on another note, it has been a minute since I've read YA dystopian and I wasn't disappointed nor bored. Fast paced, graphic, and has hunky angels and creepy little gremlins. I meant to finish it before Halloween, but spooky reads has no particular time to be enjoyed.

maritzah's review against another edition

3.0

Muy buena narración de audiolibro
Aunque, me entretuvo la historia, no fue lo suficiente para querer escuchar el segundo libro.

smartinez9's review against another edition

3.0

I put this down at 54% to start something else and then neglected to come back to it for months, so I feel like I can’t give a super-accurate rating. That said, I still remembered the characters and plot, and certain scenes stuck in my head months later. The last half was engaging, and I wrapped it up in one sitting. Angels and the apocalypse are a classic combination, and Penryn is a strong protagonist. Also, shout out to the man-eating demon children.

As the start to a trilogy ending on a big cliffhanger, I feel like I need to read the rest of the series before really coming to any conclusions, but I am invested in the story and am moving immediately onto the sequel to see what happened next.

sccrethistory's review against another edition

5.0

OH MY GODNESS

I´M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. THIS BOOK IS SO AWESOME THAT I CANT BREATHE.

Some months ago i heard in twitter good reviews from this book and I wait so many time for read it, but my friend read it before me when I told her that she should read it. So she loved it and i thought that wait more time was a stupid thing.

So, i loved this book so much... Penryn is not bad, I mean, it isn´t the best main character that I read but she is alright, I liked her but she is not my favourite.
Raffe is so awesome, I want to hug him and make him mine. (my parabatai dont let me okay i´m so sad)

I loved the story and the way that everything was happening

So, I recommend to everyone this book and I cant wait for read the next one

So... 5/5 and a 9´5/10

kayteaface's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 / 5

teeggzz's review against another edition

4.0

*4.5
Ok wtf happened at the end my dudes like Ew and Ew. Also why did nobody just check Penryn's pulse, like hello?

halynah's review against another edition

4.0

Well, kudos to the author for the originality of combining angels and dystopia - the book is pretty offbeat and unusual. I liked the protagonists and all their adventures, but I had to take away one star because it is too gory - for instance in comparison with this book Divergent and Hunger Games are fluffy little bunnies in the department of violence and cruelty. Can't wait the next book because of cliffhanger!

princesses's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5