Title: After the End
Author: Amy Plum
@AmyPlumOhLaLa
Series: After the End
Publisher: HarperTEEN
Published: May 6, 2014
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal ~ Sci-fiSynopsis: She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.
World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They’ve survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.
At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.
When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she’s trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.
*An ecopy was provided by the publisher,
but that did not influence this review*
4 stars! I adore Amy Plum, and was eager to read this after falling in love with her Revanants Series. This was different…and I don’t want to give too much away, but it was not what I thought it would be. LIKE AT ALL. Huh? That’s right. I am a massive spoiler-phobe and while I had read the synopsis a few months ago, I had forgotten it again by the time I picked this up the other day. So I went in essentially blind because I hadn’t reread the synopsis. And I’m sure glad I didn’t reread it. I felt like I got to live through Juneau’s eyes, and feel her horror at being deceived and betrayed her whole life. Now, you probably just read the synopsis so you know I’m talking about the fact that there was no actual WWIII, but you see, I went into this book thinking there was. It was very cool and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I almost think they should take that bit out of the synopsis.
Not only did I enjoy feeling as if I were Juneau, I loved meeting Miles and watching him go from total non-believer, to believer. Well, believer in some things, but you will have to read to find out which things for yourself. He was a spoiled rich kid, a kid who always got bailed out, no matter what the offense was. When he met Juneau she was the opposite to him, yet her simplicity and faith in certain ways were eventually infectious to him, and he couldn’t ignore how he felt. She was what made him transform from an indulged boy to a really good person, a person who “manned up” and fought for what he believed in, what was right…and I loved watching him change.
So now that you know I loved these 2 characters and how they influenced each other, you should know that the story has plenty to dig into as well. There was an abundance of twists and turns, which point to even more twists and turns ahead. I have my suspicious about a lot of things (and people), and I’m still not totally sure which ones I’m right about. I also have more thoughts on other characters that we have heard about but not even met yet! Then there was Juneau’s abilities to Read and Conjure…and I was fascinated by it all and am dying to know how those powers work for others. *zips lips* I can’t say anything else about that! And lastly, I loved Poe! Loved him!
Why isn’t this a 5 star if I liked it so much? Well, it was the lack of pulling off a successful romance. Was there a romance? Yes. But it didn’t feel natural to me. Now, if Miles and Juneau had been companions most of this book, yet had moments of hand touching, breaths across the neck, maybe sleeping next to each other (you get the idea), but had never crossed the line with a kiss…it would have worked for me. Then the flirtation could have heated up in the next installment now that they were clearly allies with a solid alliance. I truly would have been happier if the lovey bit was left alone in this book, instead of writing in a kiss that didn’t work for me. I also didn’t find Juneau attractive with her boy look going on (go ahead and judge me)…maybe it would have worked if Miles had had some internal dialogue about how gorgeous she was in spite of the baggy clothes and bad hair cut…but we never got that so I never felt a strong chemistry there.
The ending was a cliffy (boo-hoo), but I am eagerly anticipating book 2. If you are looking for something different, with a good sci-fi mystery this is a must for your TBR!
A very special thanks to HarperTEEN & Edelweiss for providing a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
