Angellfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1)

Author: Susan Ee

Publication Date: January 1st 2011

Publisher: Skyscrape

Rating: 5 out of 5 

Goodreads 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.

The apocalypse has arrived in the form of the angels and nothing in Penryn's world is ever the same. She lives in constant fear- not only for herself but also for her little sister, Paige, and schizophrenic mother. One day while she scavenges the alleys for food she finds herself in the middle of an angel showdown. Trying to protect her wheel-chair bound little sister, she tries to flee but captures the attention of one of the lackeys. Soon, she's left with a broken angel, a lost mother, and a kidnapped sister. The rest of the novel is about her journey to the angel's nest to recover her sister. During this journey she "befriends" the hurt angel. His name is Raffe. But his friend call him Wrath. Hehe. (it was a lame joke but those who have already read this book will hopefully laugh along... :D).

I read this book a year or two ago and loved it soo much that I forced my best blogger friend Emma to sit still while I read it to her. Not one of my best moments, but I was desperate to discuss this wonderful book with someone I knew. And lo and behold, the read aloud ended about 2 chapters in with Emma promising to finish reading this book. And she also posted proof on her blog that she did actually read it :D here's her review.

I loved this book. It had THE PERFECT blend of real characters, an imaginative plot, wrenching emotions, and an originally humorous voice. In the cluttered, often dismal world of YA post-apocalyptic fiction, Susan Ee's Angelfall is a blindingly white angel feather. (Yet another one of my arguably witty allusions to the book.)

Penryn. She is the modern YA heroine- strong, intelligent, and a bit snarky. She is one of my favorite heroines of all time because of her unwavering loyalty and down-to-earth humor. She handles every situation responsibly, very unlike a seventeen year old (one of the side effects of being forced to grow up because of an angel apocalypse). Penryn (this book will make you love the name Penryn- when I first read the official blurb, I was like Penryn? Ugh. But this book has the power to make you change your mind, trust me) was willing to face evil angels and cannibalistic Nephilim creatures (that turned out to be something else entirely 0.o) just to save Paige. My favorite scene was when the bad guys broke into her building and started fighting Raffe. I will not give away why it was my fave, but I will tell you that I absolutely loooved Raffe's reaction. Now go read the book to find out what I'm talking about.

Raffe. Even though he is supposedly an all-knowing divine being, Raffe definitely does not act the part. Apparently he even watches tv shows in his heavenly adobe. LOL. One thing I loved about Raffe was his humor, which defused many tense conversations, as well as his nobleness: he was trying to do what was right when the rest of his brethren were ignoring the fact that they were divine beings who were supposed to uphold the law. And although he comes off as indiscernible at the beginning, he quickly becomes a charming hero.

This book was filled with several comical scenes, a few which included the revolutionaries Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, as well as emotional ones, such as at the very end where something-really-really-big-I-can't-spoil-for-you happens.

Filled with unique character- the mother, Obi, Uriel, and Laylah- this book is so wonderfully refreshing. It is the BEST angel book I have ever read (and I've read a bunch of them: Shadows by Paula Weston, Outcast by Adrienne Kress, The Collector by Victoria Scott, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol) aside from Cassandra Clare's TMI and TID series' which completely redefined angels.

This white feather of a book will raise your standards of literary creativity and thoroughly cure any book slumps you may be feeling this dry summer. I recommend it to those who enjoy the post-apocalyptic, fantasy, action, or general awesomeness genres.

T13: Post-Apocalyptic

The post-apocalyptic genre has been quite popular since the Hunger Games (I'm not going to include the Hunger Games in this list, because 1) it's the criterion with which many people judge post-apocalyptic YA and 2) there are so many other books that deserve a spot on my top thirteen list). Personally, I find that most post-apocalyptic books are  repetitive and boring, often with quite similar approaches. Below are thirteen post-apocalyptic YA books that I believe are engaging and unique. 

Click on the title for more information!

(And BTW, they are NOT in any order)

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

“The cheetah. Ate. My finger.” The girl looks at each of us.“That’s what you’re telling me? That Jaxon’s Pandora ate the pinkie from my right hand? My writing hand?”

“To be fair, he won it from M-4.” 

The Selection by Kiera Cass

“It's always the fear of looking stupid that stops you from being awesome.” 

Divergent by Veronica Roth 

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

Angelfall by Susan Ee

“My friends call me Wrath,” says Raffe. “My enemies call me Please Have Mercy. What’s your name, soldier boy?”

Legend by Marie Lu

“If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.”

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

“Even in the Future the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time.” 



***yes this book is both a fairy-tale retelling aand a post-apocalyptic, quite unique

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

“You can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes."

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.” 

Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

“The lesser of two evils was still evil.” 

The Ward by Jordana Frankel

"To pass the time, I try and imagine what the Ward was like pre- Wash Out, before ocean levels rose and contaminated underground fresh."

Alienated by Melissa Landers

“How can we understand what we’ve never experienced and adapt without making mistakes?”

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

“We're pieces on a gameboard, Dr. March, and some of us are more powerful than others. You. Me. Her. We're the ones the gods want. We're the ones they're fighting over.”

Maximum Ride by James Patterson 

“The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.” 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant (Divergent #3)

Author: Veronica Roth 

Publication Date: October 22nd 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Goodreads Blurb:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningliess. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

WOW. This book was amazing, and I don't use that term lightly. This is was easily one of the best books, best series I've ever read. 

The Ending. The noble, stupid, perfect, ridiculously sad Ending. It was so right, so heartbreaking, and so unpredictable that I was completely stupefied until I finished the last page. SPOILER. I refused to believe that Tris sacrificed herself- that Ms. Roth would actually let her die, so I kept hoping that she would miraculously pop back alive. And hoping... and hoping... and hoping. I refused to give up until I read through the last page. And then the Acknowledgments. And through all the other stuff at the back of the book that the really bored/desperate readers go through. And when I finally accepted that Tris was actually no longer in the world of Divergent, I broke down. Literally. 

My reasoning is: If Amar AND Tori's brother (George) both somehow survived, then WHY COULDN'T TRIS?

Every time I open this book and start reading, I drown in waves of sorrow (NOT being dramatic). It's been at least a month since I finished this series, and I still can't get over how Tris could just die. 

Now for the less emotional part of the review: 

This book was definitely different from the first two. This book went a little father and delved into morals and character and had an overall more philosophical tone. Each decision was being evaluated and every action had consequences. Roth was constantly trying to develop the characters and make them more real, more perfect.
 In my opinion, she tried to make everything a little too perfect. I appreciate how she wanted to make the last book in this series better/different from the other two and it definitely worked, but I felt that the majority of the book didn't drag me in as much as Diveregent or Insurgent.

One thing I definitely loved was how we got to hear the voices of both Four and Tris. I loved getting the different perspectives.