After the End

I'll be honest, After the End was a struggle for me to finish. The beginning held promise, despite the fact that it felt like something had been done before. Juneau was an intriguing character. Brought up in the Alaskan Wilderness, made to believe that she was one of few survivors of the last world war, and able to connect with the “Yara” or the Earth itself to do magic. All of this had the power to sweep me up and carry me through the story. I was like a little child with her hands in the air, waiting to picked up. Sadly, that never happened and I was left disappointed.

I think the biggest flaw with this story is the dual POV it tries to hold onto. The story shifts between Juneau and Miles, but it doesn't really need to. Juneau's story would hold water on its own. She is the one who has a magical connection to the “Yara”, or the Earth. She is the one who is being hunted for reasons unknown. She is the one who has survival skills and who has a remotely interesting story. Miles? Miles is a spoiled boy from the city, with a rich, evil father, who just wants to prove himself. His chapters are terribly boring, and honestly don't add much to the story at all. I feel like this was the main thing that slowed this read down.

My other issue was just with continuity. Juneau comes from the Alaskan Wilderness and is thrown into a world she didn't believe existed. Suddenly there is money to deal with, cars to drive, McDonalds to eat, and so many other things that are shockingly new. Magically, she adjusts in a matter of pages. The girl who at first shied away from cars on the street, is suddenly able to drive one. Can someone please tell me how she knew what the peddles were? She also somehow can distinguish money, buy clothes in a GAP, and know how to buy a ferry ticket. Is anyone else as confused as I am? I was so frustrated.

Finally, is the simple fact that this story just doesn't really go anywhere. It's a constant pattern of running and camping. Fleeing and an attempt at back story. I was left so bored by the middle of the book that I no longer wanted to know why Juneau was being chased, I just wanted her to finally find her clan so things could move forward. Add in yet another abrupt ending, masquerading as a cliffhanger, and I was just tired.