I'm one of those readers who will start a new series reluctantly if I know the next in line has a while until its publication. If I really enjoy the book I will be forever tormented by the fact that I don't know what happens next (well, at least until the next release).
I bought Angelfall a while back because it was on sale for $0.99 on Amazon and received a few good reviews. Of course, with a brand new release, I waited to read it. I'm typically shy about new books that haven't made much of a fandom yet. So I waited until this weekend to start it when I was stuck away from home with nothing but my cell phone to occupy my time. Then I discovered that I had the kindle app downloaded and ready to go, complete with all my books. I saw Angelfall and decided I had waited enough time to let it settle. I read the entire thing on my phone and only stopped reading long enough to let my phone charge again...
Angelfall starts in the middle of what appears to be the apocalypse. Seventeen year old Penryn has long had the task of taking care of her crippled younger sister, Paige, and her schizophrenic mother. The angels attacking mankind complicates things a bit. Everything goes downhill from there. While attempting to get out, the three get caught in a battle between several angels. In the aftermath, Penryn's mother has run off, Paige has been taken, and a lone angel, Raffe, lies broken on the ground. Penryn saves the angel in the hopes of using him to get her family back together and the two eventually set off to (a) get Paige back, and (b) reattach the Raffe's wings. A sort of companionship forms between the two as they witness the evidence of death and destruction on their journey, but it is strained by the fact that they are on two opposing sides of a war. Will Penryn bring her family back together again? Can she trust Raffe? What will come of this deal they have made?
As with most first in series, I loved this book. Susan Ee held nothing back to save the reader from the shock of what happens in an apocalyptic war. Because of this, I would not recommend this book for young teens/pre-teens. Some people might argue with me, but I think it gets a little gory (though it's realistic and not in too much of a disgusting way). Aside from this, I like Penryn's strong character. She is not a damsel in distress. She is a trained fighter with a strong will to protect. I also liked that she isn't like other protagonists who fall head over heels in love with the gorgeous, brooding male who happens into her life. Even though she admits to his good looks, and there are moments of guards being let down, she is always aware of the fact that he is an angel. He is the enemy.
I loved that Susan Ee used the angels as the bad guys. There is now quite a following for young adult fantasy romance involving relationships between helpless girls and beautiful angels (don't get me wrong, I cling to those stories), and here we have something unexpected. It's a survival story. Not a love story. The question is: what are these characters trying to survive? Yes, they are surviving the attack of seemingly monstrous beings, but there is something more.
Loyalty seems to be the underlying root of the story here and I respect that. So many recent stories are founded on a "boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, and the world tries to tear them apart" kind of relationship. Though there are elements of a love story forming, I still see that loyalty is what ties all the characters together: Penryn to Paige and her mom, Raffe to the angels, the angels to Raffe (well some of them anyways - don't forget it was other angels who attacked him). And what about loyalty to your own race? Is that what's most important? Or does that change when your own race turns its back on you or is unable to see the good in others?
...Once I reached the end of the book, I kept thinking that I would go directly to amazon and buy the sequel because I just couldn't leave off with the end that was given to me. I was hungry to know more. Little did I know, I wasn't the only one hungry for more. Fans have been (im)patiently waiting for the next book to be released and are still waiting. I can now count myself among the numbers who will constantly check Susan Ee's blog for a miracle that the next release date has been moved up a few months. Why Susan Ee? Why must you write such an amazing story and then make us wait over a year for the sequel??? And since this is supposedly a five book series I see a lot of waiting in my future.
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