World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee (Releases Nov. 19, 2013)

Synopsis: 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?

Review: Overall I enjoyed the novel and found it engaging almost the entire time, though it wasn’t until the third act that it reached unputdownable territory. Though it’s clearly not the only dystopian novel out there, I enjoy the balance with supernatural elements and creatures. I like that I can become completely immersed in this gritty world suddenly turned upside down where we see beings (human or otherwise) at their best and their worst. Though it’s considered a young-adult novel, I think it’s just as gritty as an adult novel which adds to its appeal.

I found it thought-provoking often, wondering many times what I’d do in Penryn’s shoes. For a seventeen-year-old, she’s had to grow up so fast and while she makes a few dumb decisions, she also makes a lot of good ones and I was really rooting her for and her sister, Paige. I even found myself liking Penryn’s nutty mom. I feel like she’s just crazy enough to survive this thing. But Paige. Ugh, I spent most of the book just wanting to hug her. Her ordeal is completely heart-wrenching and I had a very tough time reading about it. We learn how she becomes what she is now, a twisted, patched up, razor-toothed experiment gone totally wrong…or maybe totally right? All I know is she’s seven and it’s just not fair. But I do appreciate that there may be a sense of destiny about the character which would make her even more multidimensional than being a sympathy magnet.

You’re probably wondering why I haven’t really said much about Raffe. You know, Raphael, the Great Archangel, the Wrath of God, and more importantly for the fans, Penryn’s unexpected but very yummy main squeeze. He’s definitely our favorite archangel. Well, unfortunately there’s not much to tell this time. About half his significance in the book is through flashbacks of what we already knew. When they finally do meet up their chemistry and banter are a lot of fun, but I would have liked more of it and sooner.

Aside from that I had a couple more gripes with the entry. For one, the end didn’t feel complete enough. I wouldn’t quite call it a cliffhanger but it honestly just stops. I prefer when books wind down in the last chapter or at least provide an epilogue. My next issue would be the length. This novel is not very long at all. While I don’t have page numbers to reference, I can’t imagine it being over 300 pages. So why does this book have 75 chapters? Unless you’re busting out 1,500+ pages novels like George R. R. Martin or something, it’s completely superfluous. And since most of the scenes flow into the next one if anything it affected the pace a little. I honestly don’t see why this would need more than 30. I just finished it and yet I couldn’t tell you a standout chapter if my life depended on it.

But yes, my issues aside, I thought it was a very entertaining read and I’m looking forward to the next one. I also recently learned that this series will be adapted into a movie. I definitely think it’s a good call because that’s all I could think about while reading it, how cool it’d be on the big screen. But how often do movies live up to expectations?

If you’re a fan, you won’t want to miss it, but you might want to re-read Angelfall to give yourself a bit of a refresher.

*ARC provided by the publisher.