Life After

by Sarah Anne Carter

When a power outage in her neighborhood lasts for days, not hours, Amber starts to wonder if the blackout will last forever. Months go by and her sixteenth birthday is completely different from anything she ever imagined it would be. Then, the government comes to take charge. However, what she hears from the authorities doesn't match what she knows from the outside world.

Can she find out the truth in time?

180 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2020

About the author

Sarah Anne Carter is the author of The Ring, Life After, Orphan Wish Island, The Cookie Connection and A Summer in Springfield.

Sarah Anne fell in love with reading and writing at an early age. As a child, she could be found curled up with a book or writing a creative story. She had a poem published at age 10 and won many summer library reading programs. As a military brat, she grew up all over the world, including Japan and Germany. She has a master’s degree in Journalism and has worked for several newspapers, including Air Force publications. She worked in Air Force Public Affairs for many years at three military bases. Freelance work has led her to the blogging world where she has numerous guest blog posts and a book review blog of her own.

Reviews

[Leslea Wahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had a very interesting premise. I've often wondered how society could survive if there were a catastrophic event that caused us to lose electricity for an extended period of time. While the story kept me engaged, overall, I kept waiting for more to happen.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the author’s second novel, maybe the writing deficiencies are related to being new. But the character development was poor and the writing was uninspiring. It read much more like a manual than a novel. There was very little descriptive language which made it hard to be there with the characters in ihc in turn made it hard to care much about them. There additionally was a lot of useless information, how did Mr Sanders, the first roommate, really any of her friends at the amvoc really tie into the story at all? They were given enough back story that they seemed like they should matter but ultimately really didn’t.
Additionally, the novel seemed almost wholly concerned with getting power back on so refrigerators would work again, as if that would be the biggest problem after an EMP event in the USA. Not communication (though telephones were mentioned a few times) not the fact that we would then be sitting ducks for take over by our enemies, barely a mention of safety concerns or serious supply chain issues.
But as soon as power comes back on and people have refrigerators again, bacon cheese burgers can suddenly be back on the menu because everything magically returns to normal again (as if beef, bacon, grain production, flour mills, tomato fields, ketchup manufacturers, packaging manufacturers, and every other detail that goes into a bacon cheese burger suddenly reappear inside the refrigerator) and kids can run off to college like nothing happened.
I also didn’t at all like the fact that this book pretended like the solution was complete and total dependency on the government to fix the issue. No one anywhere could make it with “supply drops” from central powers, also ridiculous. How does any government supply good to nearly its whole populace for even a short period, let alone 3 years. As if this food is free? And somehow said government has unlimited resources? Even after a major national disaster?

Overall the premise of the book completely missed the mark in what I look for in a post apocalyptic novel.

[Blakely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life After is a paced, real-world exploration of the impact of a natural disaster and how it can reshape someone's world in a matter of seconds.

My daughter and I read this together and loved it! Life After is a great read for families, and an excellent conversation starter.

If you need non-stop action in your fiction, this is NOT the book for you. Time moves slowly as readers witness Amber, her family, her neighborhood, and her country getting back on their feet as they learn to embrace a bygone way of life without modern luxuries, such as power and grocery stores. At times, information is repeated, but this does not detract from Amber's journey of growth or the rising reports of food shortages, which lead to a mystery that Amber and her friends must investigate.

Life After is a sobering take on dystopian fiction. Life can be tossed upside down and ransacked just by changing the technology and daily habits we've come to rely on, which is scarier than any zombie pandemic or alien invasion.

[Michelle L. E. Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I was going to love this when I couldn’t stop reading even after I told myself it was too late! She does a masterful job of dragging the reader in... sweet, everyday details create an ominous suspense that is SUCH a page turner! The Oreo, the banana - honestly, I was surprised at how much a could feel their anticipation and joy. Seriously unique story!

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book.....story that makes you want to read more and more....

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing read. Poorly written, no character development, unrealistic look at the aftermath of an EMP, no depth, very little description of any kind, and very little conflict of any kind. (For instance, one character got to a volunteer organization four months ago, but two pages later she has been there for almost a year--same conversation.) I had to slog through this one. I would say if you are looking for a squeaky clean book in the Post Apocalyptic genre for young children, this would pass that sniff test. (I would say great for third or fourth graders.) If you are looking for a well-written adult book with realism and depth, or information about prepping, feel free to skip this one.