Thursday, April 3, 2014

Review: After the End by Amy Plum

Title: After the End
Author: Amy Plum
Series: Book One in the After the End Series
Published By: Harper Teen (May 6, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA 
My rating: 3 Stars

Book Description:
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.








Believe it or not this is my very first Amy Plum novel and I think that was a good thing because I had nothing else to compare it to and I have to say, I did like this one. It didn't wow me but I liked it. 

I know that first paragraph is a little forward but let me explain. At first I thought this was going to be somewhat of a dystopian, turns out it isn't...not at all. So that threw me a little and if I am even being fair, may have contributed to my disappointment with it just a little bit. It is hard going into something expecting one thing and then getting something entirely different in the end.

There was a lot going on. Some weird things going on. A paranormal almost sci fi feel to Juneau's people and what they could do. A side that while I loved also left me scratching my head a little bit. Was it all real? Just something else? A product of being raised to believe in something so much that it becomes real? I don't know and even after finishing this, I still don't know. But I think that will be okay because if the ending has anything to say about it, I am guessing a sequel is on the horizon, which is good. Those questions need answers. 

This was a good solid read. Juneau was an interesting character. She grew up believing the world was in ruins after World War III only to find out she had been lied to and that she knew virtually nothing about it. She was strong and she was able but other than those qualities, I felt her character lacked something. Some depth to her that really needed to be there. Without it I found myself not really caring about her so much as I was curious about her instead. And while curiosity is good in a book, it just doesn't give it that umph it needs to really make it a stand out read. 

Even the romance was slight. A barely here and there thing that didn't over power the book or really even draw you in one way or the other. It was just there is all its quietness just waiting for a little something extra to make it stand out. 

The good news is that what this lacked in character depth, it excelled in creativity. And despite the flaws mentioned,  was still something worth reading and looking into. Still something that just may turn into something great in the end.





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

24 comments:

  1. Well shoot Ali! I was hoping for a higher rating from you, but I'm glad you at least enjoyed it even if it's not going to make its way onto your shelf of favorites. I thought this was a dystopian as well, so maybe now that I know it's not going in, I won't have that bit of disappointment you did when you found something unexpected. I know I'm going to wish for more from the romance as well, so hopefully that picks up a bit in book two! Fabulous review:)

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  2. wait.. not a dystopian? oops.. thought that was what this was as well.

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  3. I thought this was a dystopian or post apocolyptic story. I guess it's fine that it's not, but I'm glad for the warning. It's too bad this didn't wow you though, that's disappointing.

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    1. It wasn't bad though just not what I thought it would be.

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  4. Added it to my tbr list and I think I'll give it a try :) I really love the cover!

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  5. What it's not a dystopian? I am a bit disappointed. I have this for review and now I am going to search out some more reviews before I decided to plunge in. Thanks for clarifying things.

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    1. If you do read it, I hope you like it Heidi!

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  6. Wow! That blurb and cover are really misleading. Nothing good usually comes out of a situation like that. I don't think this one is for me, but thanks for the heads up!

    Carmel @ Rabid Reads

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  7. Yours is the second review I've seen for this one that felt it was mediocre. I haven't read her other books either, but I'll still be reading this one. I originally thought it was a dystopian too, but another review pointed out that it wasn't and as I re-read the synopsis I could see how it wasn't. I think if I go in with those sorts of expectations I may end up liking it. We'll see. Great review!

    Tressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings

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    1. I think you will. Mostly my biggest complaint was the unexpected genre change from what I thought it was. Other than that, it really wasn't a bad read, just not a "wow" read.

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  8. I'm really intrigued by this one.. I want to read a few more reviews, but I think I might give it a try.

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  9. It sounds interesting. Seriously how angry would you be if you realized that your whole life had been a lie. I must know how it ends..hehe! Even if it's so so :)

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  10. Hmm I'm on the fence about this one. I liked Amy's Die For Me series, but I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about this one. It's a shame it wasn't stronger, but at least you found it creative and worth reading. I might still check it out. Thank you for your honest review!

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    1. If you do end up reading it I will be really curious to see how you liked it.

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  11. I expected this one to be fully a dystopian novel. It's a shame it wasn't and I'm really disappointed to hear that. I haven't read any of Amy's books either so I'm not sure about it. Great review, Ali :)

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    1. Thanks Tanja, it was disappointing but it wouldn't stop me from trying anything else by her.

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  12. I've never read anything by Amy Plum. I've been curious about this one, but I didn't request it because my review list is already so long. Thanks for the great and informative review, it really helped.

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  13. You know, I'm really glad you reviewed this b/c I have read Amy Plum before and it was a DNF. BUT all of the things that you said about her creativity, I can objectively look back now and recognize that while her other book didn't work for me, it was insanely original, and this new series sounds interesting enough to give Plum another shot. Great review!

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