My oh my, how can I begin to do this book justice? I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book, I've been lusting after it for a few years now due to the gorgeous cover and have recently been hearing some really good things about it over on youtube, so I caved and added it to my ever-growing tbr shelf. It didn't stay there long.
The novel centers around a teenage girl called Penryn who is living in a world post angel apocalypse who destroyed the world as we know it. She watched in horror as an angel named Raffe is brutally stripped of his wings and as she tries to help him she angers his perpetrators and is forced to watch as her wheelchair-bound sister is taken away. Penryn demands that Raffe must provide her with information and assistance to help her recover her sister, and the two natural enemies begin an adventure in which they must outwit danger at every turn.
I think this book may have ruined the entire urban fantasy genre for me because honestly, where do I go from here? This is without a doubt one of the best written books I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and without a doubt in my top 5 books that I have read this year. This is how you write a book about angels. This is how you write a kick-ass heroine. This is how you write a gut wrenching romance. This is how every book should be written.
From the moment you turn the first page of this book you aren't given the chance to breath. You are immediately catapulted into a world where angels roam the skies and humans fight for their survival. Susan Ee's writing is beautiful, flowing and engaging, keeping you flipping the pages to find out more about the wonderful characters that she has created. Penryn's voice is incredibly refreshing.Having been trained in various self-defense and martial-arts techniques, she is a true survivalist. Strong willed, determined and head strong, she is one kick-ass heroine. She also has a vulnerability about her which makes the reader connect to her. She doesn't enjoy fighting, but she will to save herself and those she loves.
Raffe is self-assured, witty, and gorgeous - everything you can expect from a typical male protagonist right? Wrong. Raffe is a much deeper character than any usually featured in Young Adult novels. Raffe has a long and mysterious past, which I am desperate to find out more about, but he is also compassionate, loyal, caring, trustworthy, and sweet beyond measure. His relationship with Penryn progresses slowly, steadily building up in a way that simply increased the passion between them. The romance in no way detracted from the pounding pace of the plot and took a glorious backseat, but it was present and subtle and beautiful all the same. It's the type of romance that leaves so much more imagination, for interpretation, and for growth that I couldn't not envy Ee's easy way of incorporating it into the tale.
The book, in my opinion, is flawless. There is nothing at all that I can criticize about it, not one plot hole, not one single thing that I didn't like about it, and I'm a really picky reader. This book has everything, it has romance, sci-fi, paranormal elements, gore, mystery and so much more. While the first part of the book, with all their hiding and escaping was great, the second part when they get to San Francisco was stunning. Very dark, a bit gory, definitely sick in some parts, I was blown away. I'll just say that there will be some cannibal monsters, some scorpion-angels and metallic teeth involved. Even the ending was extremely good and while it ends with a sort of cliffhanger that left me craving for the next book, it's bearable. But lets just say, the second book is sitting on my bedside table waiting for me to dive in later tonight. And maybe I forgot to mention this is a self-published book? So, so, sorry for many published authors, this book puts to shame so many of them.
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