Angelfall by Susan Ee

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Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1
Published by: Brilliance Audio
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Caitlin Davies
Length: 8 hours and 44 minutes
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Supernatural, Paranormal, Young Adult
Source: Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Fraterfest Readathon, Lenoreo's Science Fiction vs Fantasy Bingo 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ iTunes
My rating:

Blurb:

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

My Review:

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
5 stars — Wow — just slightly out of character for the books I’m used to reading, especially in the paranormal type genre. Very dark, and heartbreaking at times. Vivid imagery, and the imagination to create this world…wow. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved Penryn and Raffe… Desperately wish the next book was out so I can devour more. Highly recommend.

ON REREAD:
4.95 stars — You know, I’m sure there is a part of me that, 6.5 years later, should be picking apart this story.  But in the end, you know what?  I was still hugely entertained and engrossed.  Even though I’m bummed that 2 people I recommended it to didn’t find the same enjoyment, I’m immensely happy that I still did.

Let’s talk about narration first, since this second time around I listened to the audiobook: I was actually really impressed with Caitlin Davies.  I found her narration to be well-paced, full of emotion, and she appropriately conveyed the attitude of Penryn…she just sounded like I imagined.  Part of that is that she does have a younger sounding voice, so it fit with our teenaged heroine.  And while I was initially put off by her voice for Raffe, it seriously grew on me as the book went on.  The thing I was MOST impressed with was her ability to voice different characters in unique enough ways that I was never confused over who was speaking.  Honestly, I don’t understand how good narrators do that…it’s almost like a whole other person is speaking those bits of dialogue, though you can tell they have the same underlying base.  It was very consistent.  I’m not sure if she’ll work for everyone, but I can wholeheartedly say that she was a winner for me…and I look forward to listening to the final two books as well.

As for the story, and our characters, it was still a hit for me.  I was seriously drawn into this post-apocalyptic world, and curious from the first moment about who the angels were, why they were there, what was going on.  There were so many little bits I had forgotten, mostly surrounding the resistance.  I wasn’t quite as frightened and horrified this go-round, as I knew the “low demons” were coming, and I remembered at least the gist of what we’d find in the lab (though I forgot about the non-low-demon-experiments).  I appreciated that there was a balance to the story-telling: there would be actions scenes followed by some more mundane moments where we could get to know our characters and center ourselves before things got crazy again.

I loved the world that Ms. Ee built.  I wanted to look up these angel names and see which ones were accurate to religious texts, and which ones Ms. Ee took more liberties with.  As I said in my original review, the imagery was very vivid, and I could truly feel the bleakness of this future after the angels came.  The stark contrast between the aerie and the rest of the city…I almost *felt* it.  And the whole ending was a wild ride.

As for our two main characters, they provided their own wild ride.  Penryn felt like a teenager who had to grow up too fast, but who held on to some teenagerisms anyways.  I loved the way she balanced between fierce and vulnerable.  She couldn’t decide who she was.  You could tell she still had a lot of growing up to do.  But you could truly feel her love for her sister, and her desperate need to find her.  I loved the strange relationship she had with her Mom…it was both horrifying and fascinating.  Like watching a bad car accident.  Her crush on Raffe could be cringe-worthy at times, but I understood her fascination and connection to him.  They formed a reluctant bond.

Raffe was mysterious, aloof, at times a jerk…but you could tell he cared for Penryn…albeit reluctantly.  I really loved the bond that they did form, and it made it all the more satisfying when he let his guard down at the end.  I am HELLA curious what is going to happen in the next two books…like, so much so that I’m forcing myself to write this review so I can move on.

So yeah.  Still a hit with this girl, even 6 years on.  I’ve heard rumours the ending of the series is a bit disappointing, but I’m hoping going in with low expectations will help…