End of Days
by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days, #3, #3
Pages: 435
Published on May 12th 2015
by Hodder & Stoughton
Genres: Dystopian, Angels, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | BookDepository | Goodreads
Also by this author: Angelfall, World After, Angelfall, World After, End of Days
End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy. After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.
When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?
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.
Born in Puerto Rico, hola :), military wife for 22-years, and mother of three boys.I work full time doing something else that I love (sadly I don't get paid for reading!)
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Ahhhhhhhh this review made me happy! <3 I read End of Days on the day it came out, and I really enjoyed it. But I've since heard some mixed things and I was genuinely worried that I was the only one in the universe to love it? Apparently not? So THAT'S GOOD! (Also, yeeeees – wasn't that dedication just the sweetest?)
Twitter: Liza
Yes! I loved the series and the ending. I would have been devastated if Penryn and you know who wouldn’t have been able to figure something out. Such memorable characters!
This book was absolutely fantastic! I marathoned the trilogy last July and I am still at a loss for words and I haven’t put a review up for any of the books. Great review ~Riv
I loved the first two books in the series, but the third installment lost me. I think I had such high expectations after the first two, that I was let down with how it wrapped up?
Twitter: Liza
The ending was kind of abrupt and too fast for me, but at least it wasn’t all pink and wrapped in bows. I was okay with most of it 🙂
Twitter: The Infinite Limits of Love
Yay! This is one of my all-time favorite series and I was SO happy with the way this one ended. I was a bit upset with the lack of Raffe in the 2nd book so I was really glad to see him play such a significant role in this one. And the romance was great too. I feel like all that waiting was worth it! I’m glad you loved this one too, Liza! I’m excited to see what Susan Ee comes up with next.
Beautiful review!
That last quote! <3
Twitter: Liza
I know! Me too, I love Pernryn but Raffe is just so hot and swoony (is that a word?) I was happy to see a lot more of Raffe here to and that he came to his senses. I wish the ending was a bit longer or for a longer epilogue. A great series for sure Nick 🙂