Review: After The End

After the End by Amy Plum
After the End #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: May 6th, 2014
Source: Library
Date Read: 1/26/15 to 1/28/15
322 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰

"I have no idea what is truth and what is fiction. I'm all I've got now. I can't trust anyone."

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

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This is seriously, maybe the weirdest book I've ever read. I honestly don't know. It was just all so random and if there was a fake-apocalyptic, science fiction genre, this would be the first to go in. BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS A LIE. But seriously, fake-apocalyptic, that is just so weird.

Where do I even start, oh right, uh, main character, Juneau also known as the capital of Alaska, is part of this clan of survivors of WWIII. You know, that war where everything is blown up by nuclear weapons. But one day, she's out hunting on her own, and BAM her whole clan has been kidnapped and now she has to go rescue them. 

Yet once she goes past the restricted area, she discovers a thriving, 21st century city untouched by nuclear radiation or weapons. In fact, Juneau discovers that WWIII never happened! Oh well ok then. 

So a couple of things happen here. First off, Juneau taps into her NATURE POWERS aka she uses people as oracles so that they can guide her to her clan (do not ask me to explain this further because I know nothing). And second, MC guy named Miles tracks her down in order to turn her in to his father, but then ends up helping her find her clan. So that leads to the third, which is spontaneous road trip.

Miles is basically this stupid kid that messes up his life on purpose, because I don't know, to mess with his dad? He doesn't believe in whatever Juneau can do, aka her powers, because who would? She's basically this crazy girl walking around the city "possessing" random people and asking about where her clan is. So yeah. He's a non-believer.

Juneau, on the other hand, is taking everything pretty well? She adapts way, way too fast to all the modern technology though. And it's really surprising how much she knows, or how to act in front of people. I don't know. I kind of get a weird vibe of her being a courageous yet naive "Pocahontas" type of person, but then on the other hand she knows exactly what she's doing. It's like she was never part of some random clan in the middle of Alaska! 

I mean, I understand that this is pretty original. I've never read a fake-apocalyptic series before, but this was just weird and meh to me. I don't really care about Juneau and Miles, or their relationship, but I have to admit that this was interesting to read. 

But seriously, I don't think any of the things happening is plausible. For one, you can't just hide a group of people in the middle of Alaska, I'm sure you would be found by the government or just someone else. And second, HOW DO YOU CONVINCE A GROUP OF PEOPLE to come hide with you in the first place? For science? Yeah no. Highly doubt it. I'm likely skim the second book or reviews just to get some answers to these questions.

So yeah. Interesting book. Weird book. I don't regret reading it, it.....it was just weird. And slightly improbable. And random.