Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and the End of Days, Book 1
Pages: 288
Genre: Fantasy
Method of acquirement: Netgalley
Publisher: Skyscape
My rating: 3.5 stars


My thoughts:
I did enjoy reading this book, though it's definitely not my favourite. There were many things that didn't really make sense or were not explained well enough.
   First...why did the world end up like this? Why did the angels decide to attack and make everyone run and hide, fearing for their lives and not even trusting other humans? I guess this is kind of explained a little bit toward the very end of the book, but still.
    Penryn's mom and sister, Paige. They're very odd additions to the cast of characters in this novel. Her mom is insane and schizophrenic, and her younger sister is paralyzed. But I don't think we are ever told how old Paige is, or specifically how she is crippled. It is implied that her mother had something to do with it, but nothing specific is really confirmed - only that she can't walk and it's kind of a mystery how that happened.
    Also, Paige is a very strict vegetarian. Because of a chicken that she thought was funny when she was a lot younger. How in the world can someone be a strict vegetarian in an apocalyptic world with barely any food?? And why does Penryn keep finding random energy bars lying around whenever she needs them? It's like they're Easter eggs or something...
    Penryn, being the narrator, obviously has a lot of commentary in the story. One thing she talks about earlier in the book is how she's so great at fighting because she had tons of intense martial arts training...yet she is afraid of a few random street gangs that might be outside where she is staying. But then she thinks she can fight angels? (And then later on she DOES fight a bunch of angels...and doesn't get killed)
    One of the characters says that Penryn must know that angels are bad news, because ALL of the angels in the Bible show up when there is bad news. Well, obviously the author (or at least the characters) don't know the Bible, because Gabriel telling Mary about Jesus' birth was not bad news, nor was the angel's announcement that Jesus was not dead bad news.

Language: I didn't keep a record, but there were quite a few swear words. No f-bombs, though.

Sexual Content: A man in the rebels' camp makes obscene gestures and rude sexual comments to Penryn. Women are allowed entrance to the angels' aerie to "entertain" them. Sex with human women is forbidden for angels, but apparently anything else is allowed. All of these women are scantily clad. Penryn and Raffe kiss passionately.

I probably wouldn't recommend this book to a friend unless I knew they enjoyed reading about angels or post-apocalyptic stories.
 

More Information:



**I received this book free for my Nook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.