‘World After’ (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

The end of the world. Penryn, alive but apart from Raffe is determined to survive and protect her family from the dangers of the apocalypse. Raffe does not know that she actually didn’t die, so he has taken off to replace the his current demon wings with his own wings. I admit I had expected nothing but perfection, and ‘World After’ really was just as perfect as the first book.

by Mariam

(Spoiler Alert – this is the second book in a series)
The ending of ‘Angelfall’ was just downright a killer. It left me speechless and unable to return to my normal life. Thankfully World After had already been published, so I was spared the long wait between the reading the books.

I think it’s really awesome, that World After started off right where Angelfall left off. Not days or weeks after, but right after. Penryn lies totally paralyzed by the scorpion monsters, everyone thinks she is dead, her sister Paige looks like an autopsy victim with razor blade teeth, her schizophrenic mom just had her deepest fear confirmed and thinks Raffe with his new demon wings is a real demon who killed Penryn and then decided to deliver her body to her family. Raffe takes off in the belief that Penryn died in his arms, and hunts for his wings, while grief and anger takes place inside him.

I must say I love the start, even though I was really sad about Raffe and the loss of his angelic, white and magnificent wings, which got stolen from him. However, I wasn’t the only one thinking so much about him.

Much awaited answers

In World After I got a lot of the answers, I hungered after in the first book. Why the angels are here, what their purpose is, why and how the scorpion monsters were created.

Even though Raffe is absent half the time, just out of reach other times, his sword makes up for it. A truly badass sword can’t be compared to any other weapon. It shows Penryn memories of how Raffe and the sword fought together, and an insight on Raffe’s feelings and emotions. A sweet bond begins to form between the sword and Penryn, although it still stays loyal to Raffe.

Same perfect heroine

Penryn is still the same kick-ass, smart and calculated heroine as before and always fighting . She gets better at fighting and develops an impressive talent of keeping her head cool in life threatening and frightening situations. Behind all that, she is still an emotional and vulnerable girl trying to survive. But in World After she focuses more on the survival of mankind itself instead of just her and her family as in the first book.

When Penryn and Raffe finally get together, the chemistry between them intensifies and is sometimes close to light the book on fire. The epic battles they fight together are so perfect and described so well, that I was nearly dying. But. Raffe is still and angel. And Penryn is still a Daughter of Man.

A whirlwind of action

It was almost as if the book had just begun and plot only started to roll, when the book ended. This book was a whirlwind of action combined with smaller moments that just perfected the whole book. I don’t know what to do with my life until the third books comes out in May.

Ee masterfully balances blood, fights, and brutality with small personal, playful and hilarious moments in a way that makes you forget to breathe and makes you completely addicted to the book. The world building is amazing and just so real. I had high expectations for this book after reading the first one and expected nothing but pure perfection, and fortunately this book was just as perfect as I imagined. This is my third time reading the two books and I’m sure it isn’t my last time.

Excerpt from ‘World After’

“Have you named her yet?” he asks. “She likes powerful names so maybe you could appease her by giving her a good one.”
I bite my lip as I remember telling Dee-Dum what I named my sword. “Um, I could rename her anything she likes.” I give him a cheesy smile.
He looks like he’s bracing himself for the worst. “She gets named once by each carrier. If you’ve named her, she’s stuck with it for as long as she’s with you.”
Damn.
He glares at me as if he already hates it. “What is it?”
I consider lying but what’s the point? I clear my throat. “Pooky Bear.”
He’s silent for so long I’m beginning to think he didn’t hear me when he finally says, “Pooky. Bear.”
“It was just a little joke. I didn’t know.”
“I’ve mentioned that names have power, right? Do you realize that when she fights battles, she’s going to have to announce herself to the opposing sword? She’ll be forced to say something ridiculous like, ‘I am Pooky Bear, from an ancient line of archangel swords.’ Or, ‘Bow down to me, Pooky Bear, who has only two other equals in all the worlds.’ ” He shakes his head. “How is she going to get any respect?”