Book Review: World After by Susan Ee

Title: World After (Penryn and the End of Days #2)

Author: Susan Ee

Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Romance

Pages: 320

Published: November 19th, 2013

Summary: When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he

choose? - Goodreads

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Review: (Spoiler-free)

My expectations for this book wasn't all that high - the first book in the series, Angelfall, was great but somewhere I had read that the sequel wasn't. More of same, I had heard.

But no. Fast-paced and intriguing, I ravaged through this sequel in less than two days. So good! If you haven't read this series yet, I'm telling you, it's about time you pick it up. Despite its quirky and ironic sense of humor - most entertaining - it has a dark and creepy side to it as well and doesn't sugar-coat. At times it made me want to crawl under my pillow and hide. Loved it!

Penryn is a great protagonist to read about, because even though she's both brave and a fighter, she doesn't consider herself a hero - she does what she has to do to keep her family safe, but she isn't trying to save the world. To me, that's refreshing, and I liked her from the start. But in general I would like to properly praise Ee's characters. They have both depth, humor and feels like real individuals, and so reading about them is effortless.

I think this series is different from others in the same genre because it has an easy way of handling the horrible hurting and darkness the characters face. The book is indeed darker than most YA dystopias, and yet it feels lighter and is funny to read. Penryn, all of them, have to move forward and fight, and that's what Ee focuses on.

"The only thing that matters in the end is your own survival. It's what humans and cockroaches are best at."

Susan Ee really knows how to draw you in. What I would have wanted more of in this book is Raffe. Even though he was present, I wish Ee would have given us even more of him. I hope (and believe) he will be more present in the next and last book, End of Days, which is already out. I'm gonna try to get my hands on it as soon as possible.

Other books in the series: (Goodreads links)
1. Angelfall
2. World After
3. End of Days

Have you read this book? What did you think? :)