Review: After the End by Amy Plum

After the End
(After the End #1)
by Amy Plum
Published: May 6, 2014




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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.

Everything she'd been told her entire life was a lie.

That's what it says on the back of the book. I think they shouldn't use that line anymore. I've heard it describe a million other books. On the other hand, I also think it was a perfect line to describe After the End.

I tried to read the first book of the Revenants series, Die for Me, by Amy plum years ago. I was only a few pages in when I caught a whiff of insta-love. I really want to like that series but I had a feeling that majority of the book will be about romance, and insta-love in a book that's mainly about romance is never a good combo for me so I thought maybe I'll check it out again when I'm in a forgiving mood. That time is yet to come. I heard good things about After the End from my favorite book reviewers though so I gave it a try. Great decision. I really, really enjoyed reading this book.

It was pretty easy for me to get into. It didn't take a lot of words and understanding to fully grasp the world building unlike some other dystopian books I've read. The plot is simple. From the day she was born, Juneau was told that..

"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."

..basically what the summary of the book says. She later on finds out it was all a lie but no matter what, she still has to save her entire clan from the people who took them, relying on her 'affinity with nature' to help her, which she believes in less and less the more lies she discover, and everything about the modern world she's only learned in books. I admit I was weirded out by some parts especially the ritual thing when the real cause of Juneau's tribe's "power" has something to do with genetics but come on - they lived in tents, no technology, no idea there is another world out there.

After the End started really good and it didn't take long for me to start fangirling over the whole thing. I like Juneau and how smart she is but when she met Miles, ohmygod, OTP. Miles cracks me up. I did not expect him and Juneau together would be that laugh-out-loud funny since Miles did not really give off that vibe at the start of the book. Oh, they are such a delight together. I ship them. I SHIP THEM. They are so different from each other but.. woah, I love them together I won't hesitate to cut anyone who comes between the two of them. Miles seriously thinks Juneau is messed up in the head and Juneau thinks he's an idiot. Just imagine how crazy and hilarious their arguments could get.

I really liked where the story headed from that point and yes, I can't wait for more Miles-and-Juneau-adventures-and-banters but also for more secrets to be revealed. It's been a long time since I finished a book and wanted the sequel very badly. After the End made me remember how not-okay that feels.

*Thank you HarperTeen for the ARC of After the End.