After the End by Amy Plum

Amy       
Lynnie    

young adult, contemporary fiction, fantasy, action/suspense
  
Juneau has grown up in an isolated community in Alaska believing that the rest of the Earth was devastated during WWIII.  When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that her entire clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she is horrified to find that WWIII never happened.  The world is intact and everything she was taught to believe is a lie.  Now Juneau must adjust in a modern world she's never experienced and try to find a way to rescue her family and friends while also hiding from whomever took her clan away in the first place.


Amy's Review

What fun! I never would have read this book if it weren't for the strong recommendation from my sister.  (Thank you, Lynnie!) She's absolutely right that you have to be willing to accept the storyline and not get bogged down with the events that don't seem to be realistic because they were a bit too easy for the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the adventure, the intrigue, the characters (and the animals), the scenery, the pacing, the magic, and the story.

I did not love the abrupt ending at a point that did not provide some sort of closure in any conceivable way. It should have been one novel instead of two. I realize I am a broken record but will continue to point out that the trend for sequels in the YA genre needs to stop. This novel's point of ending made absolutely no sense. Please, publishers and writers of the world, stop the sequel madness! A saga that truly cannot be told in one novel should be split into sensible pieces--each with their own story arc (and, at least, partial resolution) within the larger story arc. Otherwise, write a really good standalone book and be done with it!  Just say "no" to forced sequels!


Lynnie's Review

After the End was exciting, interesting, a bit mysterious and generally fun to read.

If you're going to enjoy this book however, you have to accept its premise- that a girl who might have mysterious powers or abilities, was raised in an isolated community and yet is not terrified of the modern world- wholly & completely, without letting that little nag of "this doesn't really make sense" get in the way. There's a lot about this book that pushes the boundary of common sense, but if you agree to jump on for the ride & just accept some goofy ideas and implausible actions, Amy Plum has written a very compelling story.

I might have even given it 5 stars if not for the ending. Or rather, the lack of ending. As with all modern YA there must be a sequel (fortunately there's only 1 sequel to this book and it's already been released as well). The book just sort of stops mid-story. As you near the end you realize there aren't enough pages left for any sort of resolution, and the story loses a lot of steam, very quickly. It feels like someone took a complete book and decided to rip it in half to create two books. It's tremendously annoying.

I will read the sequel- hopefully soon as I'm next in line for it at the library. I'm eager to find out what happens to Juneau, Miles, Whit, and the clan in the next half of the adventure.