After the End (After the End, #1) in The Not-So Austen Bookclub

Aug 18, 2013 Kristen rated it liked it

This and other reviews on my blog My Friends Are Fiction

A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Harper!

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed After the End for the most part; the story was interesting and different from what I’ve read recently. It helped that I knew that this book wasn’t a dystopian so didn’t have that expectation. I believe, that if I had, I would have been disappointed. This book was more centered on Juneau running from one place to another trying to This and other reviews on my blog My Friends Are Fiction

A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Harper!

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed After the End for the most part; the story was interesting and different from what I’ve read recently. It helped that I knew that this book wasn’t a dystopian so didn’t have that expectation. I believe, that if I had, I would have been disappointed. This book was more centered on Juneau running from one place to another trying to grasp her new reality. A lot of time was spent traveling through the woods or driving across country.

The pacing was fairly slow, and for it being about a girl trying to save her clan and running from the ‘someone else’ looking for her it was relatively a stress free read. I wasn’t at the edge of my seat or ever really that scared for her. Even given all that I was interested to learn about Juneau, her clan and what exactly caused them to lie to the young about there being a huge war that destroyed everything. I enjoyed knowing that Juneau’s world was not as she thought of it going into this book. Plum has a very easy to read and inviting writing style so though the reveals took some time and not a lot was happening I still felt it was enjoyable.

After the End was told from Juneau and Miles point of view which did help to show differing perspectives and keep me interested in the overall plot. As for the characters I didn’t feel all that much towards them-neither love or hate. They just were. I never connected with either of them or any of the secondary characters. I wish I could have because I think the book would have had a deeper emotional draw.

I think one of the reasons I failed to really connect with Juneau was because she took everything in stride. She realized that her whole life was a lie and yet I never really felt her reacting in a real way. She was upset and angry but her emotions always felt flat to me. She also adjusted to her new reality far easier than I would have expected or liked. I wanted to experience the struggles of adjusting to this new reality with her.

The relationship between Miles and Juneau was a bit lacking as well. They did grow individually as the book progressed but I failed to feel much chemistry between them. As with a lot of things in this book it just felt to easy and convenient. I never felt that Miles’ character ever added up…he was immature and described as a privileged brat in the beginning though he really owns up to things and becomes more honorable as the book progressed. This was incredibly plausible I just never really felt the growth as a reader. Regardless of that I did end up liking him and do believe I enjoyed his point of view the most.

I will say that of all the characters my very favorite was a raven that had a pretty significant role to play. I felt that the interactions between it and the characters were the most entertaining and heartfelt of the entire novel.

Final Thoughts:
Sadly, my above review feels more negative than I really felt about the experience of reading After the End. Though I never truly developed a connection to the characters I was always interested in the plot and Plum’s writing was easy to read and enjoyable.
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Oct 16, 2013 Dayla rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, romance, suspense, series, mystery, thriller, arc, edelweiss, books-for-review

Review first appeared on my blog: Book Addict 24-7

I received a copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

After the End is the first book I’ve read by Amy Plum and I have to admit that I’m not at all disappointed. Though I was skeptical going in, I was genuinely surprised to see how quickly I fell in love with this story. The blending of genres in this one acts as a great reminder of society’s near-obsession with the idea of a dystopian world. Unconventional and surprisingly addictive, A ...more

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May 07, 2014 bookaholiclover rated it really liked it

After the End

It has definitely changed my perspectives on the world on how it would be in the next couple of years if it would turn out as it would with Amy Plum would imagine it would be.The different things that she had given out and the World War III thing was pretty cool too. All in all the series was kind of adventurous and snappy although there were some parts that kind of made it quite turning and that sometimes I wanted a little bit more.

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