Amy Plum

After the End has a goofy premise and one that can easily cause potential readers to avoid it. A village told that they are the lone survivors of World War III? Not only that, but they commune with nature and have mystical powers? Then, one girl finds out that not only was there no war, the world is not rubble, and that no one else communes with nature quite like the clan. It’s the type of plot that automatically induces eye rolls.

However, as silly as the plot might initially appear, show more Juneau is authentic enough to make the story at least acceptable if not plausible. Her earnestness is so acute, but it is her crisis of faith that really strikes a reader as honest. She is alone and struggling with the possibility that everything she knew to be true is a lie. Yet, she never gives up, and more Importantly, she does not desert her clan in spite of her anger and anguish. She is self-sufficient, capable, loyal, and powerful – all characteristics one wants in a hero and especially a female one.

In many ways, Miles becomes the reader’s voice of skepticism in this unusual story. His struggle to believe Juneau’s tales of conjuring, reading, and tapping into the Earth’s spiritual force mirrors a reader’s own doubts, even though a reader has the benefit of seeing the story through her eyes as well as Miles’. He represents the voice of science as opposed to Juneau’s voice of faith.

The obligatory love story actually starts out quietly. While Juneau’s and Mile’s mutual attraction is a foregone conclusion before they ever meet, they at least take the time to get to know one another and become friends before things move beyond that point. It is much easier for readers to accept their eventual relationship since they work on mutual trust and respect first.

In spite of some very unique elements, After the End is a bit too formulaic to be an outstanding story. While the story is not part of the dystopian trend, there is the love story and the female heroine who is the only person capable of saving her people, there is the insidious corporation or government determined to prevent the heroine from achieving her objective, there is the battle of capitalism and greed against humanity and faith, chases, close calls, a cliffhanger, and everything else that comes with such stories. Juneau is no better or worse than other female heroines. It is a pleasant distraction but nothing totally earth-shattering. show less

I'm not a fan of the zombie trend going on right now in YA fiction. I'm the first to admit that as soon as I hear the word zombie, I will more than likely skip along to the next selection. Luckily, going into this book, I had no idea what the paranormal aspect was. Even more luckily, these were zombies like you've never imagined them before. :) As a matter of fact, even though they are referred to as such in the story, I wouldn't even consider them the same fantastical creature. No rotting show more flesh, no brain-feasting. Amy Plum has expertly created a whole new undead and reanimated being. These were zombies that even I could fall for.

Really enjoyed the character development. When we first meet Kate, she has been uprooted and moved to Paris with her sister, Georgia. After the death of their parents, she is pretty much drowning in grief, hesitant to rejoin the world just yet, while her sister deals with their loss in the opposite way---going out to party every night. It was interesting seeing Kate come out of her shell and, eventually, seeing Georgia learn some hard lessons. Then there is Vincent. It's not so much Vincent's supposed perfect looks that caught my attention---after all there is an overabundance of "beautiful, god-like, flawless" looking guys running rampant in YA novels. It was what he and his family did, the purpose of the Revenants. I won't spoil it, you need to read it to find out,...but their actions and reason for doing them is the thing that won me over. I also loved Charlotte, one of Vincent's "sisters". She is funny and sweet and a good friend to Kate.

This is a romantic story, and what made it even more so was being set against the fabulous backdrop of Paris. It played out like a breathtaking sightseeing tour, then made it even more beautiful and personal by the memories it sparked in Kate. We visit every corner, from the museums to the Seine, from the eerie catacombs to the Eiffel. Even the seedier dark corners of Paris play their parts.

Also worth a mention is the fact that, while we know this book is the first in a series, this book could have stood alone and been perfect. In a genre that is known for it's cliffhanger endings, Die For Me's ending was a breath of fresh air. Sure, now that I love the characters, I want more of them---but I don't feel like my satisfaction with the story relies on the sequel. It feels complete just on it's own and I love that.

While some points of this stories felt achingly familiar to other stories we've almost all read before, the imaginative and truly unique paranormal aspect of it, the amazing romance, and several intriguing twists and turns made this a story I easily fell in love with. show less

I'm actually ashamed about how much I enjoyed this book, considering that TECHNICALLY most of the romance was really nauseating and that they were zombies, basically. But I really, really liked it. It was sweet and syrupy romance, really cheesy and cliched, and it was a perfect light summer read.

I like Kate. I like that she is not a crazy party girl, tries it, doesn't like it, and continues to unapologetically be herself. I felt like she grew throughout the course of the story. I liked the show more sub characters well enough - especially Jules and Charlotte. They had distinct personalities and were lovely.

The storyline was a bit weak. It was really interesting, but it definitely took a back seat to Kate and Vincent's romance. I figured early on that the romance was more the plot than the revenant storyline, so it didn't bother me that much. And, I LOVE that Paris was the backdrop for this story. Maybe I'm reading the wrong books, but Paris doesn't seem to come up that often in YA Fantasy and it ought to. A city built over what is essentially a mass grave? It SCREAMS fantasy setting. Paris was used very well.

And, if I'm being really honest about it, the perfect French accents in the audiobook may have been what made me love it. show less

This was an interesting story. I've suffered from insomnia most of my life so I felt a kinship to many of the kids in the story - I might have even, at one time, been tempted to sign up for the same thing they did. Lack of sleep is a very rough thing to get used to. So I was really interested to see where this story went

I did like that it was gory and scary at a lot of points. Although I did find some of the dream parts repetitive (fight, run, wonder, etc), I did like each unique nightmare show more and the interesting way they tended to handle them. Although I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, I still plan to find book 2 sometime and continue the series. show less