Title: After the End 
Author: Amy Plum
My Rating: 4 stars
Goodreads. Book Depository.
I listened to this story on audiobook and really loved it. It was mysterious, and intriguing and I think the way the story was read made a huge impact on how much I enjoyed it. i definitely recommend it!
Synopsis:
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.
My Thoughts:
This book was such a great, mysterious and intriguing book. I loved the premise and think the narrators did a wonderful job in engaging you in the story. Emily Rankin is one of my favourite narrators and Graham Hamilton did a wonderful job in presenting Miles’ perspective.
The plot of this book is immediately engaging. Juneau has grown up learning about the Yara, after the effects of World War III and the world being ravaged by nuclear radiation. The twist? There was no WW3. When Juneau’s clan disappears and she is left on her own, you adventure with Juneau as she tries to find them, running into Miles, a young man who just wants his father’s approval, who helps and thwarts her along the way (just like boys tend to do).
This book is quite long, but very engaging. While sometimes a bit slow, you learn more about the Yara (a mystical force Juneau has access to) as she explains it to Miles, you cheer for Miles and Juneau’s friendship and relationship and then smack his imaginary head when he does something stupid, all the while wondering what has happened to cause a group of people to raise children in a post-apocalyptic world. There are so many questions throughout this book, and they are not all answered at the end but I hope they will be in the second one.
This book had a mixture of dystopian, fantasy, and real-world elements, and I was engaged throughout with the narration, the storyline and the characters. All in all a wonderful book and one I would recommend!
Recommended for: dystopian lovers, but also those who love a YA mystery book. There’s a lot of different aspects to this book that would enthral a lot of people.
Quotes (Spoiler Free):
“I’m lying here in a tent, pretending to be asleep but actually fearing for my life as I watch a bunny murderer have a conversation with our campfire.”
“Something is nagging at the edge of my consciousness. It’s a good feeling, but I can’t quite place it. And then suddenly I do. It’s a feeling of being where I’m supposed to be. A feeling of knowing that I’m in the right place at the right time. With the right person.”
“Why did I feel safer in a postapocalyptic world than in this functioning, civilized world? Because I knew what to expect, I answer.”
“Doubt everything. Doubt everything at least once. What you decide to keep, you’ll be able to be confident of. And what you decide to ditch, you will replace with what your instincts tell you is true.”
Buy it here.
Every so often I love reading audiobooks, and this one was particularly good. Do you have any audiobooks that you like to read? Tell me in the comments!
Until next time, bibliophiles!
Maddy xx
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