End of Days

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 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 show more ‘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

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 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 show more 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

To be honest, I think I'll be better off pretending that this and World After just don't exist.

Angelfall was superb. It still remains one of my favourite books to this day. It wasn't the best, but it had a cool heroine, decent writing, action, and basic plot. The world was my favourite part, and while I excused the lack of it in Angelfall (it was the first book, sure whatever), the complete careless toss away of it in World After and End of Days was heartbreaking to say the least. Something that started out so good, with so much promise, ended up failing miserably. I suppose that's all I can expect from YA books these days.

I really liked the idea that Raffe and Penryn might not be able to be together in the end. In fact, I was actually show more rooting for it, y'know, because it seemed realistic. They had their experiences together and that's it. That's life, especially in the aftermath of the apocalypse.

Ah, but no, we get a happy ending. Which, I'm not all too opposed to, it just didn't make any sense. The past two books Raffe kept his distance, then in this book he was slobbering all over her and he randomly gave up his post as Archangel in the Angel world so that he could stay with Penryn. He fought so hard to get his wings back and to return back to his people, only to dump it all at the last second? Nahhh. Bruh, please.

Penryn wasn't really herself in this one. You'd think in this last book, where everything goes down, she'd be less infatuated with Raffe and more focused on her people and the world. Nope. She was far less grounded than she was in the first two books, which again makes no sense. (What was up with that random boob touching thing? Was that supposed to be hot? It was gross. Imagine if it had been reversed and Raffe made her touch his balls in her sleep. *hard side eye*) The action scenes were weak, too. It didn't help that there was a lot more of confusing running around than the action anyway. Like, COME ON, that's what was so great about the first book. Action! Believable action!

Paige was non-existent. I thought she was interesting, but no one cared about her, so neither did I. At least kill her or something if you're going to drop her characterization like that. I didn't really care for anybody is this last book, to tell the truth. Obi died a pitiful, pointless death. He was obviously supposed to be an important character at first, but then Susan Ee tossed his characterization out the window as well. I guess that's what happens when you suddenly cut your five-book-long story down to three. *snorts*

YO, and the Nephilim! Apparently they weren't monsters, just above-average humans. *blank stare into space*

....What? Then what the F was that about the low-demons? Raffe acting like they could possibly be Nephilim? Seriously, I would have loved it if the children were hellish spawns as a result of pure abomination. It was one of the most fascinating sub-plots, Susan Ee could have gone so much farther with that. Ah, but no, she played it safe. She played it PG.

*deep breath* I promised myself I wouldn't rage too hard, because I intend to deny this book's existence. But to be real, I'm infuriated. I'm infuriated that this author captured my heart with her first work and then crushed it. I'm a damn sucker for angel mythology and I fell for it. I honestly thought the series would be different, but nope. Why am I not surprised? I'm infuriated that she changed herself and her own beautiful ideas to conform to YA tropes. Most of all, though, I'm infuriated that in a genre where decent novels are scarce, she manged to set a new path, she managed to give thousands of readers a breath of fresh, authentic air... only to end up choking us all, including herself, in the end.

Ugh. I don't have anymore hope. I don't.

3.5 stars after reading, 2 stars after reviewing. (That cover gets a star, I have to admit.) show less

Blah, this book was such a disappointing end to this series. The inevitability of everything (except maybe for the talent show... like... Really? made the journey to the end quite boring. There weren't any surprises or dramatic scenes at all, and this is the climax to a very BFD battle royale. I think most of my gripes center around world-building, but damn this story could have been amazing if it had centered more on that.

So yeah, the ending was awful.

Not the least of which was the lack of any real relationship with Penryn and Raffe. It's like they just decide to be together in the end and it's magically all good. No worrying about the fact that he is stuck with demon wings now and can't be part of the world that he thought was more show more important than anything else in his life, no thought to him being immortal and her not so much, sudden uses of the L word when (let's just all admit it together) their relationship was thrown into the series as pure fluff with no substance.

And let me just state that the angels suddenly departing for no good reason that I could see was... frustrating.

Also, there was no thought given to how the world copes afterwards. This story takes place over the course of like two weeks which occur six weeks after the initial invasion. So we are like two months post-angels, now they're gone, and wtf do we do now. I sure as hell don't know, but it apparently involves passing out flyers while your mom passes out rotten eggs.

Oh yeah, and what about the hellions? Are those guys still around? Who knows!

While we're on the subject, what happens to the poor little scorpion thingies? Huh? You think they won't be shot down in two seconds by people with guns?


See what I mean? There is just about zero closure on any plot lines.

And can we take a minute to join hands around the world for the abolition of two page chapters? Jesus.

On the good side, I appreciated how the series still kept it's horrific side and how the writing flowed from book to book. Honestly, the whole thing felt like one big manuscript that had been cut apart at cliffhanger moments for the purpose of publishing, it was that smooth.

But yeah, overall I kind of wish I hadn't wasted my time with this series due to the disappointingly I-can-see-it-from-all-the-way-in-the-first-book ending. It'll probably be a while before I stick my toe in the YA pool again. show less

Wow, what a ride! End of Days was an excellent conclusion to the series, with plenty of action, adventure, romance, and humour. To be honest though, I don't remember much about the two previous books, and I see that I was quite critical of them in my reviews (and rated them both 3 stars)-- but these days I feel more relaxed about not judging YA books so harshly, so maybe this book isn't actually better than the previous ones. (I see a lot of other reviewers disappointed with this one.) Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed it.

End of Days is far from the best YA scifi/fantasy novel out there, but I think all things considered, Susan Ee did a pretty good job. Sure, she really needed an editor (or a better one-- not sure if Amazon's publishing show more brand has editors), but it's clear that Ee has real potential. Her ideas are fresh and original, even if occasionally rather bizarre, in comparison to most traditionally-published YA books out there (and I suspect being self-published gave her the freedom to write exactly what she wanted instead of having to cater to a market), and she's not afraid to write about some pretty gory stuff. I really enjoyed seeing all the strange and grotesque creatures that Ee came up with.

Penryn and Raffe are still pretty generic, as is the rest of the cast, though overall fairly likeable as there was little about them that was really offensive. I know that's not a great endorsement but honestly, I didn't mind too much as the overall storyline and plot developments were unique and interesting enough. Still, there's definitely a lot of room for fleshing out not only the characters but the plot and world-building as well. I was left wondering what happened to the rest of the world as the entire story pretty much takes place in Southern California.

I did like that the world-building was expanded on in this book-- Ee's version of Hell was interesting, and I definitely liked the introduction of the Watchers as characters as well. Their banter was hilarious and I laughed out loud a couple times. I kind of hope Ee writes a spin-off series about them. It is a bit weird, though, to think that the Watchers and Raffe are immortal beings who have been around for thousands of years, yet they behave like teens or 20-somethings and fall for teenage girls.

Even with the flaws, I found this book an incredibly entertaining read. Ee injects a lot of humour into her story, even during the toughest and bleakest parts, and she pulls it off quite well. I also appreciate that the books are fairly focused as there aren't a lot of unnecessary scenes-- no dragging out of the plot, no extraneous navel-gazing from the characters-- the story more or less plods along at a steady pace. I was drawn into the book right away, and there are enough twists and turns that I couldn't really predict how it would all end. All in all, a fun read, and one that made me want to start the series all over again from the beginning. show less

End of Days is the final book in this amazing series, and I am sad to see it end, so much so that now I have my son reading it so we can talk about it!! The conclusion was everything I wanted it to be.

It begins just after World After ends and so much has happened that it is hard toi remember that only about two weeks have passed since the beginning of Angelfall. The character development in this series is pretty intense. Penryn has no concept of anything superficial, no idea of her own looks. And I love that those things aren't even on her radar. Instead, she is fully focused on her mission, her family, and those she cares about. In this book, she is not just strong, but straight up badass. She fights not just for herself and for her show more own, but the people who need her. And then there is Raffe. He has always been true to his angelic ways and rules, but fully capable of thinking independently and standing up when wrong is being done, even if it is against his own. He, like Penryn, is a fighter for his own. And this often puts the two of them at odds with one another and herein lies our romantic tension.

One of the things that I love most about this book, and the series as a whole, is that the post-apocalyptic themes have been the focus of the main plot. The romantic aspect is powerful and beautiful, but subtle. Not only did I appreciate the idea that perhaps other things should be the main focus, but I found that it added so much anticipation to that part of the story. That being said, the romance was much more intense in this book and it fed that girlie part of my heart. Against all odds, they have come to see each other less as angel and human, but as equals. Despite Raffe's otherworldly abilities, there are still things that Penryn can do that he cannot and that works for them.

My Recommendation: I truly loved this series! I love the unique use of angels in the story line. I loved the characters. I loved the twists and turns. I loved the themes woven throughout the novel. This entire series is one that I highly recommend! show less

Boricuan Bookworms- Book Reviews.

As always, when it comes to the end of a series, there’s a lot of expectation as to how it should end. Many readers are never really satisfied, as there is never a perfect way to end a story you’ve been so emotionally attached to and never want to see end.

That being said, End of Days was an absolutely perfect way to end Susan Ee’s thrilling series.

Despite the intensity and darkness of this book, there’s plenty of lighthearted and hilarious moments all around. The usual snark and sarcasm is not lost here, which I was happy to see as well.

“If it wasn’t for you, I’d think that angels were all totally interchangeable.”
“You mean because I’m beyond perfect?”
“No. Because you’re

show more

so humble.”
“Humility’s overrated.”
“So is clear self-assessment, apparently.”

Penryn is, as always, as badass as they come. She protects her family at all costs, but also learns that all human life is just as important. It was hard to believe that Penryn is just a teenage girl. She’s younger than me, yet her compassion and maturity is so much more than her age! It shows you how the end of the world changes everybody.

Her relationship with Raffe was SO INTENSE. They were moments where the tension was just too much to handle, and others where you were afraid the direction their future together was heading. It was emphasized in this book how different they are, and how them being together would be nearly impossible.

All the characters in this book come full circle! Some that I thought could never find redemption in my eyes suddenly do these incredible things and I'm forced to feel sympathy for them! Other characters completely surprised me! I didn't know they were capable of what they did!

The book progresses at a fast speed, which leaves little chance for one to stop and continue the book later on. It will be almost impossible for you to stop reading until you reach the end. There are lots of plot twists, and it's written so cleverly that you don't realise how much you've read until it's too late. ;)

To be honest, even if the book was perfectly executed, I wouldn’t mind reading more. It was a very slight open ending which beautifully wraps up the series but at the same time leaves room for the imagination. If you haven’t yet gotten into this series, I suggest you do!

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review! show less