December 27, 2013

REVIEW: Wold After (Penryn And The End Of Days #2)

World After (Penryn and the End of Days #2), by Susan Ee
Published November 19, 2013
Publisher:
Amazon Children's Publishing
Format:
e-book, gifted
Genre: 
young adult fantasy/post-apocalyptic
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads)
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?


If someone had told me six months ago that I'd be giving five stars to a book with stuff like man-eating children, insides-liquifying scorpion monsters, and bat-winged agnostic angels, I would've said you were off your bookish rocker. I mean, would you think that a book like that would end up being one of the best of the year? But, trust me. TRUST ME. World After was incredibly, epically awesome. 

World After picks up immediately where Angelfall left off with Raffe hunting for his wings, stolen by the nasty demon Belial, after assuming Penryn was dead and leaving her with the resistance fighters. Penryn, on the other hand, is trying to keep her family together which proves to be a challenge since Paige is now... different. The angels are up to something, and none of it seems good for the human race.

I'm not quite sure what it is about this series by Susan Ee, but I am so caught up in it, I'm counting the months until the third book is released (six!). World After was disturbing, scary, crazy, and completely AWESOME. It built perfectly on the story started in Angelfall and left us hanging at just the right part. 

Penryn is such an amazing heroine. She's so brave and smart and strong. I also love that she has emotional meltdowns and gets pissed when her world is falling down around her. Because no one does the right thing at the right time all the time. She's developed this attachment to someone who is supposed to be her mortal enemy and she still recognizes the wrongness of that. And, yet, Penryn has the ability to cut through the bullshit and see the person underneath to know that Raffe is inherently good and someone to be trusted. I love that about her. 

Speaking of Raffe, he seemed a little different in World After than he was in Angelfall. More... human. He jokes around more with Penryn. He acts a bit like a dork at times. And, he doesn't seem determined to hide his affection from her any longer. Which, of course, made me love him even more, if that's possible. 

This story is a complex one, full of lots of twists and turns and deceptions. To be honest with you, I'm still not a hundred percent sure who the bad guys are. I kind of love that, too. You think the angels are the baddies, but I don't think all of them are. Perhaps demons are influencing them? Something fishy is going on, and I'm still not quite sure what it is. The fact that Susan Ee is able to hide all the details and true motives this far into the story is amazing. 

One thing is for sure. If you read the Penryn series, you'll get a little dystopian, a little horror, and even a little romance. What a combination, right? The characters are uniquely wonderful and the story is scary, gritty and exciting. The mythology that Susan Ee has worked in is awesome too. I seriously loved World After and its predecessor, Angelfall. Please give it a try too.  

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