I have been not so patiently waiting for this book, the last book in the Penryn and the End of Days trilogy, and boy was it worth the wait!! Penryn is one of my all time favorite kick A$$ heroines!! She is scared and sometimes pessimistic but never backs down from a seemingly unwinnable fight.  Against all odds she fights her way through, even if she has to scratch and bite her way out of a bad situation. She is so worthy as a warrior that Raffe's Angelic sword, so lovingly renamed by Penryn "Pookie Bear", allows her to wield it. She manages to prevail against everything thrown at her, even a manufactured apocalypse by the slimy political angel Uriel who is murdering, manipulating and monster creating his way into the job of Messenger... (doesn't hurt that she has the greatest of love interests, Raffe, on her side). Speaking of Raffe...all I can say about this swoon worthy, tortured, former archangel is yummmmm. If you like apocalyptic, slightly gory tales of good vs sometimes evil vs downright Hellish foes. Or even if you are looking for a good book about people fighting against all odds to retain their Humanity, check out this series!! I loved it! 

 

 

****spoiler alert****

 

 

 

Thank god Susan Ee found it in her heart to leave off this trilogy on a sweet, Love saves the day, ending. I don't know if I could have made it through the bloody, crazy creature, nasty gory parts only to have Uriel succeed.

*** This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I find it very hard to put into words what exactly this series means to me and seeing it end, I don’t quite know what to say. It hasn’t quite hit me that there will be no more of Penryn and Raffe and that my life will continue to go on without these two.

We’ve come so far from Angelfall yet, End of Days manages to retain the charm and humor of Angelfall. It’s not as distinct anymore because of how serious things have become, but End of Days is still such a charming, heartfelt book and it pains my heart to say goodbye to these beloved characters.

Where do I begin with this book? I literally cannot think of a single flaw off the top of my head. I cannot think of anything that didn’t work for me. The main characters, the secondary characters, the romance, the plot, the world building, EVERYTHING worked for me. This was the big bang finale that I was looking for and it did NOT let me down. It gave me everything I wanted and then some.

Over the course of the three books, we have gotten to see Penryn grow into this amazing woman (because girl no longer seems applicable). She was forced to grow up quickly as a result of this apocalypse but she handled it. With this novel, we get to see the result of all the development Penryn has undergone. She was always badass but in this book we see her as a strong female lead, who is sometimes afraid but also manages to shine with her head held up high. She makes good decisions and we finally see her take the role of a leader instead of constantly shying away from it. Simply put, Penryn is hands down one of the best female leads out there.

Unlike World After, our favorite angel is actually present for most of the book. How about that, huh? Raffe is one of my favorite love interests ever and I really really really mean that.He is funny, charming, and so ridiculously adorable. I love that he believes in Penryn and tries his best to support her. He can sometimes be obnoxious, but we all know that angels have big egos so we can forgive Raffe for that.

There is a lot of romantic tension between these two characters in the book. Especially since they both knew they have feelings for each other and that said feelings may be reciprocated, but circumstances make it hard for them to just act on those feelings. Some might be frustrated by this, but I was not. Sometimes things aren’t as easy as knowing that you are both interested in each other. Sometimes there are other things to consider and that is okay. All this romantic tension does mean some HAWTTTT scenes though so don't you worry too much. Plus romance or no romance, they work so fantastically as a team!

The secondary characters are so important to the series and Susan did not disappoint. In fact, she actually made me kind of like one of the bad guys from the previous books (*cries*).Susan knows how to pull on your heart strings in just the right way that will make you question everything you thought you knew. DON’T QUESTION IT. One of my favorite things was how Susan dealt with Penryn’s mom in this novel. Penryn’s mom has always been a little weird and creepy but in this instalment, she also becomes a caring mother and that warmed my cold heart. Also Pookie bear (because Pookie bear will always be my favorite secondary character ever).

One of the things that attracted me to this series was that it was post apocalyptic and just happened to have angels. It could have very easily turned into a paranormal romance but it doesn't. Susan really incorporates science fiction elements and post apocalyptic elements making the distinction clear by giving emphasis to the world building. Those elements continue to shine in this instalment. I don’t really think anything I could say would give Susan the credit she deserves on her fantastic world building skills.

The plot is also very well developed and like all the previous instalments, not a single part of this book feels slow. It's never too fast either and Susan always slows down at the important parts so that we can experience them properly. There are also things that come together from previous books and everything is just so well planned.

End of Days is a brilliantly thought out and well written book and I would not hesitate to push (read: shove down your throat) this series at you. If you haven’t read Angelfall, PLEASE GO DO SO because you have no idea what you’re missing out on.

 

 Fear not the curse of the second book here, my friends! I fell in love with the world Susan Ee created in the first book in this series, Angelfall. In World After, I was basically strapped in and forced even deeper into the gritty, terrifying devastation, and I was completely captivated from beginning until the very last page.

 

    It has been some time since I read Angelfall so I was slightly worried that I would be lost in starting this book, but thankfully I was able to jump right back in like no time had passed. There were enough past references to give you tiny refreshers as the story went, but not too much that it was redundant. One thing I really enjoyed in World After was the darker story. I think this book was more sinister than it's predecessor and I really liked it! I immensely enjoyed the more pronounced horror element. The World After was a cold, scary shell of the world we know, and I felt that in my bones while reading this.

 

 

    The intensified gruesomeness and creepiness in everything going on around Penryn was a stark contrast to the confusing longing and more romantic feelings that she was internally struggling with.  Even the desolation radiated off the pages. My heart was constantly breaking for poor Penryn and the relentless barrage of atrocities that she continuously endured. But really all of that and the way she never backed down, she always rallied for the people she cared about, and even people she didn't know.

 

"You're a hero. I'm hoping that you'll restore my faith and show me that we're worth saving."

"I am so not hero"

"You saved my life back at the aerie. By definition, you're my hero."

"I left you in a basement to die."

"You broke me out of the grasp of a living horror when I thought all hope was gone. You gave me the opportunity to crawl back to life when no one else could."

She glances over at me, her eyes shining in the dark. "You're a hero Penryn, whether you like it or not."

 

  Penryn is my favorite kind of heroine, she is far from perfect but she mostly does the right thing and she does it with flare! Anyone who can keep their sense of humor in the midst of the hell she's in is a boss in my book for sure! I absolutely adored the addition of Pooky Bear!!! Seriously. A sentient Angel sword with feels...HELL YES! The way Penryn and the sword communicated was super cool as well.

 

 

   I had hoped to see more of Raffe in this book, because come on, who in their right mind isn't shipping Penryn and Raffe?! But Penryn had so much excitement going on, and with the bonding moments with the sword, Raffe was never really too far away, at least in spirit.

 

   One interesting theme that came to mind here was the contrast between the things/people that appear beautiful or good, when really they're something to be feared or evil.  As opposed to the things/people that appear frightening or evil, that in reality are actually favorable.

 

You saw this same idea play out in so many ways throughout this story, and I really thought that was cool.

 

"I even offered Raffe asprin when he was unconscious before I ever got to know him. I offered the enemy pain relief but never considered it for my own sister. Why? Because she looked like a monster, that's why. And it never occurred to me that monsters might feel pain."

 

   I really can't praise this series enough!! If you haven't started it yet, you are missing out! Good news is the next book, End of Days releases on May 12, just a few weeks away! So you have some time to catch up, I am super glad that I did!

 

**Seriously....does anyone know if there are Arcs of End of Days out there??  I need this in my life like ASAP!!!**

 

 

I received a copy of this book from Amazon Children's Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Minor Spoilers for the series and the book below.

 

This series is amazing. Do I really need to say more than that?

 

If you aren’t reading this series, why?!

 

WHY NOT?!

 

Okokok, sorry. I’ll actual review the book instead of trying to bully you into reading.
The book begins pretty much immediately after Angelfall ends. Pen, her mom, and her sister are taken in by the Resistance camp. She has Raffe’s sword, (which omg, the name she gives it, LOVE).

 

Pen is still trying to deal with her sister’s changes. She flits between thinking of Paige as her baby sister or as a monster. Her mom is still batshit crazy but also crazy perceptive (seriously though Pen is one badass chick, I don’t think she would have gotten so far without her mom’s ideas).

 

TweedleDum and TweedleDee make brief (but noteworthy and hilarious) appearances. Raffe’s not featured much, which is sad but understandable considering he thinks Pen is dead.

 

Pen still has his sword, which is pissed off that it is separated from its master and getting stuck in unworthy fights with a puny human. Yes, I’m talking about the sword. Yes, the sword has emotions. It also teaches her sorta how to fight and gives her glimpses of Raffe’s past.

 

There is more to Paige’s changes than just the ability to walk and the scary ass teeth. This leads them in a bit of a difficult situation with the Resistance. (lol difficult situation. That’s mild) And once again Paige is gone and it’s Pen’s job to find her. Though this time Paige isn’t the disabled little defenseless seven year old. Maybe Pen needs Paige’s help.

 

During her quest to find Paige, she discovers some of the angel’s evil master plan, sees some more of the horrors they are committing, plans an escape for some prisoners, and is just generally a pain in the angels’ sides.

 

There were some minor flaws, the book has the same general theme as the first; Paige is missing and Pen has to find her, and the video was too convenient, and there wasn’t enough Raffe! But overall, damn this book is still action packed and violent and gritty and with the same dark humor.

 

I still flew through it, unable to contain myself! I think one of my favorite parts of the book is Pen is faced with danger and she is trying to be strong and take care of her family but she just wants one tiny moment to be a seventeen year old girl and wonder about the boy (devastatingly handsome angel) that she kissed. Because it doesn’t have to be either/or with female protagonists, she can be badass and a little mushy and still be awesome. I love Pen for that reason (and Susan Ee for creating her!)

 

Anyways, I highly recommend this series.

I'm in love!!! And this time is not with a werewolf (Twilight) but an angel.Me, who tried reading Fallen and Daughter of Smoke and Bone and couldn't even finish them. Angelfall... (sigh). Okay, Nobody knows why (not even me) angels invaded earth and are destroying everything and everyone. Raffe is an angel who in an ugly fight gets his wings cut off. Luckly for him, Penryn was around to help him. But no, she is not helping him because she loves him already but because her little sister Paige was taken by an angel and she is determined to rescue her.The first awesome thing about this book is that there's no kindred spirit, insta love, you are the reincarnation of my loved one so that's why I love you shit. Actually, I finished the book and haven't read the first tiniest glimpse of cliche-love. Second: Penryn can fight; but unlikely Brooke in Arena One: slave runners (Book #1 of the Survival Trilogy), Penryn has a reason to know how to fight. She also has her priorities in order and is always focus. She's smart and vulnerable but always took care of herself and didn't need Raffe to "rescue" her.Third: Ee didn't kill the parents, well the mother, right away. In fact, her mother is very much alive and kicking. I like her character too.Forth: (which really should be second), Raffe doesn't have super powers! Other angel/demon books I've read are insipid because of the insta love and super powers factor. In Angelfall Raffe is almost human... but not. He is not all that (beautiful, yes) either. I could feel his pain (when suffering) and I could feel his emotions.I can't wait for the other books to come out!I will repeat it, I am totally in love with this book. The writing style, the characters, the feelings... One thing I didn't get is why the angel invasion/apocalypse? But, it is all the better like that because I'm sure that is material for (I hope) many books to come.