Susan Ee

Spoilers Ahead for the previous books!

The End of Days picks up right where World After ended. Little Paige seems to have command of the scorpions (now identified as locusts). In this book we also find out more about the Watchers, the elite group of angel warriors originally under Raffe’s command, but who fell from grace for falling in love with Daughters of Men. To Penryn’s surprise, she learns that Beliel, now the sworn enemy of Raffe, was one of these Watchers.

But Raffe and Penryn have show more even more enemies now. As Raffe explains:

“Aside from the usual suspects, the entire host of angels saw you with me when I cut the wings off Beliel. They think you’re traveling in the company of a mask-wearing ‘demon’ who cuts wings off ‘angels.’ That’s enough to come after you, if only to find me. Besides, you’re an angel killer now, for which the penalty is an automatic death sentence. You’re quite the popular girl.”

The author injects her sense of humor in this and so many other exchanges, from Penryn’s own thoughts (“I shut my eyes in utter humiliation. How can the world end in a giant fury of biblical proportions yet still leave room for embarrassment?”) to much of the conversation between Penryn and Raffe, as with this continuation of the scene cited above:

Penryn thinks she is safe because she doesn’t think angels can tell humans apart. Indeed, she tells Raffe, she has a hard time telling angels apart, because “They’re all so darned perfect in every way … If it wasn’t for you, I’d think that angels were all totally interchangeable.”

Raffe asks her:

“You mean because I’m beyond perfect?

No. Because you’re so humble.

Humility’s overrated.

So is clear self-assessment, apparently.

Real warriors don’t stand for psychobabble.”

In spite of the obvious attraction between Penryn and Raffe, Raffe tells Penryn he can’t allow himself to get distracted by a Daughter of Man; as an archangel, he has responsibilities to the angel world. Nevertheless, he remains distracted. Penryn decides:

“He’s right. We’re at war. On the verge of an apocalypse filled with monsters and torture in a nightmare world. And I’m standing here, a moonstruck teenager pining for an enemy solider. What am I, crazy?”

But struggling with their feelings has to be deferred when Penryn is captured by people interested in the angel bounty on her head, and she is taken to the new angel aerie in Half Moon Bay. There, she discovers there is an election going on for the new Messenger of God, to replace Gabriel who was killed at the start of the apocalypse. The evil angel Uriel is running against Michael and Raphael. Raffe challenges Urial to a dual, and they each get to pick a team of supporting warriors. Unfortunately Raphael’s Watchers are in The Pit, awaiting Judgment Day.

But as usual, Penryn comes up with a fix, and the clash between the forces of good and evil commences.

Evaluation: These books are page-turning fun. Not all of the plot threads hold up under the scrutiny of reason, but I didn’t care at all. The characterization is excellent, with Penryn and especially her sister and mother being totally unique unexpected heroines. I found the author’s imagination and sense of humor delightful. show less

"BEWARE, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. BOOK HANGOVER INEVITABLE."

I feel like I've been waiting for this book for forever. Any amount of time for me waiting for the release of a book is too much time. The reasonable part of me knows that for an amazing book our dearest authors need time to do their magic but the irrational part of me is always impatient. But let me say that it was worth the wait. World After was as amazing if not more so as the first. It was as thrilling, and intense but much more show more dark and more post-apocalyptic(ky).

For this type of genre it's a rare thing for me to say I loved the ending. The story is clearly not over but the ending was......hopeful. Yes, that's the word. I felt hopeful, the hope of whats to come in the next installment. (Wait, is this a Trilogy?). And even with the non-brutal cliffhanger, I am still having a book hangover. I've finished reading this book more than 48 hours ago and I'm still thinking about it and my mind is unconsciously creating the next scenes of what I hope will happen for Penryn and Raffe.

So what happened in the book? Well, lots, not giving too much away but it was hard to have Penryn and Raffe separated for more than half the book. They came so close to seeing each at least once but he thought she was dead so he wouldn't be looking for her. And when they finally saw each other again it was so sweet. Raffe couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was clearly torn up over losing her. He became very protective but he also remembered she can take care of herself. He was proud of her usual badassery even though he teased her about it.

Speaking of badassery, Penryn did get to show her kick-ass skills but sometimes I wish she could of showed it more. I realized that with the way of life in her world now it was best to lay low sometimes, but I wished she could have showed off some of the sword fighting lessons she had. Oh, her sword fighting teacher was very cool and I like 'it' or should I say, 'Pooky Bear'. What an unfortunate name for a ?????. Under different circumstances it would have been cute but not for something where it's name is a first impression of it's badness.

So in World After, Penryn was still dealing with being responsible for her sister Paige and her cuckoo mother. She's also dealing with the added stress of blaming herself for not being their for Paige when she was being turned into an 'abomination'. It doesn't help that her mother blames her too. Penryn has been locking everything she's dealing with in a vault in her head and it makes me nervous for what this could mean for her later. I think she is going to flip out eventually and I hope it's on some angels with a god complex(irony, oxymoron, maybe irony) and she comes out of it has unscathed as possible.

To sum up, no honestly, World After is a lot more than I can say without giving it all away. It had some dark elements in the story that made me angry at the angels, especially Uriel, who was pulling the strings of all the horrible things being done to the humans. But there were some lighthearted moments too, especially when it came to the twins Dee and Dum. They were probably the most laid back, humorous characters in such a dark, and edgy story.

It's weird, but at one point I was thinking I should go watch that epic post-apocalyptic movie again but then I realized I was thinking about a book. It reads like a movie, it had that epic disaster movie feel. I could just picture every scene as I read the book. It was exciting, scary and thrilling.

Here's hoping I don't have long to wait for the next book. Okay....I will try to be patient so that Ms. Ee can do her magic. show less

Someone has sprayed graffiti on the ceiling. A crude knight stands alone with his sword drawn against a fire-breathing dragon that is ten times his size. The dragon's tail disappears into darkness where the window light fades deep into the store. Beside the knight are the words “Where Have All the Heroes Gone?”

It looks to me like the artist thought the knight didn’t stand a chance against the dragon.

I know just how he feels.

End of Days is the third and final book of the Penryn & the show more End of Days series by Susan Ee. Again the story picks up the exact second where the last book leaves off. The action is still fast paced and the stakes are ramped up. No longer just a story about a family's survival, it becomes the story for the survival of humanity.

The characters continue along their arcs. Penryn starts to accept her status as hero and finally dedicates herself to the role. Raffe, the hardened warrior, realizes maybe there is more to living than just following orders. Paige's arc was the biggest disappointment for me. She had been set up as this big key to winning the war against the angels and when her big moment finally comes it is mostly dealt with off screen. Even side characters have their moments to shine. Dee and Dum are back to their old tricks. I'm glad they're given more time on the page as they had some fun to the apocalypse. We also get a peek into Beliel's past and see him in a different way.

In the first two books the romance is understated and didn't intrude on the story. Here the story of the star crossed lovers gains more focus. It was at times touching and sometimes distracting for me.

Ee continues to ramp up the horror element and I loved every second of it. In this the book does not disappoint.

Over all the book is well written and a reasonably satisfactory ending to the story. I just wish there had been something more, something that seems to be missing from the first two books. That said I'd still recommend this series to anyone who likes a fast paced, post-apocalyptic survival story. show less

Jesus. Christ. For months I had heard about how good of a read Angelfall was, and I had no doubt that I would like it once I got around to reading it. But hearing all the praise is different from actually experiencing the book. Because man... It wasn't just good. It was INSANELY good. At some points while I was reading, the pages were flying by so quickly that I had to force myself to put it down so that I wouldn't get closer to the last page. I didn't want it to ever end.

I loved every show more single thing about this book, especially the main characters Penryn and Raffe. Penryn was one of those rare teenage girls in young adult novels who is vulnerable yet mature, smart, resourceful, and kickass! She knows how to take charge and how to take care of herself and others. She does all this without having a personality and attitude that's loud, frustrating, or annoying. She also doesn't allow herself to get distracted by Raffe, no matter how attractive he is. Raffe was a bit of a mystery at times, but what we did see of him revealed how much of a quiet badass he is and how, for an angel, he actually has a caring and protective side. At least for Penryn. He's the type of male character I love to root for. Honestly, how could I not adore these two characters? They're amazing! And when they're together? Whoa. The connection they shared left me breathless. It's something I look forward to seeing more of in the next book.

Another aspect I loved about Angelfall was that it was a book about survival. Surviving a world that has been damaged and overtaken by angels, angels that aren't nice and cute. Before I started reading, I didn't realize how dark the book was going to be. It had non-stop action, and there were many terrifying and disturbing scenes throughout. It made the book more heart-pounding and exciting, and I really appreciate books that can manage to put some fear in me. Not only that, the story was addicting! Susan Ee's writing was wonderful, and I loved how easy it was to visualize the world she created. (I also loved that her fight scenes weren't cheesy. They were solid and fluid!) Angelfall didn't feel like the typical read about angels at all. It's a definite stand-out that I found quite impressive and refreshing.

I seriously need the next book in my life. I WISH it were out already. Angelfall has taken its place in a top position of my favorite 2012 reads. It definitely deserves and lives up to all the hype. It's the type of book I always hope to come across, and I'm so happy I finally got around to reading it. If you have not yet read Angelfall, what are you waiting for? You won't be disappointed. It's such a stunning and badass read that I can't recommend enough. show less