Reaction to... Angelfall by Susan Ee

TO UNCOVER OR BE COVERED:
At first, I didn’t think much of the cover of ANGELFALL by Susan Ee but after closer inspection, adjusting the ol’ eyeglasses and such, I realized the cover may not be flashing its stunning qualities, but perpetuates a subtle draw that has something to do with how perfectly fitting to the story it is.

SUMMARY: 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.

As ya’ll may already know I consider Small Review to be one of the most outrageously mag bloggers out there in the known blogoverse and so any recommendations she’s bestowed onto me, I immediately comply. No, I slide across tiles to my desk chair and reach for the mouse in desperation wherein Amazon becomes my sole focus for the REST OF LIFE that day. Because I have to buy that book, no matter WHAT it may be. In this case, ANGELFALL is her latest personal recommendation and, well, now you know why I’m reviewing this now…

WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS:
The apocalypse has come, truly beginning when the angel Gabriel was shot down, displaying mankind’s lack of welcome to the say the least! Since that time, humans unknowingly entered a losing bid in the war—if you could call it that—that followed.

The streets are deserted mostly in the day, and then there are those who risk the wrath of the angels to prowl at night. Gangs, people-eaters, demons and angels—neither of whom are good—and nighttime is perhaps more dangerous than being seen in the light. But Penryn must take that risk, alongside her family of two more—a schizo mommy dearest and a paralyzed younger sister. And when her dangerous mission loses her all she loves and protects, she means to do all that she can to restore her family—even if it means touching shoulders with an Angel, one who’s seen few joys himself (which he demos with bountiful sarcasm!).

WHERE WE GO:
THIS is exactly what I want a post-apocalyptic place where angels be beasting to look like! It’s surreal to us because, had you not had Walking Dead to refer to, could you really perfectly picture a seemingly deserted world, where humans are barricaded indoors and predators skulk in all the dark corners? Ee creates a vivid darkness in her world that translates beyond just what the scenery looks like but into the very manner of Penryn. It’s survive, flight, or die in this new world, and trust is as broken as the telly. Our world is dilapidated, hungry, and frightening, where the mad run amok and the angels prey from overhead. It’s quite perfect, right upfront. It even has questing… QUESTING.

But that perfection continues as we explore each avenue of this new reality on the journey toward restoration of what Penryn has lost, and what Raffe, the reluctant companion Angel, seeks to gain. Hope is dim, resistance is awakening, and through it all there’s this bone-chilling terror of the unknown, which has gained in numbers since normalcy took the right out of town.

WHO WE ARE WITH:
But, oh, angel boys, all that dark and dismal stuff, as delightful as it really is, isn’t as AMAZING as every hilarious syllable that slips between our two reluctant companions on this unexpected quest. Raffe isn’t a jerkface, not really. He’s impressively sarcastic and lickably corded ALL UP ON his person, yes, but he’s not your typical bad boy blah blah blah. He’s sweet, in his way, and honorable. Blunt, can’t forget blunt. There’s just something so addictive about his character! Hook him up with Penryn—not literally, yet, I’m afraid—and she’s a little less intense, a little more prone to smiling and thinking of things other than the world’s unending doom and her torn family. But one thing I absolutely dig about my girl Penryn here is that she neither loses her tenacity nor her practicality, even if it makes her cruel or unhappy. She has a clear-cut goal, one that won’t be deterred even by a badass angel with a tendency toward crankiness and humor at the same time.

THE LITTLE THINGS:

1. Penryn Kicks Ass All The Time
2. Penryn Can Save Herself And Maybe Somebody Else Too
3. Angel Soothes All The Nightmares
4. Angel Mangles Scorpion Monstrosity
5. Angel Delivers Penryn *MEGA SWOON!*

I’m kind of mad. ANGELFALL by Susan Ee has pretty much ruined all other angel books for me, because—Unearthly aside—I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book like this more. It’s how each character kind of needs a *HUGGLE-GLOMP*, how the world can be so bad and yet Ee beautifully incorporates hope and pride in mankind. So my expectations for books with twisty angel lore have reached the glass ceiling, I’m afraid. Poor angels. But, lucky me, Ee is writing another one. Now, if she could only make the release date, I don’t know, tomor—EFF THAT—right now then we’d be all good under the hood.

Paperback / 284 pgs / Feb 14th 2012 / Feral Dream / Goodreads / $6.99

I bought a copy from Amazon because of Small Review.