Book Review: After the End by Amy Plum

Book #1 of the After the End series
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publication: May 2014 by HarperTeen
Acquisition: gift

Synopsis:

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.

(from Goodreads)

4 / 5 Stars

Dystopian pretext with out the actual dystopia. How in the world was Juneau and her clan secluded from the rest of the world for so long! Needing an answer to this question was the main reason I read After The End.

Did I get my answer? Yes - but I also got a whole lot more!

I absolutely loved Juneau. She is the epitome of the strong female character. What makes her so perfect is her sense of herself. She knows who she is, she knows her strengths and weaknesses and even when she doubts herself she never looses who she fundamentally is. She doesn't let people tell her what she can and can't do - and she doesn't need to argue the point, or push back . She is 100% confident in her abilities and when faced with something she knows she can't handle she doesn't turn into a whinny mess. She figures it out and she gets it done!

Seriously - I love her!

Some of the science stuff was a little off - and the logistics of some other things didn't really mesh together for me. Overall though, I really enjoyed After the End and I started reading book 2 pretty immediately after finishing.

There is something about Juneau's story that seriously propels you forward - wanting more and more answers. And again, maybe the answers themselves weren't neat and clean but the journey was what was important -the driving force of Juneau needing to save her tribe and searching for answers.

A great dystopian pretext story (new genre here? ;) -- highly recommended!