as a freshly-graduated university student, i’ve been struggling a bit in the last 2-3 weeks trying to figure out how to use my down time before i get stuck right into my postgraduate studies. after seeing snippets of the mortal instruments: city of bones on tv, i was reminded that this series was one that has been on my ‘to read’ list for a long, long time! so, i opened my ebook library and was overwhelmed by the many young adult dark fantasy titles i had stockpiled about 2 years ago. among the novels, there was susan ee’s angelfall, world after, and end of days from the penryn & the end of days trilogy and although i had intended on delving into mortal instruments, i ended up opening angelfall instead.
i marathoned the trilogy so the events in each individual book converges into a long megastory – as such, here are my thoughts on the series as a whole. i have also not written a book review in a fair number of years so please don’t expect any expert critique (though i’m a bit surprised at how comprehensive this ended up being).
i wasn’t being overly careful of spoilers so see under the cut at your own discretion!
✽ the statsseries: penryn & the end of days
#1: angelfall
#2: world after
#3: end of days
author: susan ee
genre(s): fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, romance
year published: 2012-2015
Penryn is trying to survive. Because after the angels came to destroy the modern world there are no rules. Streets are ruled by gangs and angels are hunting for humans. When her sister is kidnapped Penryn will do everything she can to find her even if it means working with the enemy. Everything could happen in this new dangerous world.
✽ the style
the story is told by the protagonist. the voice and words chosen don’t take away from the story itself, which i thought was really good. there are some pieces of literary genius out there with very particular language and i find that with these, it is often hard for me personally to follow the story without getting swept up in sophisticated vocab. these have a charm of their own but i generally don’t feel intellectual enough to comprehend what they are trying to express! the sentences in this series were not overly simplified either and they had enough richness to put me right amongst the characters – a definite strong point in my books!
in terms of imagery, susan is really skilled at painting detailed nightmarish images of the scenes without going into describing the exact height of each blade of grass or the exact colour of the crumbling buildings. i think this is owed largely to how she positions the narrator and describes how the narrator experiences the events, how she feels in the events rather than how she sees it or how the birds in the trees perceive it. i felt as though i was jumping right into the main character’s shoes.
one thing i liked was the balance of comedy and horror. it was a really great contrast and pulled off really well.
the titles were relevant and followed the progression of the trilogy. i also really liked the covers and the symbolism the different wings had in each of the books.
✽ the characterswithout making her too OP with her mad martial arts and combat skills, susan has crafted penryn into a perfect personification of the themes she is going for. she is foulmouthed and flawed and struggles with her own inner demons throughout the series. i found most of her decisions believable and justified. in the apocalyptic, horror-filled dystopia, she is not daft but nor is she unafraid. i liked her character a lot.
“We now play a permanent game of I-am-crazier-and-scarier-than-you. And in that game, my mother is our secret weapon.” – Angelfall
i think her family members (her wheelchair-bound kid sister and mother who seems to survive against all odds in her craziness) were well-developed characters. her sister did not miraculously recover and had to deal with her own adversities; at the same time, she was not helpless and very unlike a damsel-in-distress. her mother did some wild incomprehensible things but she was a really strong character. there were never any guarantees of a happy ending and despite how dark that was, i liked the reality of it rather than being fed sugar-coated fanservice. i also liked that they remain very important characters that stayed in the foreground of the series, that the theme of family and togetherness carried through. while penryn did waver from time to time, she never forgot her values and did not let herself blindly target her love interest.
the love interest, raffe, is your typical handsome “bad boy” type minus the excessively brooding bit that typically comes in a combo deal with the beautiful man face in young adult novels. he is valiant and funny and complicated and easy to like. despite all the developments in the story with his character, i never really dislike him but that may also have something to do with the the slightest hint that that’s totally my type of man..
✽ the universe
susan painted a beautiful apocalypse in this series. the premise that it was the legion of angels (typically associated with white purity, the heavens and goodness) that had descended and wrecked havok rather than the demons that are the vision of darkness and evil was a great contradiction(?) that attracted me in the first place.
“Even in your Bible, we’re harbingers of doom, willing and able to destroy entire cities. Just because we sometimes warned one or two of you beforehand doesn’t make us altruistic.” – Angelfall
i also enjoy the way the fantasy elements are brought into an otherwise canon modern human world!
✽ the storythe plot kept me on edge and susan did not leave any time for the reader to feel at ease. it was really fast-paced and the twists were back-to-back. i mean, if i had a penny for every time i read: “what i saw next, i would never be able to blot out of my mind again”, i’d have enough to feed 3 generations of my family! not to complain though because her ability to somehow keep making upward steps in the magnitude of horror is something i quite admire. and honestly, i don’t think what i read will really ever leave my mind either, goodness gracious.
“My dad once told me life would get complicated when I grew up. I’m guessing this isn’t what he meant. My mom, on the other hand, agreed with him, and I’m guessing this kind of thing is exactly what she meant.” – World After
the angel politics and their agenda and a human resistance really paved a clear story and the goals of all parties was clear and unambiguous. i didn’t feel left behind.
there were key climaxes in each of the novels and i was never bored sitting in wait of the next big fight. in fact, i was itchy for the next big scene since the build-up to the next big event began no later than the close of the previous one! this makes for a series you (or at least, i definitely) couldn’t put down!
✽ the bottom linethe penryn & the end of days world is complex and the story is complete with a strong female lead, a compelling and moving story and a delicious side dish of romance.
to be fair, i should’ve anticipated something from the very beginning but in light of the comedic exchanges, i was not prepared for straight-up body horror. definitely not for the faint-hearted or weak-stomached but definitely a must-read for dark fantasy enthusiasts who may have enjoyed something like rachel vincent’s shifters series (one of my personal favourites!!)
all in all, there were some really key themes in this series. of note, the theme of humanity. of humans coming together despite the chaos and nightmares to laugh and sing and fight, and it really brought home the togetherness of humans as a species and race. that this is what life is about and what makes us all so painfully and beautifully human.
“I never thought about it before, but I’m proud to be human. We’re ever so flawed. We’re frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I’m proud to be a Daughter of Man.” – Angelfall
Share this:
