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jmariecapdem's review against another edition
5.0
I was still a few months old baby when my parents told me that I've always had my guardian angel. I didn't regret believing in it since then.
I do believe there are always God's angels watching over us aside from Him. I'm not even afraid of them. I've heard about archangel Gabriel numerous times every Christmas season and it's always been magical to my ears. And that's how I also got intrigued by the fact that one of the archangels, Raphael is the warrior starring in Angelfall.
WOW.
This novel isn't your archangel-from-portrait-paintings type. We're talking about Apocalypse, or as Penryn, the skinny, teenage heroine here called the World After. It's how fallen angels have come to destroy the world and humans in the planet especially after political crises the archangel Gabriel's death has impacted. The only thing that I imagined right from the angel wars was the then-forbidden-angel-that-became-the-devil Lucifer but gladly, the angels looked and acted better than that. How Raffe fought from the giant Beliel got me so addicted I felt like watching a mythological film that's fast forwarded into years from now.
How angels are described are so crystal-clear I can almost see them right before my eyes like I'm staring at a naked human-like statue. The way Penryn nicknamed them helped a lot too (for my memory to keep up) while giving the angels better pictures. On the other hand, it's good to know there are no other stuff aside from angels, their angel-looking scorpions and the thought of nephilims (or offsprings from an angel/demigod and mortal). I maybe will find it awkward if I see zombies lurking brought about by cannibalism-from-hunger and probably disease but gladly, this is serious angel novel.
It's so wonderful that I will never ever forget Raffe's companionship with Penryn. The way he protected her against the vicious gangs hungry for food and shelter and even the angel enemies. The way he KISSED her so passionate and deep I almost thought he'll transform into human LOL. The way he carried her while she's wounded and half-unconscious. He's just the perfect guardian angel anyone should have! :)
Penryn, oh Penryn! She's another young kickass heroine topping the ranks! She fights fearlessly she doesn't even know if she'll live the fight with the enormous creation of God, the "low demons" or even the other humans just eager to survive. I loved the way she thought about the safety of her mother and little sister Paige during the encounters. I even loved her more when she started to care about Raffe and her wanting more of his warmth and protection.
The care Penryn and Raffe showed to each other though did not indicate a full-blown romance so don't expect Angelfall to be a love story. I actually found it more interesting like this as it's focused on human survival and wars between the angels and demon whispers.
Overall, this novel has got me wanting for more because of the ending. It definitely screamed at me making me think what happens next!
PS. This is also the first angel novel that I read to date and I'm glad I started off with this. I'm looking forward to the next book! :)
This deserves 5 stars!!!
I do believe there are always God's angels watching over us aside from Him. I'm not even afraid of them. I've heard about archangel Gabriel numerous times every Christmas season and it's always been magical to my ears. And that's how I also got intrigued by the fact that one of the archangels, Raphael is the warrior starring in Angelfall.
WOW.
This novel isn't your archangel-from-portrait-paintings type. We're talking about Apocalypse, or as Penryn, the skinny, teenage heroine here called the World After. It's how fallen angels have come to destroy the world and humans in the planet especially after political crises the archangel Gabriel's death has impacted. The only thing that I imagined right from the angel wars was the then-forbidden-angel-that-became-the-devil Lucifer but gladly, the angels looked and acted better than that. How Raffe fought from the giant Beliel got me so addicted I felt like watching a mythological film that's fast forwarded into years from now.
How angels are described are so crystal-clear I can almost see them right before my eyes like I'm staring at a naked human-like statue. The way Penryn nicknamed them helped a lot too (for my memory to keep up) while giving the angels better pictures. On the other hand, it's good to know there are no other stuff aside from angels, their angel-looking scorpions and the thought of nephilims (or offsprings from an angel/demigod and mortal). I maybe will find it awkward if I see zombies lurking brought about by cannibalism-from-hunger and probably disease but gladly, this is serious angel novel.
It's so wonderful that I will never ever forget Raffe's companionship with Penryn. The way he protected her against the vicious gangs hungry for food and shelter and even the angel enemies. The way he KISSED her so passionate and deep I almost thought he'll transform into human LOL. The way he carried her while she's wounded and half-unconscious. He's just the perfect guardian angel anyone should have! :)
Penryn, oh Penryn! She's another young kickass heroine topping the ranks! She fights fearlessly she doesn't even know if she'll live the fight with the enormous creation of God, the "low demons" or even the other humans just eager to survive. I loved the way she thought about the safety of her mother and little sister Paige during the encounters. I even loved her more when she started to care about Raffe and her wanting more of his warmth and protection.
The care Penryn and Raffe showed to each other though did not indicate a full-blown romance so don't expect Angelfall to be a love story. I actually found it more interesting like this as it's focused on human survival and wars between the angels and demon whispers.
Overall, this novel has got me wanting for more because of the ending. It definitely screamed at me making me think what happens next!
PS. This is also the first angel novel that I read to date and I'm glad I started off with this. I'm looking forward to the next book! :)
This deserves 5 stars!!!
daphx00's review against another edition
4.0
It took me way too long to read this but I really think I saved the best for last? Yes, I ship it.
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
sprinkles_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
astoehr's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
5.0
“I am not afraid of you, your kind, or your god.”
Penryn Young lives in a post-apocalyptic future with her seven-year-old sister, Paige, and her paranoid schizophrenic mother. While Penryn attempts to herd her family to safety, Paige is captured by angels and whisked away. Desperate to rescue her sister, Penryn forges a tenuous bond with one of the enemy, Raffe, a de-winged angel. Can he help her find her sister...or is he just waiting to turn her in?
You know how all these YA novels these days are proclaiming to be the next Hunger Games? Yeah, they're all posers, hacks, drippy romances concealing their naughty bits with shreds of dystopia and strips of the apocalypse. They are more concerned with getting our heroine her two love interests than creating a real conflict. They are more concerned with having our heroine gush over her beaus than have our couple have any real chemistry. They are more concerned with the status quo than forging new territory, twisting the norm, and being unique and gripping.
THIS is the new Hunger Games. THIS is a spell-binding, page-turning, nail-biting, I can't stop reading and it's 3am in the morning and I have to get up for work at 6am book. The characters aren't fashioned out of cereal box cardboard. The romance isn't thrown together, like a Big Mac at Burger King. The conflict isn't so pathetic, even an eight-year old would roll her eyes. The dystopian/post-apocalyptic atmosphere isn't so poorly constructed that a quick glance could tear apart all the flaws, like a used car salesman.
THIS book is frakkin' amazing. I read it in a whopping TWO DAYS and most of that was NOT while I was flying!! (I tend to read a lot more when I am shoe-horned into a window-seat for 3 hours.) I tossed this book in my luggage, hoping it would be as good as everyone said...and when I finished it, 5 minutes into a flight, I had to take 10 minutes to sit there, gripping the book to my chest and figure out what the f@#$ I was going to do with myself now that A) I had finished the book and B) I didn't have book 2.
Susan Ee, I am begging you...write faster!!
Penryn Young is the kick-@ss heroine that tons of YA "dystopias" wish they had. She is competent, caring, determined, strong-willed, and smart. We don't need half the book describing her "sexy" fighting lessons with one of her love interests; she already KNOWS how to fight. If you liked Katniss Everdeen, then you will definitely like Penryn.
Raffe was amazing. In general, I loved the entire deconstruction of what being an angel entails (from them being always good to their sense of humor--or lack thereof!--to how they too have questions about God), but I definitely loved Raffe. Somehow, he can be a snarky "bad boy" and yet you legitimately care about him.
And Penryn and Raffe DEFINITELY have some chemistry, and I'm not talking about "I can barely keep my hands off you" territory. They hardly even TOUCH in this book, and yet you STILL find that you have to fan yourself every so often. THIS is how you write potential romantic couples, people!
The story is gripping and interesting. At first, I wasn't so sure about these "Angels killing humans for no apparent reason" thing, but then, I started to like it. It takes what we expect--angels being good and sweet and looking out for humans--and twists it, making us wonder "ZOMG, WTF is happening?!"
There is a journey in this story, as Raffe and Penryn have to fight their way to San Francisco. And I LOVED IT. There was tension, there was creepiness, there was spookiness, there was foreboding...every page, something new happens. And while bits of the story go along the path you expect, trust me, the last 100 pages go somewhere I totally didn't expect. And I still loved it!
An important part of this novel is the post-apocalyptic setting. And yes, it works. We get an actual, real look at life, instead of vague "Oh, we can't read anymore" or "People are starving...somewhere". No, we get an in depth look at this world through Penryn's eyes. Civilization has been destroyed, gangs have arisen, people are so hungry and food is so sparse that the topic of cannibalism is brought up. The world has changed, and Ee has shown us HOW instead of making us guess.
And let me talk about one thing that many books (specifically, [b:Shatter Me|10429045|Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)|Tahereh Mafi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1310649047s/10429045.jpg|15333458]) have done terribly: the description.
Here is a sample from aforementioned book:
"My eyes break open. Two shattered windows filling my mouth with glass."
Here is a sample from "Angelfall":
"My heart flutters in my chest like a dying bird."
Which is better? While I know that Mafi was going for a more, erm, "unique" description, honestly, I think sample 2 was better. It was clear, it got to the point, and I knew EXACTLY what was going on. I didn't need my decoder ring to figure out WTF was going on.
At this point, I feel the obligation to make a few potential warnings. There isn't much in the way of swearing or sexual situations (a few "da**s" at most, the women that approach the aerie are for the angel's *ahem* entertainment), but there IS quite a bit of gore/violence. So the weak of heart, be wary! However, unless you are VERY weak of heart, don't let this put you down--I hate reading about "gobbets of flesh", and I ADORE this book.
After seeing this pop up all over the place on Goodreads, I added this book to my "To Read" list and when I found it in paperback on Amazon, I snatched it up. But in the back of my mind, I wondered if it really was as good as people said. I actually tossed it in my luggage more on a whim than really thinking I would get into the book.
Joke's on me. This book is TOTALLY worth the price of paperback (I paid $12.99). I can't BELIEVE that major publishers keep churning out this crap posing as dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction instead of picking this book up. Do yourself a favor and buy this book--either paperback or Kindle. You don't know what you are missing!
Penryn Young lives in a post-apocalyptic future with her seven-year-old sister, Paige, and her paranoid schizophrenic mother. While Penryn attempts to herd her family to safety, Paige is captured by angels and whisked away. Desperate to rescue her sister, Penryn forges a tenuous bond with one of the enemy, Raffe, a de-winged angel. Can he help her find her sister...or is he just waiting to turn her in?
You know how all these YA novels these days are proclaiming to be the next Hunger Games? Yeah, they're all posers, hacks, drippy romances concealing their naughty bits with shreds of dystopia and strips of the apocalypse. They are more concerned with getting our heroine her two love interests than creating a real conflict. They are more concerned with having our heroine gush over her beaus than have our couple have any real chemistry. They are more concerned with the status quo than forging new territory, twisting the norm, and being unique and gripping.
THIS is the new Hunger Games. THIS is a spell-binding, page-turning, nail-biting, I can't stop reading and it's 3am in the morning and I have to get up for work at 6am book. The characters aren't fashioned out of cereal box cardboard. The romance isn't thrown together, like a Big Mac at Burger King. The conflict isn't so pathetic, even an eight-year old would roll her eyes. The dystopian/post-apocalyptic atmosphere isn't so poorly constructed that a quick glance could tear apart all the flaws, like a used car salesman.
THIS book is frakkin' amazing. I read it in a whopping TWO DAYS and most of that was NOT while I was flying!! (I tend to read a lot more when I am shoe-horned into a window-seat for 3 hours.) I tossed this book in my luggage, hoping it would be as good as everyone said...and when I finished it, 5 minutes into a flight, I had to take 10 minutes to sit there, gripping the book to my chest and figure out what the f@#$ I was going to do with myself now that A) I had finished the book and B) I didn't have book 2.
Susan Ee, I am begging you...write faster!!
Penryn Young is the kick-@ss heroine that tons of YA "dystopias" wish they had. She is competent, caring, determined, strong-willed, and smart. We don't need half the book describing her "sexy" fighting lessons with one of her love interests; she already KNOWS how to fight. If you liked Katniss Everdeen, then you will definitely like Penryn.
Raffe was amazing. In general, I loved the entire deconstruction of what being an angel entails (from them being always good to their sense of humor--or lack thereof!--to how they too have questions about God), but I definitely loved Raffe. Somehow, he can be a snarky "bad boy" and yet you legitimately care about him.
And Penryn and Raffe DEFINITELY have some chemistry, and I'm not talking about "I can barely keep my hands off you" territory. They hardly even TOUCH in this book, and yet you STILL find that you have to fan yourself every so often. THIS is how you write potential romantic couples, people!
The story is gripping and interesting. At first, I wasn't so sure about these "Angels killing humans for no apparent reason" thing, but then, I started to like it. It takes what we expect--angels being good and sweet and looking out for humans--and twists it, making us wonder "ZOMG, WTF is happening?!"
There is a journey in this story, as Raffe and Penryn have to fight their way to San Francisco. And I LOVED IT. There was tension, there was creepiness, there was spookiness, there was foreboding...every page, something new happens. And while bits of the story go along the path you expect, trust me, the last 100 pages go somewhere I totally didn't expect. And I still loved it!
An important part of this novel is the post-apocalyptic setting. And yes, it works. We get an actual, real look at life, instead of vague "Oh, we can't read anymore" or "People are starving...somewhere". No, we get an in depth look at this world through Penryn's eyes. Civilization has been destroyed, gangs have arisen, people are so hungry and food is so sparse that the topic of cannibalism is brought up. The world has changed, and Ee has shown us HOW instead of making us guess.
And let me talk about one thing that many books (specifically, [b:Shatter Me|10429045|Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)|Tahereh Mafi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1310649047s/10429045.jpg|15333458]) have done terribly: the description.
Here is a sample from aforementioned book:
"My eyes break open. Two shattered windows filling my mouth with glass."
Here is a sample from "Angelfall":
"My heart flutters in my chest like a dying bird."
Which is better? While I know that Mafi was going for a more, erm, "unique" description, honestly, I think sample 2 was better. It was clear, it got to the point, and I knew EXACTLY what was going on. I didn't need my decoder ring to figure out WTF was going on.
At this point, I feel the obligation to make a few potential warnings. There isn't much in the way of swearing or sexual situations (a few "da**s" at most, the women that approach the aerie are for the angel's *ahem* entertainment), but there IS quite a bit of gore/violence. So the weak of heart, be wary! However, unless you are VERY weak of heart, don't let this put you down--I hate reading about "gobbets of flesh", and I ADORE this book.
After seeing this pop up all over the place on Goodreads, I added this book to my "To Read" list and when I found it in paperback on Amazon, I snatched it up. But in the back of my mind, I wondered if it really was as good as people said. I actually tossed it in my luggage more on a whim than really thinking I would get into the book.
Joke's on me. This book is TOTALLY worth the price of paperback (I paid $12.99). I can't BELIEVE that major publishers keep churning out this crap posing as dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction instead of picking this book up. Do yourself a favor and buy this book--either paperback or Kindle. You don't know what you are missing!
muretski's review against another edition
5.0
All I can say is Wow! After finishing this book, I was sort of speechless and could not believe I've reached the last page already. The story was well written. At first I was hesitant to read this, I thought it will be corny. But when penryn met raffe in the first few pages, I was getting more and more curious what will happen next, until I can't stop reading. It got me excited with all the book's mystery and suspense.
When is book 2 coming out???
When is book 2 coming out???
nightwithbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Като човек, които не харесва апокалиптичните идеи давайки 5 звезди трябва да ви говори доста...
Ревю със спойлери на : https://nightwithbook.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b3%d0%b5%d0%bb%d1%81%d0%ba%d0%be-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%88%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d1%81%d1%8e%d0%b7%d1%8a%d0%bd-%d0%b8%d0%b9-%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b2%d1%8e-%d0%b4/
Ревю със спойлери на : https://nightwithbook.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b3%d0%b5%d0%bb%d1%81%d0%ba%d0%be-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%88%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%b8%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d1%81%d1%8e%d0%b7%d1%8a%d0%bd-%d0%b8%d0%b9-%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b2%d1%8e-%d0%b4/