Book Review: World After

Title: World After

Author: Susan Ee

Genre: YA dystopian/Urban fantasy

Review:

I loved the first book, Angelfall, to death. I mean, it took me a few chapters to really get into the book, but once I was in, I was hooked. Susan Ee did not disappoint with book two in this 5-book series titled Penryn & The End of Days. Sure, some scenes in the book seemed like a stretch, but hey, I finished World After all in one day, so that should be saying something :-)

Okay, let's start off with our main character Penryn, shall we? She's exactly the same as I remember her from Angelfall, which is to say sarcastic and pretty awesome. I love her narration and some of her observations of the world around her makes me crack up. Plus I love the twins, Dee and Dum because they totally crack me up as well....here's a quote just to prove my point:

“I'm gonna be sick," I said
"I'm ordering you not to," says Obi.
"Ah, don't say that," says Dee-Dum. "She's a born rebel. She'll puke just to make a point.” 

Another aspect I really liked about this novel was Penryn's interactions with an angel-sword which she jokingly names Pooky Bear. At first I was a little bit skeptical of a sword having feelings--and yes, I literally mean the sword had feelings and thoughts of its own. But I just kind of went with the flow and even got a few laughs out of Pooky Bear the sword.  Here's a little conversation Penryn has with Raffe, the original owner of the sword:

“He glares at me as if he already hates it. “What is it?”

 I consider lying but what’s the point? I clear my throat. “Pooky Bear"

He’s silent for so long I’m beginning to think he didn’t hear me when he finally says, “Pooky. Bear.”

 “It was just a little joke. I didn’t know.” 
“I’ve mentioned that names have power, right? Do you realize that when she fights battles, she’s going to have to announce herself to the opposing sword? She’ll be forced to say something ridiculous like, ‘I am Pooky Bear, from an ancient line of archangel swords.’ Or, ‘Bow down to me, Pooky Bear, who has only two other equals in all the worlds.’ ” He shakes his head. “How is she going to get any respect?” 

And speaking of Raffe, did I mention how disappointed I was that he was barely in this novel until the very end? I miss Penryn and Raffe's constant bantering and sarcasm! The few pages Penryn and Raffe did have together only made me crave reading about them together more...I mean seriously, this is how Raffe welcomes Penryn back into his life after, like not seeing her in weeks and thinking she was dead:

I look up to say something but he puts his finger to my lips and whispers, “Don’t talk. You’ll just spoil my fantasy of rescuing an innocent damsel in distress as soon as you open your mouth.” 

The only real downside I can see to World After is the kind of plotless-ness of the novel. Don't get me wrong, I loved following around Penryn, but I feel like she just kind of wanders around with no real goal in mind until she realizes her sister is missing and goes to search for her--but that doesn't happen until 50% into the novel. 

Overall thoughts? LOVED LOVED LOVED the characters...every single one of them...even the bad guys, lol. Each had their own defining traits that made him/her stand out. The scorpion-human mutants were a little creepy, but hey, that's what you get for trying to start the apocalypse, right? I desperately wished Raffe appeared more in the novel and can't wait to see how this series continues...go Pooky Bear the sword! :-P

Oh yeah, did I mention Angelfall is only $5.31 on Amazon? Go buy it now if you haven't already!

Rating: