World After

Angelfall has been one of my very favorite books in 2012 – the beautiful writing, the awesome characters and the engaging action made me ‘breathe in’ every word in the story and I couldn‘t put it down (not even for one second) until I reached the last page.

The ending was dark and –now that I think about it- it fits perfectly the feeling from “World After”. There were many questions raised in those few last pages and most of the answers will be found between the pages of this very awesome book.
Reading “World After” felt like being served dessert after a week of not eating at all – I could taste every word on my lips, and no matter how many pages I would read, they were never quite enough to stop my hunger.

If I had to describe it in a few words I’d say that it is dark and beautiful.
– I loved the creepy feeling these angels can give you; the horrific situations the characters went through; the way they tried to cope with everything that happened in the previous book – all the lose, the pain, the uncertainty.
– The writing is just as beautiful as before, as alluring and it makes you turn page after page like there’s no tomorrow.

There was this great mix between explaining things from the first book (making you see them in a different light, from a different perspective) and still making the story move along flawlessly. The presence of Raffe was brought to us in various different forms and I will be honest here – I was like a kid on Christmas Eve every time I got to read something about him. Still, this story is more about Penryn and the growth she goes through as a character, because her strength will be tested more then once and she will need to make decisions that might change everything.

Talking about Penryn, I love her not only for her strength but also for her determination. Because sometimes she is weak, sometimes she doesn’t know what to do, whom to save (first), but she never forgets who she really is, and she fights for the things she believes in.
There is also a very soft side of her, when she’s around Raffe – then she shows that underneath her tough mask there is a little girl that needs to be loved too.

Raffe is a complex character and I can’t wait to see how his relationship with Penryn will develop in the next book. When he was not around, I missed their funny banter and when they were together it was cute to see them play it cool. Their feelings are obvious and it’s nice because they started as enemies, somehow they’ve become friends back in Angelfall and now they can easily risk everything for each other’s safety.

My favorite character in this story was probably the sword.
No, don’t laugh, she was really cute in an unanimated kind of way, and she brought to us a few important information regarding Raffe and sword fighting… Though I didn’t forget about the kiss, I won’t fall for your silent treatment, Pooky Brear, consider yourself warned!

My heart broke for the little sister. Paige is such a sweet girl but she’s been through so much, the poor baby. For a while I had no idea what imprints all those horrors would have left on her, and it hurt to understand her inner struggling.
She and Raffe have a lot in common because when you look at them you only see the monsters, but underneath all that there’s a whole universe of emotions and perceptions and they both need love in a different way.

The mother is just as crazy and insufferable as usually.. I still wonder about her and her craziness. There must be something from her past that will blow our minds; I’m just waiting for it to be revealed.

Now, there were only 2 things that I wasn’t quite sure I liked:
1. The fact that Penryn had it easy in some ways – she conveniently found people that had the urge to help her even by breaking some rules that might cost them their lives, she conveniently found information about her sister and she most conveniently got to be in the right places at the right moments. But these are tiny details compared to the awesomeness of this story.
2. I really missed Raffe. This is silly, it has nothing to do with the story or the rating, but I just wanted more time with him and I can’t wait for the 3rd book now 😀

All in one, I loved this story. All the action, the turnarounds, the near-death experiences left me breathless and I am sure that many people will enjoy this story just as much.

I have no idea where the story is headed, as it ended right where I wanted the “Angelfall” to end, but there were some things that happened near the ending and I can’t wait to see their influence in the next book. You see, I knew what I wanted from “World After” and I got most of them, but right now I am not sure about what Susan might come up with.. It’s a bit of mystery to me and I love that in a series 🙂

Early review: ARC received for review. Thank you!

PRE-REVIEW QUESTIONS:

“So was there a good dose of Raffe in this book? And did him and Penryn’s relationship develop at all?”

Those are both tricky questions, as I must avoid spoilers.
After the first book where Raffe was present around 90% of the time, in this one would feel a bit less. But there are other ways for him to be present too.

As for the relationship, I could understand better Raffe’s point of view. He was the one imprisoning his soldiers, friends, and comrades because of their relationship with the Daughters of Men, so how can he do the same mistake, what would that make of him? Still, how can he not?

PRE-REVIEW NOTES:

Since I can’t post my review until closer to the release date, here are some things that I loved:

• Penryn (go girl!) – she is such a strong character and she adapts so quickly to every given situation, trying to make the best of it;
• Paige (poor baby) – I wanted to hold her in my arms and take her pain away;
• Raffe (need more!) – the banter between him and Penryn is just never enough, it never gets old;
• Pooky Bear – best inanimate character ever! (you still owe me a kiss, btw)

Yep, you are right.. Not much has changed in terms of my love for this story since Angelfall.
I’d say more about it, but then I’d just have to kill you 😉

PS: I wish I stayed away from the excerpt, do yourself a favor and don’t read it. You’ll just wait for it to happen and it will spoil the surprise.

Happy midnight reading!