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tricia03053's review
3.0
I would have rated this much higher, but there was no clear ending. We are left wondering about the fate of
several important characters. If there is a sequel coming that resolves the dropped threads, I'll of course, re-rate this.
several important characters. If there is a sequel coming that resolves the dropped threads, I'll of course, re-rate this.
vikingwolf's review
4.0
After seeing a lot of less than positive reviews of this book, I approached it with a feeling of inner doom...but I actually enjoyed it which I was pleased about!
The book begins with a zombie attack on a subway train which leaves a group of people running for their lives, following a young soldier as he leads them through the sewers and back up to a city that has literally gone to hell. There are a mixture of people in the group and I liked them overall. Ari, the young soldier who feels the weight of the safety of the group on his shoulders. Lila, the student who is determined to pull her weight. Deb, strong and capable who only wants to find her girlfriend Julie who is working in the city, Ann who is scared to the verge of panic, Patricia the wise old woman, Hector who wants to go and find his family, Derrick the computer nut trying to look after little sister Ronnie, and Joe the dermatologist. I liked all the characters, and the way their panic ebbed and flowed depending on each crisis they faced. It felt like the realistic way that a group of strangers would react to what was happening and I enjoyed their interactions.
It is a proper zombie book, meaning there are lots of zombies in it, and danger lurks around every corner as they plan to make their way to the marina and take a boat to safety. Tension builds throughout as they have to find supplies, hide from the living and the dead, and find safe places to sleep each night. At times it was real edge of the seat stuff and I was caught up in the survival of this group of people, meaning that the author did a good job of developing these characters to make me want them all to survive. The zombies are also traditional zombies, attracted by noise, movement and blood, which are my favourite kind and I was happy at the amount of different zombie attacks there were. Lovely!
There is an attempt amongst the group to exchange theories about the zombies and how they infect. The debate over bites and blood chemistry was actually quite interesting and the ideas about a possible cure were born which affects the direction that the mission took. I like these additions to the plot.
There were a couple of things that did annoy me though. It starts with a prologue set about 5 days or so after the outbreak and shows a very important piece of plot featuring several characters. I HATE started with what is in effect a spoiler, especially when the book jumps back to then cover every detail of the last five days, rejoining that scene in the prologue and then continuing with the rest of the story from that point on. So why do it? It gives you the death of a character at the very start of the book, then goes back and shows you that person, alive and well! It ruined the story a bit as you knew roughly when this person was going to die. It seemed an odd thing to do and it did nothing for the plot! I really hate it when authors do this. I'd have preferred to just have the story unfold normally, starting with the outbreak.
My second niggle was the love story subplot with Ari and Lila mooning over each other when zombies are all around them. It seems to be an obsession amongst female authors that their zombie books must have a romance in it for some reason. I find it annoying at the best of times. Thankfully it is not graphic and the rest of the writing for me was strong enough to carry the plot and not have it spoiled by a lacklustre love story.
There are a few minor errors where character names have been mixed up which was slightly confusing for a moment but nothing too serious. Mixing up Ari and Derrick is like confusing prawns with chocolate!
I was a little bit miffed by the ending of the book when I realised book 2 follows a totally different set of survivors. So what happens to everyone? Is there another book that joins the survivors of both books or something? Not sure but I certainly want to know what happens to the people.Anyway, I liked this book enough to buy the paperback of it and the follow up book, which should keep me amused until I see if more zombie books from this author are coming!.
The book begins with a zombie attack on a subway train which leaves a group of people running for their lives, following a young soldier as he leads them through the sewers and back up to a city that has literally gone to hell. There are a mixture of people in the group and I liked them overall. Ari, the young soldier who feels the weight of the safety of the group on his shoulders. Lila, the student who is determined to pull her weight. Deb, strong and capable who only wants to find her girlfriend Julie who is working in the city, Ann who is scared to the verge of panic, Patricia the wise old woman, Hector who wants to go and find his family, Derrick the computer nut trying to look after little sister Ronnie, and Joe the dermatologist. I liked all the characters, and the way their panic ebbed and flowed depending on each crisis they faced. It felt like the realistic way that a group of strangers would react to what was happening and I enjoyed their interactions.
It is a proper zombie book, meaning there are lots of zombies in it, and danger lurks around every corner as they plan to make their way to the marina and take a boat to safety. Tension builds throughout as they have to find supplies, hide from the living and the dead, and find safe places to sleep each night. At times it was real edge of the seat stuff and I was caught up in the survival of this group of people, meaning that the author did a good job of developing these characters to make me want them all to survive. The zombies are also traditional zombies, attracted by noise, movement and blood, which are my favourite kind and I was happy at the amount of different zombie attacks there were. Lovely!
There is an attempt amongst the group to exchange theories about the zombies and how they infect. The debate over bites and blood chemistry was actually quite interesting and the ideas about a possible cure were born which affects the direction that the mission took. I like these additions to the plot.
There were a couple of things that did annoy me though. It starts with a prologue set about 5 days or so after the outbreak and shows a very important piece of plot featuring several characters. I HATE started with what is in effect a spoiler, especially when the book jumps back to then cover every detail of the last five days, rejoining that scene in the prologue and then continuing with the rest of the story from that point on. So why do it? It gives you the death of a character at the very start of the book, then goes back and shows you that person, alive and well! It ruined the story a bit as you knew roughly when this person was going to die. It seemed an odd thing to do and it did nothing for the plot! I really hate it when authors do this. I'd have preferred to just have the story unfold normally, starting with the outbreak.
My second niggle was the love story subplot with Ari and Lila mooning over each other when zombies are all around them. It seems to be an obsession amongst female authors that their zombie books must have a romance in it for some reason. I find it annoying at the best of times. Thankfully it is not graphic and the rest of the writing for me was strong enough to carry the plot and not have it spoiled by a lacklustre love story.
There are a few minor errors where character names have been mixed up which was slightly confusing for a moment but nothing too serious. Mixing up Ari and Derrick is like confusing prawns with chocolate!
I was a little bit miffed by the ending of the book when I realised book 2 follows a totally different set of survivors. So what happens to everyone? Is there another book that joins the survivors of both books or something? Not sure but I certainly want to know what happens to the people.Anyway, I liked this book enough to buy the paperback of it and the follow up book, which should keep me amused until I see if more zombie books from this author are coming!.
shan198025's review
2.0
I didn't really like this book. The characters seemed very one dimensional and predictable. The story abruptly ended I thought and we never really found out what was going on outside the city.
readerxxx's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of in the vein of the typical zombie novel but it was well written and I liked the characters. I have read a lot of zombie fiction in the last year and I would place this in the top 10%.
daynpitseleh's review
2.0
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My main reaction to this was just "eh." It was a quick read and some parts of it were a unique twist on the zombie genre. However, the book was just unrealistic (yes, even zombie novels can be unrealistic), as several things happened that were unbelievable such as.
The supporting characters were also lacking - characters were often introduced and exited several pages later never to be heard about again. The supporting characters that were in the book for longer periods of time were extremely one-dimensional - a teenage computer geek, a dumb/flirty model, a gruff lesbian .... sigh.
d in
Also, there was a romantic subplot that I really could have done without.
Most frustratingly, the ending was really unsatisfying - an ambiguous ending doesn't have to feel like a let-down, and this ending did. I didn't feel like the characters had really grown at all (unless you count Lila killing zombies despite being interested in philosophy and taking comparative religion courses...).
People who like horror-lite novels might enjoy this, but I like my zombies with a little more ... bite.
My main reaction to this was just "eh." It was a quick read and some parts of it were a unique twist on the zombie genre. However, the book was just unrealistic (yes, even zombie novels can be unrealistic), as several things happened that were unbelievable such as
Spoiler
the fact that the group magically runs into a scientist who knows what caused the zombies and knows exactly how to fix itThe supporting characters were also lacking - characters were often introduced and exited several pages later never to be heard about again. The supporting characters that were in the book for longer periods of time were extremely one-dimensional - a teenage computer geek, a dumb/flirty model, a gruff lesbian .... sigh.
d in
Also, there was a romantic subplot that I really could have done without.
Most frustratingly, the ending was really unsatisfying - an ambiguous ending doesn't have to feel like a let-down, and this ending did. I didn't feel like the characters had really grown at all (unless you count Lila killing zombies despite being interested in philosophy and taking comparative religion courses...).
People who like horror-lite novels might enjoy this, but I like my zombies with a little more ... bite.
squinderella's review
3.0
After the End is a zombie apocalypse novel. It begins while our two lead characters, Ari and Lila are riding the subway in NYC. Abruptly, the train is stopped and the screaming begins. They don't know each other and they don't know what's going on, but they know they need to get away from the screaming that's drawing nearer. After narrowly escaping the tunnels, they arrive topside to find that the world around them is complete chaos. So begins the journey of survival.
I enjoyed After the End. It was rather realistic in the aspect of the way people would act and react during extreme situations. (A group would band together, and not everyone would be able to carry their own weight or be able to fight back.) Although there was constantly something happening, it didn't have a huge amount of get-up-and-go. It also was essentially like many other zombie apocalypse novels. The zombies were different, and I liked the reasoning behind why the zombie-ness occurred, but all-in-all was pretty standard. (Although finding out the cause was awfully convenient!)
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy to me.
I enjoyed After the End. It was rather realistic in the aspect of the way people would act and react during extreme situations. (A group would band together, and not everyone would be able to carry their own weight or be able to fight back.) Although there was constantly something happening, it didn't have a huge amount of get-up-and-go. It also was essentially like many other zombie apocalypse novels. The zombies were different, and I liked the reasoning behind why the zombie-ness occurred, but all-in-all was pretty standard. (Although finding out the cause was awfully convenient!)
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy to me.
stinkerbellen's review against another edition
5.0
Quick read. Perhaps 'cause I could not put it down! Book combines zombies and romance! Romance is my all time favorite and zombies are my current favorite, so this had it all. Although I could've used even more romance ;) So, I'm still searching for the perfect book that combines the two, this one was near though. I wish it was possible to give half stars, 'cause I would've given this 4,5*. The characters were very likable and although the situation was what it was, there wasn't too much sadness in the book. Proves that it's possible to write a book with good ole zombie killing action without breaking everyones hearts! Thank you very much [a:Bonnie Dee|1166851|Bonnie Dee|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg], this has definitely been the best zombie book I've read so far!!!
wulfwyn's review
4.0
Wow. I really wasn't expecting a lot when I requested to review this book. I had never heard of the author and it was listed as a zombie romance type, (romance during the apocalypse not zombies in love - there would be a book: "oh I love you so much because you are so smart. Just let me have one taste of your brains. I promise I'll still love you in the morning and I will stop if you say to." Haha). So I was really surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. Yes the editing could have been better but quite honestly I have read some books lately by the big names and guess what? The editing could have been better. I don't know what is going on with that but it seems to be the start of an issue that is no longer limited to self publishing. I did not find the editing mistakes in this book to hamper my enjoyment of the book. The book is pretty much basic zombie fare - the hero, the female who starts out weak but turns out strong, the ditz, the geek, the guy with the antidote who needs to be kept safe,the older wealthy female, the strong black female and the lesbian couple. The author added in a couple of children, one teen and one younger. I thought she did a good job with getting me to care about the characters. I like the way she pulled them together to help each other but also wasn't afraid to tear them apart. This book delves into the thoughts of our hero. We see the way he is thinking and feeling. I like that the author made him a human hero. He has bad thoughts. He has realistic thoughts. He has tired thoughts and he has typical sexual thoughts. I know a lot of people think sex isn't going to happen in a zombie outbreak, (unless it is rape - which seems to be expected), but the reality is it will. People are people. Attractions will be there and sexual release will happen. I thought Bonnie Dee did a good job with the people she chose as the romantic interests. The timing of the unfolding was paced well. It is a z outbreak. Things happen fast because death is waiting. There is also plenty of action. The zombies were a bit different in that they seem smarter than usual. Also they do decompose. That was a huge change. I think that, along with the psychological aspect, makes this a book that could go to series very easily. The author has a good grip on what changes the survivors are going through mentally. The ending of the book had me on edge and still does. I want to know more. I want to find out what happens next for the survivors. I want to know ...well, I don't want to give spoilers, so, I just want to know. Check it out. It is on the intense side but also has it's moments of humor and hope. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author.
* I received a copy of the Kindle version of this book for review purposes. All opinions and thoughts are my honest feelings about the book. *
* I received a copy of the Kindle version of this book for review purposes. All opinions and thoughts are my honest feelings about the book. *