REVIEW: WORLD AFTER BY SUSAN EE.

Title: World After (Penryn and The End of Days #2)
Author: Susan Ee
Edition: Paperback
Published: November 21, 2013
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Pages: 438
Source: Bought from Fullybooked
Genre: Dystopia, Romance, Paranormal
Trailer: Not available.

Synopsis:

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 bought my shiny copy of World After last year during its release week but I didn't get at it right away. I was just busy I guess. But I enjoyed Angelfall so much that I didn't forget what happened in the story even after a year later.

Everyone thought that Penryn is dead. She rescued Paige and got stung by the scorpion locust that slowed her heartbeat and paralyzed her entire body. When she finally wakes up, the people from their camp thought she was an anomaly just like Paige who is stitched back together like some Frankenstein experiment. She tries to fend for Paige but she's different now, she couldn't even keep any human food down. When Paige attacks and feeds from a human who initially tried to harm Penryn, she was almost killed by the people from the camp but they were herded by the locusts. Paige ran away and Penryn tried to find her again. Along the way, Penryn did her best to know what truly happened to her sister and where is Raffe.

I was a little disappointed with World After. I mean, the world building was still crafted beautifully and Penryn is still kickass but I wasn't that really impressed with the development of the story. It dragged. It would have been nice if the slow pace is compensated with a thorough and well-slated back plot but it didn't. I still have a ton of questions left from Angelfall only to be jumbled up with the questions from World After. The Apocalypse business isn't still clear. Instead of getting answers, the story focused on Penryn and only Penryn. There were parts and moments that didn't add up to the entirety of the novel and I think it would have been a good opportunity to present what is lacking. Well, benefit of the doubt, there's still books 3 and 4 so those might provide the best answers to all this.

Also, am all about Raffe here. Without the legions of angels and Raffe of course, this wouldn't have happened. But Raffe's part here was just minimal. It was starting to get annoyed that I was past half the book and he's still nowhere to be found. It was that moment when I was so tempted to DNF it. I found Rafee finally only to be separated with him again. Like, I was only with him for a hundred pages or even less. And honestly, I want unlimited Raffe.

What I enjoyed though are the obvious things: Penryn is still the kickass protogonist I met in Angelfall, Paige (though not the Old Paige) went from being vulnerable to someone who can defend herself (the way she did morbid things to Beliel left me in awe), Raffe, though torn with whatever he was sworn to to falling in love with the Daughter of Man, remains rational, brave, romantic and handsome and my favorite of all, the mystery behind Pooky Bear.

World After is a promising sequel to Angelfall. With its undeniably chaotic world to unbearably romantic struggles, it did try to deliver what was expected of it. Dark world, morbid ways of living and horrible creatures await -- reasons to be hopeful until we get Book 3.

"Body language says a lot in the world, and the last thing I need is to look vulnerable."

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

"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."

"I watch him get far from me. He never even knew I was near."

""Don't let me go," he says."

REVIEW: ANGELFALL BY SUSAN EE.

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1
Edition: Paperback
Publication: May 23, 2013 by Hodder and Stoughton
Pages: 325
Source: Bought from Fullybooked
Category: Romance, Paranormal, Dystopia

Synopsis:

The official print edition of the internet phenomenon. Already over 8,000 five star reader reviews. (And counting.)

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:

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Angelfall is exquisite!

I've heard nothing but great things about Angelfall. I've also been meaning to get a copy for so long and thankfully, our local book store now carries copies! This book has been recommended to me by my bookish friends and yes, they are absolutely correct about this novel being a very, very good one.

Penryn lives in world dominated by angels. These angels hunt during the day and try to eliminate the human race and cannibal demons hunt during the night for their prey. The world is in chaos and scavenging for food is how Penryn lives. She fends for her crippled little sister and schizophrenic mother. One day while scavenging with her family, she sees an angel being tortured. The angel got his wings torn and Penryn couldn't just sit and watch. In her attempt to rescue the angel, her sister is taken by the attackers. She has to make sure the broken angel would help her to find her little sister. She's ready to do whatever it takes to save her family even if it means killing and being killed.

MAJOR TURN ONS:

* A romance that takes awful amount of time to blossom! A kind of love that grows slowly and tries to see good past the bad. The kind that defies the reasoning and the kind that wields straight in the heart.

* Finally!!! A heroine who does NOT claim the world as her responsibility; that her fight isn't to save it but merely to find her sister and mother. Someone who finally is so sensible she knows what she has to do. A heroine who isn't afraid to admit that being human is still a good thing and that she would fight back FIRST for her family before anything else. I find that absolutely because FINALLY, FINALLY, I met a heroine who isn't trying so hard. #TeamPenrynFTW THANKYOUVERYMUCH.

* After Katniss, Katsa and Celaena, let us all welcome a 5 foot 2 Peryn who fought with a guy twice her size! So much for being a kickass heroine! This is what am talking about people! A heroine who knows her capacity and limits! The one who wouldn't put off a fight just because she's a girl! Peryn is a perfect example on how to stop bullies from doing what they are born to do -- ruin others lives -- and how to fend for herself! Plus, she definitely gave empowerment to women! That was really a nasty fight but she won and she wasn't even afraid!

* What happened to Paige was just so damn scary but it matched the dark and cruel theme of the story.

* World building was fantastic. From page one up until the last, there's just non-stop goosebumps! The world they live in is just so dark and scary and so apocalyptic.

* RAFFE. RAFFE. RAFFE.

MINOR TURN OFF:

* It would have been nice to see more of the origin of the war against the angels. Or why are they even here. How the world shattered like that.

Angelfall is a stunning novel I had a hard time letting go. The dark and mysterious world with delicious characters made me hold on to the story deeper than I've been meaning to. A perfect plot for such admirable heroine partnered with a stirring saviour is all in all a delectable read! I cannot wait to savor World After page by page!

"I never thought about it before, but 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."

"We have struck back. We have declared war on any being that dares to think they can wipe us out without a fight. No matter how celestial, no matter how powerful they are, this is our home and we will fight to keep it."

 "And my instincts tell me that Raffe is mine. I found him first."