End of Days - Susan Ee

A review vai ser em Inglês... porque me apetece. No fim há umas palavrinhas em português.

This is going to be a difficult review, because it's nearly impossible to review the book without spoiling it, and though I don't really mind reading spoilers, I know loads of people hate them. Still, I don't think I can avoid a few... I promise to warn you!  

I liked the two previous books enough to pre-order this one for my kindle and, in spite of having too much work and being too tired to read, as soon as it arrived I couldn't resist and read it right away... in no time at all!

It starts exactly where the last one ends, in mid flight, and it never stops. I have no idea how many pages the book has, but it felt like 50, that's how fast paced it is, stuff happening all the time (always downhill, they can't really get a break). It's so much so that at about 96% of it, things were so ugly for humans, I couldn't believe it was about to end... If I hadn't read a few reviews, spoilers and all, I would think I had been tricked and the trilogy was about to become a saga...

Yet, the end doesn't feel rushed, and maybe that's because not all problems are solved, not all questions are answered. The world isn't perfect and it will never be - it's still in shambles and it will never be whole again. The angels are still angels and Daughters of Men are still only women. Some angels may not care, but they aren't really that angelic any more... The detail I didn't really like [spoiler alert!] was Raphael's decision... no, Raphael's motivation. I would have preferred that he had sacrificed his wings for his people, not for a girl. The angels think that's what he did and I think that his decisions so far and his character pointed that way. 

Because I had read reviews, I was a bit afraid that the relationship between Raphael and Penryn would become too focal in the story and far too hot. I have nothing against hot, but a sex scene every 3 pages would definitely ruin this particular story, which is a very imaginative tale of survival, humanity and personal growth. Love too, of course, but mostly for your family and your kind. I was grateful that the relationship was there, a little more physical, a little more intense and painful, but most of the story happened when they're not together, which is nice. It also limits your perspective of Raphael and the angels to Penryn's point of view, if course... 

There are very nice new characters and the descriptions of the Pitt are amazing... and the monsters! We already had the winged scorpions and the poor people they "ate", but the Consummed! The Sea of Hands! The six headed beasts! What does this author dream about? 

I must say I got a bit emotional [spoiler alert] during the talent contest in the end. Yes, it sounds absurd, you have to read to understand why there is a talent show when shit is about... no, not about to happen, but actually happening. The ghostly beauty of the ballet and the surviving dancers... the sadness of it brought a few tears to my eyes. And then, of course, action started. No, it exploded into gore and death.   

These books were a wonderful surprise. It's no secret I love fantasy and I don't mind YA books, but I was getting a little tired of the topoi in them - too many hot vampires, werewolves, angels and such, all too centered in the relationship and the hotness and the love and the sex. In this post-apocalyptic Earth, this World After, angels are beautiful, of course, but they are creatures of doom, powerful and somewhat evil - mostly because we mean nothing to them - and that doesn't really change. The worldbuild is believable, the bits that concern humans, what happens to cities, how people survive, their struggles, but also "hell" (or the next best thing, the Pitt). The angels on Earth reminded me a bit of high-fashion parties, which makes an odd kind of sense. Penryn is a strong easy-to-like character, a no-nonsense teenager who knows she's a teenager, but has no time for teen angst or silliness. 

No all was unpredictable, but it made sense. It was, all in all, a great YA fantasy read, and I'm almost sorry it is over...

Foi uma óptima leitura de fantasia pura. Boa construção de mundo, tanto no que diz respeito à Terra pós apocalítica, às formas de sobrevivência e resistência dos humanos, como ao Pitt (uma espécie de Inferno). Há um pouco mais da relação entre eles, mas felizmente não se exagera e a maior parte das cenas até são com os dois separados. A acção é non-stop e fantástica, as lutas cheias de sangue e morte, os anjos são belos mas não são "bonzinhos". A protagonista é uma adolescente cheia de recursos, sem tempo para os disparates da adolescência, o que, tendo em conta a sua situação familiar e a situação do mundo, faz todo o sentido. É a sua perspectiva que assumimos sempre. O final faz sentido, não é perfeitinho e arrumadinho, há muito a resolver. Teria preferido outros motivos par a escolha do arcanjo Rafael, mas o resultado seria exactamente o mesmo. Nem tudo foi imprevisível, claro, mas fez sentido e é o que se pede. Em resumo, gostei mesmo muito.