Author: Susan Ee (Page 2 of 2)

BOOK REVIEW – Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee

BOOK REVIEW – Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan EeAngelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1)
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with Raffe, an injured enemy angel. Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco, where Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Re-read with my buddies Kristin (KC), Jennifer, Natalie, and Sarah

Raffe was even better the second time around-this book has not left my thoughts since I finished it a month and a half ago. Well-written, fast-paced, and swoony as all get out, I could not be happier with this story and I am proud to say that it has earned
5 stars
in my eyes. It deserves it.

Thanks for taking a chance on this guys 🙂

Officially one of my favorite books of all time. ♥

4.25 Stars 5 AMAZING STARS

This was a hard book to rate-it took me forever to decide what amount of stars to forever attach to this story. I repeatedly make the mistake of reading reviews over and over again until I get a chance to sink my claws into the story. It’s no secret that this book is well-liked among the GR community. Now, I get the hype, I actually get it for this one. For real.

There was just a point in the middle where it lost some of it’s…let’s say sparkle, because they were at one place for an extended period of time (in this story, anything more than a day is too long based on what they seek). The beginning seeped action with pure malice right at the starting gate. Nothing good can come from your sister being abducted by the things that started the apocalypse-the end of your world as you know it, right? So, sooo right. More than you can know.

Penryn is attempting to survive with her handicapped sister and, I’m sorry, crazy mother in a world where the gangs rule the daytime and creatures that even the gangs fear rule the night. Talk about a win/win situation. Then, on the fateful night that her sister is taken, she sees an angel being attacked by his own kind-and quite frankly, holding his own. But when things take a turn for the worst, the angel’s wings get cut from his back and Penryn has a decision to make: help the angel, or keep running. Let’s just say her decision pisses off a particularly vengeful angel, thus leading to the abduction of her kid sister.

Raffe was such a fun character to read about. Strong, lightweight (literally, lol), fierce, loyal, and passionate. He is so many things wrapped into a neat, angel-sized package, with more to give than we even realize. I always love that story where the supernatural being pushes the human girl away, only for us to realize or think he is bluffing. I’m not saying either way, I just love the dynamic of it all. It’s that love story you are dying to see unfold, because it isn’t just handed to you on a silver platter. We have to work to get what we want, and all the while we grow fonder and fonder of the characters and their struggle to survive.

More than anything, though, this book had humor laced into each chapter. I love dystopian-but add some humor to the main characters or the situation and I LOVE dystopian. Yes! There IS a difference. Raffe honestly cracked me up with his half smirks when he thought she wasn’t looking and the eye-rolling when she was just trying to help. At one point I laughed out loud because I could just see this clumbsy scene unfold where a tiny human girl is trying to help a strong angel out of a tense situation. That’s about as comical as it can get. Even when Raffe is hurt, he has the whole “mouth twitch” thing going on. Thank God for small favors in this morbid society.

“In the long second before everyone absorbs what just happened, I see the angel rolling his eyes heavenward, like a teenager in the presence of overwhelming lameness. Some people just have no sense of gratitude.”

With so much happening throughout the story, I thought it had gotten about as gross as it could get in the woods. *Cue Cady from Mean Girls* Wrong. So Wrong. There is a point near the end when I literally was so disgusted with what was unfolding before my eyes, that I had to put the book down and digest just what I was reading. I didn’t think the author would go there…but she did. Full-force. It got weird, people. Beyond disturbing. So kudos on that, because I devoured that whole sequence.

It takes a good author to slow my roll as I read, and Susan Ee is a DAMN good author. I was shaking with anticipation and dread in the final chapters, I couldn’t put the book down, I couldn’t read fast enough nor could I read slow enough, and I just had no idea what direction she would take. Needless to say, I loved the direction she took. So again, I am faced with yet ANOTHER cliffhanger and ANOTHER long wait until the next installment comes out. Haven’t I been punished enough? Can’t something be released early for my wounded reading soul? Apparently not. Now, we wait.

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
angelfall susan ee
Angelfall #1
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
Laura
Anna
world after susan ee
World After #2
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
end of days susan ee
End of Days #3
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

BOOK REVIEW – World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan EeWorld After (Penryn & the End of Days #2)
by Susan Ee
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

*5 I Cringed So Many Times I Lost Count Stars*

The broken glass reflects the light from the sky like a carpet of flickering fireflies that stretches out as far as I can see. It’s so unexpectedly beautiful that I pause to look at it. How can something so wondrous come out of such devastation?

It’s no secret that I fell in love with the first book, Angelfall. It was shocking, action-packed, and full of undiscovered romance….and to top it all off, the male character took my breath away more than once. Yes, Angelfall was my favorite book of 2013 and only one other series has come close, so World After had a lot to live up to, in my eyes. And while I didn’t love it as much as the first, I still loved it wholeheartedly and read it so fast that my eyes still hurt.

It’s amazing how many times we have to go against our survival instincts to survive.

After that crazy ending from book one, we were left to starve for more…anything-anything at all that would satiate the hunger resulting from our undying love for Raffe and his not-so-surpring concern for Penryn. Here we are, months, years, eons later after waiting for WA’s arrival….and Raffe isn’t present. I can’t say that I didn’t miss his presence throughout the book. He and Penryn’s witty banter is so lighthearted and fun, adding a softness to an otherwise harsh reality, and you can notice his absence like a cold metal rod through your stomach.

That first moment of falling feels like slow-mo, where every sensation is amplified. A sheer knee-jerk survival reaction makes me flail and grab the first thing I can.

What I love most about Susan Ee, though, is her innovative style of writing that gives us just enough of ‘Raffe’ that we hardly…er…well…we don’t miss him as much as we could have had she not found a way to sneakily insert him into the story. As most of you probably remember, Penryn has Raffe’s sword. Raffe’s sword has an attachment to it’s owner that keeps his memories, or rather it’s memories, alive within the sword. And this is why I love Susan Ee so much-she found a way to essentially put Raffe’s POV and feelings into WA without actually dubbing special chapters or breaks in the story to do so. The fact that Penryn is now the only one who can wield Raffe’s sword was a big boost to the story that kept me (mostly) happy until we got to see the actual living form of Raffe himself.

When he looks at me, it’s the look of someone noticing a person for the first time, proving yet again that an angel’s arrogance knows no bounds. Which, now that I think about it, increases the likelihood that this is Raffe.

As I had mentioned above, the shock factor came full force in book one, but the after-effects continuing forth as a result of what all we learned is almost as eye-opening as before. Grotesque truths are revealed and built upon, uncertainty and shame cause shunning of more than one being, causing heartache I didn’t believe was possible, and we begin to see how much worse the world will get before…well we don’t know if it can get better.

I’m no great white but all this knife stabbing and slashing is reminding me of Mom and her victims. For once, I’m okay with the similarities. For once, I hold onto her craziness for strength. Sometimes, I just have to let go and let my inner Mom out.

Penryn is such an amazing herione. She continues to grow as a person, realizing that even as she strives to defend her new and improved sister, that this is a demon she also has to overcome. How can you defend something that you are uncertain and scared of yourself? And despite her strong resistance to the angel race, she can’t stop thinking about the one angel that aggravates her most…yet makes her giddy and want to live out fantasies that could never be possible.

He sprawls on the sand, quietly laughing. His laugh is weak and in need of air but it may still be the greatest sound I’ve ever heard. It’s full of warmth and genuine mirth, as only a living, breathing-um-person can have.

And Raffe-the beautiful, sculpted, protective, and loyal, Raffe. I love his strong personality so much-his trust in Penryn only added to his strength and caused me to melt into my shoes. Raffe’s fierce persona and hard exterior soften when he’s around Penryn, making him one of my favorite, most irresistable book guys-ever. He shines above so many male leads because he just cares so much, even when it’s taboo to do so-he would do anything to protect this fragile human girl who he just doesn’t understand…but he’d die trying to.

Raffe puts his hand on my forehead. “You humans are so fragile. If time doesn’t kill you off, it’s germs or sharks or hypothermia.” “Or blood-crazed angels.” He shakes his head. “One minute you’re fine, the next minute you’re gone forever.” He stares broodily into the flickering fire.

Even as I write this review I realize just how much I adored this story, minimal Raffe or not. Every character has so much to give, lose, gain, and it doesn’t effect the intensity of what they’re willing to do to save one another. Raffe and Penryn want to be together so much, but how could it ever work? The sexual tension was through the roof, and I found myself giggling more than once at Raffe’s not-so-subtle attempts to thwart the desire that was building in the room. I really do hope for the best between these two, and even more than that, I hope they get to be together with her family intact, because I don’t know if Penryn would ever truly be happy separated from the only people she had in the world for so long. So, now I will eagerly await the release of book three, ready for whatever Susan has in store for us-I just hope I can handle it.

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
angelfall susan ee
Angelfall #1
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
Laura
Anna
world after susan ee
World After #2
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
end of days susan ee
End of Days #3
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
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