Ally

“I never thought about it before, but I’m proud to be human. We’re ever so flawed. We’re frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I’m proud to be a Daughter of Man.”

I’m going to have to throw away my prejudice against books written in present tense. When I was young and naïve (ahem, like 5 years ago), I would open any book that looked interesting to make sure it wasn’t written in present tense. Now, after missing out on delightful novels like A Great and Terrible Beauty and being introduced to fantastic books such as The 5th Wave, both of which are written in present tense, I can no longer discriminate! In fact, the use of the present tense in Angelfall made me feel like I was right there with the characters, experiencing everything they did.

It’s unfair of me to rate books after finishing The 5th Wave less than a week ago. The storylines of these two novels were quite similar, in that the end of the world has come, the main characters motivation relates to a younger sibling, and sexy men with questionable pasts help our heroin achieve her goal. Angelfall had all the same things as The 5th Wave, just not as much. I found the plot of the 5th Wave much more intriguing and suspensful, while Cassie was more likeable for me than Penryn. And the Others freak me out a lot more than angels. For these reasons, I have given Angelfall 4 stars.

Penryn was a relatively strong girl character, who has far too many responsibilities for a girl her age. Taking care of a wheelchair-bound sister and an insane, schizophrenic mother is hard enough, but try doing it in the aftermath of an angel apocalypse. As the eldest sibling in my family, I completely understand Penryn’s motivation and drive to find her sister and get her to safety. I did find her attitude towards her mother a little bizarre at times, but then again, I’ve never had to deal with mental illness.

Angel politics, in which archangels are competing for a coveted position and the denizens of hell (demons) are exacting their revenge, gave us an introduction to the potential origins of the apocalypse. This is what is really getting me excited to read the next instalment. I want to know more about the angels, their communion with God, and their reasons for coming to Earth in the first place. I want to know what they were planning in the aerie and I badly, badly want to learn more about (view spoiler) The next book can't come out soon enough!