After The End: Book Review by Dinh
Synopsis:
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 form 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 is a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she is 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.
Synopsis is from hardcover book, 322 pages, and published in 2014 by HarperTeen.
Review:
After The End by Amy Plum was a quick and fast paced read and I gobbled it up in no time. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book since this was the first book by Amy Plum that I have read and had not expectations going into the book.
Plum is an international best seller for her series Die For Me (Die for Me, Until I Die, If I Should Die).
What I enjoyed the most of the novel were the two main characters Juneau and Miles, and the plot.
Characters
Who doesn’t like a strong character? I liked Juneau right away. She is a warrior and raised to be a leader or sage of her clan.
We see her strength at the onset of the book. Juneau with a crossbow, along with 2 huskies on a hunt, and coming back to her encampment sees that it’s deserted and must decided what to do- she only thinks in ways of what a leader would do.
Miles….well I didn’t like him at first. He’s a rich, bad boy but has a good heart as it turns out. As the story progresses, he becomes more likable and by the end of the book I liked his character. Plum did a good job in making Miles like-able.
The interaction between Juneau and Miles are realistic enough to for me to enjoy as well. They do have conflict with each other which makes it believable.
Also, the inner thoughts of each character together with the blatant mockery Miles makes of Juneau makes their relationship believable. As the story moves along you can see the development in their relationship from conflict, to understanding, and then acceptance.
It’s a nice long development of their relationship which makes it satisfying to read. I don’t like it when you cut the chase.
Plot
When I first started reading this I thought it was going to be like The Village by M. Night Shyamalan but then it changed direction. I liked the premise of the story- similar to The Village, where the elders isolate themselves and live a different existence because of a belief they hold.
What I like about this plot was that it was about a young girl’s journey to save her clan. Moreover, a strong female role trying to solve big problem in an unknown world to her.
In addition, the plot also involved big business, where big pharma intervenes to get its hands on the next big drug. This aspect of the plot gives it intrigue and more high stakes which is always fun to read about.
I liked that it was set in contemporary U.S.A and had mythical and magical elements in it. The idea of connecting to the Yara, and the ability to conjure and the use of the mystical powers was really interesting. I love the supernatural and mystical things happening in the book that was explained by the Yara.
“We live inside a super-organism, and everything within it is connected by a powerful force.”
Writing and Pace
I found it satisfying to read a book that had the two narratives. The book is writing in two narratives. One from Juneau’s perspective and the other from Miles so we get a good idea of what they are thinking and can enjoy their personalities.
The chapters varied in length and some are short with only one page for a chapter. I liked how the concepts of Plum’s story came together as it was laid out.
The book moved along quickly because of the plot, but also because of the way the book was laid out. With short chapters it is easy to continue reading.
In addition, Plum’s style of writing is very light which made this book a page turner. There’s quite a bit of dialogue as well, which made it quick to read.
Was there any thing I didn’t like?
Some parts of the book just glossed over the fact that Juneau was new to this world of technology and other things which didn’t make the story believable.
She lived in the Alaskan wildness and did not have any modern conveniences but she adapted quickly when she had to find and rescue her clan. I think Plum could have made it harder for Juneau so it would be more realistic.
The ending of the book just stopped. I understand it stopped because it was a cliffhanger but I wasn’t expecting it and it threw me off.
My Final Thoughts:
With a catchy title and a great cover who wouldn’t be interested in checking out After the End? If you are a into reading Young Adult books I think you will enjoy reading it.
It is a fast paced adventure set in contemporary US but has supernatural elements tied in. The characters and the plot are good and it’s light reading so you’ll enjoy the entertainment factor if you don’t read too much into it.
I will be checking out Plum’s sequel book Until the Beginning for sure!
Get a copy of After the End here. Like audio-books? Check out Audible trial and listen to it for free.
Check out our book reviews and fall into a good book!
Do you like Young Adult books? After reading the review of After the End, does it pique your interest? Let me know what you think!
It’s always nice when you give an author’s books another try and it turns out that you manage to like this one a lot more than the previous reads. I like the sound of Juneau as well and seems like my kind of character! The plot sounds interesting enough and well developed and basically, this sounds like a steady, solid, enjoyable read. I’m gonna have to look into this one because although I knew the author I hadn’t heard of it before?
Hi Olivia!
I never heard of Amy Plum before and it was a surprise find! I like her After the End duology so I will probably check out her Die for Me trilogy.
I like that it’s light reading and entertaining. The plot is very interesting and I like the budding romance in this as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hello, Dinh, this is a quite intriguing book that needs to be read. I will definitely like to find out why those lies were told to Juneau, and definitely, how she reacts to the modern world she discovered existed. And also who is it that is looking for her and why. This book must be an interesting one, and you have succeeded in making it that intriguing Dinh.
Hi Nnamdi!
Yes, After the End is intriguing and it’s even better when you find out all the answers. 🙂
Not all of them are answered in this book but all will be revealed in the second and final book Until The Beginning. You can see the book review here.
Thanks for stopping by!
This sounds like a book that I would be interested in reading. I like the fact it has short chapters, that does make it easier and quicker to read. And you mentioned it has two narratives which seems interesting and would make the read more enjoyable. I don’t read to much, so is two narratives common in books or not? Thanks for the great review!
Hi Summerly!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
This book is definitely a easy quick read. The combination of short chapters and lots of dialogue makes it a page turner. I read this really quickly.
Good question about the narratives. I wonder if anyone has done research on books to see if it’s popular to be 1, 2, or even more narratives.
I would say a majority of books are 1 person narratives, but hey I am guessing. 🙂 Perhaps I will pass this out to our readers and see which they think is the most popular.
Thanks for stopping by at Arlene’s Book Club!
Sound like an interesting fiction book but it was not clear what exactly is the Yara.
Hi Arthur!
The Yara is supposed to be a superorganism that connects everything. It’s like the idea of the “Eywa” in the movie Avatar. You can tap into it to use the power. There’s other similar ideas to the Yara but have different names.
You’ll be able to see what you can do when you are harnessing the Yara when you read the book. It’s quite amazing.
Thanks for stopping by!
nice site and great review!! I am not a big YA reader but this book does seem interesting.Glad you enjoyed it.
I wish you the best!!
Hi Brent!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
I like reading YA and this book was definitely interesting.
Thanks for the wishes and please do stop by again! 🙂
Finally, you found a YA book that’s worthy of a 4-stars! =) You’ve really piqued my interest with a strong lead like Juneau. And even though Miles wasn’t a likable character initially, I think the growth of his character arc sounds compelling. I’ve always considered good character development to be just as, if not more,crucial than the climax. You’ve convince me to read this!
Hi Lonna!
Well, I had to give After the End a good rating as it was an enjoyable fast pace read. I also really liked the development of Juneau and Miles relationship. It was fun to read.
I’d be curious to see what you thought of this book when you get a chance to read it. 🙂
I’ve added it to my GR list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Oh I love young adult books!
This books doesn’t look very complex and a quick read.
What’s the Yara?
Hi Becky!
I love YA books too!
No, the book is not complex and it was a good quick read so you’ll enjoy it.
After the End is a 2 book duology so the next book will conclude on Juneau’s efforts to find her clan.
The Yara is a superorganism that connects everything. So people, animals, plants etc are connected. It’s the force that binds everything. Similar concepts are like the Force in Star Wars, or Eywa in the movie Avatar. You can tap into that force to use it.
Thanks for stopping by!
I was looking for Christmas gifts ideas for my nephew and niece this morning. They are teenagers and I think this book is just great for them. It makes me think of the movie Avatar. A world with of conscience of its own, Eywa (being the force that connects everything together).
Now I still have to find another so they both get a gift lol. Any suggestions?
Thanks for this great reading suggestion.
Hi Carolyn!
I can see how After the End reminds you of the movie Avatar. The Yara, or superorgainism is like the Eywa in Avatar. It has that same mystical element but set in modern day earth and not on a foreign planet. I like the idea you can harness that power and use it because of the interconnection of everything.
It’s a fast pace book so I think your nephew, and or, niece will enjoy it.
Books are a great gifts for Christmas. I am not sure what sort of book your nephew and niece are into so it’s hard to make a recommendation. Plus, I am not an expert on Young Adults. However, I know of a blog that has more YA book selection. Check Flylef for more YA books and review. 🙂
Immediately when I read your review I thought to myself that this is an interesting book to read. I like stories like this and by reading your overview at the start I wondered just what had happened to her clan. And then why was she told a lie.
Even though you did have some reservations about the book I would certainly check it out myself. Hopefully the second part will be more believeable.
Hi Owain!
The book premise is interesting and I am glad it piqued your interest.
After the End was a nice book to read as it was a page turner and moved along really quickly.
You’ll have to read the book to find out what happened to her clan and why she was told the lie. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
This book sounds very intriguing! Kind of ironic that her name is Juneau and she lives in the Alaskan wilderness. As I started reading your review, I thought the same thing about it sounding like The Village. I do think the end just stopping would annoy me, so I’m not sure if I would read this one. I have read some young adult series – the Harry Potter series (of course!) and the Twilight series. They were both fun and I can’t wait for my sons to get older so we can all read Harry Potter together. This one sounds like it’s along the lines of ‘The Hunger Games’ (although I haven’t read that series so I could be off-base). Thanks for another great review!
Hi Teresa!
I do like to read Young Adult books and this one was a page-turner. I really enjoyed the pace of this book.
I loved the Harry Potter series (my 10 year old son is reading them now) and I love the Twilight series as well. I don’t think After the End falls into the same level as those series though.It’s good but not great.
The only thing that is similar to The Hunger Games is the crossbow Juneau has and her survival skills…and she’s a strong character. I can see where it might remind you of The Hunger Games.
What a coincident that you should pick up on her name. Juneau is named after the Alaskan capital city. Other characters are name Nome and Kenai… yep, the kids are named after Alaskan towns. 🙂