World After (Penryn & the End of Days) Paperback – November 19, 2013

This really didn’t feel like it suffered at all from second book syndrome. There is so much revealed in this book and most of it is terrifying.Penryn really gained depth in this story. Penryn was all about finding her sister in ANGELFALL and now she isn’t sure she likes what she has become. Who wouldn’t be a little afraid after that scene with the family feeding people to their kid? She gets face to face with the person responsible for changing Paige and her restraint is something to be admired.Penryn also struggled so much with her relationship with her mother, and in this book her mother is off the deep end crazy. Penryn sees her mother doing all kinds of things supposedly for her children and she blows most of it off. I liked the idea of her mother’s crazy that this book suggests.The big dilemma in this story is how far people will go to survive. Also, this is what survival looks like after some crazy doctor gets a hold of you. What is living if you are separated from the ones you love? What is still worth fighting for when the whole world has gone primal?Penryn and Raffe’s situation gets more muddled. I might be one of the few people who didn’t want them together. She is 17, he is like an immortal angel. I liked that this would-be romance kept me on my toes and never let me forget how different they are. Also, it never overshadowed the story. They make a great fighting team and that is awesome. They also have witty batter between them.I really enjoyed this book, and the secrets it revealed. There are still so many questions. I am hoping all will be revealed in this next book.

This series is going to destroy me in the best way possible. I read the first book in the trilogy years ago, and then again recently in preparation for finishing the series this year. “Angelfall” remains one of my favorite reads, and now “World After” is joining it! I was able to buddy read this and it was so much fun to talk about all the little things we noticed and the parts we loved, so I promise you, I got that all out of my system early to avoid spoilers. But seriously, read “Angelfall” first before even LOOKING at this review as “World After” starts almost exactly where the first book left off. But, in this installment, we get a lot more of Penryn on her own, her struggles with her survivors guilt and being the big sister Paige needs. She struggles trying to see PEOPLE instead of monsters, plus we finally get the full picture of what the angels are doing on Earth, and just how little humans actually matter to them.First, before I gush for the rest of the review, here are the few things that did give me pause. There are some dream sequences/training montages that felt a little weird. I understood their purpose, and I get it, but it also felt like it was cheating a bit? Penryn learns a lot through these dreams, things that I wish a certain angel choose to tell Penryn instead, but oh well. I also found it odd how often our MC repeated the name of the book in the actual book. Is that a cliché of YA dystopian’s I’m just not aware of? Either way, kind of weird and silly, and not in a fun way, either. That was mainly only present in the first 100 pages though, which can be a tad slow, but after that, I really had a hard time putting this book down.Ee has such a concise way of writing that things move so quickly once the action starts. I found it to be a treat for both a dystopian, and a YA book, both of which are genres that can suffer from just being overdone and unoriginal, but this series doesn’t suffer from any of that. The plight of Penryn is always personal. She’s still not out to save the world, she’s not a chosen one, she’s just trying to survive and keep her family together. Though her mom needs no help, seriously, she’s the cockroach of the apocalypse—impossible to kill and capture. Penryn struggles, she messes up, and all of her interactions with Paige just destroyed me. And leave it to Ee to make you kind of feel bad for one of the villains!The author's writing was seriously a treat, but this book is surprisingly dark for a YA. There are some pretty disturbing images and gruesome scenes, more so than in the first book. So I’d classify this more as New Adult even though there still isn’t much language and no sex. There is still the romantic tension between Raffe and Penryn, but not as much as the first book however, just because Raffe isn’t around for so much of the story. I did miss him, his and Penryn’s banter is always a welcome piece of levity in an otherwise very dark world and storyline.There were moments of sweetness, some happy reunions, and even parts that made me laugh out loud (Pooky Bear is the real MVP of this book, trust me, read it and you’ll know). But the part that I loved most, that stuck with me the hardest, was the relationship between Penryn and her sister, the pain and the guilt there was bittersweet and so, so powerful. It was incredibly well done and really pulls at your heart without being overbearing. So while this book is thematically and atmospherically much darker than it’s original, I loved that darkness and what it communicated, how it taught Penryn and how she grew from it. It was heart breaking, but in a good way, if that makes sense? So, given my love of this, my gushing of how much I love Penryn’s strength and even her awkwardness, is it really a surprise that this book gets all the stars? Even with the slow start and the odd dream sequences, the way this book had me feeling at the end made it an easy 5 star for me, and that’s really saying something! But now the real struggle begins: do I read the last book and find out what happens ASAP? Or hold off because I am also not ready for this series to end…

** This review contains spoilers for Angelfall (book one). **Angelfall was such a fantastic book! It kept me on the edge of my seat, and Raffe and Penryn had such amazing chemistry. Sadly, World After was disappointing after such a great first book.At the end of Angelfall, Penryn is left in a paralyzed state. She looks dead to everyone, fully aware of everything going on around her. Raffe left her with her family, thinking that she's dead. SOB!!!! Now she's back with the Resistance, her mother, and sister. Penryn is left to fight for herself and her family, protecting them at all costs. I love how fiercely strong Penryn's character was in this book. She's the ultimate young adult heroine. She doesn't need anyone to take care of her (but boy would it be nice if she had that someone since she has so much on her plate...oy vey!).My favorite moments of the book were when the sword gave Penryn glimpses of Raffe's past. Penryn got to see Raffe before they met as an overseer of the Watchers, angels who fell in love with humans. Raffe was prejudiced against humans and had never really understood what the Watchers could see in humans until he met Penryn. She was a game changer for him and I loved seeing her through his eyes.I didn't really fully feel engaged in the story until the final quarter of the book. The first 75% of the book seemed like it was just filler and could have easily been condensed into something much shorter. The series lost its momentum and not much happened to move the plot forward. I really liked the last quarter of the book and would have liked if some of that action was more present in the rest of the book.

After much urging from my work colleague, I've finally got onto the second book of this awesome series! Being the second book that I read while away in Italy, I got through it surprisingly quickly! Ee's writing remains action-packed and fast-paced, making my reading experience much more enjoyable. I read a vast majority of the book in one sitting, it was that gripping. I remembered most of the characters too, which was a huge relief, and there was some character work that I really enjoyed, particularly when it came to Penryn's Mother. She really irritated me in Book One, and while her behaviour doesn't seem to improve all that much, you do get to see a softer, more caring side as well as more exploration of her relationship with Penryn. In fact, the family dynamic (including Paige) was explored a whole lot more thoroughly. The world-building is becoming a lot clearer too and the book contained more explanations regarding Uriel's big plan and experiments which I liked a lot.I didn't end up liking this book as much as I liked the first however, and this is mostly because it contained a lot of traits found in a filler book. Most of the action was pretty inconsequential, and heroine Penryn jumped from one rescue mission to another, at times moving a little too fast for me. The big climax was the downfall of a minor villain, which was pretty predictable from page one and though I liked the way in which it was done (that scene between Paige and her captor was more than a little touching), it still didn't leave me amazed. The biggest disappointment in this book was the lack of Raffe. It's not that I don't like Penryn, because I do, but I really missed his presence and his wit in some of the tougher situations and I'm surprised that Ee left it so long before reintroducing him. The moment he realised she was alive was heart-warming of course, but I sincerely hope that they stay together from now on, because the continual splitting up is wearing thin.All in all, not a bad installment to the trilogy at all, and I'm still heavily invested in this series. The last quarter of the book especially impressed me a lot, but I found the rest a little too easy to get through. It gave Ee a chance to explore some relationship dynamics that weren't easy to get to in book one, but the lack of Raffe coupled with predictable plot-lines meant that this more of a filler book than anything. I can tell that book three is probably going to be AMAZING, but I wish I'd felt the same way about this one.

I've been so super excited for this book ever since I finished Angelfall in August. I've been dying to find out what was going to happen next in Penryn and Raffe's story and World After didn't disappoint. Right from the get go I was completely pulled into this book. I was thrown back into this dark and dangerous world and I loved every single second of it.Penryn is definitely one of my top ten favourite female characters. She's determined, strong, focused, caring and extremely smart. The thing I love the most about her though is no matter how crazy and screwed up her family is, she'll do everything and anything she possibly can to protect them. Penryn hasn't had an easy family life because of her mother, but her sister and her mother are the most important people in Penryn's life and she never ever forgets about them. She's always willing to risk her life for them and I really respect her for that. Her strength in this one is admirable. Penryn goes through a hell of a lot in this one and not once did she ever give up. She always fights till the very end.Raffe was absent for most of this book (which made me sad), but he was still a part of it. Penryn was getting flashes in Raffe's mind from his sword. She was reliving moments that her and Raffe had together and they kind of just made me flail and squeal because I adore them together. Raffe was even more sexy, dangerous, dark and protective in this one and I loved it!The storyline of this one was just as action packed as Angelfall. Penryn and her family were taking in by a rebel group and they turn against Paige. It was horrible seeing the way they were treating Paige, it actually made me feel sick. She's was just an innocent child who was experimented upon. It's not her fault how she turned out, but no one else ever saw her as a person - they saw her as a monster. So Paige, Penryn and her mother all flee which leads to Penryn having to hunt down her sister again. There were a lot of twists and shocking revelations revealed that I'm not going to go into detail about, but I did like that we got to find out what happened to Paige after she was taken in Angelfall. It was heartbreaking seeing the way she was treated though.The ending was action packed and left me squealing with delight because of Raffe and Penryn (I love them so much). After the way it ended I'm really looking forward to the third book, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll come out soon because I just HAVE to know what's going to happen next.Overall, World After was just as amazing as Angelfall. I adored everything about this book and this is a series that I recommend to everyone. Seriously, everyone should read it.

I'm so excited that this book is here and I'm not disappointed with it either, which is always a worry when the excitement has built for so long. There was just so much action and we learnt such a lot about what's going on with the angels and with Penryn's family. If before you read this book you think you know where it's going, let me tell you, you don't! It is just one non-stop, heart racing thriller of a book. I would go as far as to call it absolutely horrific at times too.There's just something about this book. It's actually quite simplistic to be honest. It's apocalyptic, but there are more intelligent apocalyptic books out there. It's about survival, but there are more detailed and thoughtful explorations of the survival instinct out there. It's a tough teenage girl kicking ass, but well you have met Katniss Everdean right? But yet I love this series! It isn't possible to put it down, it's unpredictable and engaging and you just have to know what's going to happen next and you're waiting and wondering if love will ever have a chance. It's not perfect but it's addictive, captivating even.I'd knock off half a star for the occasional sense of a contrived plot device and far too little Raffe but my only real complaint is that it was over with way too quickly! My desperation in wishing that I had more and had it now takes away all doubt I had in going for the big 5 stars. When is book 3 out? Probably far too long away!(If you have time, do a reread of Angelfall before you begin, it would have helped me a lot, although I do have an awful memory not aided by the fact I read 2-3 books a week.)

World After explodes (maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement) onto the scenes right where Angel Fall left off. If this were real life it’d only have been 5 minutes since the last event in Angel Fall had happened. I highly doubt you guy’s care about that though! I know it’s early in the year to be saying this but I reckon this series will be up there with my favourites this year. This book is the perfect example of a thrilling novel; it has the right amount of action fueled by heartbreaking discoveries. Susan Ee has won me over once again. 4.5 stars for World After!I’ve been seeing many complaints about the pace of this book on Goodreads. I advise you to ignore them. So the books a bit slower than Angel Fall but who cares? The plot building only added to the epicness that is this book.When Penryn isn’t caught up in family drama or being held hostage we are treated to some interesting interaction between Raffes sword and her. Sounds weird right? Funnily enough it actually worked! Believe me I’m as surprised as everyone else. At first I was slightly skeptical of these scenes but as the book progressed I found myself loving them. However, what got me the most was how Penryn appropriately named the sword Pooky Bear! I was absolutely howling when Raffe found out his swords new name.The banter ball was in full swing throughout World After. Raffe and Penryns ever-growing friendship was once again a highlight for me and I can only dream whether it’ll turn into anything more than that. But for now I’m happy with the comedy gold they provide.If you thought the angels couldn’t get any more diabolical then you were wrong, in World After they gave the term “too far” a whole new meaning. I didn’t know where Susan Ee would go with the whole scorpion breading thing but man did she floor me with shock. If you’ve had your doubts about carrying on with this series you should brush them aside and just pick this up!

I read Angelfall last year and loved it, this second book does not disappoint. The story picks up just where we left it: Penryn reunited with her family but without Raffe who believes her dead.The story is written from the point of view of Penryn but is so cleverly done it allows for a real connection to other characters, some new and some from book one. The scenes are vividly described and the reader gets a lot more insight into the pasts of characters and there are new threads to the compelling story line. There is humour, action, suspense and romance. This book sets the scene for the next one brilliantly while still managing to end with a proper finish, no annoying cliff hangers!Fans of Raffe (who isn't??!) need not worry, while he is not physically in the book as much as you might like the author finds a beautiful way to keep him central to it. His sentient sword now in Penryn's posession offers us a wonderful look at his feelings and experiences marking the time to his reappearance and making it all the more dramatic.Truly, if you enjoyed book one do not hesitate with this next installment.