Review : In the After by Demitria Lunetta

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : In the After (In the After #1)
Author : Demitria Lunetta
Publication Date : June 25th 2013
Publisher : Harper Teen
Goodreads - The Book Depository

They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you...until you are dead.

Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.

After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.

Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.

Personal Thoughts

In the After's zombie-like aliens is what initially drew me to this book. The level of awesomeness that this book could have reached is certainly high with such a unique and intriguing premise. Yet, In the After failed to completely live up to the standards I was expecting it to reach.

In the After started off strongly for me. From the first page itself, I was hooked. The reader gets a glimpse of  the main character's life before the alien invasion such that the impact that the actual alien invasion was pretty intense. Amy was a character who was easy to grow attached to. Through flashbacks, the reader gets to know what kind of a person she was and let me say she's not the most likeable. The alien invasion was the trigger that helped her grow over the years. I admired her strength and resilience in the face of danger. If I were in her place, I would be dead within seconds of the alien invasion. Fortunately, Amy was not at all like me. She learned how to grow survival instincts all by herself and did a fabulous job at staying alive when almost the entire world had been ruthlessly murdered by these aliens. Baby was another fascinating character. Amy finds her after the alien invasion and grows an emotional attachment with the infant. Over the years, this attachment developed into a deeper bond akin to a sibling relationship. Because the aliens were easily attracted to the slightest noise, Amy and Baby develop a version of sign language that I found absolutely fascinating. Throughout half of the book, these two only communicate via their expressions and this sign language. There was something completely riveting about their form of communication. As far as the secondary characters go though, I didn't really find that they were as well-developed as Amy and Baby because they were all introduced towards the 50% mark of this book, the point where the plot started to go downhill.

The first half of In the After was brilliantly well-written. I found myself being immersed in the story line pretty easily and that whole part was entertaining. However, when Amy and Baby move to New Hope, the book was no longer as addictive as it previously was. In the After became yet another dystopian story with the crazy evil leader in the second half of the book and in all honesty, it was boring. I think what lured me into the book in the first half of the book was Amy's emotions. We see a lot less of that in the second part of the book and it failed to really hold my attention. Plus, the relationship between Amy and Baby also sort of diffused with the presence of the secondary characters. There was also a romance in the book, but since the secondary characters were not as well developed, I did not feel like I was blown away by it. Writing wise, Demitria Lunetta shows a lot of promise. While In the After did not work for me in its entirety, I did think that the first half was all sorts of epic. So, there's no doubt that I will be picking up the second book of the series when it comes out just to see if Lunetta will go back to her writing style in the first part of this book.

If I had to rate this book just based on the first half, I would give it 4 stars. It's a shame that this book that started off with a unique premise went downhill, but I definitely think that's it's a book that's worth reading. Fans of dystopians will not be disappointed!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 3/5

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the e-ARC of In the After.