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Review

Wow! Just… WOW! I’m actually left a little bit speechless after everything that went on in this book. The first paragraph drops you right into the middle of a terrifyingly suspenseful scene with brutal and violent imagery, and it just keeps going from there.

It is 6 weeks since the apocalyptic angel invasion of earth, and Penryn, our gutsy, kickass heroine, is trying to get her family out of a destroyed city that is still under attack by angels and slowly being taken over by violent gangs killing all in their path. While making their escape, she saves an angel who is being viciously attacked by his own kind, only to have the retreating bad guys take off with her 7 year old sister in retaliation. Immediately driven to rescue her, she kidnaps the injured angel, whose wings were brutally cut off during the fight, to take her to ‘angel central’, where she hopes to find her sister again.

As she tends his wounds, (and amidst some great banter) they strike a mutually beneficial deal, and so Penryn and Raffe set off together – she to rescue her sister, he in the hopes of having his wings reattached – encountering gangs, a resistance movement, possible cannibals and strange little creatures in the woods along the way.

I loved these characters! Despite their circumstances, Penryn and Raffe are both so real! They are both sensible, with logical reactions to everything going on around them. Penryn is brave and determined, and can hold her own in a fight, while Raffe is no-nonsense and brilliantly sarcastic. Their relationship is great, moving from enemies to friends to ‘friends who like each other, but it’s all too complicated, so they both shove their feelings under the rug’. But it’s obvious that they care for each other, and there are enough of ‘those’ moments between them to keep the romantic in me satisfied.

The story moves at a great pace, constantly evolving and mixing terrifying encounters with some much needed lighter moments. The writing is intelligent, with elements of mystery woven through the story – Why did the angels attack? What do they want? Who can Penryn trust? – and Ee doesn’t pull any punches in describing her post-apocalyptic world, which she blends brilliantly with the urban fantasy aspect and elements of horror.

The action kept me hooked, and the last 20% or so is an absolute whirlwind with new information being flung at the poor reader from all angles! It started to get a little bizarre-o for me at the end there (view spoiler), and I’m looking forward to seeing where Ee takes the story from here – especially after that ending. Yep, it’s a cliffy! And even though it’s not a really painful one for me, it’s still bad enough to leave me frustrated and wondering what is going to happen.

Based on the ratings of my GR friends, my expectations were high coming into this book, and I wasn’t as blown away by it as I thought I was going to be, but I did really enjoy it, and look forward to continuing Penryn’s story.

4 stars.

Penryn & the End of Days series