I wanted to write quick reviews of these two since they’ve been out for quite some time, but they deserve some more attention! Hopefully these bite sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction!
These two books counted toward my A Series a Month Challenge and my Shelf Love Challenge!
These reviews are for books two and three in a series. For my review of the first book, click HERE.
World After by Susan EePublished by Skyscape on 11/19/13
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 320
Source: Goodreads First Reads
My rating:
In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what’s left of the modern world.
When a group of people capture Penryn’s sister, Paige, thinking she’s a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.
Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels’ secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.
Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can’t rejoin the angels, can’t take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?
I’m so glad that I picked this series back up! I really enjoyed the first book, but for some reason I didn’t ever get back to it. This second book wasn’t what I expected (in a good way) because it focused on the relationship between Penryn and her sister Paige, barely touching on the romance with Raffe. That might disappoint some people, but I felt like this focus of family was just what the series needed. We saw Penryn’s struggle with her mentally ill mother in the first book, but her relationship with her little sister was solid. Now that Paige has been turned into a monster of sorts, Penryn truly struggles. She wants to feel the same as she always has toward her sister, but she finds it nearly impossible to even look at her, with her patchwork stitched up skin and razor teeth. And Paige’s behavior scares her more than anything – sometimes it’s hard for Penryn to know if her baby sister is even in there. I loved seeing Penryn struggle with her family loyalties – especially when she learns more about what Paige has become and meets someone who was responsible for her current state! Honestly, I didn’t miss the romance at all (though we did get a bit toward the end!). I give this one 4/5 stars.
Published by Skyscape on 5/12/15
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 331
Source: Purchased
My rating:
End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy. After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.
When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?
Wow! This was quite a finale!! I don’t think I expected to love this final book in the series as much as I did, but it was utterly fantastic. Pretty much every plot point and struggle was tied up perfectly in this book. The romance was taken up a notch, but it didn’t pull focus from the action and the end of the universe storyline. (Characters who put the end of the world before their romance! What a novel idea!) Penryn’s relationship with both her mother and Paige were further explored and came to a head. And then there was that final showdown with the angels. Just, wow!
If you’re looking for a dystopian series that does things right, pick this one up. It has everything you could hope for. I give this book an definite 5/5 stars.
I’ve owned a copy of Angelfall for YEARS now and I have yet to read it o.O I don’t know what the holdup is either, it’s a short read and I’ve heard fantastic things about it across the board. So to motivate me further, I came to see what you made out of the rest of the series. Ok so it’s official: I WILL read it this year. I MUST. Awesome reviews my friend ♥
I have tons of books like this – ones that I’ve been meaning to get to forever, but never quite get there. I will say that this series is definitely one you should dust off and crack open, though!
I really need to read the final book! Eeeeee!
That happens to me all the time with series – I get right up almost to the end and never pick up that final book! You can do it, Julie! 🙂
I adored the first and second book in the series, but the third one fell flat for me 🙁 I think it’s because I had such high expectations? I really hope Ee writes more books though, I’ll definitely read anything else she writes!
Sorry you didn’t love it. I actually think I felt the opposite – for me, the final book was the best one!
I love seeing that you gave the final book 5 Stars, and to hear that the romance was a little bit more than the previous books….although the previous books consisted of me trying to find the tiniest of details of something that could mean more ha-ha. I adored the first two books and planned on finishing the last book this year, and now I really can’t wait to see how it all concludes!
Yes, these books are not focused on the romance really – which I was surprised about, since it seems like that’s what people talk about when I hear about this series. The final book did have a bit more, but it’s still not the central focus of the book!
Ha! We seemed to have been thinking alike. This is exactly my post today as well. 😀
I just saw that! Really weird since these books have been out for so long. I’m hopping over to your site now to read your thoughts!
I absolutely LOVE this series. I found it so refreshing to have the angels be the warriors they’re meant to be instead of the typical bad boys/cute cherubs. These angels were fierce, dark and terrifying. I definitely appreciated how Penryn’s relationship with Paige and her mother was just as important as the romance with Raffe and that we got to explore those dynamics. I was worried with the third book and feared that all the loose ends would not be tied up but I was wrong. If anything my only wish would have been to have the epilogue take place further in the future but I’ll let that slide haha.
An epilogue would have been nice, but I just have my own little imaginary outcome in my head. I was glad that everything was resolved too!
I’ve seen lots of Susan Ee books, and they all really catch my eye- the cover looks great, the synopsis sounds amazing!~ Glad you enjoyed both of these books – I have yet to start them… xD
The name of your linked post made me realize this was MY first five star read of 2016. Yay!
I’m so happy you loved the rest of the series! It’s one of my favorites, and I ship Raffe/Penryn like crazy. 😀 They’re both in general just made of awesome, and I love the world that Susan Ee created.
Your reviews helped convince me I need to read these! 🙂
Nicole, I LOVE these books! Ahhh! Raffe is SO great. And I loved Penryn so much. That finale was great wasn’t it? I always get nervous with series enders, but I think that had one of my favorites ever!
I would’ve missed the romance in World After, but it sounds like the relationship between Penryn and Paige needed to be fleshed out a bit more.
Good to see that End of Days blew you away and you enjoyed it more than you expected to. I think I need to pick this series up!!
I’m excited to start this awesome trilogy as I’ve heard such great things! I recently purchased Angelfall so hopefully I’ll get to it sooner rather than later!