In The After by Demitria Lunetta

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 400 Pages
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Narration: First Person: Amy
Genre: Dystopian
Challenge: Dystopian/Debut/Paranormal

In The After Series:
Book One: In The After
Book Two: In The End (2014)
Book Three: Untitled

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Order On Barnes and Noble:
Hardcover and Nook

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Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Review:

Have you ever been in one of those reading funks where you feel like you'll never find another good book to read? Yeah, I was in one of those for a while, aimlessly reading, hoping to come across a novel by chance that would hold my attention till the end. I never thought that In The After would be the one to break me out of my book-related depression, but it definitely did the trick! I can't believe I procrastinated waited so long to finally give it a try. What I expected to be bland, humdrum, and uneventful turned out to be fast-paced, thought-provoking, and awe-inspiring.

Throughout the span of this book, Amy ages from 14 to 17 years old, which is pretty bizarre for well....any book really. In my opinion, the formatting and structure of this novel was really weird and confusing, but I'll elaborate on that later in my review. For some reason, I started into this expecting Amy to be one of those aggravating damsel in distress types and was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that she wasn't remotely close to one at all. What I really admired about her character was that although she was badass and did anything required for her survival, no matter how embarrassing it was, she acted like any other teenager.

When the "aliens" attacked, she broke down, crying herself to sleep every night. This was a pretty understandable and realistic reaction considering the fact that in her mind, she could've very well been the last human alive, stripped of everything that was normal or constant in her life. One second she's complaining about school or hanging out with friends, and in the next, she's isolated in a world that's no longer her own, scavenging for items like food or clothes that she took for granted in the Before. 

However, after she fully grasped the concept that the apocalypse was really happening, she pulled herself together and forced herself to remain strong, not allowing herself a moment to dwell on her hopelessness. She learned to adapt to her surroundings and make the best of what she had, which I really admired about her. She chose to keep fighting when many others would've just given up. Throughout the whole novel, she utilized her exceptional intelligence, honed her intuition, made sure she learned how to properly defend herself, fought for what she believed was right, and retained her take-charge attitude, not allowing things to pass her by when she was able to do something about it.

In The After was fast paced and action packed. Although the plot was nothing I haven't seen before (corrupt governments, forced pregnancies, inventions gone wrong affair), Demitria revealed it in a way that captured my attention and never let go. I was expecting to fit in a couple of chapters here and there, but after getting through the first two chapters, I knew, without a doubt, that that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. I finished In The After in one sitting, oblivious to how much time had passed, because I was just that emotionally invested in the plot and the characters revolving around it.

The only reason that I didn't give this epic novel a five star, or even six star, rating was because I wasn't a huge fan of the way Demitria structured it. Don't get me wrong, she strung sentences together and made them flow smoothly and evenly like a pro, I just didn't like the way she switched back and forth between the past and the present. It was bearable for the first half of the story. Although annoying, I learned to live with it and move on. But the second half? It just irritated me, and no matter how hard I tried to get used to the flow of it, I wasn't able to adapt with the constant change in time frames. I understand what the author was trying to accomplish, but sadly, it didn't work out very well, at least for me.

The romance in this one was surprising as well. Unlike most YA novels, this story focused on the plot instead of the romance, which I was extremely grateful for. The relationship between Amy and said love interest was important and affected how everything went down in the end, probably even more crucial to the overall story for the sequel, but it was on the side. Another thing that kept this novel apart from your average Dystopian novel was that instead of your typical broody, dark soldier love interest with a twisted past, we have a geeky and slightly awkward teen scientist who has mysterious secrets of his own.

Overall, In The After is a fast-paced novel that features a tough, badass, and intelligent heroine who doesn't take BS from anyone. Although the plot wasn't very innovative, I still loved it all the same, because Demitria was able to express it in a way that kept me hooked. The only attribute that irritated me was the way the author structured her novel, but that irritation was still easily overcome by my fascination with everything else. I recommend this novel to both guys and girls alike. Girls, because there's an awesome heroine who's pretty easy to connect to. And guys, because although there is a romance, it isn't the focus of the story, which I'm sure most of you will appreciate. xD

Heroine- 6/5
Rebellious, Brave, Intelligent
Romance- 4.5/5 Adorable and Cute
Action- 6/5 Never a Dull Moment
Writing- 3.5/5
Didn't like the structuring of the novel
Trailer- 5/5
Overall- 4.5/5

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