Review: In the After

In the After
(In the After #1)
by Demitria Lunetta
YA SciFi
June 25th 2013 by Harper Teen


Goodreads summary:
They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you...until you are dead.

Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.

After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.

Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.


What I thought:
This is the first book where I read about "aliens" who were really like monsters. They had no clear thinking patterns, but just wanted to devour everything they could and were basically extreme predators. I'm usually not as much into these types of plots, probably because they scare me a little. After I watched the movie Signs forever ago I had nightmares for a week and this is with me not even believing in aliens like that. Maybe it's just the whole psychological aspect. These tales are normally quite violent and rarely end happily, so maybe that's the other reason I'm not normally into these. However, In the After was a thriller/scifi I could handle, and actually ended up really enjoying.

Amy is literally all alone, besides the aliens, until she finds Baby, who is just a toddler. Baby keeps her sane. They hole up together in Amy's protected house and survive for some time depending on each other and acting smart when dealing with their new world. That is until an act of kindness leads them to leave their home. Eventually they are found by the colony of New Hope and have to figure out how to acclimate to their new, and very different, environment.

I really liked Amy. I got her and admired her for her courage and wisdom. She was also a fast learner. I also really liked Rice. He is smart, sweet, charming, and kind. I think they meshed well because Amy really needs his calm and Rice could use some of her passion. I liked Baby okay, but I thought she was too trusting sometimes or maybe it was just that she was overly hopeful. I didn't really like Amy's mother and I definitely didn't like Dr. Reynolds and Marcus. Kay was kind of a fun character. I thought there was a nice balance of characters and they were all fairly well fleshed out.

The plot drew me in from the beginning and basically kept me there. There really weren't a lot of slow sections. I figured things out with the aliens fairly early on, but didn't know for sure who all was involved or how they were involved until later. There was a lot of Amy trying to figure things out and then handle what she learns. I do wish Amy would have been a little bit better at hiding her emotions or controlling them, especially under the circumstances. She pretty much seemed like she wasn't afraid of any consequences. That would probably be the only real negative thing for me about this book, along with the fact that the way the "aliens" came about didn't quite work for me (a little too scientifically impossible - especially to happen so quickly).

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and will definitely be picking up the next book to find out what happens next. If you enjoy reading YA SciFi and Dystopians then I definitely recommend picking this up!

Content: Some violence and innuendo, and very few swear words.
Source: ARC from Edelweiss

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1 comment

  1. This book looks anazing!! It had such a cool idea and ALIENS!! Really glad to hear that there was a good MC!!! Nice review!!

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