Penned Perspective

Angelfall by Susan Ee is the story of Penryn, a teenager tasked with caring for her mentally ill mother and disabled sister during the mass arrival of angels to earth. Their arrival causes catastrophe events throughout the planet including earthquakes, tsunamis and fires. When the story begins the majority of humanity is no longer living in cities or towns; they have been either killed, captured or have gone into hiding.



This book is action packed from the first page. I was so drawn in by the author's writing that I had completed about half of the story before I looked up. Penryn is interesting as a protagonist in that she has had to grown up much too fast. But her maturity is attributed to her family more than the constant uncertainty of life after the arrival. Penryn's mother is mental unstable and Penryn has had to function as a mother to her sister Paige due to her being the only other stable influence around. Her father abandoned the family and Penryn has spent most of her childhood caring for them instead of behaving like other teens who are able to date or get into frivolous situations.

The introduction of Raffe is handled well in that they do not immediately fall into a romance. Penryn's history wouldn't allow it and the author handles that beautifully, readers can fall in love as Penryn does slowly but surely. Raffe is also a bit of an ass. He is arrogant and consequentially agnostic which is fascinating for an Archangel. These are not characteristics I would have used to describe heavenly creatures.

The introductions of the other angels, demons, and other creatures is captivating. The descriptions and interactions between the new beings and even Paige when she returns kept my interest.The book is full of enthralling story points and I was thrilled to know that there are other books in the series.


I didn't find much that I didn't like in the story. There are few things unresolved and the Tweedle Dee and Dum characters did nothing for me except to provide a way to get more information about the Resistance's activities which may have been the author's point. I would have liked to know more about Penryn's life before her mother's illness became overwhelming. This might be addressed in later books. I am also curious about the Angels hierarchy and more about the demons as we are left in the dark about low level demons and their relationships to Hell.

My Rating:

I loved this book! This was the last book that I read in 2015 and I'm glad. It was everything I love in a book. The writing was done beautifully and the main characters were just incredible to read about. I can't wait to read the next one in the series, in fact I've already started it.