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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Post-apocolyptic novels with a young woman as the protagonist are quickly becoming the norm. This was one of the first times though that I liked the main character. It's not that Amy is perfect, she has flaws, but she is believable and not so annoying. She's smart and savvy, but not overly so. It took a couple of twists that I was expecting, but there were a few surprises as well. If you're looking for age recommendations - I will add that it is fairly violent. I would let a mature 7th grader read this, but not one that very naive and/or sensitive.
I listened to the audiobook. I was uncertain how I’d feel about this book at first, as I’m very picky on the type of alien stories I tend to enjoy. There was so much going on in their book though, so much detail and many characters. Each character played a specific role, even if you didn’t think so at first, coming together at the end to make the reader understand everything. Loved it!
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
While I did get engaged in this book pretty quickly, it lost it's pace and interest gradually after the halfway mark. I . didn't really connect or care much about the characters and struggled with some aspects of the story in terms of how likely or believable the characters were. I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.
I hated [b:The 5th Wave|16101128|The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1)|Rick Yancey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359853842s/16101128.jpg|19187812]. Well, hated is a bit strong, but I didn't enjoy it as much as most people seemed to. I liked the first bit, but I hated the mushy teen love and the derivative bits clearly imported whole hog from other fiction. The comparisons between this book and that are inevitable, and yet, I really liked this one better.
I loved the first part. I really enjoy a good survival story, and this was one, and I loved the relationship between Amy and Baby. I did have some questions about how logical the setup was for the aliens, but those questions get resolved later, so I'm not going to consider that as much of a fault.
I was much less a fan of Parts 2 and 3. I hated the narrative device of telling the past between hazed present, but overall I still enjoyed the story, and while some of the relationships felt forced or shallow, Amy's attention was so well spread it never felt like a huge flaw. Again there are some questions about the logical flow of society, which are answered by the big twist, so that somewhat works, but not entirely.
In a lot of ways, I feel like this is a bit of a science fail, so I really had to suspend my disbelief, there were many times, where I said, "But that doesn't work like that!" I finally decided to treat this as a fantasy, and not get too tied up in the details.
Spoiler time, in which various flaws and twists will be discussed in more detail, but will present huge spoilers for the book:
1. The aliens did not make sense. How did they land on earth if they were just basically vicious people-eating carnivores (are they preparation for another wave?) Ah, no, because they're people. Well yay, that fixes issue one, but creates issue....
2. Amy has pretty well stated that Floraes will feed on a single kill until nothing remains, and that they're fast enough not to lose a downed human. Where are all these survivors coming from? They would have to be bit, but not consumed and nothing we've seen of Florae attacks suggest that this is ever the case. People aren't bitten and then allowed to escape. Additionally, a Florae will consume another downed Florae, which means if someone converts injured, that they would just be eaten by their own kind. Finally, conversion would have to be nearly instantaneous, which is not how bacteria generally works. Sigh, let's just say that it was engineered to spread through the entire system immediately, with magic!
3. Florae-sapiens? You do realize, Lunetta, that the sapiens=thinking, not human? I think you were looking for Homo florae, sure, that would give away the big twist, but given that the Florae don't seem to have any higher functions, using 'sapiens' is nonsensical. While we're on the topic, I love that bacteria-infested, flexible-boned, photosynthetic, carnivorous plants are some how too close to humanity to be easily killed by something that wouldn't kill a human. Die without sunlight, huh? Coat their skin. You can have that idea for free.
4. Baby, oh Baby. Sure, she was vaccinated. Peachy, that explains the Florae-like hearing. Quick question though, how did she possibly get from Kansas (where she was apparently at the time of the breakdown) to Chicago? They are not close. Is this some Kansas that is magically on the border of Illinois? I don't get it.
5. This dystopian elements! Yikes! It was all
Welcome to New Hope, Utopian* Paradise, Check Control of Your Uterus at the Gate*!
*We meant Dystopian. Our Apologies, The Mgmt.
*We meant sonic emitter. We're too hardcore for gates. Our Apologies Again, The Mgmt.
We are only three years PA here, and her mom popped out a government-required baby almost immediately. It's been established quite strongly that the people in New Hope really DO NOT GET the Florae threat. Why would they immediately give up autonomy over their bodies? The facile answer that the leaders explicitly knew that they would have to rebuild the human race because they caused the threat, doesn't stand for the masses. I can't imagine someone one being like, "Well, let's start impregnating 17-year-old girls against their will, like walking wombs," and everyone just sagely nodded their heads like it was completely sane. Yes, people will give up freedom for safety, but there's a logical limit to how much freedom they will give up, and how quickly. This just didn't work for me.
Also, OMG! What is the point of the color-coded children? They've made it quite clear that they're scavenging, not manufacturing their clothing. Is there a Bureau of Dyeing and Spray Painting that makes sure they're matched? The only thing I can come up with is that the system was in place during the Before at the orphanage, but then Baby is in a brown skirt when we meet her, and if they are manufacturing the color-coded jumpsuits, why wouldn't they make them out of guardian fabric, since children are their single most important resource? I think this was just a badly-considered story element added to make the book seem more dystopian.
6. Just once instead of the head of the dystopian community being evil, could he be well-intentioned but wrong? No? Fine.
This book is flawed, and Lunetta clearly has room to grow, but I did enjoy it, and fully intend to read the sequel, so it is recommended. 3.5/5, rounded up.
07/02/15 The sequel is a steaming pile of fail. Rounding down, dropping recommendation.
_______
I seriously do not even remember purchasing this. I was flipping back on my Kindle to figure out what to read next, and I saw this and thought, "Hmm, maybe that one."
I just looked at my purchase history, and it was apparently a Kindle Daily Deal on 12-16-13 along with The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. I remember buying the Welty, because I already own it on audiobook, but I referenced the index on Amazon a half a hundred times while listening to it, and had promised to read (as in text) "The Golden Apples" someday. As such, I totally recall that purchase, but I must have just thrown this in the cart because it was YA PA. I have literally no expectations; let's see if Ms. Lunetta can take advantage of that and pleasantly surprise me.
I loved the first part. I really enjoy a good survival story, and this was one, and I loved the relationship between Amy and Baby. I did have some questions about how logical the setup was for the aliens, but those questions get resolved later, so I'm not going to consider that as much of a fault.
I was much less a fan of Parts 2 and 3. I hated the narrative device of telling the past between hazed present, but overall I still enjoyed the story, and while some of the relationships felt forced or shallow, Amy's attention was so well spread it never felt like a huge flaw. Again there are some questions about the logical flow of society, which are answered by the big twist, so that somewhat works, but not entirely.
In a lot of ways, I feel like this is a bit of a science fail, so I really had to suspend my disbelief, there were many times, where I said, "But that doesn't work like that!" I finally decided to treat this as a fantasy, and not get too tied up in the details.
Spoiler time, in which various flaws and twists will be discussed in more detail, but will present huge spoilers for the book:
Spoiler
1. The aliens did not make sense. How did they land on earth if they were just basically vicious people-eating carnivores (are they preparation for another wave?) Ah, no, because they're people. Well yay, that fixes issue one, but creates issue....
2. Amy has pretty well stated that Floraes will feed on a single kill until nothing remains, and that they're fast enough not to lose a downed human. Where are all these survivors coming from? They would have to be bit, but not consumed and nothing we've seen of Florae attacks suggest that this is ever the case. People aren't bitten and then allowed to escape. Additionally, a Florae will consume another downed Florae, which means if someone converts injured, that they would just be eaten by their own kind. Finally, conversion would have to be nearly instantaneous, which is not how bacteria generally works. Sigh, let's just say that it was engineered to spread through the entire system immediately, with magic!
3. Florae-sapiens? You do realize, Lunetta, that the sapiens=thinking, not human? I think you were looking for Homo florae, sure, that would give away the big twist, but given that the Florae don't seem to have any higher functions, using 'sapiens' is nonsensical. While we're on the topic, I love that bacteria-infested, flexible-boned, photosynthetic, carnivorous plants are some how too close to humanity to be easily killed by something that wouldn't kill a human. Die without sunlight, huh? Coat their skin. You can have that idea for free.
4. Baby, oh Baby. Sure, she was vaccinated. Peachy, that explains the Florae-like hearing. Quick question though, how did she possibly get from Kansas (where she was apparently at the time of the breakdown) to Chicago? They are not close. Is this some Kansas that is magically on the border of Illinois? I don't get it.
5. This dystopian elements! Yikes! It was all
Welcome to New Hope, Utopian* Paradise, Check Control of Your Uterus at the Gate*!
*We meant Dystopian. Our Apologies, The Mgmt.
*We meant sonic emitter. We're too hardcore for gates. Our Apologies Again, The Mgmt.
We are only three years PA here, and her mom popped out a government-required baby almost immediately. It's been established quite strongly that the people in New Hope really DO NOT GET the Florae threat. Why would they immediately give up autonomy over their bodies? The facile answer that the leaders explicitly knew that they would have to rebuild the human race because they caused the threat, doesn't stand for the masses. I can't imagine someone one being like, "Well, let's start impregnating 17-year-old girls against their will, like walking wombs," and everyone just sagely nodded their heads like it was completely sane. Yes, people will give up freedom for safety, but there's a logical limit to how much freedom they will give up, and how quickly. This just didn't work for me.
Also, OMG! What is the point of the color-coded children? They've made it quite clear that they're scavenging, not manufacturing their clothing. Is there a Bureau of Dyeing and Spray Painting that makes sure they're matched? The only thing I can come up with is that the system was in place during the Before at the orphanage, but then Baby is in a brown skirt when we meet her, and if they are manufacturing the color-coded jumpsuits, why wouldn't they make them out of guardian fabric, since children are their single most important resource? I think this was just a badly-considered story element added to make the book seem more dystopian.
6. Just once instead of the head of the dystopian community being evil, could he be well-intentioned but wrong? No? Fine.
This book is flawed, and Lunetta clearly has room to grow, but I did enjoy it, and fully intend to read the sequel, so it is recommended. 3.5/5, rounded up.
07/02/15 The sequel is a steaming pile of fail. Rounding down, dropping recommendation.
_______
I seriously do not even remember purchasing this. I was flipping back on my Kindle to figure out what to read next, and I saw this and thought, "Hmm, maybe that one."
I just looked at my purchase history, and it was apparently a Kindle Daily Deal on 12-16-13 along with The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. I remember buying the Welty, because I already own it on audiobook, but I referenced the index on Amazon a half a hundred times while listening to it, and had promised to read (as in text) "The Golden Apples" someday. As such, I totally recall that purchase, but I must have just thrown this in the cart because it was YA PA. I have literally no expectations; let's see if Ms. Lunetta can take advantage of that and pleasantly surprise me.
This book took a long time to get started. Amy and Baby were compelling, and their fight for survival was harrowing, but I had a hard time getting invested. It was really not until the introduction of Dr. Reynolds that the book stuck. Yes, the creatures were terrifying. Yes, it was scary to go out at night, and hard to be quiet all the time. But he was the real villain. Amber sucked. I was so upset when she sold out Amy and Baby. And then when she returned, when she was the reason for the attack I was shocked but not surprised But through all of that Dr. Reynolds remained the true terror. From the very beginning he did not like Amy and was desperate to get rid of her, even if it hadn't been overt. But finding out that he was behind the virus, that the creatures were not aliens but were infected humans was disturbing. The one thing that doesn't make sense is how they create more creatures; that the creatures bite you and turn you into a creature. All throughout the book, the creatures were voracious eaters, not giving you one bite and then leaving you alone. Aside from that, I had no plot issues. I really liked Rice and was glad that he was able to plan something. I like Dr. Samuels and the fact that he realized enough of what Dr. Reynolds was doing that he was willing to help Amy escape. I am looking forward to reading the follow up.
When you have to read a book really fast because the story is sooo good and the action is non-stop, you know it is a good read! This novel is that kind of book. I finished the story last night and immediately went online to order In The End which is book 2. I am hoping it gets here by tomorrow because I am not ready to be done with this story.
3.5
I can’t remember the last book to give me heart palpitations and nightmares, at least, the last book before In The After by Demitria Lunetta. Friends, I had the most brilliant idea in the entire world to read this book before bed and oh my goodness, you know how when a book is scary and you can’t put it down but you really want to close your eyes or just skip really fast through the scary parts? That’s how I felt with this book.
Read the rest of my review here
I can’t remember the last book to give me heart palpitations and nightmares, at least, the last book before In The After by Demitria Lunetta. Friends, I had the most brilliant idea in the entire world to read this book before bed and oh my goodness, you know how when a book is scary and you can’t put it down but you really want to close your eyes or just skip really fast through the scary parts? That’s how I felt with this book.
Read the rest of my review here
DNFed!!
RANT REVIEW:
I got so far with this book. So far. I only had 50 pages left. But the flesh-eating murder monsters that literally (apparently) devastated all 7 Billion humans on the planet being contained by wearing duct taped earphones is what did it for me.
This book is the laziest half-baked incoherent nonsense I’ve ever read.
Every single thing that happened was contrived or a coincidence. The main character did nothing to push the story along ( or really anything for that matter).
There was no third act, there was no inciting incident. The characters were flat one dimensional cardboard cutouts. The “I’m not like other girls” monologues were cringey and stupid. And to that point, the “cheerleader” character acted so unlike a human and so much like a “quirky” girl’s misinformed and extremely biased idea of a cheerleader, it was embarrassing.
The dialogue wasn’t even remotely natural or even human-sounding. Elements were introduced and then discarded, or super important events would happen off screen and then be referred to as if they’d happened. The lack of any kind of stage direction was infuriatingly confusing, she expected us to just refer that the characters got from place to place without telling us how they got there, even little things like if they were sitting down or standing up.
Every time the main character discovers something, it’s by sheer chance. A super important event happens because SHE GOT LOST LOOKING FOR THE BATHROOM??? REALLY??
The main character lacked motivation!!! She even admitted herself several times that she doesn’t know why she does what she does! If your character has no motivation THAN REWRITE YOUR CHARACTER!!! I didn’t care about her whatsoever.
It also didn’t seem like the author ever reread what she’d already written? She was repeating herself or contradicting herself constantly!
This entire novel is a prime example of tell-don’t-show! She never let us defer anything for ourselves!! She told us EVERYTHING in excruciating detail SEVERAL TIMES!!! She over explained to a painful degree.
Every time a character opened their mouth, it was an exposition dump! Unprompted, the MC would ask for their life story and without hesitation they would just tell it?? And then disappear from the narrative for the next 30 pages???? It was just nonsensical at every turn.
A few grammatical nitpicks as well: this book felt like she was trying to hit a word count. The lack of contractions, the
Repetition, the weird way she would word things, her obsession with dependent clauses, it all gave the novel the vibe that it was written by a robot or something who didn’t know how humans talk or tell stories.
The halfway through verb tense switch / split timeline nonsense was bad too, it added nothing. What did I care that in a couple of months the main character was a vegetable? She didn’t do very much anyway!
The lack of effort that went into this novel is astounding. The author CLEARLY didn’t care about her story or her characters, so why should I?
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, nor will I be reading anything else by her.
RANT REVIEW:
I got so far with this book. So far. I only had 50 pages left. But the flesh-eating murder monsters that literally (apparently) devastated all 7 Billion humans on the planet being contained by wearing duct taped earphones is what did it for me.
This book is the laziest half-baked incoherent nonsense I’ve ever read.
Every single thing that happened was contrived or a coincidence. The main character did nothing to push the story along ( or really anything for that matter).
There was no third act, there was no inciting incident. The characters were flat one dimensional cardboard cutouts. The “I’m not like other girls” monologues were cringey and stupid. And to that point, the “cheerleader” character acted so unlike a human and so much like a “quirky” girl’s misinformed and extremely biased idea of a cheerleader, it was embarrassing.
The dialogue wasn’t even remotely natural or even human-sounding. Elements were introduced and then discarded, or super important events would happen off screen and then be referred to as if they’d happened. The lack of any kind of stage direction was infuriatingly confusing, she expected us to just refer that the characters got from place to place without telling us how they got there, even little things like if they were sitting down or standing up.
Every time the main character discovers something, it’s by sheer chance. A super important event happens because SHE GOT LOST LOOKING FOR THE BATHROOM??? REALLY??
The main character lacked motivation!!! She even admitted herself several times that she doesn’t know why she does what she does! If your character has no motivation THAN REWRITE YOUR CHARACTER!!! I didn’t care about her whatsoever.
It also didn’t seem like the author ever reread what she’d already written? She was repeating herself or contradicting herself constantly!
This entire novel is a prime example of tell-don’t-show! She never let us defer anything for ourselves!! She told us EVERYTHING in excruciating detail SEVERAL TIMES!!! She over explained to a painful degree.
Every time a character opened their mouth, it was an exposition dump! Unprompted, the MC would ask for their life story and without hesitation they would just tell it?? And then disappear from the narrative for the next 30 pages???? It was just nonsensical at every turn.
A few grammatical nitpicks as well: this book felt like she was trying to hit a word count. The lack of contractions, the
Repetition, the weird way she would word things, her obsession with dependent clauses, it all gave the novel the vibe that it was written by a robot or something who didn’t know how humans talk or tell stories.
The halfway through verb tense switch / split timeline nonsense was bad too, it added nothing. What did I care that in a couple of months the main character was a vegetable? She didn’t do very much anyway!
The lack of effort that went into this novel is astounding. The author CLEARLY didn’t care about her story or her characters, so why should I?
I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, nor will I be reading anything else by her.