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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"You can’t imagine how much the world can change in six months. You just can’t."
Except that, now, of course we all can...
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I’ve read all of Lauren Beukes novels and my favorites are Zoo City and The Shining Girls. The thing I love most about this South African author is her knack for wildly inventive plot-lines – criminals who gets assigned animal companions or time travelling serial killers. That said, I thought the story line for Afterland was the most “normal” of everything she’s done until now – not necessarily a bad thing, especially in a time when most of us are drawn to easy reading books.
The story is set in the future where 99% of men are dead after a global man plague. Cole and her twelve-year-old son Miles are on the run from her sister and a group of boy traffickers, but they also have to be on the look out for the Department of Men who wants to quarantine all surviving males. I found the mention of hand washing, sold out hand sanitizer, conspiracy theories, financial markets crashing and hospitals being overwhelmed a bit eerie and very prescient.
The writing is edgy, and I especially liked the parts where Billy (sociopath sister) is high on drugs while trying to catch up to Cole and Miles, as I felt like I was deep under the influence myself. The author uses a cool trick to point out how chauvinistic some of us are still in our thinking, by always mentioning a job description before the description of the person, and I found myself having to constantly change my picture to female from male a few sentences after we were introduced to a cop, security guard, taxi driver etc.
The real issue being addressed in this dystopia is probably women and violence. We are still very much programmed to think of women as nurturing even after watching shows like Game of Thrones and Ozark, so the brutality between females feels unnatural and/or uncomfortable, but as the one of the characters in Afterland notes – “But girls have more to prove. You have to hit harder, meaner, crueler if you want to step into the Big Men’s shoes” when the future is going to be female.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Typical on the run adventure. Wanted a bit more of world building. Felt a bit rushed and ending was so-so.
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My review will appear in Booklist. This was a tough read, especially given current circumstances, but I thought it was interesting in comparison to Y: The Last Man. I also loved the characters, and Beukes is clearly a strong writer. I would like to go back and check out her backlist.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been enamored with Lauren Beukes since reading The Shining Girls six or seven years ago. When Broken Monsters came out, she was cemented into one of my top favorite authors, which is why I was thrilled to read an early copy of her latest, Afterland. In this book, we meet mother and son duo Cole and Miles, as they navigate across the US, in the aftermath of a man destroying virus. Miles is one of the few precious males left in the world, and everyone from the government to his scheming aunt Billie, wants a piece of him. His mother Cole will stop at nothing to protect him and get them both safely back to South Africa. I did enjoy this book, it was very fast paced and easy to read, in addition to being suffused with tension and trepidation throughout. The only thing that was lacking for me was Beukes' trademark fantastical-fever-dream-done-right style. I've grown used to her work making the supernatural seem more realistic than reality, and this book was a departure from that. Aside from a virus that wipes out most of the men in the world, there isn't really any fantasy/supernatural content at all. And I definitely get it, an author often wants to spread their proverbial wings and write other types of books. I understand that, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
3.75 stars
I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Mulholland and Netgalley.
3.75 stars
I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Mulholland and Netgalley.