If You Want... Angels

I've recently been rereading Angelfall because End of Days (the final book in the series) is coming out in May, and there's a readathon going on on Goodreads (here's the group, if you want to check it out).  Anyway, as usually happens when I reread this book, I got thinking about how different it is from anything else I've read.  Then I started thinking about other noticeably unique books, and I came up with this post idea.  I'm tentatively calling it "If You Want..." for now, but if you think of something better, let me know :P  I'll be picking books that fit into one topic but are all quite different from each other, and I'll talk about them a bit.  Goodness knows I love to talk about books!  I'm hoping to do a few different topics over the weeks, and today I'm focusing on angel books.

So, I'll begin with Angelfall by Susan Ee, the book that inspired this post!

The basic premise is that angels have come to Earth and unleashed an apocalypse.  As you can tell, they're not the good guys.  Penryn is the main character and the story follows her as she tries to rescue her little sister who has been taken by the angels.

I personally love this book and its sequel, World After.  The things that make it stand out are:

- Penryn is awesome and can definitely fend for herself

- It's a post-apocalyptic novel, rather than paranormal (which I think is what you would expect for a book with angels)

- It has a lot of action

- It involves disability and touches on mental illness

- It has a slight romance that doesn't overpower the rest of the plot

- Did I mention Penryn is awesome?

- It gets weirder and scarier as you go along

If you're a fan of sci-fis, this is definitely a book to check out.  If you want to find out more, you can click the book to go to the Goodreads page (as with all the book pictures on my blog) or you can read my review - it's an early one though, so don't judge me off of it!

The next book I want to mention is either one you are going to love or you are going to hate.  It's Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  This is pretty much your standard paranormal romance YA (girl meets guy, guy turns out to be paranormal) - or, at least it starts off that way.  When I first read it, I fell in love.  If you aren't going in with low expectations, it sucks you in and before you know it, you've finished the book.

Read this if:

- You're looking for a fun, addictive series

- Tall, dark and handsome is your thing

- You like an air of mystery

- You like books which include some of the high school experience

- You like a lot of romance

If you love paranormal romance, this is for you.  If thinking about Twilight makes your blood boil, maybe you should steer clear of this one.  I haven't got a review up of this one, but I can say that I enjoyed it - especially the twists and turns at the end and throughout the rest of the series.  I can't forget the mysterious atmosphere and the general feeling of the series.

And here we have a book that I don't think I've talked about on the blog before!  It's been years since I read Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, but I still remember the intense emotions it gave me.

The book follows Clara, a part-angel girl, as she discovers her purpose - the reason she exists.  The trilogy deals with a lot of heavy stuff, like grief, loss and whether you can make your own destiny.

Here's some of the important things about it:

- This time, it's from the perspective of the angel (well, part-angel)

- There is a huge focus on relationships, especially between family and friends

- There's less action

- You never really know how it's going to turn out

- The trilogy is heart-wrenching, in the best way

- The characters are very real and go through extensive development

Even though this isn't a favourite of mine, I still enjoyed it and its continuations.  If you usually enjoy contemporary, realistic fiction, you're sure to love this trilogy.

How could I do a post on angel books and not mention my favourite?  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor!  Sure, it's not entirely centred around angels, but a good portion of the trilogy is.  This book is definitely more on the fantasy side of things, so if you like fantasy, go for this one.

This novel is about a girl named Karou and chimera and angels and wishes and MAGICAL THINGS.

Things to love about this trilogy:

- Beautiful writing

- Complex characters; it is hard to discern who is good, and who is bad

- Set in Prague

- Aforementioned magical things

- It will give you many emotions (especially in the sequel)

If you appreciate any of the above, you really need this book in your life.  Also, I would recommend this to more mature readers as it is quite dark.  If you want to know more, you can of course check out my review (it's another early one and I should warn you that the second half of it is full of spoilers - though I do let you know before they start).



I'm going to finish off this post with some angel books that I have on my TBR list.  Be sure to let me know if you've read any of them!

Still To Read