Review: In The After

Author: Demitria Lunetta
Date of Publication: June 25 2013
Pages: 455
Source: Library Ebook

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.

Review:

There was a lot I liked about In The After, and there were some things I didn't like. Overall, I thought it was a good book.

Amy's story is compelling and sad. She has spent the last few years surviving silently with a girl she found, Baby. Amy takes care of Baby and the two of them could be the last living humans on the planet after the apocalypse when the human-eating green aliens came and destroyed the world. Amy is a survivor and I couldn't help but adore her. She is smart and capable. She has such a strong sense of responsibility for Baby and Amy is full of regrets.

Much of the story is character development for Amy as she copes with her loss and the realization that this bleak, lonely world is her future. The plot starts from there and it spans quite some time. I think the concept of the story was fascinating and it was interesting. I was very fascinated by the world building and I liked the characters. I think my issue is that the plot felt like it was crawling to me.

At some point, I started to wonder what exactly this book is about. Furthermore, I guessed the plot twist very early on, and so I was irritated that it took Amy so long to get there. At some point, In the After switches its narration to a sort of dual perspective of before and after, and while I like that the author tried something new about halfway through the story, it made the plot very slow.

I wish more had happened in the story and at this point, the overall story arc of the series hasn't been established. I've checked and it's a duology, and I guess I'll read the next book. That being said, I feel like In the After could be a standalone.

Generally, I liked In the After, yet I feel like it's missing a spark. The story kind of goes on and the villains aren't that scary. There's a lot of dull horror and pain, and the atmosphere is well done but I think maybe having more of those key, climatic, emotional events where the scenes are emotionally very sharp wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't know if that makes much sense. Either way, I thought In The After was very readable and it gets 3 stars.

                                       

-P.E.