Six weeks after the angels attacked Earth, what remains of humanity has been caught up in an angel-flavoured, post-apocalypse nightmare. 17 year old Penryn Young, her seven year old sister Paige and her schizophrenic mother are struggling to survive, caught between the dual threat of angels and street gangs. When Paige is kidnapped after they witness a group of angels sawing the wings off one of their own, Penryn heals the injured angel, Raffe, and they set off for the angels’ aerie to retrieve Paige and Raffe’s wings.
The plot was great. It’s proper old-school Book of Revelations stuff and there’s literally danger at every turn but Penryn never wavers in her determination to find her sister. There are avenging angels, human resistance groups, monsters, cannibals... Ee certainly knows how to keep things interesting.
The angels who have invaded earth are a perfect balance of terrifying and skeevy. Their reason for invading earth is that humans killed the angel Gabriel, but now they’re here they seem to be content holing up in swanky hotels, partying and getting busy with the human women who pimp themselves out to their oppressors.
And can I just say: Penryn = kick ass heroine! Everything that those drippy, save-me heroines out there lack, Penryn has in spades. The supporting characters had a lot of depth, too. I really liked Penryn’s mum. She’s a schizophrenic who’s off her meds and unstable as a result, but this seemed to give her an insight into the angels that the other characters didn’t have. The scenes between Penryn and her mum were very touching.
And I found myself actually liking Raffe and the lack of instalove was a big bonus for me. He and Penryn start off as enemies - obviously - and gradually start to trust and then like each other. Their relationship develops slowly and never feels rushed. I’m still not feeling the love for a guy with wings, but Raffe was a great character (agnostic angel, anyone?)
8/10