Reviews - Afterland | The StoryGraph

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

402 reviews for:

Afterland

Lauren Beukes

3.24 AVERAGE

cannibaldear's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 15%

For a book about barely any men still existing, this book is way too focused on men

christalnoel's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars, but I’m rounding up because I really liked the ending. There were definitely some unlikable characters in this one, and it was slow at times. I was pretty sure I would give it 3 stars, but the premise behind the book and the ending helped redeem it for me though.

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

lfar's review against another edition

3.0

Plotty, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way

heathermoodreads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This post-apocalyptic road trip story was a wild ride. Cole is trying to protect her son and return home after a disease has killed off most of the men in the population in the United States. She's running from the one person she trusted the most - her sister Billie.

Cole uses resources and survival instincts to ensure her son is safe. She makes Miles dress and act like a girl since it is illegal for boys and men to be out in society. This story also focuses on social injustices that are happening in the United States, dealing with racism, sexism, and gender identity.

This story also focuses on what happens when people are scared and motivated by money. Pregnancy was illegal. The harvesting of semen and imprisonment of males was happening to "save" the population. People's choices were taken away because of the virus that only attached itself to certain males. Cole wanted to protect her son from that life, and she made it clear that she would stop at nothing for that to happen.

I really loved Cole and Miles's relationship. The author did a great job at capturing their relationship and how sometimes parents have to make hard decisions for their children whether they like it or not. I did think the story was disjointed at times and hard to follow. It was also too long. If it were about 50 to 75 pages shorter, I believe this story would have been a 5 star.