I
did a giveaway for the release of End ofDays by Susan Ee a few weeks back if you remember as I talked about the premise
of the book and how excited I was for the conclusion of this trilogy. My previous book talk can be found here. I have now read it and I am dying to share my
thoughts with you all. I’m going to do a
brief talk about the book without any spoilers for End of Days, but as it’s the final book in the series it will have
spoilers for the first two books for obvious reasons. Then I’ll move to a spoilery section. But don’t worry I will warn you before I get
there so if you haven’t read it yet you can skip to the comments. If you haven’t read any books in the series
yet, GO DO THAT ASAP they are amazing.
If you read further the first two books will be spoiled for you so if
you don’t want that skip on down to the comments and share why you haven’t
started them yet.
For
the first non-spoilery side of things End
of Days picks up where we left off in World
After with Penryn and Raffe sailing through the air away from their latest
fight w/ her sister and a few of those locust things with them. No time loss at all we are right back to
it. They are on the run and are
desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes that were put on
both Raffe and Paige. New things come to
light about Raffe’s past, things that could threaten them all. Add that to the angels releasing their
apocalyptic nightmare on the humans and both sides are headed to a full out
war. Sides are chosen. Strategies formed. The fate of Earth hangs in the balance and a
choice made. When the time comes Raffe
and Penryn are forced to choose between their own kind, or each other.
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| Pooky Bear! |
There
is so much going on and tensions are rising both on a personal level and
between the ragging war there is never a dull moment. I know all through the first two books I
could feel the tension between Raffe and Penryn. I wanted something to happen but at the same
time it’s clear he is an Archangel and she is a Daughter of Man, that would
cause him to fall just like his Watchers did.
So huge conflict there. Plus the whole human vs. angel war going on,
it was star crossed in that way. It was
all from Penryn's POV so we knew her conflicted emotions on the whole mess and
I liked being in her head and seeing how equally rational and emotional she
was. She tried to keep things in check
and focus on the big picture but the heart is a different beast and doesn't
always listen to the head.
From
the previous two books we know there is a war coming and both humans and angels
have some things up their sleeves. The
human resistance is fighting tooth and nail to stay alive and find some way to
rid the world of angels, while the angels are superior beings and are from
Uriel we know he has been creating monsters to bring about his own
apocalypse. We have been along with
Penryn the whole time and Raffe has been with her through the vast majority of
their story and even as they are on opposite sides in End of Days we see from Penryn more understanding of the angel
perspective which really balances it out.
That's
about all I can say without giving away any spoilers to End of Days. So if you
haven't finished the series yet then you should leave now and skip to the
bottom to the comments to tell me what you think of the series thus far and
what your hope for a satisfying conclusion of the trilogy is?
*****SPOILERS BELOW*****
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| How I imagine his Angel wings just a tad bit shorter ;) |
You've
been warned. Okay so can we just take a
moment to appreciate the way everything came together. I was worried towards the end at first
thinking how much was still left unresolved and how much I had left in the
book. I was concerned things would be
rushed or skipped over. That was
thankfully not the case in my opinion.
It didn't drag at all but just kept moving hit after hit. I know Penryn was ready for a long nap at the
end of this.
The
way everything was resolved…I was satisfied.
I enjoyed the way things turned out. I felt that everything was well thought out
and explained just enough to give us closure but also didn't bog us down with
specific details so we as the readers could see use our own imaginations. I admitted I hadn't figured out how the story
would work out/resolve at the beginning but I had it pieced together about
50%-75% through. I could see the pieces
falling into place.
Still
though some parts I didn't see coming. I
really enjoyed the overall turn of things. I figured we would learn more about
Raffe's Watchers, since their past with Daughters of Man would play a part in
the forbidden romance between himself and Penryn but I wasn't expecting what
happened. I liked getting to meet them
and have more of a back story for Raffe and his Watchers. The way they interacted around one another,
the camaraderie between them. It was
great to see that side of Raffe to, since he has been on his own among the
angels since we meet him.
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| Beautiful Matching Covers! |
We
get to know many of the characters better in this final installment. I even almost felt bad for Beliel. Almost and I never thought that could be
possible. Paige grows more and she grows
into who she is now and is able to help instead of being the helpless one in
need of saving, which I really liked seeing.
We also get more from their mother who has been a bit of a mystery since
the first book, unsure if she's certifiable or the smartest of them all. I still think the answer is 50/50 depending
on the moment. Dee and Dum, oh I love
them. They remind me a bit of the Weasley
twins able to find the comedy and the revenue in any situation. Given the seriousness of the plot there was a
surprising amount of comedic relief that is sprinkled subtly throughout to help
lighten the mood.
I
also LOVED the final battle scene. It
was on point and I could envision it in my head. The teaming up and fighting together. Filling in the blind spots for one
another. That the humans stood up and
came together for a final battle gave me hope for humanity in the book, which
is the whole point worth fighting for.
After seeing the Pit and what could become…yep it was worth risking
everything to prevent that.
My
one negative which isn't even a negative but just my curious mind wishing I had
a solid answer to one question I had been mulling over since book one. The Watchers fell because they married
Daughters of Man and had babies. Well
what if they just lived among them and loved them but didn't marry and they
never had kids? Would that had been
okay? It says they are leery of crossing
the line and sleeping with humans, hence Uriel tempting them, but as things
went on it became unclear if it was doing the deed or mixing the bloodlines
that was forbidden. I was just curious
because that had been my loophole theory while waiting for End of Days. Live in sin and
don't make babies lol. I also had been
tossing around the idea that Penryn had some type of special thing about her,
like angel blood in her or something which would explain why her mom was a bit
crazy on point sometimes but also maybe a loophole. Hey I reaching for anything really.
*****END OF SPOILERS*****
End of Days was a spectacular ending to
the Penryn and the End of Days
series. Susan Ee managed to give us
everything so beautifully and bring us a different take on things. I enjoyed each book but I admit that End of Days was my favorite. It left me satisfied and happy in a way only
a well written ending can. I doubt there
is any question on my rating but just in case I give it 5 Angel Swords!
Rating: 5 Angel Swords
