I need to start out with a quote from another reviewer, because they said it perfectly:
"75% Meh and 25% AWESOMENESS"
—MP "Iheartbooks"
This is is 100% accurate.
I was bored for the first 75% of World After. That large portion of the story reads very much like a filler book. There's not a lot happening. There's just traveling, moving back and forth, and an overall sense of, "What do we do now?" A couple plot pieces do get moved around the board, but super slowly over that 75%. And to top it off, we get no Raffe.
I'm sure most people will agree with me when I say that Raffe made me fall in love with Angelfall. Yes Penryn is also a fabulous character, but Raffe and Penryn together were EXCITING, CHEMISTRY, FANTASTICAL. All those great adjectives (and a noun.. whatever). Take Raffe out of the picture for 75% of the book, and it's a lot less exciting. One of my pet peeves if when you have a romance (or in this case an "almost romance") then the love interest gets jerked out of the story in book 2 only to reappear at the end. I was devastated to see World After fall victim to that method.
When things finally do turn around in the last 25%, they are pretty awesome! All the great memories of Angelfall's epicness came flooding back. Suddenly things are INTENSE, there are epic BATTLES that feel super important, there are crazy angel SWORD things going on. And, of course, Raffe FINALLY makes an appearance.
The last 25% of World After finally lived up to the awesomeness of Angelfall, but I'm really sad to say that the first 75% was majorly lacking. I just don't feel like the first 75% had any of the same qualities that Angelfall had. It didn't have Raffe's playful character. It didn't have the same sense of urgency or intensity. It didn't feel.... epic.
The end is awesome, so definitely hold out until that point! Susan Ee did a great job getting me super pumped for book 3! World After ends on a great note and opens up some really exciting possibilities. I'm just still pretty massively disappointed that the first 75% flopped. :(