World After by Susan Ee

If I would have read this book when if first came out a little more than a month ago, WORLD AFTER could have easily been my favorite Young Adult book of 2013 (along with the first book of the series). That being said, even if it's still early in the year, it will probably be at the top of my YA books of 2014. It's a great way to start the year that's for sure, and couldn't ask for a better book to kick off 2014.  The story is wickedly interesting, totally brilliant. I'm glad it's a direct continuation of book one and as one book flows into the other, the stories simply merge into an epic series.

"Rising from the dead" after being stung and paralyzed by an Angel-scorpion-abomination, Penryn, her sister that looks like a lab experiment gone wrong, and her crazy mother are given the cold shoulder by pretty much every member of the Resistance, a group they had more or less became friendly with in the previous book. Not knowing who to depend on, Penryn in still the rational teenager we met in book one and every little detail about her actions are well thought out.  At least at first. When her sister runs away from the Resistance camp after a bloody incident, her desperation becomes evident which makes her take more and more risks, despite her sister looking like a stitched up doll. Her ever crazy mother makes the search cumbersome but Penryn is so dedicated to her family that she does everything to keep them all alive.

Her sister isn't the only person she's looking for. Secretly she wishes to also reunite with her angel ally, Raffe. Now that she is the possessor of Raffe's angel sword, she forms a bond with it and in turn the sentient sword shows her glimpses of Raffe's life through dreams and feelings. As we learn more and more about Raffe, it confirms that he's unlike the other angels. While many angels long for the apocalypse, Raffe's conscience makes him doubt his brethren and the bond he forms with Penryn is something he thought would never happen to him. He was taught that having feelings for a Daughter of Man is sinful and against the rules, but it's like something invisible draws them constantly together.

The scenes with Penryn and Raffe together make this book complete. Raffe's sarcastic comments and their undeniable bond makes this book so much more interesting, it's almost sinful to read their impossible relationship. You might expect a book about angels to be all about doing good and shinny things but WORLD AFTER is exactly that: the world after the invasions of the angels. These angels aren't friendly. In fact they are brutal, some are insane, and one might even say some are evil. Their enthusiasm for the apocalypse and the end of human kind makes you shiver and rethink your definition of angel.

Despite all the awful things these angels are doing to earth and humankind, it's the perseverance of humans and their fight for freedom that shines through. Imprisoned, some humans seem passive and seem to accept their faiths but deep down, humanity's desire to survive guide many of their actions. Humanity is strange and difficult  to write about but I think Susan Ee has done an excellent job in describing it in her version of the end of the world. Perseverance is the key message to this book and I think it's something we all need to read about, from time to time. I can't get enough of this series and I really hope the series continue to inspire us with the goodness of humanity.

Posted by Tynga at 02:00

 angels, Dystopian, Paranormal, Penryn and the End of Days, Post-Apocalypse, Purchased, Review, Skyscape, Susan Ee, YA  3 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

Follow Tynga on: Facebook | Twitter