Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted for us book blogger types by the Broke and the Bookish. They provide a topic, and all of us participants post our answers on our blogs and we hop around checking out one another’s answers! This week’s topic is: 

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

1. Karen Amanda Hooper
I’ve loved her books Tangled Tides and Grasping at Eternity, and I am currently in the middle of reading Taking Back Forever.  She has flown somewhat under the radar, but her writing is clear, creative, and one of a kind. If you haven’t read any of her work, then you are definitely missing out. 

2. Susan Ee

If you haven’t read Angelfall yet, then go and download a copy as soon as possible because it was one of the best ebooks I had read in a long time.  It was well plotted and the pacing was excellent.

3. Melina Marchetta
I’m fairly certain that Marchetta is outrageously popular, but I still find that a majority of average readers don’t know her name or any of her titles.  Therefore, she needs more recognition! 

4. Jennifer Echols
I came across Echols in my reading last summer, and her novel Such A Rush quickly made the climb into my list of favorite books.  Did I mention that the setting of that novel is actually the beach I go to with my family each summer?  Either way, I have been anxiously waiting for her next novel since! 

5. Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor & Park was one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I have a copy of Fangirl burning a hole in my book stack.  She deserves all of the recognition as possible. 

6. A.G. Howard
A paranormal novel with a twist on Alice in Wonderland? Not only did Howard use excellent world building but her word choice was beautiful and the story world wonderful. I look forward to more novels by her!

7. Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass was brilliant, and I cannot begin to say how excited I am for Crown of Midnight.  If you haven’t found a fantasy world that you love, then pick up Maas’ novels. 

8. Kady Cross
She is definitely famous under other pen names, but Cross’ Steampunk YA novels are such fun reads and I really think they are not as popular as they should be.  So go buy some of her Steampunk Chronicles!  3 of them are currently published, and (I hope!) there will be more to come.

9. Kristin Cashore
Bitterblue was published and then it seems that Cashore kind of fell off the scene. I still constantly recommend Graceling to people looking for a good Fantasy read, and I really am looking forward to anything else Cashore publishes! 

10. Cora Carmack
I totally just discovered her, but I think that she is a rising star and I think she deserves even more recognition than she is getting so far! 

What are some authors you recommend?

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

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.

As a child I grew up reading the teenage versions of the Left Behind books alongside the study of the book of Revelation in confirmation classes at my church. I can admit that I didn’t particularly enjoy enjoy those books, or the book of Revelation, for that matter. Angelfall, however, changed my perspective on the entire concept of life after the return of Christ, and the years after.

Now, it is important to recognize that this novel is not preachy like the Left Behind series, and it does not force any type of religious epiphany on the reader. In fact, if anything, it perfectly represents the natural doubt that the human race has regarding the supernatural or heavenly beings. The, doubting Thomas syndrome–if you will. Ee’s main character, Penryn, narrates the story with a snarky, sarcastic, and witty voice. She is fiercely loyal, smart, resourceful, and a lot of other adjectives that would make this review even more longwinded than it will be.

At its base, Angelfall is a novel about a journey, much like most Young Adult novels. The difference, however, is the expertly constructed world and the airtight narrative. Ee has created a world that I simultaneously love to read about, but I am also repulsed by. I couldn’t put this book down. Penryn is driven by the most natural of instincts, to survive and to help her family survive. Losing her sister and mother was not part of the plan, obviously, but neither was the beautiful and equally sarcastic Raffe.

I understand why some reviewers have said that there is a lack of romance, but I disagree. I think that the romance is not blatant, and is not full of passages where the main character is swooning over the main romantic interest–I love that. There are plenty of actions between the two main characters that explains their relationship more than a chapter explaining the curve of his eyelashes over his cobalt blue eyes, and so on. They have a relationship built on respect–somewhat shaky respect at the beginning–but respect, nonetheless.

The plot line was extremely addicting and I can’t help but wonder what other ways the narrative could take in the sequel. Raffe was “down to Earth,” no pun intended (okay, maybe a little bit), and his struggle with his nature and his beliefs, even as an angel, was completely fascinating and moving.

It is hard for me to discuss a large portion of the book without giving away any major plot points, but I have to urge everyone to read this book. There is more heart and urgency in this narrative than most of the angel-centric books on the YA market.

5 Bards.

Now Reading: Angel Fall by Susan Ee

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.