Book Review: End Of Days by Susan EE

Hi readers,

I have a confession to make; I've not been able to finish reading this! I'm about halfway and though I'm enjoying it, just I've been super busy doing other things. I've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work covering for people and also I started volunteering on reception. I have been writing stories for my blog like a desperate mad person. But my biggest news of all is that I've been filling out an application form for a new job and it's taken me about two weeks to be almost at completing it. I have also been doing some sewing as practice for activities to run at the youth centre and mother's day presents. That'll all be in my life update post next week now. In addition, I have a cold and a crazy sleep pattern. So yeah, with all that I'm not surprised that I didn't get to finish End Of Days.

I realise that talking about it is going to be much harder, but if I make a start, I can do a part 2 later once I've finished - maybe or else just included my finally thoughts in a life update post. So, it looks like this post is going to be very short!

The plot so far has been that Penryn and Raffe have found Paige. She has made a connection with the locusts and they are like her pets now. Though, she is also attached to Beliel and so they all end up escaping together. Finding safety on a island, Penryn discovers Raffe's worried about an possible attack from her sister - who is slowly staving and struggling to stay herself. Penryn also gets to see how attracted Raffe is to her when they have a soft bedroom scene! Of course then it all goes back to them not being able to be together and trying to keep their growing love inside. I still want to see what happened here!

Penryn then discovers a new power that her sword, Pooky Bear, has and she is able to see Beliel's memories and we learn that he is not who we thought he was and that Raffe's past keeps getting darker. Then they have to flee the island as some demon dog, bat creatures called Hellions escape and set about hunting them. They make it back to the camp and meet the Doc from before, who is very interested in Paige, but could also be Raffe's chance to get his wings back. Of course that doesn't go to plan and Raffe leaves to find an angel doctor. Penryn is then captured and taken to the angels, because they have a bounty on her head for her killing an angel in the previous book. Thankfully, Raffe comes to save her, but now they need to raise support for him to become the Messenger. Currently, they have traveled to The Pit to meet up with Raffe's solider who got sent down for being with human woman.

I can kind of predicated where things might be going but I'm going to read further to see! It's still fast paced, though not as event after event as the first book, but that isn't no longer needed, because the plot is strong enough to carry through without the need for all the then this happened pathways. I still have no idea why the angels started the war on Earth and telling apart the lies and truths is also tricky. But I'm glad of the mystery though!

Penryn hasn't developed that much and the sword is still doing most of the fighting. I feel there's a lot more focus on the angels this time around now since it's coming to the end. Penryn still has moments of acting like a total teenage girl - guess that's understandable, but for me she's never come across like that- but it's nothing wincey. I think I was hoping she'd mature and be able to face things with Raffe. In my head, I'm still trying to read this as an adult novel.

I still really like Raffe, though he's become less sarcastic and funny. Not a bad thing though due to everything he'd got to deal with. I kind of what him to become the messenger and sort things out. But maybe there's going to be a big twist and something else will happen? I so need to go and read more now!

Have you read this trilogy? What did you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
Also don't forget to check out my other blog: https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

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Book Review: World After By Susan EE

Hi readers,

Once again, I'm pre-writing this post because I finished this book so fast and now I need to move on to the third, so I've got to get this one out of my head before I do. If you've not read my last post about the first book then please do, because this one follows straight on and I want to avoid repeating myself.

So, the second novel opens with Penryn seemingly died but back with her family and the Resistance. Of course, she turns out to be okay, but her sister Paige isn't. She's become some kind of monster doll and she ends up running away from the Resistance camp after an incident. Penryn, her mother and the woman she escaped from the angels at the end of the first book, set out to find Paige.

They track her to Alcatraz, where they find that people are being kept for experiments by the angels. Penryn escapes and manages to get herself to the new angel hang out. There she sees Raffe. Which is great because they both think each other is dead. Then a fight breaks out and they are forced to flee over the ocean. They take shelter in a house and have a catch up, before heading out to find Paige. They find her at the angel hang out, save her and all leave together, though the ending is very open.

Also, Penryn's connects to Raffe's sword and she begins to have dreams/visions which turn out to be the sword's memories. We learn a lot about Raffe from these scenes and it's a useful way to give the reader information without having to rehash things or have he characters talking it over. The sword also teaches her how to fight, which is interesting and does work. There's also some funny moments with the sword's name that had me bursting into laughter too.

We get a little more insight into the angels and what they are up to, though it's still no clear why they came to Earth and destroyed it. They are determined to take it over though and this can be seen in the angel hang out scenes. There's still the focus on the dystopia world and the breaking down of humanity, though this does take a bit more of  back seat then from before due to there being a lot of action in this book.

I found once again that the characters all developed well. Penryn and Raffe are falling for each other though and the scene with them eating peanut butter really brought this home to me. I know why there has to be romance, but my problem is I know they can't be together. Raffe really knows it too and I think it'd be interesting to see how they overcome this in the third book. Raffe is my favorite character though, a love his wit and his determination. He's the good guy who wants to set everything right even though everyone is standing against him. I really wish we could learn more about him and it'd be good to hear his side of things.

Penryn's mother is still out of her mind and somehow managing to survive through everything and track her daughters -though how she does this is revealed and we get to learn more about the before her and her husband. As for Paige, I feel sorry for her and what has happened. She's never going back to normal now and I don't think she's going to have a better life either. It feels like she's gone from one disability to another in away, but it sort of reflects how people can see others with disabilities and how we need to stop judging them.    

To be honest I'm also enjoying the sword as a character. I know that's a bit weird, but I have this thing about sentient weapons. I guess it comes from my interest in fantasy and magic. Plus, it's slightly different too and just adds another layer to the novel.

The pacing of this book was very much like the first one, though I didn't think it rushed from event to event as much. I found parts were it slowed down and there was moments of reflection, but these worked well and were needed by the characters. Like I said at the start, I did really rip through this book because it's just so easy to read. Of course that leaves me wondering that if it was rewrote with an adult audience in mind and the characters being older, how would it turn out? There'd need to be more description of the settings and characters, more time would be needed looking at the relationships too and Penryn and Raffe would possibly have to get together.

I did really enjoy reading this and I just hope that the third one is as good or better. I want to find out more about Raffe and the main angels. What's going to happen to Penryn and her family? Will she get with Raffe nor not? And will the world start to be put right? Looks like there's lots more to find out. I also saw on someone else's review that there is actually going to be five books. It said that Susan EE had posted it on her blog, but I didn't actually find the post and no one else seems to be stating that. So, I'm not sure. It is possible for later this year though, so have to keep my eyes out.

I'd recommend this book to teenagers and twenty-somethings because that's audience whom the books are aimed at and they'll get the most out of them. I think adults might find it not engaging enough, but if you are looking for a quick easy read then I'd say go for it. And now I'm off to start reading the third book and I'll be back next Monday with the review!

Please check out my other blog;  https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/ for a new short story every day and feel free to follow me. Thanks for reading.

Image from: Goodreads

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan EE

Hi readers,

I fancied something different to read and though I had lots of books to choose from, when I was out shopping with my best friend two Fridays ago, she spotted this book and recommended it to me. She is a massive reader like myself and we both have almost the same taste in books. I was little worried it being a YA dystopia novel that I wouldn't like it that much as every other book at the moment seems to be that! 

I really enjoyed it though and have gotten the other two books -as it's a trilogy- and now plan to read and review those for the last two Mondays of February. Angelfall is set in the aftermath of an apocalypse by angels and tells the story of Penryn trying to find her disabled seven year old sister and her crazy mother. She ends up saving an angel from death and getting him to help her. Raffe has dark secrets of his own though and things really don't look great for him at the end of the book. Nor for Penryn, her sister or mother either.

The pace of this novel is really fast and that's the real reason why I got into it quickly and struggled to put it down. There is no real slow/stopping points and there is always 'something is going to go wrong' moments that just keep you on your toes. Even though it was one thing after another or very goal/obstacle/goal patternized, it was written very well and with nice little details. I can only hope the other two books are the same because they look bigger and I now have a time scale to keep! Also, and typical of YA novels aimed at girls, Penryn is the narrator, so everything comes from her point of view.    

The characters are well written and do seem realistic. Though Penryn is too well set up to fight to my liking. Her mother made her take fighting/self-defensive lessons, which then do come in use for Penryn escaping and rescuing people, though she does struggle to hold her own sometimes. There was also a scene at the end of the book where I did question how much Penryn could actually see from her line of sight, because it seemed a lot more then she should have been able too. 

Raffe - without spoiling anything- I found to be fascinating character and I always wondered if he was like a different/special angel just because of his behavior. The twists with him are really good and I didn't see those coming really. Be interesting to see where his story goes in the next book. I didn't feel that the angels came across as being like new or different, they just felt typical. Perhaps, things will be explored more in the other books, but for me I'm just happy that they are what I'm use to really. 

Penryn's mother is a schizophrenic. She has visions and believes in demons ect and comes across as being out of her mind most of the time. However, she still has strong motherly instincts towards her daughters and does try to help throughout the novel. I found her to be a very different character from what I was expecting and I image that she might have been a challenge to write. I like the idea that she had issues before the apocalypse and that having to survive in a dystopia world has made her worse. 

The settings in this novel come across really well even though we don't spend a lot of time in one place. The description of the destruction worked well for me and I was able to picture a great deal in my mind. Also, I guess because of my fascination with abandoned places these destroyed- semi-abandon settings really appeal to me. I also liked the fact that the timeline was like 6 months after the angels invaded and everything was still in the aftershock of it. So, unlike some other dystopia novels people haven't had time to set up new societies and leaders yet, meaning that everyone is slipping back to a caveman like life style, which is interesting. 

Overall, I'd so recommend this book to everyone because I do think it's very good. Of course, if you are a fan of The Hungry Games then you might like it, but it doesn't really flow in that same vein and I actually found it better and more to my liking. On to the next one! 

  

Image from: Goodreads