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A review by mommabygrace
In the After by Demitria Lunetta
4.0
In the After is a post-apocalyptic YA debut novel. I haven't read post-apocalyptic stories in awhile, and full disclosure, I saw this book on the shelf at the library and thought, "that's a cool cover," then, "let's read it" after reading the inscription.
The storyline was intriguing, learning to survive in a world that is no longer your own. Beings believed to be aliens spreading across the globe, infecting all they can see. Behaving as zombies, yet they don't devour as zombie games and shows portray... just bite, infect, move on. Essentially blind, if you remain quiet. So, Amy learns how to quiet. Learns to only go out at night, where the shadows give her an advantage. Develops a form of sign language in order to talk with the mute toddler she found while scavenging one day.
The girls have only each other, as close as sisters as they can get. One day, they're rescued by those who formed a safe haven, and imagine Amy's surprise when she finds her mom there, alive and well. But, things aren't quite as they seem there. After several years of having to take care of herself, and then also Baby, Amy struggles with conforming to the rules of the society. It's too loud. Too open. So she tries to adjust, but it's not easy.
The second half of the book is half memory, half in the present. So while it bounces back and forth, you get to read her current struggle and also slowly read about the events leading up to her "breakdown," so to speak. It's quite an interesting story. There is a very slight romance or at least the inkling of one, but definitely not enough to actually qualify this to be a romance.
The storyline was intriguing, learning to survive in a world that is no longer your own. Beings believed to be aliens spreading across the globe, infecting all they can see. Behaving as zombies, yet they don't devour as zombie games and shows portray... just bite, infect, move on. Essentially blind, if you remain quiet. So, Amy learns how to quiet. Learns to only go out at night, where the shadows give her an advantage. Develops a form of sign language in order to talk with the mute toddler she found while scavenging one day.
The girls have only each other, as close as sisters as they can get. One day, they're rescued by those who formed a safe haven, and imagine Amy's surprise when she finds her mom there, alive and well. But, things aren't quite as they seem there. After several years of having to take care of herself, and then also Baby, Amy struggles with conforming to the rules of the society. It's too loud. Too open. So she tries to adjust, but it's not easy.
The second half of the book is half memory, half in the present. So while it bounces back and forth, you get to read her current struggle and also slowly read about the events leading up to her "breakdown," so to speak. It's quite an interesting story. There is a very slight romance or at least the inkling of one, but definitely not enough to actually qualify this to be a romance.