Description: 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.

Via GoodReads.

My Review:

Don't let the fact that Angelfall is self-published trick you; it was brilliant. The first installment in the Penryn & the End of Days series, Angelfall introduces us to a dystopian world overrun with corrupt angels and to a girl that is fighting to keep herself and her family alive through it all.

I'll be honest, when I went into this book I wasn't expecting much. It's self-published and very cheap on Amazon. What's a girl to think? But the reivews for Angelfall were spectacular, so I went ahead and read it despite my doubts. Well my friends, Angelfall is the very example of why people should not have a prejudice for self-published books. It was honestly better than most books from major publishers. I cannot comprehend how I got this book for only a dollar! Oceana Nightfern on GoodReads sums it up perfectly: "I got this for .99 cents. Wow. Can I tell you a story? I bought Fallen for $20. It was a... downright horrible book with bad characters and an unoriginal plot. And I got Angelfall for ninety-nine cents." I couldn't have said it better myself.

One of my favorite aspects of Angelfall was the completely unique story. The mix of apocalyptic survival mode, constantly on the lookout for safe shelter and food, with the fantasy of warrior angels behind it all was too much fun. And these angels are no fluffy winged cherubs that wouldn't hurt a fly either - these are merciless (and attractive) warrior angels on a "mission from God" to destroy the human race. Awesome. Add in a butt-kicking heroine and a wingless angel forced to help eachother and my excitement meter is on overload.

You heard me correctly, Angelfall has a butt-kicking heroine. I don't know about you guys, but I've about met my breaking point when it comes to whiny, overemotional main characters that can't do anything for themselves. Well there is none of that here. Penryn, our leading lady, has the determination of Katniss in keeping her family safe against all odds. To top off living in a world filled with angels bent on destruction, cruel street gangs, and trying to find food, Penryn has to take care of both her mother and younger sister single-handedly. Her father left shortly after the apocolypse, leaving Penryn with her schizophrenic mother and wheelchair bound little sister. Talk about a bleak situation. But Penryn puts her wants and needs in the back burner and takes care of her strange little family. When her little sister is abducted by the angels, Penryn is even willing to make a deal with the enemy, an angel, to get her back.

Obviously, there is going to be a little something something between Penryn and Raffe, the angel she is forced to work together with. Of course it's forbidden, what with the whole "no angels + daughters of man" thing, but it isn't like the plethora of forbidden love stories where they try for heart-breaking and tragic but it comes across as annoying and overdramatic. The romance between Penryn and Raffe begins with distrust and even dislike that slowly grows to attraction as they grudgingly work together through the book. They are constantly arguing and picking on eachother and the dialouge is absolutely hilarious. Examples:

“You're like a little girl demanding answers to questions during a covert operation. Why is the sky blue, daddy? Can I ask that man with the machine gun where the bathroom is? If you don't stay quiet, I'm going to have to dump you.”  

“Oh, please. Your giant head is getting too big for this forest. Pretty soon, you're going to get stuck trying to walk between two tress. And then, I'll have to rescue you." I give him a weary look. "Again.”

Penryn and Raffe's bantering isn't the only thing in Angelfall that made me laugh though. The schizophrenic mother is, needless to say, completely insane. I love her and the crazy things that she does. And when I say crazy things, I mean crazy. But I don't want to ruin all the funny stuff for you.

Filled with action, unforseen plot twists, and things that will have you laughing inbetween the many life and death situations the characters face, Angelfall is definitely one of my new favorite books. And that ending.. I promise you will not see it coming from a mile away. It's quite the cliffhanger and I am dying for the next book, but I love the final twist too much (in a twisted sort of way) to call the ending a con. At Angelfall's current price of only $2 on Amazon, it's practically highway robbery. So what are you waiting for? Read it!

Summed Up:

Angelfall is now one of my favorite books! It had everything a reader could ask for: an awesome storyline, a butt-kicking heroine, great characters, non-stop action, and a great romance complete with funny banter. There wasn't anything I didn't like, though the cliff-hanger ending is pretty rough!