Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Published: May 21st, 2011
Acquired: Purchased from Amazon
Format: Kindle edition
Overall: ½

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

My thoughts:
I know you've read gushing review after gushing review of this book. And you may be tired of them. No worries. No gushing review here.
Before I write this, I'll say that dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre is just not  my cup of tea. They have so much premise and possibility and you have to have a very imaginative mind to read them, and I love that... but I just can't always get into them. And that's why I've made March my Dystopian challenge month, just to hopefully find one that I do love.

I didn't hate this book. I actually really really liked it, but for the most part I was just feeling "eh" towards it.
From the beginning this book was fast paced and just kept going, that's obviously what the author was going for and it had purpose. Penryn (that name...) and Raffe needed to gogogo to stay out of harms way and cover ground as she looks for her sister and tries to find a way to get his wings "sewn" back on.
The encounters they come acorss on their way to the Aerie were, for the most part, boring for me. I didn't get attached to the characters and I didn't much care for what happened to them at this part.
But then they finally get to the Aerie that's where the book picked up for me, and I found myself perking up, ready for more. But unfortunately, it was also the shortest part of the book. That's the beauty and sucky part of climaxes in stories.
I loved that, because this book is a self-pub, that Susan Ee was able to write and have no filter (read: editor) telling her she can't write that. And that all comes in with the climax. I was disturbed, heart-broken and angry with a lot of what happened there and because of that, I would give this book 5 stars, but I couldn't forget the beginning.
With the way the book ended, it made me want more, so I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series. Though I'm not necessarily dying to read it. I did add it to my "to-reads" shelf on Goodreads anyways.

So, in the end, I applaud Susan Ee for having such a successful, self-published book. And if you don't have a Kindle, it's now available in paperback! :)

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Author Info:
Susan Ee is the author of Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1). Her short stories have been in various publications including Realms of Fantasy and The Dragon and the Stars anthology. She is also a filmmaker whose latest film played at major film festivals and on cable TV stations throughout the U.S. She studied creative writing through workshops at Stanford, The Iowa Writers' Workshop and Clarion West.
Find more on her: website | twitter | goodreads | facebook | google+

Review: Vampire's Kiss by Veronica Wolff

Vampire's Kiss (The Watchers #2) by Veronica Wolff

Published: March 6th, 2012 | NAL Trade
Age: YA Paranormal
Pages: 281
Acquired:  For review.
Format: Paperback
Overall:

IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE PARTNERED WITH A VAMPIRE, YOU HAVE TO WORK THE NIGHT SHIFT.

By her wits, blood, and sacrifice, so far Drew has survived the intensive training on the Isle of Night. As a second-year Acari, her ultimate goal is to become a Watcher, and now she has a shot at her first mission. Except nothing is as it seems. The vampire Alcántara is as sinister as he is sexy, Ronan is more distant than ever, and it turns out there are other vampires out there. Bad ones.

Ancient, bloodthirsty, and powerful, these undead are really old school. They’ve captured one of the Watcher vamps and are torturing him for information. The only chance to save him is to infiltrate a major summit the baddies are holding on their own island. There will be mortals there, serving as butlers, maids, and various hired help. Drew had better brush up on her skills as a serving girl, because she’s about to go undercover…

But, when their vampire prisoner turns out to be a gorgeous bad boy, Drew’s first mission quickly turns into more than she bargained for…

My thoughts:                         *Do not read if you haven't read book one*

One of the things I liked about Isle of Night was that we weren't left with a major cliff hanger, but I still wanted more. And I was sooo glad I had this book to jump right into!
We jump right back into Drew's story right about where we left off in Isle of Night. After Drew has won the competition defeating and killing her opponents--especially her psycho roommate, Lilac--she's put in the position of being Vampire Alcantara's assistant in an upcoming mission (one she has no idea what and when it'll be) and she's acquired two friends on the island, Emma and Yasuo.
In the first book I felt everything she did, so I never really liked Tracer Ronan, but he still had that sexy aloof that made me antsy for anytime she may spend with him. But when he kind of disappears she's left to fend for herself on this island and find another hottie to secretely pine over. I just wish it wasn't Alcantara.
I found this dude creepy, and no matter how many times she said he was cute, I pictured an old, decaying, vampire with a superiority complex. But, at the same time, I liked him. The way he silently and inconspicuously protected Drew, preparing her for her mission.
In this process she's met with a vampire in training, Josh, who is sent to her to teach her formal & business German. After her first and confusing encounter with him, I was glad she met back up with him. And when he basically risks his position and life helping her, I knew the tension would be there. I was a little disappointed it wasn't as strong as I'd hope.
My favorite parts: Following Ronan, him saving her life, and all that hotness. Sigh, I love to hate him.
And then when she finally gets to go on her mission with Alcantara. She has to find a captured vampire and try to listen in on their conversations.
For me, this part moved along a bit too fast and with too much ease. But I kind of liked that. I just wanted her to get in and get out without harm. And she did... kind of. When she meets Carden (ooh Carden), she decides to take matters into her own hands and what happens is the hottest thing in two paragraphs that happened then the two books. And with that, I can't wait to read more of him in the upcoming books!
Blood Fever is the next book and I can't wait to read it. You get a little preview in this one and I usually don't read them, but I had to!
(Sorry for that long review, I'll try to keep them short from now on.)

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Ending: ½
Writing: ½
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Author Info:
Veronica Wolff is an award-winning, bestselling author with a soft spot for kilts, mountains, beaches, and vampires. Not necessarily at the same time. She lived everywhere from Texas, to Hawaii, to India, before finally settling in Northern California, where she lives with her husband, two kids, one insane rescue dog, one angelic rescue dog, the gentlest cat ever, and a snake whose days are numbered.

Find more on her: website | twitter | facebook | goodreads