End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days, #3)

by Susan Ee

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Quite the Novel Idea http://quitethenovelidea.com http://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-end-of-days-by-susan-ee/Angelfall and World After , the first two books in the Penryn and the End of Days series were hits with me. I adored Angelfall and its sequel was not bad at all, End of Days, the much awaited conclusion was SO good. You may ask: “How good was it Liza?” Well, read on and get ready to love it :)

“Dedicated to readers like Penryn who have it tough at home, who had to grow up fast due to life circumstances, and who have no idea how much potential they really have. You are being fire forged, just like Penryn. And like her, you can turn your greatest trials into your greatest strengths.”

End of Days starts right after the ending of World After and finds our main characters, the archangel Rafael (Raffe) and Penryn running for their lives, this time with Paige, Penryn’s little sister. Now, it’s hard to review this book without spoiling it for you since it’s the last in the series, but I shall do my best.

In case you haven’t read the previous books let me summarize the plot for you: The angels attacked Earth under the pretext that the archangel Gabriel was shut down from the sky. With me so far? Uriel, another archangel is in charge of the attack and the world went to hell in a hand basket.

Penryn is awesome. That’s all you need to know. Oh, you wanted more? Okaaay. Penryn was trained all her life by her somewhat crazy mom to survive. She had fighting lessons in different martial arts and has sharp survival instincts. She also has a natural compass that always points to what’s right, even if it’s not the easiest thing to do. She is strong, resilient, loyal, a natural leader.

Raffe is an archangel. He has been betrayed and abused by his own kind and now that he is still trying to get his wings back. He’s also loyal, righteous, curt, unbendable, smart, strong, a lonely soldier.

“Maggots are freaky hideous,’ I say, getting up. I try to salvage some dignity, but I can’t help but shiver and shake my hands in the air. It’s an instinctive impulse, one I’m not up for resisting right now.

‘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.’ Raffe cocks his head. ‘But you scream like a little girl when you see a maggot?’

If you’ve read the first two books, you know that Raffe admires and trusts Penryn, but he thinks that she’s off limits as she is a “Daughter of Man” and he’s an angel. Well, End of Days finally turns up the romance! It’s very costly for Raffee and Penryn to be together, but oh, so sweet! All I’m going to say is: Finally!

I love all the secondary characters. Something horrible was done to Paige, but above all the adversity she tries her best to help her family and to keep her humanity. Their mom is crazy, but so it happens that she’s the kind of crazy that the world after the angel attack. The world makes sense for her now and she knows a lot more than people give her credit for. My other two favorite characters are the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They are hilarious! The Watchers were also a great addition to the group ;)

“And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that trying to make someone stay with you when he doesn’t want to is a recipe for heartbreak.”

The plot is as complicated as the first books. There is a lot of politics and rules among the angels, and they are constantly changing sides. The writing is gripping and drives the reader to finish reading fast! The world after is not a pretty place to be and Susan Ee has a great imagination and describes in detail what happened after the angels attacked. How humanity deteriorated, how they hide, and how they struggle.

I felt like the ending was a bit rushed. The outcome was desirable, but I’m not quite okay with the way it was achieved. I wished that the epilogue was a year after or something like that, I want to know what happened with Raffe and Pernyn as the world healed. I wanted more!

“He leans down, and his lips hover a hair’s breadth from mine. I close my eyes, feeling the tingle of anticipation.

Then he presses his lips to mine. His warmth spreads out from my lips down into my chest and stomach. Time stops, and I forget about everything else – the apocalypse, my enemies, watching eyes, monsters in the night.

All I feel is the kiss.

All I am is Raffe’s girl.”

Overall, End of Days was a great end to the Angelfall series. It’s full of mayhem, hope, love, pain, revenge, and redemption. If you like dysptopian, kick a** heroines, monsters, action, angels –both of the hot or cruel variety – this series is for you. Read it.This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea