A few months ago, I was fortunate to stumble upon an incredible review of Angelfall on Goodreads and Michelle’s enthusiasm for this book was so contagious that I immediately purchased the ebook and set aside everything else I was reading and started reading Angelfall. Wow! It blew me away! I have since paid very close attention to Michelle’s reviews on Goodreads and have found quite a few books to add to my to read list based on her reviews. Her passion for the books she loves is obvious in her reviews and it makes me want to read those books too!! I was so thrilled that she agreed to write a guest post about Angelfall. In my opinion, Angelfall was one of the very best books of 2011 and I think everyone should be reading it. And I think that Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalking Queen of the Undead is the perfect person to tell you why you should be reading it!! Welcome Michelle to The Happy Booker!
You can follow Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalking Queen of the Undead’s incredible reviews on Goodreads!
I’ve never been the fan girl type. If I like a book, I simply like it. After that, I move on. I do not follow blogs by authors. I do not email authors. I do not start fan groups to track the progress of the next book in the series. That is until a particular book came along. That book’s name…. Angelfall!
I originally downloaded Angelfall to my Kindle because it was cheap and the 5-star reviews on Goodreads were pretty convincing. However, I had been burned by 5-star reviews (oh that is harsh, how about I’ve “disagreed” with many 5 star reviews) so I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. Boy was I wrong!
Knowing what I know now about Angelfall, I would have paid 10 times the price I paid for the book. Yeah, it is THAT good. How good?
It is not just my favorite YA book.
It is not just my favorite Urban Fantasy book.
It is not just my favorite paranormal book.
It is not just my favorite book with angels.
It is hands down, my favorite book of 2011!
The. Perfect. Escape!
Angelfall is the perfect escape. You simply get lost in the book. You aren’t reading the novel; you are living within the novel. Within a few pages (I also swore I’d never say the cheesy line... “Within a few pages”), I was immersed in the dark, gritty, gory, post-apocalyptic world. Seriously folks! The world building in this book makes me want to yell to other YA authors (really ALL authors not just YA authors) “this is how you write a great attention-grabbing novel with top-notch world building”.
So, I’m sitting in this post-apocalyptic world and it is has been overtaken by angels. Yes Angels. Not the sweet, cute boy angels we know from other YA books but serious, sword wielding, destroy the human race, type angels. And these angels, they aren’t even fallen! In this world, angels can kick some serious butt.
To survive in this world, you need to have some serious skills. You can’t just have the world you know blow up in front of you and know how to survive. So, which humans survive in this world? Maybe those with military skills? Maybe those with karate skills? Maybe a young girl of 17 having a homicidal schizophrenic mother; who in an episode of sanity, tells you to do whatever it takes to protect yourself from her moments of paranoia? That’s Penryn.
Penryn is prepared for this new world because she’s been protecting her paralyzed sister (Paige) and her own self from her mom’s dangerous episodes of paranoia. Penryn not only has learned how to protect herself and her sister, she’s also learned basic butt-kicking survival skills. All these skills make Penryn strong, without being aggressive, tactful without being manipulative and fiercely protective without being overbearing.
The problem is Penryn can’t do it all. An angel kidnaps Paige in a moment of nasty revenge. To save Paige, Penryn saves another angel in hopes he will guide her to where the angels are keeping Paige.
Raffe is the injured angel that Penryn saves. What Penryn doesn’t know is she didn’t just save a “normal” angel. Raffe, besides his severed wings, and his cocky attitude, has a deeper, mysterious and extremely intriguing side that not only infuriates Penryn but also attracts her in ways that she initially resists. Some of the dialogue between Raffe and Penryn killed me. I’m not a romantic at heart but when Raffe is trying to push Penryn away, I felt like my heart was breaking. I was wondering if somehow, I turned into a 13 year old with my first crush. It is not blatant romance instead the two characters learn to not only live with each other, but live for each other.
The journey Penryn takes with Raffe to save his sister was action packed, heart wrenching, sad, and even humorous at times. The story is packed full of action, suspense, a bit of mystery, great side characters and outstanding world building.
This book is not just for young adults. In fact, the only criticism I’ve seen around the net has been how some of the scenes may be too graphic for young teens. The book appeals to both girls/boys, & men/women. In other words, everyone.
Now that you know, what are you waiting for? It can’t be the price, if the book got any cheaper, it would be free! It’s 99 cents! Go now, stop reading this and begin reading the book!
Thanks so much Michelle!! I hope to have you as a guest poster on The Happy Booker again sometime!
You heard her! You definitely want to be reading this incredible book!! At just 99 cents, what’s stopping you! You can buy Angelfall at Amazon or Barnes & Noble and tomorrow, author Susan Ee will be giving away a copy of Angelfall on The Happy Booker so be sure to stop back!
10 comments:
I have this book on my kindle...I've had it for a long time...WHY haven't I read it?! I'm going to get on that...
The sound of this book really makes me want to read it. I've had it on my TBR pile for a while. I'm definitely intrigued.
"I was wondering if somehow, I turned into a 13 year old with my first crush. It is not blatant romance instead the two characters learn to not only live with each other, but live for each other."
*sigh* You make me want to read Angelfall all over again! I LOVED Raffe! And I don't get fictional crushes too often!
It sounds like a really powerful book.
Thanks for the share!
This is going on my have to read list. It seems very descriptive and full of action and your review gets me so excited to read this. Only 99 cents I will definitely download this one.
Thanks for the opportunity to write a guest post on your great blog! I had lots of fun and it was made even better doing what I love best... ranting about my favorite book of 2011!
I haven't heard too much about Angelfall before but it sounds amazing! I think this is a book that I need to get my hands on! Awesome post!
Wow, great post! I really should get this one. I love post-apocalyptic books & I love great world-building, and although it's with angels (I usually don't like a lot those books) this one sounds like a book I know I'll love, so thanks for the recommendation!!!
I too have this on my Kindle. I unfortunately have found that books there are frequently forgotten about as I don't see them giving me the evil eye from my TBR shelf.
Oh my oh my! This really sounds good! FAVORITE BOOK OF 2011, eh? Now that's something!!
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