Weekend Reads #37 – Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee

 

I discovered Penryn & the End of Days completely by accident a few years ago and was hooked from the beginning. The final book in the series came out this last May and I finally worked up the nerve to read it. Why would I have to work up the nerve? Well, I had very high expectations for the book and worried they wouldn’t be met. My worries were for naught though 😉 If you enjoy urban fantasy, angel mythology, and just an overall good dystopian book, than check out the series!

I received this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days,
on 2012-08-28
Length: 288 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
Rating:

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.

I’m proud to be human. We’re ever so flawed. We’re frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I’m proud to be a Daughter of Man.

For two years I have seen this book on my recommended list on Amazon and for two years I have passed it up. Do NOT make the same mistake I did! This book is amazing! Words cannot begin to describe the emotions I felt while reading this book. I was hooked from the very first line……

Ironically, since the attacks, the sunsets have been glorious.

Angelfall begins six weeks after Angels attacked (with tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes) all the major cities of Earth. Humankind is on the brink of extinction. Our main character is Penryn Young, a petite 17 year old with attitude who lives with her paranoid schizophrenic mother and wheelchair bound little sister. It is up to Penryn to take care of the family (i.e. finding shelter, food, and providing protection). One night while looking for new shelter, Penryn’s life is altered dramatically. An angel named Raffe fights with four other angels and his wings are cut off. Unfortunately for Penryn and her family they are witness. Her sister is kidnapped, her mother runs off into the night, and Penryn is left with a wingless angel as an ally.

I personally love these characters. Our MC Penryn is what all teenage girls want to be….a force to be reckoned with! She is strong, caring, beautiful, and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. Raffe is…..well an angel. He is a protector and it comes very naturally to him. With their unlikely alliance, Penryn finds herself falling for Raffe and finds that it is too easy to forget he is not human….

A sense of humor is one…thing I don’t think angels should have. The fact that his sense of humor is corny makes it even more wrong.

Together Penryn and Raffe make a trek across Northern California in search of her sister and his wings. Throughout the book they face many obstacles from other human beings to angels to low demons. Full of action and suspense I could not sit this book down and finished it and its sequel in less than 24 hours.

Ms. Ee paints pictures with her words. The imagery of the world our MC lives in is so vividly described I was there experiencing what she did and feeling what she felt. Cannot wait for the rest of this series!

Final Conclusion:

World After by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days
on 2013-01-13
Length: 320 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
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?

The ending of Angelfall by Susan Ee left me dying for more and so I immediately picked up book two of the series World After and it does not disappoint! World After picks up almost exactly where book one left off, giving a glimpse into the small group of human rebels that has built a small home in an abandoned school building. Penryn has her family back, but Raffe is gone. He thinks she is dead, and she is left with only his sword, her memories, a crazy mother, and a broken sister.

You’re a hero, Penryn, whether you like it or not.

I don’t think I can say that I loved this book as much as the first, but it was definitely an exciting read! Penryn shows a bit of her vulnerability in this installment. She’s confused about and horrified by what’s happened to her sister, she misses Raffe which makes her feel like a traitor, and she feels helpless to stop what’s happening to the human race at the angels’ hands. Despite all this, she is a fighter! When someone needs help, she’s there fighting. She never stops to think about what this will mean for herself either. It’s courageous and a bit endearing.

Don’t talk. You’ll just spoil my fantasy of rescuing an innocent damsel in distress as soon as you open your mouth.

Raffe is decidedly missing in this book much to my (and Penyn’s) disappointment. He thinks she is dead and the few glimpses she gets of him shows he is out for blood. He looks like the devil with his demon wings and his rage matches it. He’s grieving his wings and Penryn and it makes for one scary angel.

What’s not missing though are his memories. His sword in an effort to protect Penryn begins showing her through dreams Raffe’s old missions. The sword shows her fighting techniques and how to use her, but it also shows her memories of Raffe when he saw Penryn for the first time and all their adventures after. Can I just say that more than makes up for his absence in the book!!!

There’s not much movement in the plot of this book though, which is why it gets 4 instead of 5 stars. The book revolves around Penryn and her issues with what’s happened to her sister. When they leave the rebel compound, her mind constantly strays to Raffe and if she will ever see him again. There are some answers to questions about the locusts though and Penryn discovers a little about the angels’ reasoning for being there. But all in all it’s not as thrilling as its predecessor.

Overall it is well worth the read. There’s plenty of character development, backstory, and angst to move the plot along. And Penryn….I love her!!! She’s one of my favorite female heroines and this book really shows why! I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an adventure, that enjoys dystopian, a touch of romance (just a touch), and urban fantasy.

Final Conclusion:

End of Days by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days
Published by Amazon Childrens Pub on 2015-05-12
Length: 344 pages
Reviewing eBook 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?

End of Days by Susan Ee is the thrilling conclusion to Penryn & the End of Days. The final battle between angels and humans is at hand and Penryn and Raffe must find a way for the humans to survive.

You’ve fought off a gang of men twice your size, killed an angel warrior, stood up to an archangel, and wielded an angel sword…But you scream like a little girl when you see a maggot?

Penryn is and will always be one of my favorite female heroines! With her new title “the Angel Killer,” Penryn devises a flawed plan to stop the apocalypse the archangel Uriel is planning to annihilate the human race. Penryn is as brave and courageous as ever, even going to the depths of hell, to find a way to stop the apocalypse. But that’s not why I love her. She’s a teenage girl, and little things like maggots and wanting to look pretty still cross her mind. This makes her both relatable and humanizes her. Otherwise I think she would come across as harsh and emotionless which is far from the case.

Raffe is present though the whole book and we get an entirely different side to him. He is no longer concerned with his feelings for Penryn and instead lets them show. The romance that’s been missing in the first two books, overshadowed by tension, is present in this one! Nothing more than a few intimate kisses, but still very much present 😀 More of Raffe’s character is presented, more of his past, and as a reader you get a better understand of what drives him. It’s perfect!!!

The plot of this story could have filled two books easily! First you have Penryn and Raffe’s trip to hell. He has to find a way to defeat Uriel and his way/Penryn’s idea involves finding his fellow Watchers. During this excursion, Beliel’s backstory is explained, why he’s evil and hates Raffe is thoroughly devastating. In fact, by the end of this section I loved Beliel and couldn’t believe the character he had become in the first two novels was the same as this Beliel of the past. No shame in admitting this….I cried, like ugly sobbing tears when I read his section. This could have been a book all to itself, or at least a novella.

The second half of the book dealt with stopping the apocalypse and while I was impressed at how much the author fit into a short space, I also felt it was rushed. There were many questions left unanswered and the ending felt a bit anticlimatic.  I think it would have served the series better to either split this book into two and given the final battle more pages OR had Beliel’s story and the trip to hell as a novella prior to this book. But that’s just my opinion.

Overall I enjoyed this series and the ending was what I expected, even if it was slightly rushed. Penryn is amazing! Raffe is gorgeous, and the plot moves at the speed of light! I enjoyed every word and wish that I could have more from their world. If you enjoy urban fantasy, dystopians, and a touch of romance, I highly recommend it!

Final Conclusion:

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