Am Ende der Welt

Penryn & the End of Days #3

by Susan Ee, Sonja Rebernik-Heidegger (Translator)

Penryn und Raffe, die Rebellin und der gefallene Engel, sind auf der Flucht vor dem Zorn der Engel. Und sie wissen: Sie müssen einen Arzt zu finden, der Raffe zu seinen Schwingen verhilft und Penryns kleine Schwester vom Fluch der Engel befreit, bevor die letzte Schlacht ansteht. Gelingt ihnen das nicht, sind sie alle verloren. Als Raffe von seiner Vergangenheit eingeholt wird, steht Penryn vor einer schrecklichen Entscheidung: Vertraut sie dem Engel, den sie liebt? Oder muss sie auch gegen ihn kämpfen, um die Menschheit zu retten?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Angels, Dystopia, Romance, Paranormal, Post Apocalyptic

433 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 2015

About the author

Susan Ee is a USA Today bestselling author of the Penryn & the End of Days trilogy, ANGELFALL, WORLD AFTER, and END OF DAYS. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages, and her short films have played at major festivals. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her imagination to bust out and go feral.

Sign up to hear about her next book at www.susanee.com or follow her on Twitter @Susan_Ee.

Reviews

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Susan Ee,

Could I just like... live with you until you finish the whole series?? I realize it may be creepy and all, but I wouldn't disturb you or anything. I would just... be there... reading every word you put down and when you have other things to do, I'll just go to my corner and wait. Occasionally you would find that there's some food missing from your fridge, but that's not so bad.. right?
I would have to use the toilet too though... and the shower... can't stink up the place.
I haven't thought this through bye.

EDIT:
..................... There's a possibility that I'm dead and this is hell............................
DOES THAT THING REALLY SAY MAY TWO THOUSAND AND FRIGGIN FIFTEEN??!?!?!?!
14 MAY 2015?!?!?!!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!? IS THIS FOR REAL!?!?!
IS THIS HOW IT IS NOW?!?!? YOU JUST TURN YOUR BACK FOR ONE TENTH OF A SECOND AND THEY UP AND CHANGE IT TO MAY 20ANDFRIGGIN15?!?!?!?!
THAT'S NOT EVEN HUMAN!!!!!!!
AND YES, I'M USING CAPS BECAUSE I'M ANGRY AND I'M YELLING!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT
THE
HELL!!!!!!!

This isn't funny anymore. This isn't healthy. What are they trying to do to us. I don't understand. I'm lost. I'm confused. Help.




EDIT:

I'm so sad..... T_T

EDIT:
WHY WHAT HOW WHEN HOW DID THIS HAPPEN I WHAT JUST WHAT?!?!!!!! WHY IS THIS THE FINAL BOOK!!!?!!! I WAS READY TO BE READING THIS SERIES FOR YEARS TO COME!!! THIS BOOK BETTER BE THE LONGEST AND MOST EPIC FUCKING BOOK I EVER READ AND WITH ZERO DULL MOMENTS!!!!
*throws self on floor and trashes around and sobs hysterically
GAAAAAHHHH
AAAAGGGHHH
BYE

EDIT:
Oh wait she said Penryn's story. Maybe that means we'll get a spin off or something with some other characters??? But.... I don't know how I feel about that.... I love Penryn.... and Raffe.... They're like a package deal for me... I don't see how.... New Character???... But... I don't know.... I'm confused.

EDIT:
It's been a long time already but I'm still not over the beauty of that fucking cover.
I mean... LOOK at it.

NOT-EDIT-EDIT:
There are so many edits in this thing it's ridiculous.

Welp... That wasn't long at all. -.-
I wonder what Miss Ee had in mind when it was going to be 5 books. I'm not going to really review this mainly because I just plain suck at giving well thought out and intelligent sounding reviews and I probably won't do whatever I'm reviewing justice so I'm just going to say that I have complicated feelings about this book. I wasn't completely 100% satisfied with End of Days and I can't pinpoint exactly why (don't kill me) but I'm still going to give it 5 stars because I still loved it.
I will say that there was lots of dramatic screaming involved when Raffe gave up his wings. I should've seen it coming but ugh.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soon, pooky bear, soon.

[Kat Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review for the much awaited conclusion of Penryn and The End of Days trilogy. I'm still waiting for this much awaited conclusion because I refuse to believe what I just read was it.



It's not that End of Days was necessarily bad or poorly written. No, it's not that. The writing is consistent with her previous novels and the novel itself was reasonably satisfactory. But I didn't want satisfactory for the end of Penryn and Raffe's journey.

This was supposed to be epic. Earth shattering. The emotions were supposed to be soaring out of control on a unicorn with no sense of direction except for up! This was supposed to be a roller coaster ride of emotions that doesn't stop until everyone on it has puked on each other's faces.

There was more emotion, sexual tension and drama in Angelfalls pinky finger than in End of Days' whole body. Where did that raw emotional connection go? What happened with these characters that they are just so blasé about each other and that I am, in turn, blasé about them?

God, by the end of the book I was just like:




I'm not trying to be mean about this. I know it's hard to really knock it out of the park, but that's what this series deserved. It was owed so much more than this. I'm angriest because I know that Ee has it in her to wring truly powerful moments of raw emotion from her characters and readers. I felt it when Penryn was paralysed in Angelfall. I felt it when Raffe first realised Penryn was alive again in World After.

Yet I honestly can't think of a single moment of End of Days that sticks out to me as emotive or heartfelt. No single moment where my heart ached for the characters or the situation. Not a single Eeism, which I define as a condition when you want to marry a book because it gave you so many feels.

This isn't the review I wanted to be writing for End of Days. I kind of wish, now, that I had never read it and could keep going on imagining something more epic for these Starcrossed Lovers. Something that would do the story justice as a final book.

[Ails · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS

UPDATE: FULL REVIEW (WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS)

(Join our End of Days discussion here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)

"Someone has sprayed graffiti on the ceiling. A crude knight stands alone with his sword drawn against a fire-breathing dragon that is ten times his size. The dragon's tail disappears into darkness where the window light fades deep into the store. Beside the knight are the words “Where Have All the Heroes Gone?”

It looks to me like the artist thought the knight didn’t stand a chance against the dragon.

I know just how he feels."

End of Days is a very fitting title for this book not only because it's the end of this wonderful and outstanding series, but also because it's the end of my 'can't wait for the next book' and 'I'm dying in anticipation' days. It's been three months since I read it, and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that it's over.

To sum this book up in 10 words, "It is everything I wanted it to be—and more."

It begins right where World After left off—Raffe with Penryn in his arms, flying, and Paige sitting on Beliel's body which is being carried by scorpion-tailed locusts. Please take note that if you're currently reading this book, Penryn and Raffe's reunion just happened the night before. Their first meeting in Angelfall happened roughly two weeks ago because Angelfall and World After covers about ten days of their journey (you can reread the books to verify. Thanks to Katerina for helping me count!) That's how packed and huge this series is.

“Who’s going to do that?”
I think about that for a minute before answering.
“Heroes.”

Penryn, while being unconsciously cute and adorable, has always been a self-reliant and strong female character but in this final installment, Susan Ee takes her badass quality to a whole new level. She's not just a brave human girl; she's a fighter. She represents humanity. A Daughter of Man.

Raffe, on the otherhand, has always been a fierce believer and follower of angelic rules but in this book, the battle between his responsibilities and his heart gets tougher. He's not just an archangel; he's a warrior. He represents the angels. An enemy soldier.

He can't be distracted by a Daughter of Man, but the fire can be tempting.

“Just this once,” he says almost more to himself than to me. “Just one moment.”

The romance in this series has always been subtle yet powerful—a gaze, a heart-melting smile, a conscious decision to hold each other a bit longer than necessary; such simple gestures speak volumes and enough to make me go crazy. Imagine my shock—and utter delight, when the romance got more intense in this book. Remember that in their world, it's just last night when Raffe found out Penryn was alive. The way he treats Penryn in World After was just the start. *wink wink*

“So am I?” I whisper. “Your Daughter of Man?”

I am madly inlove with Raffe and Penryn's relationship not only because of their intense chemistry, but also because of their great camaraderie. He's not just an angel to her, she's not just a human to him; they're partners. They represent their own race, but they're loyal to each other. A team.

ENDING

A lot of people have been asking me, "I've read mixed reviews about this book. Some readers are euphoric, some are unsatisfied. Is it a happy ever after?" First of all, I'd waited more than a year for this book and the last six months had been the hardest for me because it's the period of time where I religiously checked my email for any response from the publisher about my ARC. I was like, "I might receive my advance reader's copy any day now yay!" (I know, right? Desperate!) The anticipation was so huge that it eventually felt like the book needed to make up for it. If this book was any less than remarkable, I'd be very, very disappointed. I don't know why some readers are unsatisfied, I guess reading the first two books again and again plus theorising about the conclusion for two years helped me appreciate this book more.

Some of my questions were left unanswered, but I wasn't really expecting every loose thread to be tied up so I was rather impressed that this book had exceeded my expectations and gave me more than what I wanted: the epic war, the Watchers, the adventure in the pit, and the well-developed romance. I would've wanted the buildup of the war to be shorter and the last chapters to be longer, but overall it's a very epic finale.

HAPPY EVER AFTER

Now let me ask you, what's your idea of a HEA or happy ever after? If it's ribbons and wedding bells and sparkles, then no, Raffe and Penryn didn't get their HEA. Sacrifices had to be made. The future in this apocalyptic world was ever unclear. If you theorize enough about it, if you consider all other possible alternate endings, you will realize it's the best and perfect conclusion to this series. When I finished the book, I had this satisfied look on my face and I thought "Of course! That's exactly the HEA this series deserves."

All the books in this series have wings on the cover. It has always been about it—it's the reason Raffe teamed up with Penryn in Angelfall, it's the reason they fought for their lives in World After. Before EOD, I'd been very against the idea of Raffe losing his wings again. But what happened was he lost it for Penryn and this time it's a choice made by him so it's very justified for me. Susan Ee wanted us to feel the gravity of Raffe's feelings for Penryn that even after everything they've been through to get his wings back, he's willing to lose it again and again if it means Penryn gets to live another day. The wings have always played a crucial part in their lives since day one, and it makes so much sense that it will continue to play an important role until the last book. It had brought them together. It will bring them together.

•••

"And now there’s this. Knowing about the horrors that have happened and will happen but choosing to live anyway. Maybe there’s an art to being human."

In a war between humans and angels, the former represents the knight; the latter represents the dragon. The humans—the healthy, the injured, the young and old—they know they'll most likely be massacred but they come to fight anyway. Heroes.

Overall, End of Days is an epic and a very justified ending to Penryn's story. (Oh my God I can't believe that this time I'm saying goodbye to this series but..)

Goodbye, Penryn and Raffe.

Goodbye, Mom, Paige, Dee Dum, The Watchers, and Kooky—I mean Pooky Bear.

Goodbye, the one of the best apocalyptic dystopian series I've ever read.

It's a new day in End of Days.

(P.S. I might edit this review after the release date.)

UPDATE: 02/24/15

(Thanks to the publisher for my advance reader's copy! View my status updates here: http://www.goodreads.com/user_status/...)

YOU GUYS ARE IN FOR A TREAT!!

THE ONLY WAY I CAN ACCURATELY DESCRIBE MY EMOTIONS (WITHOUT SPOILING) IS WITH THIS:

ON THE FIRST PAGES I WAS LIKE



AND THEN



AND AFTER THAT



ALMOST HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK I WAS LIKE



AND THEN



AND THEN AFTER THAT



ENDING:



YEP, MY LIPS ARE SEALED!

FULL REVIEW TO BE POSTED CLOSER TO THE RELEASE DATE.


UPDATE: 02/24/15

OH GOD!!!! I GOT AN ARC!!! Thanks to the publisher for my advance reader's copy!

THIS IS IT!!! I'M READING MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK EVER!!!!


UPDATE: 02/06/2015

THE COVER HAS BEEN REVEALED!! LOOK AT THOSE BEAUTIFUL PAIR OF WINGS!!! OH MY GOSH THIS IS GOING TO BE SO GOOD!!!!

VIEW THE EXCERPT HERE: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/05/...

UPDATE: 12/30/14 !

THE DESCRIPTION IS UP!!! OH MY GOD THIS PART:

"Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

EACH OTHER!!! EACH OTHER!!! AHHHH

UPDATE: 10/03/14

IT NOW HAS A DATE AND TITLE!

Title: END OF DAYS
Publication Date: MAY 12, 2015

AH, I'M EXCITED!!!


UPDATE: 08/25/14

PLEASE GIVE US A BLURB! OR A SNEAK PEEK!!

ANYTHINGGG!!!!! PLEASEEE???


UPDATE: 01/01/14

SERIOUSLY, I HATE GETTING OLDER BUT FOR THIS BOOK I WOULD WISH TIME TO GO BY A LITTLE FASTER!!! I WANT IT SO BAAAAAD.

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

“This is the way the series ends:
Not with a bang, but a whimper.”

― T.S. Emily

Though World After wasn't bad, I think this series reached a glorious high at the end of Angelfall and never quite reached the same heights again. It's just speculation, but part of me wonders if the author had no idea where she wanted to take it after the first book. Especially given that Angelfall was self-published back at a time when that pretty much guaranteed no one would read it. Everyone was surprised when it became a huge success and perhaps Ms Ee was most surprised of all(?)

This book is just fine - not badly written, but I didn't feel a single emotion while reading it.

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm the type of person who loves blood, gore, and explosions. The more the better. Or so I thought.

Years ago, I watched this movie in theatres. Battle: Los Angeles. It was AWESOME at first. Explosions! Death! People being blown into bits. Boom! Boom! Pow! Every other minute something exploded. It was great.

For about half an hour.

And then I just got SO bored. Like when was this going to end? There was too much action that it bored the hell out of me. I lost all attachment and enjoyment in the movie, and in the end, I just sat there for the remainder of the film, falling asleep as things were getting blasted into pieces on the screen in front of me. I just had enough.

I think that was what ended up happening to this book. I just got sick of it. There was nothing overtly wrong with it; the characters were fine. The romance wasn't too much. It was just...all the action finally got to me; it was more or less a repetition of the first couple of books in a different form, and I wanted something more from this series that this book didn't deliver.

[Serena (The Book Comedian)]

ALL I'M ASKIN' FOR IS TO HAVE PENRYN TURN INTO AN ANGEL SO THEY COULD HAVE CHILDREN THAT WOULDN'T EAT/TERRORIZE MAN KIND



P.S. ever since the 2nd book I've been eating peanut butter non-stop, and I didn't even like peanut butter before...LOL

*follow for more reviews :)

[bipasha]

I need Susan to write. Not to eat, sleep, bathe or have toilet breaks. Just write. And write fast. I demand this book. And I demand Raffryn.

[Ferdy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers

What a disappointing finale, it was so generic what with Penryn's constant swooning and angsting over Raffe whilst her sister and the world were imploding around her, her nauseating romance with Raffe was all that mattered to her. I really thought this series would stand out from the rest of the YA crap - even though World After was rubbish, Angelfall had a lot going for it and I was expecting the same from this. Unfortunately, when it came to down to it, End of Days was another YA series in which the focus was mainly on the lame romance.

-The story was somehow both a mess and annoyingly straightforward: Penryn and Raffe drifted here and there, they tried to find a way to beat Uriel and stop his fake apocalypse and bid for power, there was some fighting and weird creatures, and then an anti-climactic showdown, and that was pretty much it.
I couldn't fully immerse into the story as the motivations/reasons behind what Uriel was doing felt weak and unclear. Then there were the masses of angels who acted like brain dead sheep, what with them orchestrating an apocalypse and almost wiping out the human race without actually being 100% certain that that was what they were meant to do. Their leader (Gabriel) was suspiciously killed and then power-hungry-politician Uriel started to take over and call all the shots, yet none of the angels were suspicious about Uriel's sudden take over and quest for Gabriel's job/power. Why did they not question his motives? Why didn't they investigate Gabriel's convenient death? Why were they such sheep? Why was there no dissent when it came to killing off all the humans? Ugh, it was all so nonsensical

-I was so bored of Penryn's mundane thoughts, her monologuing about how sad her life was and how Raffe wouldn't fuck her was boring to read. She didn't have one original or genuinely selfless thought. I can't believe I used to actually like Penryn, in this she was nothing but a desperate-pervy-loser who cared more about herself and the guy she'd known for a few months than her traumatised sister and the rest of humanity.

-I couldn't stand Penryn's non-stop fangirling of Raffe, every other sentence she was banging on about how sexy he looked or how he made her girly parts tingle. Raffe was all that mattered to her. Never mind, her brutally tortured 7 year old sister who was slowly starving to death or the war and apocalypse around her, the only things on her mind were Raffe's sexy abs and hot wings.

-What the hell happened to Penryn?! She was a normal enough character in the first book but she turned into a rapey, desperate, ugly fucker in this. She practically molested Raffe in the first few chapters, the mad cow maneuvered him in his sleep so he'd be touching her nipples. What the fuck?! UGH, UGH, UGH. I HATED HER. ALL RESPECT LOST.

-Penryn really didn't understand the word 'no'. She kept pawing at Raffe and slobbering all over him even when he repeatedly told her to back the fuck off. She was a desperate, disgusting grade A pervert.

-Penryn used to be somewhat smart, but she lost all her intelligence when she fell for Raffe. She let herself be manipulated and used for the most pathetic of reasons. She was seriously TSTL with Beliel, she knew he was manipulative but she still let herself be tricked by him, all so she could spy on more of Raffe's memories. The silly cow's actions probably resulted in the deaths of dozens of humans, those hellions she released must have killed a few people when they escaped, but that thought never crossed her thick, selfish mind.

-I had to laugh at Raffe finally giving in to Penryn's desperation and hornyness, the poor guy seemed defeated by the whole thing and no doubt gave in because he didn't know what else to do. Raffe/Penryn's relationship was so one sided, by the end it really did feel like Raffe was only with Penryn because he felt obliged to be with her. There was very little emotion and affection on his side, he just halfheartedly decided to get with her because he was vulnerable and lost and had no idea what else to do.

-Why was Paige the chosen one when it came to the locusts? How could she control them? Where did that power and ability to come from? Did Doc engineer it that way? If so, how? And why Paige?

-Layla's off-page turn around was awfully convenient. One minute she was evil and happily experimenting on humans, the next she was little miss helpful. Naturally, her turn around just so happened to coincide with Raffe and Penryn needing assistance with their unique medical issues.

-How did Penryn's mum manage to survive? Surely her insanity would make it difficult for her to successfully navigate herself in a post apocalyptic world? How did she manage to turn into such an ace strategist and a military mastermind??

-Raffe's sword suddenly having the ability to transport his super-warriors to the present day was a total deus ex machina. There was never any hint that the sword could do that, it only ever showed memories, but out of nowhere it was able to transport people through time and space. It was unbelievably contrived.

-Why would an eons old archangel who has seen and experienced so much be remotely interested in an insufferable teenage girl? What did he see in Penryn? I know she was meant to be brave and selfless (even though she was actually nothing like that), but would that seriously make an old, powerful angel feel all mushy and lovey-dovey for her? He must have met loads of women who were far more braver and more brilliant than her yet for some unknown reason Penryn was the one he halfheartedly fell for. Ridiculous.

-Who the hell were the angels? Were they just another race from a different world or were they actually real angels? If they were real angels then wouldn't they have been in heaven or close to god or something? Wouldn't they be religious? Wouldn't most of them be inherently good or at least fair? How did they even get to Earth from their world? If they were really angels wouldn't they have been punished for killing innocents and having a hand in causing an apocalypse? When the angels were living in their own world what were they doing? What sort of lives they did live? Did they have cities and jobs and families? Were they able to have kids with other angels? If they were all born/made warriors then who were they fighting in all those eons they were away from Earth? Were they just training all that time?

-So Gabriel was lying about everything? It wasn't very clear but it was kind of suggested that he wasn't actually a messenger of god and that angels in general weren't god's army, that they were just another species from a different world. It was frustrating that there was little clarity on Gabriel and the angels and the world they came from. Why did Gabriel lie about nephilim being monsters? Was he a purist or something or did he hate humans and want no interbreeding? Also, the angels who did break the law about sexing humans didn't even end up in hell, they were just sent to another world where they were tortured. Did Gabriel lie for the power or control or something? There weren't any satisfying reasons to all of Gabriel's rules and lies when it was the cause of pretty much all the bad that had happened in the world.
I needed more information about the origins and driving force behind all that had happened.

-Why did the angels (except for a select few) have no personalities? Why did some of them have empathy and compassion and the rest didn't? Why did they only want to fight and kill? Why were they so eager to kill humans? I know they thought it was their duty, but why were there so gleeful about killing off a whole species? Was I just meant to believe they were warriors who loved war because that's just how they were? Was I supposed to just accept that the majority of them were evil yet a handful were able to show compassion and remorse?

-Where were all the female characters? Apart from Penryn's mum and sister, there were no other significant female characters. Was the author afraid to add a female character who wasn't related to Paige and who could also hold her own? Penryn was yet again the only girl allowed to hang out with the guys. The author managed to introduce loads of male characters, but she seemed to have trouble bringing in females who had speaking roles and who were in the thick of all the decisions and actions.

-Why were the 'Daughters of Men' such a temptation when there were female angels who must have been far more superior? Angels were perfect in every way so why would they want human women when they could have their own far superior women? Did angels even have sex and procreate? Because there were no parents or siblings between the angels, they were all unrelated. What was angel society and structure and family like?!

-Where were all the female angels? There was only Laylah and she was a duplicitous-opportunistic-nutbag who didn't even appear on page. Where were the rest of them? If the angel race were meant to be warriors, why wouldn't the female angels be in the thick of the action as well? Were they just at home in their own world making sandwiches in the kitchen despite being part of a fearsome warrior race and being old enough to hold their own? As if.

-Didn't like Dee or Dum in this, their dialogue was trying too hard to be funny, their snarky comments and interactions with Penryn and each other were so forced.

-Why did the Watchers talk like modern teenagers? They were super old and lived in the olden days and hadn't even experienced modern times. So why didn't they talk how people used to talk centuries/millenia ago?

-What was with Penryn's vault in which she stuffed all of her thoughts?! Every time it was mentioned I felt like punching her, it was so irritating to read.

-How convenient that two major plot points were sorted out off page, Leylah fixing Raffe's wings and then fixing Paige's whatever the hell was wrong with her. It was irritating that the problems Paige/Raffe faced for two books were quickly dealt with and glossed over in a brief sentence or two.

-A talent show? Really? An apocalypse was going on and Penryn and co decided it was good idea to host a talent show minutes before their final showdown. I know it was meant to be a showcase of humanity and all that rubbish, but it just came across as silly and cringey.

-The only characters I felt connected to were Belial and Paige, everyone else were either soulless, unrealistic, insufferable, or a caricature. I didn't think I'd end up rooting for for Belial when he was such a heartless-murdering-psychopath, but getting some insight into his history made me rather like him. I didn't blame him for becoming twisted and hateful when he lost everything and was abandoned and betrayed by his so called brothers. Yes, I know he would have done the same thing if one of his brothers had been the gateway, but that didn't make what happened to him any less fucked up and wrong.
Poor Paige, hated by everyone for something she had no control over. It was only her mum who supported her and loved her unconditionally. Penryn was still an utter bitch to her, there were never any moments (like in book 1) where Penryn's love for her shone through. Nope, Penryn only cared about her precious Raffe. She should have focused on her sister and helped her through all the trauma she'd been through, but apparently ogling Raffe was more important to her. Bitch.

-I hated Raffe/Penryn getting together at the end, it was so predictable and cheesy. Why can't one YA series finish with the teenage heroine being single and ready to date around? Why did she have to be practically married by the end? Also, how the hell will Raffe/Penryn have a healthy and happy relationship when Raffe's immortal? There's no way they'd be able to survive as a couple once Penryn starts to age. Penryn would end up bitter and resentful of Raffe's youth. Not to mention Raffe would no doubt treat Penryn more like a grandma than a lover as she grew older. Their relationship made no sense.

-What was with all that Michael nonsense? He was so against being the leader of angels that he did NOTHING when his angels were destroying an entire world, but at the end we were just meant to believe that he'd finally get his act together? That he'd just shrug off all his issues and put down his cup of tea and grudgingly accept the job as angel-leader? Really? After doing jack all when millions were being killed, he would suddenly decide to put on his big boy knickers and take charge? Ugh, nonsensical and ridiculous.

-I couldn't help but scoff at Penryn and co's secret weapons against the angels: sharks, bright lights, and rock music. No joke.

-The ending was rushed with the fight at the bridge and Raffe/the messengers sending all the angels home, after all that had happened it all seemed too neat and easy.

-The writing was generic and mediocre, I don't think I went a page without rolling my eyes. Some random quotes I hated (there were so many to choose from):

1. Wearing a backpack this way might not look great on someone else, but on him, it looks like a fitted piece of military gear strapped tight to his broad chest.

Ugh, of course Raffe can pull anything off because he's just so damn sexy. And naturally, Penryn can't stop ogling him, no matter how inappropriate it is, (what with all the pain and misery surrounding her).

2. All I feel is the kiss. All I am is Raffe’s girl.

Penryn wasn't her own person, she was Raffe's girl throughout the book (even though he didn't want her to be). It was Raffe this and Raffe that and ooh, I wonder how Raffe's feeling?

3. Despite Raffe’s supporters being outnumbered, they are the toughest, fiercest, most skilled fighters.

Of course Raffe had the best team ever. How else could he be the quintessential Gary Stu without being the bestest and sexiest and most skilled guy ever, and in extension all his people have to be the bestest too. Ugh.

4. ‘And everybody thinks you’re both hot,’ says Dee.
I scoff. ‘Now I know you’re full of it.’
‘You’re seriously going to tell us you haven’t noticed the way guys look at you?’
‘What guys? What are you talking about?’
They exchange glances. ‘Girl,’ says Dee, ‘even before your latest stunt, you were becoming the most requested fighter of all our events. Butt-kicking girls have always been smokin’ hot, but in the postapocalyptic world we live in, the hottest thing around is a sword-wielding, angel-slaying, foulmouthed—’

Wow, a YA heroine that's not only a speshul snowflake but also the hottest and desired girl around? There's something I've never read before! Heaven forbid, a YA heroine who is normal looking and doesn't have countless guys getting wet over her.

4. His snowy wings are wide and frame his statuesque body perfectly. The edges of his feathers are downy, giving him a soft glow in the light.
I still can’t believe he has his wings back. They look amazing on him. Perfect in every way.

Those were Penryn's pathetic fangirly thoughts a couple of minutes after she nearly died. Because that's what people do when they nearly die, get swoony and sappy and descriptive over someone else's looks.

5. ‘Look, I know that we’re from different worlds and different people. But I've realized that it doesn't matter.’

Naturally, all the many issues and obstacles between Penryn/Raffe's relationships weren't even discussed, everything was brushed under the carpet because True Love conquers all. Ugh.


I could go on forever about how bad End of Days was, but I've banged on long enough. It was rubbish. No doubt YA lovers and Raffe fangirls will love this, but I needed more than the usual uninspired, generic YA story/character/relationships, plus the broody-sexy-old-enough-to-be-a-great-great-great-etc-granddad-angel-with-perfect-abs-hero did nothing for me.

[Angela]

Then:


Now:

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

I came in without any expectation and went home with so much more than I gambled for. I ended up being such a good fan. Most trilogies usually start with a bang, but when it comes to the conclusion, it becomes a train wreck. Susan Ee surpassed that wildest expectation without even trying.

End of Days follows shortly after where World After left it off, Penryn and Raffe are trying to find a doctor that could stitch back Raffe’s angel wings and to find a cure for her sister Paige. They are on the run. And angels are trying to unleash a civil war that could extinct the human race. Will Penryn and Raffe work together or against each other?

From what I gathered from all the apocalyptic novels I’ve read, they are usually intense and can be very boring. Susan Ee redefines this genre. She takes the banal aspect and turn it into something unbelievable fun. I was laughing, swooning, my knees are buckling, I was getting emotional with the characters. All these fervor are all over me.

The characters are enthralling and well written. When I read stories, one of the most important things I highly regard is the portrayal of its characters. I look for something authentic. And oh boy, this bunch of characters are so fun to read even the despicable ones. Though I have to say, Penryn, Raffe, her mom, Paige and Beliel are my favorites.

The romance will have everyone moaning. It. Is. Everything. And. More.

Favorite Quote:

“If you’re worried about pervs breaking into the house, it’s not going to make a difference whether I’m in this outfit or in baggy jeans or sweatshirt. Either they’re decent human beings or they’re not. Their actions are on them.”

“It’ll be tough for them to take any action while I’m plummeting their faces. Disrespect will not be tolerated.”

End of Days is not to be missed. Fans of Susan Ee will certainly won’t be disappointed in this swashbuckling conclusion.

Review also posted at Young Adult Hollywood. Listen to my fanmix for End of Days in 8tracks. See the full tracklist in tumblr.

[NickReads]

Okay first there were like 3 or 4 more books to come



Then we learned that this was going to be the last book,but we all knew somehow that is going to be like 800+ pages long



And then we learned that the last book is going to have only 336 pages,like what??





10/4/14

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to wait for the crushing disappointment to dissipate a bit before writing this review, so at least you won't have to listen to me rant like a lunatic. Much.



Was this a bad book? Ehhhhhhh.
It just wasn't anything like what I expecting.



Ok, my biggest problem with this was that literally NONE of the questions I had were answered.
NONE!
So if you go into End of Days thinking that you're going to find out about the origin of the angles, who/what they really are, and whether or not they're really talking to God? Have they been duped by some huge conspiracy? How about Penryn's mom? Did she have some prior contact with angels in the past that somehow drove her mad? Is that how she knows about the rotten eggs? Was she maybe not as crazy as we all thought? Why did the sword allow Penryn to pick it up? Was there something more to her? Why is Paige so different from everyone else that they experimented on?
Forget it. You'll get hints of half-answers. Nothing else.
If anything, you'll have more questions when this is over. And a big reason that I was so friggin excited to get my hands on this, was that I (mistakenly) believed that between the pages of this little novel, I'd be rewarded for my dedication to this trilogy.
No rewards for Anne! *sobs*



Well, if nothing else, Raffe is back for the majority of the book.



And at least the romance was well done, right?
Bzzzzt! Wrong!
I can only describe the romance & subsequent make-out sessions as grody to the max .
What? Do kids these days not say that anymore?
Fine. Then I found everything about those two disturbing in this book. See, once again, I assumed that this book was going to somehow fix things. You know, made the ginormous thousand year age gap acceptable in some way. Or maybe one of them becomes mortal or immortal... something!
GIVE ME SOMETHING!
Alas, no. Get used to disappointment, kids.
But (maybe) worse than that was the awkwardly creepy love scenes.



I could have lived my whole life without reading about those two grinding while he flies her around searching for Hellions.
Dry humping? Really?!
Maybe I've been out of the 'clothes on' game too long, but when the hell did dry humping make a comeback? I mean, come on!



And I really could have gone without the scene where she puts his hand on her boob while he's sleeping next to her.
Unacceptable Creeper Behavior! Swerve to avoid!
Was that supposed to be ok simply because she's a girl? It's not! It's not ok! How are we supposed to teach our boys that this is the kind of thing that will land your ass in jail, if there's some weird double standard for girls? How well would that scene have played out in anyone's head if she had woken up to find him using her hand to rub his junk?



Alright. Whatever. Maybe I'm one of the few people who didn't lurve the end of this trilogy.
Other than the gripes I already talked about, the last thing is that I never really got into this story the way I did the other two books. It may have been because I kept waiting for answers to happen. And without those, this book fell really flat for me.
But. It's not a horribly written novel. I finished it in a day, and while I wasn't in love with anything about it, I can't honestly say that it was The Worst Book Evah, either.
It was (for me) a middle-of-the-road kind of story, with an ending that felt rushed and unfinished.

Also reviewed for:

[Maria✦❋Steamy Reads Blog❋✦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

➦Ok, so... perhaps the most IMPORTANT thing I've learned from this book is how to ride an angel. Take your mind out of the gutter, people! If you ever stumble upon this creation


...and you need a ride, say, across the ocean... hop on and hold on for dear life! Be sure to grab on with all your limbs lol


/end angel riding tutorial


➦There's so much craziness going on in this book and it's non-stop action - I LOVED it! The creatures described in this series sure are something. Susan Ee must love a little bit of


➦Well, I loved it - all of it! Everything from sarcastic banter to crazy descriptions of trips into hell to epic angel/scorpion battles! Even the HFN ending, I was thankful it didn't turn into a cheese fest. I was perfectly happy to experience the journey, wasn't really about the end result.

➦Totally recommend this series to my PNR/Fantasy/Dystopia loving friends out there. :)

[kirstin ✿]

Feb. 8th, 2015
I WAS DEAD BUT SUSAN EE BROUGHT ME BACK TO LIFE. THAT COVER. NO, NO. NO. I'M BEING OVERWHELMED BY FEELS. IT'S PRETTY. I WANNA CRY. IT'S GOING TO END. I'M SAD. WHY ONLY THREE BOOKS. I WILL NEVER GET OVER RAFFRYN. NEVER.

Dear Susan Ee,

I'm ordering you to write and finish this book as soon as possible.
Please, take your time writing this, Ms. Ee. Really. 'Coz I'll just wait impatiently here. I will. I must. Because what can I do? It's not like I can torture the sequel out of you, right?

One request, though. MORE RAFFRYN SCENES!

One of your number one fans,
Kirstin

[Sophia. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man, that trilogy was such a trainwreck. Where was the editor for this book? What was he doing? And why didn’t he tell Ee that a chapter should be longer than TWO PAGES?

It was so poorly written, it actually managed to make me cringe and put down the book in disgust several times, which I didn’t think was possible.

So in the second book, there was hardly any romance at all, but in this one, the romance is suddenly everywhere and so abruptly sexual it was intensely awkward. What’s with the sleeping-together scene? In what universe is it okay to move someone’s arm while they’re sleeping to have them touch your breasts? What if the roles were reversed? I’m pretty sure everyone would go nuts if it'd been a guy moving a sleeping girl’s arm so that she’d touch his balls.

Penryn changed. I think the first and second book were all about sending the message that even if there was an attraction between Penryn and Raffe, it could not be *more* important than what was going on. Penryn just didn't have the time, what with Paige’s abduction in the first book and dealing with the “world after” in the second book. But in the third book, even though nothing is resolved regarding the state of the world, Penryn’s priorities somehow shift and literally all she can think about is Raffe. The kissing scenes were weird (like why would you repeatedly use the word “wet”) and Penryn’s attitudes were cringe-worthy:

‘And everybody thinks you’re hot,’ says Dee.
I scoff. ‘Now I know you’re full of it.’
‘You’re seriously going to tell us you haven’t noticed the way guys look at you?’
‘What guys? What are you talking about?’
They exchange glances. ‘Girl,’ says Dee, ‘even before your latest stunt, you were becoming the most requested fighter of all our events. Butt-kicking girls have always been smokin’ hot, but in the postapocalyptic world we live in, the hottest thing around is a sword-wielding, angel-slaying, foulmouthed—’

That excerpt, right there - it's responsible for me knocking off one star. Please. Like we need another mindless, stupid heroin who's doesn't know she's pretty! *eye roll*

And what is this?

“He stares deep into my eyes. It makes me squirm but also makes my heart flutter like a schoolgirl’s. Oh, wait. I am a schoolgirl. I blink a few times, wondering if that’s how I’m supposed to bat my eyelashes.
‘What are you doing?’
‘What?’ Ugh. I suck at this.
‘Are you batting your lashes at me?’
‘What, me? No, of course not.’
He squints his eyes suspiciously at me. ‘This is awkward.’
‘Yes, it is.”

KILL ME NOW! Who would ever do that? WTF?

And sooo many repetitions too: how many times can she say that Raffe’s skin is warm and that she nuzzles in his neck when she flies with him? It felt like Ee copypasted ENTIRE descriptive paragraphs.

The biggest problem, and of course that’s what everyone complained about, is the lack of a substantial world building and storyline. Actually, that problem first appeared in the second book and while reading, I could never really tell you what was happening. It wasn't gripping enough for me to stay focused. It was always like this: [Paige is missing or whatever] Raffe and Penryn have to get from point A to point B for obscure reasons, he flies with her, they encounter bad guys, they fight, then they almost lose but oh no wait they survive, and they manage to escape, they go into a random house, some flirting ensues, then they have to go somewhere else, so they leave, and then they fight... This is literally what happened like a dozen times. It was always the same thing.

Remember, back when the first book was published and everyone was beaming and saying how for once the author knew her shit and had obviously done solid research on Angels? Yeah, well no, it’s no longer the case. The book got increasingly, unbelievably bad as Penryn does random things like going to the Pit/Hell/whatever with angels that have supposedly been around for millenniums but yet talk like your average 14-year-old Californian girl, and they fight demons that no one can take seriously as they make no sense whatsoever. Other random things happen but no one really knows why, such as Laylah suddenly becoming one of the good guys (while also apparently being the only fucking female in the entire angel world), Paige being able to control the scorpions, a talent show that I have yet to understand… Overall, weak and shallow plotline, and contradictory world building. I swear it sometimes looked like a sixth grader wrote it.

There is also a major problem regarding the terrible characterization. There’s not a single well fleshed-out, multi-dimensional character. They’re all cliché and stick to their one descriptive trait : Mom is crazy (did she cause Paige's accident? Was she an abusive mother? Why is she like that?), Raffe is hot, Clara is kind, Obi is a leader, Dee and Dum are “cool” (but really dumbasses), and... wait that’s the whole cast.

Also, Paige is supposed to be a main character but really she’s very generic and has about 8 lines of dialogue in the entire trilogy (with well thought-out, constructed lines such as “Hungry” and “Penryn”).

The fact that she was now bound to only eat human flesh was interesting and could have led to deep, disturbing discussions. Paige struggles with her new condition at the beginning, and tries desperately to starve herself. That raises interesting points, survival vs humanity, necessity vs morality. And then there's Paige's entourage, and their different reactions, which can only lead to more questions. How far would you be willing to go for someone you love? Would you feed them human victims, if that was the price to pay for them to stay alive?

Unfortunately, discussions like these never appear in the book. No one actively adresses Paige's condition. We're stuck in Penryn's head and she never thought about it for more than three lines, she would always go back to Raffe.
Penryn keeps saying she’s grown tougher because of the Apocalypse, that she’d do anything for Paige, but once she does rescue her, she fails to take care of her the way one would expect her to. I understand that she would be in denial about Paige’s needs, but you can’t have her ignore that situation in the entire book! Why would she stop her Mom from giving a willing victim to Paige? I kept getting so annoyed at Penryn’s stubbornness to try and feed Paige vegetables (mostly in book 2) when EVERYONE knew what she really needed in order for her to survive.

Paige, even though she had potential, grew boring and Ee's problem with repetitions didn't help. How many times were Paige's stitches mentioned? And why is she able to control the monsters? For some dark reason that Ee feels unnecessary to explain, Paige seems to be the key to saving… I don’t know what actually, but you can't throw around random statements like “She’s the Chosen One” and NOT explain, and expect us to move on! What was so special about her? Was it just because she was the last monster-child? Why could Penryn wield an Angel sword? (By the way, I HATED the sword. From its stupid name, to the "dreams" that were a convienent way for the author to do some lazy info-dump).

And the angels have got to be the most idiotic species I've ever had the misfortune to read about. I swear, a herd of LLAMAS would be smarter. They mindlessly follow whatever orders they're being given, without ever analyzing their own motives. Where do they live? Do they have a God? Can they have children? As always though, Ee provides no answer at all.

And how many times can Penryn ALMOST die but then miraculously find a way out? Since the book is first-person narrated in present tense, you know she can’t die, but that didn’t stop the author from giving us DOZENS of scenes where it seems like Penryn can’t win, and at the last second, something or someone shows up and saves her. It got exasperating.

Which brings us to the next problem: the happy ending.

No one died in this trilogy. Penryn managed to have EVERYTHING and save everyone, and that’s a problem. If you want me to believe that it IS the end of the world, and that they are nearing the Apocalypse, you also have to show me an evident truth: people die. You can't go through hundreds of armed fights without ever getting hurt. She's not wounded a SINGLE time in the entire trilogy. How is it possible?

You can’t just write about thousands or even millions of faceless casualties and expect me to care, it doesn’t make me feel anything. Yeah, Obi died but let’s be real, who cared?!

Sacrifices should have been made. And I feel like there were three different possibilities for the author : The mom, Paige, or Raffe. Penryn should have lost SOMETHING. For example, the mom could have left and never come back, because that wouldn’t be too unexpected from an insane person.

But mostly Paige shouldn’t have been healed, because that’s just too much of a stretch. I don’t think she could be cured from her experiments (I fail to see how cannibalistic cravings can be taken out of someone). Ideally, she should have died. Tough, yes, and I would have been upset, but in a good way. At least it wouldn’t be that sickeningly sweet epilogue that MAKES NO SENSE. Authors have to make sacrifices! It’s inevitable if you want to add depth to the story. Especially if you chose apocalyptic settings, a happy ending is stupid. You can’t have the cake and eat it too.

What’s also a huge problem is, of course, Raffe and Penryn’s love story’s outcome. I was truly convinced, up until the middle of the third book, that Ee would stay reasonable and have Raffe leave – which was the ONLY possible solution. I don’t think they should have ended up together, and even if it was frustrating, I was ready to accept it. I would have loved some kind of Peter Pan ending, with Raffe leaving and maybe coming back decades later, and her remembering him vaguely, or better yet, maybe she had been waiting for him to return that whole time. Or even an adult Penryn dating someone who casually says "I swear it's like you have a guardian angel sometimes".

So many possibilities to be explored - the classic YA Happily Ever After is only one of them, and it's the weakest of them all! Because goddammit, if you're going to write about an impossible love story set in an apocalyptic world, then okay, but at least have the balls to give it the rightful ending! Yeah, it's tough decision-making but the value of the book and series as a whole would dramatically change altogether!

And if Ee really, really couldn’t accept the idea of them being separated, she should have balanced things out by adding in hard dilemmas, such as, an offer for Penryn to join him in the angel world, to the condition that she leaves the human world behind forever. Would she give up on Paige? Now that would have been interesting conflict!

But no. At some point there was some random talk about some humans being ancestors of angels and having some kind of angelic blood, and I freaked out because it seemed obvious that Ee was talking about Penryn. Therefore her and Raffe being together could have worked out. But it didn’t even go this far, Raffe just chooses to STAY. No! It makes no sense. You can’t ignore the context, you can’t just conclude by saying “I’ve realized it doesn’t matter.”

It does! You’re immortal! She’s SEVENTEEN! How is that ever going to work? What is so complicated in accepting the fact that you're not meant to be together?

Of course, there’s all the unanswered questions regarding what exactly Raffe saw in Penryn. Why did he "love" her? Why her?

I liked it when Beliel said to Penryn:

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you? You think you’re so special. Special enough to catch an archangel’s love. Do you know how many people have thought they could win his love over the centuries? That he’d be loyal to them just as they were loyal to him? You want to know how many human girls he’s gone through? How many hearts do you think have shattered over Raphael, the great archangel?”

Yes! Listen to that, Penryn! I liked that. It's realistic. But of course there’s a problem when you agree with the villain.

Sigh.

TO CONCLUDE.

I think the series perfectly illustrates how the publishing world can pressure an author into self-sabotaging their own work. I genuinely believe that the first book was great, because it came from Ee as a spontaneous idea and project. She must have worked on it without any sort of pressure, because she was unknown, and it was self-published. I don’t think she expected the book to be as successful as it was, and Publishing Houses, seeing the potential profits, must have put insane pressure on her shoulder to milk the cash cow. I’m talking about turning good books into series, of course.

Now where have I seen this before? An example among so many, but it does remind of Stephanie Perkins. She wrote Anna and the French kiss and it was insanely good, and then she had to publish two other books to complete an unnatural trilogy that was forced and made for money. Actually, I think both authors struggled with writer’s block, and both ended up pushing back deadlines – and how can you blame them? It was supposed to be five books, then three, and if I remember correctly, Ee got critisized for snapping at her readers' impatience. I get that, though, expectant readers can be so demanding, so passionate, it's enough to make an author flip.

I don’t think Ee knew how she wanted her story to end after Angelfall. I don't think she had enough time to let her draft form and develop. I think she needed more time. She had so much pressure, and probably not a lot of ideas... but that’s how business works. So she wrote those sequels in a very short amount of time... And well – that’s the result.

What a shame.

[Danielle (Love at First Page) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-4.5 stars

It's so hard to let this series go! I've adored Penryn & the End of Days ever since reading the first book, and now I can say without a doubt that it's a favorite of mine. Each and every book has been incredibly fun and emotionally satisfying. I have to admit, though, that when Susan Ee first announced that the series would be three books long, the prayer candles started to come out. I was terrified about what would happen to my ship in End of Days; would it be the end of them? *deep breaths*

But let me back up...

If you have not yet read the brilliance that is Angelfall, I will tell you what you are missing.
*Angels.
*Post-apocalyptic setting. End of the world. Angels vs. humanity. Angels vs. angels.
*A remarkably tough, resourceful, and downright loveable heroine.
*A cocky but sexy love interest who also happens to be an archangel.
*Holy sexual tension.
*Banter.
*SHIP RUINERS.
*More banter.
*Creepy, gruesome creatures straight out of hell.
*A fun supporting cast, including a crazy mother who you will love to hate but then come to have the oddest respect for.
*Tons of action alongside swoon-worthy romance.
*A sword named Pooky Bear.

In this third and final book, it seems humanity is holding its last breath. The angels have released an apocalyptic nightmare, and Penryn is left wondering which side Raffe will be on. While the angels' infighting surges, Penryn struggles to make sense of herself as a leader and Raffe must form a new strategy to bring peace between angels and humans. When the final battle draws near, will they be standing together or apart?

Me being me, I was extremely nervous about the fate of Penryn and Raffe. The world is coming to an end, what with the angels declaring Judgment Day and willing to obliterate humanity for their own nefarious purposes, but I just needed to know one thing: are Penryn and Raffe endgame?!

Susan Ee doesn't make it easy. End of Days is her sexiest book yet. There are kisses that will leave you breathless and wanting more. There are moments between Penryn and Raffe that had my heart squeezing tight, especially when they allowed themselves to be vulnerable. But... there's so much standing between them, beginning and ending with the fact that he's an angel and she's a Daughter of Man. How could they realistically stay together? An almost impossible question, so I was eager to see how, if at all, Susan Ee would answer it. But if one thing is certain, it's how well Raffe and Penryn work together as a team. I know I'm not the only one who wishes couples in YA books (especially fantasy/dystopian series) actually communicated and demonstrated why they are so good together, and that's exactly what Penryn and Raffe do. The chemistry is there, but so is the way they show how much they care and how well-suited they are together. I appreciate the amount of time we get with them in this last book, seeing them work in harmony and in complete trust. They are a true team.

Like the first two books, End of Days is a great mixture of plot and characters. Penryn is an amazing heroine, a girl who has had to grow up too fast (even before the apocalypse) but who still longs with a teenager's heart. Her strength always inspired me, and it's paired so well with her warrior love interest. You wouldn't think a young girl could keep someone like Raffe on his toes, but she so does. Their verbal sparring is priceless. Raffe is pretty much temptation incarnate, with his immense strength and sarcastic demeanor. But I love his growth, especially in this last book, when he's faced with the choice of his angel brethren and the girl he's fallen for. Raffe, as an angel, is not meant to be alone, but who will he seek comfort from?

The other cast of characters have always taken back seat to the Raffe and Penryn show, but they are a compelling mix. Penryn's mom, especially, has more depth than I had originally given her credit for. She's crafty and clever, if a bit crazy, and her antics are quite humorous at times, too. As you can expect, there's an epic showdown at the end, and I am super pleased with how these events unfold. Susan Ee makes the whole story line not only chock full of action but believable, too. (I was surprised with the way she plays with time at one point in the book. It's done so effectively, especially because I wasn't expecting something of the sort.) My main complaint would be that I wanted just a little bit more at the end. One more chapter with these beloved characters.

I can't believe this series has come to a close, but I know I will be remembering Penryn and Raffe's story for years to come. If the apocalypse ever does come around, well, I'll try to be as tough-minded and strong-willed as Penryn, and maybe hope there's a warrior angel in store for me? ;) (Books have clearly ruined me for life...) Start this series if you haven't yet, but if you have I don't think you'll be disappointed in this epic conclusion.

***Major thanks and hugs to Nick who let me borrow her ARC!***

This review can also be found at Love at First Page.

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful conclusion to one-of-a-kind series!

"We are soldiers, Penryn. Legendary warriors willing to make legendary sacrifices. We do not ask. We do not choose."

Since this is the last book in series and I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it yet, I'm going to keep my review sweet and short. Keep in mind that End of Days has quite different dynamics than previous instalments. So if you expect another Angefall and World After, you will be disappointed. Once I got used to this different "drive" (around 30%), I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. And that is one of the best compliments I can pay to a book.

End of Days is one of the best stories about survival I have ever read. Humanity, its strengths and weaknesses are the main focus of this book. Author provided a powerful example of the best and the worst that humanity has to offer. It brought tears to my eyes, gave me goosebumps and most importantly it made me feel so much!

Now that Penryn and the End of Days series is over, I can say that it is most memorable and without the doubt my all time favorite series featuring star-crossed lovers. I think I have never shipped any YA couple as much as I ship Penryn & Raffe. (Only Josh & Sky from I'll Meet You There compare, but that is a story for another time.) And until the very end of this book I had no idea if Penryn and Raffe would get their HEA or not. Kudos to author for creating such amazing and unforgettable characters!

"History is filled with teenagers who lead the fight. Joan of Arc. Okita Soji, the samurai. Alexander the Great. They were all teenagers when they began leading their armies. I think we’re back to those times again, kid."

MORE REVIEWS ON MY BLOG Reading Is My Breathing

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly didn't expect to like this series as much as I did but it was so great!
This was a fantastic close, even if it was a bit convenient.
The characters are what made this book. I love Penryn and Raffe so muuuuuuuuch.
Overall, pretty fantastic trilogy.

[Marga · Rating 5 out of 5]

EDIT: Because I have to add this GIF. This was me pretty much during the whole book.



---

What a stunning and satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite series ever! At first I was really worried about this being the last book BUT Susan Ee did it again! She managed to write this one without the feeling of this being "rushed". I absolutely LOVED it!



Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Full review to come closer to release date.

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 4 out of 5]

✬✬✬✬½ Overall Series
✰✰✰✰✰ Angelfall
✬✬✬✬½ World After
✰✰✰✰ End of Days

Buddy read with a ridiculous number of people at Buddies Books and Baubles

End of Days took what I loved in Angelfall and World After and added to it some of the things I missed, more of the stuff I loved and gave it entirely new dimensions.

A List of Awesomeness in End of Days:

✔ - More Romance - OkayIwaswrong (totally sigh worthy trust me) and some YA hot fans-self worthy moments….hint rhymes with missing
✔ - Weirder Imagery (who knew it could be done) it was disturbing and I will never think of hell the same way again.
✔ - More Raffe!!! I missed him in World After – WE NEEDED more Penryn/Raffe banter time after World After.

“Might as well fly into the heart of the enemy where the primitive natives can tear me to pieces, sell my body parts for money, and grind the rest to be consumed in teas for sexual potency.”
I tighten my arms around his neck. “We’re not that primitive anymore.”
He arches his perfect eyebrow at me, sending waves of skepticism.
“We have Viagra now.”

✔ - DeeDum antics including a Talent Show AND who would win in a fight between Godzilla and members of Penryn’s entourage. I know who I’d put money on.
✔- Penryn’s crazy/not-so-crazy mother. Sometimes there is rhyme to her reason and other times…well you’ve read the other books so you know.
✔ - #TeamFallen – I’m totally on the Fallen Watchers team.
✔ - PAIGE - *sobs* that little girl has been through hell but at least Penryn isn’t afraid of her anymore.


✔ - POOKY BEAR – is as epic and awesome as ever with a few new tricks up her sleeve.
✔ - Redemption of a character I thought unredeemable.
✔ - Angel Elections a fascinating blend of democracy, fighting and survival of the fittest all at the same time.
✔ - Crazy creatures and epic battles
✔ - AND FINALLY – an ending that I really liked. not perfect I still have so many unanswered questions, but I’m really okay with how the series wrapped up

End of Days starts exactly where World After ended. It is a crazy wild ride from beginning to end and I really don’t think I could have guessed how any of this would play out. Actually I did guess and I was SO SO Wrong, I don’t think a single theory panned out for me except for my one on little Paige.

Susan Ee gave us some new and fantastical scenes from hell, she bridged new territory with her imaginings of the demon realm and I for one am in awe of it. Just when it got too heavy and too gruesome she tempered it with quick wit and humor to keep it from becoming overwhelming. Plus there was romance….shhhh I know I know, but I loved every touch, kiss and tender moment shared between our star-crossed couple.

The only reason I deducted a star was there are a few things that either were ignored or didn’t wrap up or I still have a ton of questions about and was left pondering them well after I finished the book. THEY ARE ALL SPOILERS…..do not click on the tag unless you have finished the book

If you reply to any of my comments in this section please be sure to spoiler tag them appropriately

① - The immortal/mortal thing not even broached? Raffe totally still immortal, Penryn completely mortal so they get 50 – 60 years together and poof done. It wasn’t even really mentioned. Don’t get me wrong I love that he ended up staying on earth and SUPER LOVE that he took the demon wings back because seriously I thought they were way cooler. But that just seemed a little glossed over and under fleshed out. Layla sorta fixed Paige (vague description) couldn’t she also just randomly added something to Penryn for a little extended life mojo….just saying.

Also the very end hook up was slightly cheesy…..or maybe that was just me. I wanted possibly a smidgen more on that front.

② - What the hell happened to all the 666 creatures with their consumed heads? Do they still just hang out in our Ocean or did they go back to the demon plain with the Pit Lord?

③ - Would Raffe and his watchers really have participated in the Blood Hunt to win? I really wish Penryn would have asked and that Raffe had a different plan in mind. That is quite a big thing to forgive if he was going to decimate all those humans.

④ - The Nephilim – this is really my smallest thing. Susan Ee totally changed the lore and the Nephilim were harmless and just babies…no monster flesh eating tendencies. Now most humans have a little diluted angle blood in them. Hmmm….was that why Penryn could touch the sword she is a little small bit Angel.

Mostly that is it. I gave up on the Raffe is millennia old and Penryn is 17 thing a long time ago so it doesn’t bother me…in my head with all of her mom crap and raising Paige she is easily the equivalent of 25. Nothing really bothered me so much that it diminished my overall enjoyment of the story.

I really wonder if Ee is going to revisit the hellion realm or this world again in future stories.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

UPDATE: I lowered my rating (again) because the more I think about the book the less I like how it turned out.

“Who wants to go to heaven anymore? There's nothing but angels there.”

Since I'm a bit conflicted let's make this review ♛ (positive things) vs. ✖ (well that is pretty self-explanatory).

♛ It wasn't a bad book. While it wasn't as good of a conclusion as Dreams of Gods and Monsters or Shadowfever, I enjoyed it and I think it concluded some things and left others open in a way that makes sense.

✖ But it wasn't a very memorable book either. When you read a book in a very short period of time you tend to forget a lot of details. But still, when I read the first two books in a pretty much the same period of time, I remembered a lot of it. Angelfall and World After left me obsessed. End Of Days left me with too little.

♛ The angels, the locusts, other new creatures,666...I love it. Susan Ee has an imagination and it makes me giddy.

✖ The whole Pit Lord situation.

✖ The romance was too much. It also made me cringe.

“Josiah looks at me, then back at Raffe. “Does she need to be here?”
“Apparently, she does,” says Raffe. “It turns out that she’s the only one I can trust to watch my back.”

✖ Too much of Penryn thinking about Raffe. I like the guy a lot too, but it's the "end of times". Get your shit together.

♛ The humor. The writing style of these books is full of humor and hilarious characters...

“Might as well fly into the heart of the enemy where the primitive natives can tear me to pieces, sell my body parts for money, and grind the rest to be consumed in teas for sexual potency.”
I tighten my arms around his neck. “We’re not that primitive anymore.” He arches his perfect eyebrow at me, sending waves of skepticism.
“We have Viagra now.”

♛ ...which also brings us to...DUM AND DEE! aka the Fred and George of this series. Dum and Dee might be my favorite characters in the whole book. They are loveable, not to mention endlessly entertaining.



♛ "The mom, the kind monster and me" family dynamic. Both the mum and Paige are complex characters and I loved the relationships in this odd little family play out.

✖ Me, not caring much for Penryn. I don't adore her character anymore. SHE CHANGED. In a bad way.

♛ THIS:

“If you're worried about pervs breaking into the house, it's not going to make a difference whether I'm in this outfit or in baggy jeans and a sweatshirt. Either they're decent human beings or they're not. Their actions are on them.”

Important and brilliantly told.

✖ Bringing hellions through the sword thing. No, I didn't quite buy it.

♛ THE TALENT SHOW. Best part of the book. Humanity on the page. If I could rate a scene 5 stars, it would be that one.

♛ Humanity is flawed. All the humans in this book feel fleshed out, even if they get a very short amount of page time. The Penryn and the End Of Days series presents people in their good and their bad in a realistic way even with a world full of angels.

✖ Anti-climatic.

✖ Pretty convenient ending.


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28.6: So I obviously didn't read this in May. But now is finally the time.
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6.5. : I GOT IT! I'm going to read it this weekend.
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Guys THE COVER!



Oh my pretty.

[sreeja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’M REALLY SAD THAT THIS IS OVER :(((( this series was spectacular as a whole! This book was great but it did have something about it that did not quite put it up to my expectations. The character development was fantastic, the relationship growth of everyone was great and also THIS BOOK HAD THE CUTEST MOMENTS. I was really devastated when Raffe didn’t really show up in the most part of World After because the main reason why I love this series so much is because of him <3 he is such a sweetheart and it doesn’t hurt that he is pretty witty ;)

I like how Penryn grew throughout the series from someone who only thinks about protecting her family to someone who is selfless and learns to take on responsibility for a larger group of people. I also loved how she learned to accept and love her mother and sister for who they are. She has come a long way from the Penryn in Angelfall and that is great!
I love how they show Raffe and his friendship with the Watchers in this book but it could have been explored more! I feel like this book is short and that the ending was too abrupt to answer all the questions that I have had for this series. Still, I think that the way the characters connected in this book wasn’t really put forward well! Like, yeah I get that Raffe is attracted to Penryn but how did it change to love?? Like some of the questions that I’ve been dying to get answered didn’t get answered so I was pretty sad

However, that ONE QUOTE TOTALLY WON ME OVER LIKE AWWW
“I have better things to do.”
“Like what?”
He opens one eye and looks at me. “Like convince a stubborn girl to admit she’s madly in love with me.”

Overall, this book was great but I felt like there was something missing, but that doesn’t mean that this book was bad! This series was fantastic <3

[Lazaros · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, where do I start from? Do I start from the beginning? Well, I was and still am pumped for this book, for this series. It's a great series and although Susan Ee planned for it to be a 5 book series, it ended up being just 3 books, and this is the final one.

I'm sad that there won't be any more books coming from this series but I'd sure as hell love to read some other book Ee releases in the future. I'm quite sure, it's going to be amazing.

Her short sentences, and dialogues are amazing and despite my not liking dialogues all that much, she brings them on nicely and definitely adds to the amazing-ness of the story.

So, final chapter. Is it a happily ever after or is it a disastrous ever after? You'll have to read to find out.

If you're a fan, a shipper, of Penryn and Raffe then you'll probably love this book. It's the only book in the trilogy where we get some action between these two. Things get heated. Hot and bothered.

The book was gripping, it didn't let me go. I couldn't even get myself to leave the book aside and go pee. Yup. That's gripping to me. Uhm, there was action, constant action, and that's what I mainly love about this series. It's a dystopia, it has angels and it involves some drool-worthy action.

While Penryn has always been a badass, I think she's more confident in this one, she's more decisive. She becomes a leader. Raffe, okay, he's the tough type and while some authors get the whole attitude wrong, Ee did him justice, balancing the tough facade and his real self.

I only wish that after the final battle scene, the ending of the book would have laster a little while longer so I could have said my goodbyes more properly. Oh, and yes your eyes didn't trick you, there is a battle scene and I'm telling you this because it'll make you that much more anxious throughout the book.

[Kai Spellmeier]

“God just spoke to me. He says the End of Days begins now.”

Angelfall & World After are two of my favorite books. I expected an awesome conclusion but End of Days disappointed me to be honest.

Bad things first: The plot went over the top. There is a small line between what seems "realistic" and what does not. Susan Ee unfortunately crossed this line towards the end of the book. Especially the huge talent show bothered me. This was the worst time to hold this kind of event. It seemed ridiculous.
There are far too many unaswered questions and loose ends. I felt like Susan Ee just forgot about them or did not care enough. And some things did not make sense at all.
Through all of this, some of the magic was lost. I just did not have many feelings and emotions while reading it.

Now the good things: Susan Ee is a wonderful author. She writes unique characters who have a lot of potential, especially Penryn. She is far less annoying than any other female protagonist. She just doesn't whine and cry at all. She is kick-ass. Raffe (a mysterious, sexy and sassy warrior angel) is a walking cliché but that doesn't stop me from falling for him. Even more interesting are the many side characters: her sister, her mother and many more.
Another big plus: no unnerving love-triangle!

I liked End of Days but it wasn't enough for the level of awesomeness in books 1 and 2.

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[Whitney Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been over a year and a half since I read the first two books so I was expecting to go into this completely blindly but this book was really helpful in reminding me of previous events! I read the entire thing and never once read a line where I had to go back and think "wait, what?" I love Raffe and Penryn's relationship. I'm a sucker for those superhuman boys matched with normal human girls, I gotta admit. It made me swoon. However, this book (as well as the earlier books...) are a bit frustrating because there's so much angst between them and the entire "we can't be together!!!" trope. it got kind of exhausting after a while, and even a bit useless because there were so many kissing scenes anyway. I love these books because they are just so damn fast paced, and I found myself reading and then checking the page I was on and going "WHOA seriously???" because it just flies by. These are action packed and the writing is so gripping that I read this in practically 3 sittings. My main problem with this is that it just got a little too strange for me. I like these books because there's a layer of darkness and weird sci-fi that you typically don't find in angel/post-apocalyptic books, but in this book it just got a little bit absurd and even a little hard to comprehend/visualize. Additionally, I thought that this wrapped up a little too loose-ended for my taste; I would have preferred a chapter or two at the end just to more fully explain the characters' futures. But overall a very enjoyable series and I love Penryn and Raffe and now i'm on a hunt for a man with wings.

[Chelsea ✨Arielle’s Nebular Ally and Team Acrux✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddy read with all my favorite whores: Harriet, Anna, Jenny, Kat, Sarah, Portia annnnnndddddd yours trulyyyyy!!! (Click for their wonderful reviews)



"It'll be tough for them to take any action while I'm pummeling their faces. Disrespect will not be tolerated."
I half smile at him. "Because you're all about respect."
He sighs as if a little disgusted with himself. "Lately, I seem to be all about you."




Beautiful, mesmerizing, addicting....perfect. It's no secret to anyone that knows me that this is my second favorite series of all time-not even close. I have fangirled about this series to friends and enemies alike, if only to spread a little more of the Raffe love-oh yeah, did I mention he's my number one book guy?? EVER? Yeah, well, most people know that as well. But what most people don't know, seeing as it's my darkest secret, is that I was so terrified I'd hate this book that I almost wasn't excited about it's upcoming release. Yeah. Shocking. But as I picked this story up and began zooming through the story, pages of the book simply evaporated into thin air as if they were never there in the first place-I was a torrential reading storm. It was as if I had never left this world...and maybe I never truly have.


Sometimes, I wish I could take a vacation from myself.


What began as a story about an archangel losing his most coveted possession, his snowy white wings, and a girl taking him 'hostage' to get her sister back became an all out war between the two races. It's almost as if Penryn was meant to run across the de-winging of my beloved Raffe all those days and nights ago. Humans are scared of angels. Angels believe man to be inferior and not worth questioning when told to slaughter them all. That is, until a certain cocky angel gets taken in by a stubborn and determined girl and they are forced to travel together for what they both want most. But what happens when what they want most becomes the one thing they were taught to despise: Each other.



He looks down at me with sincere eyes. "If I were human, I would have been the first in line for you..."


I'd have to say that, even through all the searching and war and battles, this has to be my favorite forbidden love story. And no, there's so much more to this series than an angel bereft of his wings who has 'secretly' fallen for a daughter of man. I realize this. I've processed that. And my conclusion is this: While the story is amazing, unforgettable, and utterly epic, it wouldn't mean half of what it did to me without Penryn and Raffe's unattainable love for one another. They are by far the cutest, sweetest, fiercest enemies I've ever stumbled across, and I highly doubt I'll cross paths with a couple that will ever mean more to me than them....and that's a bold statement on my part: I'm the whore of ships.


He's still scrutinizing my outfit. "Are you wearing men's shorts?"
"I guess so. But they fit."
"Whose are they?"
"Nobody's. I found them in a drawer."
He reaches over and pulls a thread off the frayed leg. It unravels, slowly winding it's way around my thigh and incrementally shortening the already short shorts.
"What would you do if you had to make a run for it?" His voice is husky as he stares, mesmerized, at the unraveling thread.
"I'd grab my shoes and run."
"Dressed like this? In front of lawless men?" His eyes drift up to my midriff.


Every character was beyond wonderful in this story (main characters, let's not be hasty). We got more Paige, some of Penryn's crazy mom (Whom I absolutely adored in this installment), and some wonderful new Watchers. Each character added an intricate layer to the story that made it impossible not to fall harder and, in the end, they even added to Raffryn's (YES, I WENT THERE-WHAT OF IT?) relationship. An amazing love scene is one thing, but added laughter, friendship, awkward instances, family love moments...that all makes it even better. One minute I'm swooning, then two seconds later I'm giggling and squeeing all at once (Keaton avoided me at all costs during this voyage through my beloved Raffe land-I was not to be trifled with as I fangirled openly) and unable to control the RIDICULOUS smile on my face.


The sun is beginning to set, adding a golden glow to the water. Wisps of mist begin creeping over the bay. It should be a peaceful scene, only my blood feels like it's freezing by the second.


I can't sign off of this series without saying something that is very important: Susan Ee is the Queen. Elaborate? Of course, my mistake. She's the Queen of: Writing, characterization, gore, disturbing images, forbidden love, epic battle scenes, epic tormented love.... Need I really go on? This woman is my hero, from her creepy locust thingies that tore my heart out in book one to the creepy monster we see in the finale, no one has ever made me love evil (and now sometimes lovable, thanks to a certain sister) beings more than this author. She made me smile maliciously so many times I swear you could have caught me twirling my metaphorical mustache more than once in each installment. Breathless, heart-pounding, soul-crushing moments are her specialty, and I am in first in line when she serves them up...and no one is likely to take that accomplishment from her in my mind anytime soon (Kagawa is the only one likely on the same playing field, but I refuse to give either of them a step above the other-they're both wonderful, sick, evil beings).


Anyone over my fangirling yet? Too bad.



You don't have to keep reading lol, but this is my final Raffe review and I will not stop before it's all out.



Without his feathered wings, the angels won't accept him. And regardless of what kind of wings he has, humans won't accept him either.
Uriel or someone in his crew once said that angels were made to be part of a pack, but no matter where Raffe goes, he always seems to be the outsider.


The way Raffe protects, takes care of, treats, saves, lives for Penryn shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces. The love he tries to hide so he can save his brethren throughout the series crushed my soul (in the best possible way). And the way he longs for Pen.....it made me so beyond happy I could barely breathe. Nothing compares to his jealousies, his devastation that he can't be with her because it could never be in the world they live in. This installment capitalized on all those wonderful feelings we got from book one and multiplied them into this tragic and epic betrayal of what they both want more than their next breath-I teared up so many times it bordered on crazy. Even after they repeatedly say goodbye, is there a way to make it work?





I could not have loved this more. I don't care about literally any of the flaws, any world-building faux pas my lovely and aggravating friends found to be incriminating, or any of the beyond disturbing and nightmare inducing images. Any flaw is minuscule to the immense enjoyment I found while reading this wonderful, addicting, and, again, UNFORGETTABLE series about a beautiful, tormented, and lonely angel who feels the only person he can trust in the world is the daughter of man who once took him hostage. Nothing compares to the feelings I got while reading this and I will perpetually re-read this series until I know it word for word and scene by scene. I would say, 'Hey, you HAVE to read this,' but everyone and their brother has read it. Dude, my GRANDMOTHER has read this and began this final installment yesterday, like me. What kind of person hasn't? Do you live under a rock?? Bro, step it up! And seriously, Raffe, enough about the farming lol. That won't win Penryn-we don't live in 1950 (or whenever-psh).






For more of my reviews, please visit:











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I BEGIN NOW!!!!!!





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OMG SO PRETTEH!!!!!! AGHHHHHH!!!!!




RAFFEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! I NEED YOU, LIKE, YESTERDAY ♥

[Wendy Darling]

So strange to see this series ending after all these years. I remember when it was a wee indie that could, pressed upon me by friend after friend. How far we've come! Excited to see how Penryn's story ends. (And very glad we don't have to wait for another 3 books to find out!)

[Barbara (VampAngel)]

Dear Susan Ee, would you be interested in a slightly used soul in exchange for this manuscript?

I'm willing to negotiate and sign anything in my own blood if necessary.

Please, let me know.

Thanks!

[Jacqueline's Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 It’s OVER Stars!!!!

End of Days is the conclusion to the Penryn & End of Days series. If you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend you do. First off, this series took 6 years! Yes, the author wrote each book every two years. I have been with the author since book one.

I actually met Susan Ee at a book signing and I had to ask her why it took her so long for each book. She gave me a detailed explanation of her thought process. She told me she had to publish a book she felt 100% good about. She said she has written a whole book and trashed it because it didn’t sit well with her. Isn’t that crazy? I kind of liked it. I liked that she is so passionate about her writing and it’s not about the amount of books she publishes, but how much she loves it and she doesn’t want to let her fans down.

There will be spoilers from the previous books

Penryn and Raffe are the perfect star-crossed lovers. I love YA books because of the subtle sexual tension. There’s zero sex, but the tension is so thick, it’s incredible. Penryn is human and Raffe is an angel. The two can never be together and they understand that. It’s heart breaking sad.

We are soldiers, Penryn. Legendary warriors willing to make legendary sacrifices. We do not ask. We do not choose.

Both of them are on the run. Raffe wants his wings attached to him again and Penryn just wants to survive. She also wants to figure out her confusing situation.

Penryn is dealing with her human eating sister. It’s a crazy storyline and I wouldn’t expect anything less. Raffe and Penryn run into a lot of stuff. This book is jammed pack full of action. The pace and direction of End of Days is completely different from World After. I felt like there was always something going on and I couldn’t get enough. They have to deal with other angels, then the survival of the human race, and oh how about the pits of hell? Yeah. CRAZY.
Penryn and Raffe interact a lot and YAY! So don’t worry, they don’t part often and if they do, it’s not for long. Your heart will be racing throughout the story and you will be gasping for breath until the very end.

You should be with a nice human boy. One who takes your orders and puts up with your demands. Someone who dedicates his life to keeping you safe and well fed. Someone who can make you happy.

Susan will not disappoint you. I did ask Susan if she would write a spin off, she said her next project isn’t a spin off, but she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. Crossing fingers lades!

AN ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

Angelfall - REVIEW | AMAZON $3.99

World After - REVIEW |AMAZON $4.99

End of Days - AMAZON

Susan Ee - >