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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I really couldn't get into any of these stories. The only one I was excited for was the one by Beth Revis and that's because its setting was the same as her book series 'Across the Universe' that I really like. Otherwise, when these stories became remotely interesting, they ended.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Short stories, dystopian themes.
I did like this one though a few of the stories were disappointments. I have written mini reviews for each story to help anyone thinking about reading this.
The segment by Genevieve Valentine:
I liked this one and it had a startling twist in the plot that I didn't see coming! The whole acting agency thing was a different idea but I never quite knew what the disaster was. This let the story down a little bit. Four stars.
After the cure by Carrie Ryan:
I really liked this one. The plot was creepy and it did keep you wondering. I loved how it was zombies that brought about the end of the world and that there was a cure meaning we were in the shoes of someone who used to be a zombie. It was very different and I really liked the ending and the slight hope that it portrayed. Five stars.
Valedictorian by N.K Jemisin:
I liked this one. It was very unusual and I liked the characters. I was a bit confused about the whole world thing as it was never exactly clear what the disaster was. It read a bit like an extract from a longer story as well. Four stars.
Visiting Nelson by Katherine Langrish:
I liked this one. The characters were nice and I liked how the story revolves around one event. However I was never quite sure what the disaster was. The ending also left me with the impression that it was the first part of a larger story. Four stars.
All I know of freedom by Carol Emshwiller:
I loved this one. It was unique and I loved the conspiracy people. They were a wonderful addition. I also loved the main character who made her own decisions that led to the ending that was rather bittersweet. Five stars.
The other elder by Beth Revis:
I really liked this one. I loved how the main character was learning new things at the same time that we did which added intrigue. I also loved how morals were called into question. I was a bit confused by the ending as all of a sudden we seemed to switch POVs. Four stars.
The great game at the end of the world by Matthew Kressel:
I don't exactly know how I feel about this one. It's definitely unique and I loved how we switched from Before and After. However I just felt like something was missing all the way through. Three stars.
Reunion by Susan Beth Pfeffer:
I really liked this one. I loved how we were mainly kept in the dark all the way through until the end when what was really happening was revealed. Looking back on it though it was very info dumpy. Four stars.
Blood drive by Jeffrey Ford:
I loved this one. It seemed like something that could really happen especially when we look at the current state of American politics. I also loved the two girls going to Prom together. That was a cute touch which led to a cute ending. Five stars.
Reality girl by Richard Bowes:
This was a slightly confusing one. I never felt like I fully understood what was going on and kept having to go back. However it did have a good plot and good characters. Three stars.
How Th'irth wint rong by Hapless Joey @homeskool.guv by Gregory Maguire:
I don't know how to feel about this one. It's definitely original but because of the fact that it was supposed to be written by someone who can't spell I found it hard to read. Once I deciphered it though it was rather good. Three stars.
Rust with wings by Stephen Gould:
This one was quite good. It was very action packed and the characters were forced to think on their feet. I also liked how they didn't know exactly what was going on. Four stars.
Faint heart by Sarah Rees Brennan:
I loved this one. The characters were amazing and I loved the premise. It was exciting and well crafted. I also loved the ending! Five stars.
The easthound by Nalo Hopkinson:
I quite liked this one. It was rather confusing at the beginning but it did get better. Nothing really made it stand out but it was a very enjoyable read. Three stars.
Gray by Jane Nolan:
This one was a poem that I had to read quite a few times. However it was pretty good. I did like it. Not quite sure how dystopian it is though. Four stars.
Before by Carolyn Dunn:
This one was quite boring. Not much really happened and I couldn't get attached to any of the characters. Two stars.
Fake plastic trees by Caitlin R. Kiernan:
This one was okay if slightly confusing. It mainly stayed at the same pace throughout and not much exactly happened. I did like the characters though. Three stars.
You won't feel a thing by Garth Nix:
This one felt a little bit too much like Fantasy. It didn't seem to fit the theme even though I really liked it. However this might be because I haven't read the book it's set in the same world as. Four stars.
The marker by Cecil Castellucci:
I loved this one. It was unique and special and I loved how morals were called into question. It fit really well with the story. Five stars.
Overall I quite liked this book and enjoyed most of the stories.
The segment by Genevieve Valentine:
I liked this one and it had a startling twist in the plot that I didn't see coming! The whole acting agency thing was a different idea but I never quite knew what the disaster was. This let the story down a little bit. Four stars.
After the cure by Carrie Ryan:
I really liked this one. The plot was creepy and it did keep you wondering. I loved how it was zombies that brought about the end of the world and that there was a cure meaning we were in the shoes of someone who used to be a zombie. It was very different and I really liked the ending and the slight hope that it portrayed. Five stars.
Valedictorian by N.K Jemisin:
I liked this one. It was very unusual and I liked the characters. I was a bit confused about the whole world thing as it was never exactly clear what the disaster was. It read a bit like an extract from a longer story as well. Four stars.
Visiting Nelson by Katherine Langrish:
I liked this one. The characters were nice and I liked how the story revolves around one event. However I was never quite sure what the disaster was. The ending also left me with the impression that it was the first part of a larger story. Four stars.
All I know of freedom by Carol Emshwiller:
I loved this one. It was unique and I loved the conspiracy people. They were a wonderful addition. I also loved the main character who made her own decisions that led to the ending that was rather bittersweet. Five stars.
The other elder by Beth Revis:
I really liked this one. I loved how the main character was learning new things at the same time that we did which added intrigue. I also loved how morals were called into question. I was a bit confused by the ending as all of a sudden we seemed to switch POVs. Four stars.
The great game at the end of the world by Matthew Kressel:
I don't exactly know how I feel about this one. It's definitely unique and I loved how we switched from Before and After. However I just felt like something was missing all the way through. Three stars.
Reunion by Susan Beth Pfeffer:
I really liked this one. I loved how we were mainly kept in the dark all the way through until the end when what was really happening was revealed. Looking back on it though it was very info dumpy. Four stars.
Blood drive by Jeffrey Ford:
I loved this one. It seemed like something that could really happen especially when we look at the current state of American politics. I also loved the two girls going to Prom together. That was a cute touch which led to a cute ending. Five stars.
Reality girl by Richard Bowes:
This was a slightly confusing one. I never felt like I fully understood what was going on and kept having to go back. However it did have a good plot and good characters. Three stars.
How Th'irth wint rong by Hapless Joey @homeskool.guv by Gregory Maguire:
I don't know how to feel about this one. It's definitely original but because of the fact that it was supposed to be written by someone who can't spell I found it hard to read. Once I deciphered it though it was rather good. Three stars.
Rust with wings by Stephen Gould:
This one was quite good. It was very action packed and the characters were forced to think on their feet. I also liked how they didn't know exactly what was going on. Four stars.
Faint heart by Sarah Rees Brennan:
I loved this one. The characters were amazing and I loved the premise. It was exciting and well crafted. I also loved the ending! Five stars.
The easthound by Nalo Hopkinson:
I quite liked this one. It was rather confusing at the beginning but it did get better. Nothing really made it stand out but it was a very enjoyable read. Three stars.
Gray by Jane Nolan:
This one was a poem that I had to read quite a few times. However it was pretty good. I did like it. Not quite sure how dystopian it is though. Four stars.
Before by Carolyn Dunn:
This one was quite boring. Not much really happened and I couldn't get attached to any of the characters. Two stars.
Fake plastic trees by Caitlin R. Kiernan:
This one was okay if slightly confusing. It mainly stayed at the same pace throughout and not much exactly happened. I did like the characters though. Three stars.
You won't feel a thing by Garth Nix:
This one felt a little bit too much like Fantasy. It didn't seem to fit the theme even though I really liked it. However this might be because I haven't read the book it's set in the same world as. Four stars.
The marker by Cecil Castellucci:
I loved this one. It was unique and special and I loved how morals were called into question. It fit really well with the story. Five stars.
Overall I quite liked this book and enjoyed most of the stories.
Overview:
After is an anthology of 19 post-apocalypse and Dystopia short stories, many written by well-known YA authors. While it’s not uncommon for stories to vary in quality in such a collection, After in particular had quite a smattering of both really great stories and boring and/or illogical stories. While reading, I assigned each short story a rating from 1 to 5, and after reading I averaged my ratings out. Those ratings averaged to exactly a 2.5, which is about what I had suspected. While there were some great post-apocalyptic stories in After, most of them were rather uninspired. There are several stories in After worth reading, but not enough that to justify buying the complete collection.
The Stories:
1. The Segment by Genevieve Valentine
This was definitely one of the best stories in the collection. The news is manufactured by big companies, designed to pull on the heartstrings and purse strings of the still-wealthy. There might not actually be a war in a third world country, but the agencies want you to believe that. The main character has been cast in a segment featuring child soldiers, and a slightly older and “retired”(now teacher) actress is trying to warn her away from it, but won’t say why. There’s a sense of foreboding that invades the entire piece and is everything a short story should be. When the twist happens towards the end, it’s shocking enough to be effective but also it’s easy to see how the entire story had been building up to that point. 4 stars, would recommend.
2. After the Cure by Carrie Ryan
After the Cure takes place after a zombie apocalypse, when scientist have discovered a cure for the zombie virus, and have been able to turn several once-monsters back into humans in a rehabilitated state. The main character is one of the rehabilitated who wishes she was still a monster because she wasn’t so alone. She makes some interesting choices and there’s a few intriguing characters, but nothing that really gets this one off the ground. It was just all right. 2 stars, would not recommend.
3. Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin
Without giving away too much of the plot for this short story, I will just say that this one was highly enjoyable. It dealt with humans and artificial intelligence, prejudice and how resistant people could be to change, even if it’s not such a bad thing. This was one of the few short stories I felt I could really get a sense of the characters in only a few pages. 4 stars, would recommend.
4. Visiting Nelson by Katherine Langrish
In this future there’s a drug that turns everyone who takes it over long periods of time into harry beasts. There’s something about visiting someone to get information. I read about half of it before growing increasingly frustrated and actually DNF-ed this one. The drug-turning-into-hairy-beast seemed a bit too eye-roll worthy for me. DNF-ed, would not recommend.
5. All I Know of Freedom by Carol Emshwiller
Okay, this was by far probably the BEST story in this collection, because it does so well what the best post-apocalyptic and Dystopia stories do: remind of us of the evil already in our culture. Technically, there’s almost nothing in this story that couldn’t take place in 2013. A girl is sold as a slave to a couple in the US. She decides to run away, where she finds a group of people claiming it’s the end of the world and they need teenage girls, about her age, to go with them away from Earth and become mothers to keep the population going. Because she doesn’t know any other way to get information, B–the girl–believes them until a few things begin to happen. This one deals with a lot of modern issues–slavery, doomsday prophecies–in an incredibly unique way. 4.5 stars, would recommend, book favorite.
6. The Other Elder by Beth Revis
This one takes place on board a spaceship and deals with the “Elder” system that’s in place. There’s a few people every generation chosen to be the elders, who rule and control everyone on the ship. This one was okay, but that’s because it was basically The Giver on a spaceship. Not too much originality or heart. 2-ish stars, wouldn’t really recommend.
7. The Great Game at the End of the World by Matthew Kressel
This short story is about a brother and sister who didn’t get along too much before the end of the world, and the sister always begged her older brother to play baseball. Bad things happen to the world and they play baseball with alien-like creatures. I think. This was a weird one and I both did not enjoy it nor saw the point. 1 star, would not recommend.
8. Reunion by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Reunion contained one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever read. It’s a fairly simple story, but very powerful. It deals with issues of power and seizing it, and also having to make terrible choices. There’s some intentional (or what I assume to be intentional) parallels between the world in this story and also Nazi Germany, and included some characters that will stay in my mind. 4 stars, would recommend, not for the faint of heart.
9. Blood Drive by Jeffrey Ford
Here is the world of blood drive: No such thing as gun control anymore–seniors in high schools and senior teachers always have guns on them(and yes, shoot-outs happen), abortion is illegal, and church is mandatory for every citizen. While seriously creepy and effective, this was one of the hardest worlds to buy, since there’s no hint as to how this would be possible. That being said, the situations presented were quite terrifying. 3 stars, would recommend.
10. Reality Girl by Richard Bowes
Not really a fan of this one, though some of the writing was quite lovely. The actual story, though, still left me confused at the end. There was a definite them of people wanting a hero, and the main character–Reality Girl–giving it to them. Not one of the worst in the book, but not great. 2 stars, would not recommend.
11. How Th’Irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.Guv by Gregory Macguire
NOPE. Look, there’s dialect for the sake of authenticity, and there’s dialect that makes reader put your story down after a paragraph. This was the latter. If I have to strain to read dialect, I cannot keep from remembering that I am reading, and that is not good. I should be able to let that wall of “reading” pass, and this one was a chore to get through a page. A sample:
The Big Ant says OK OK git to work buster. Very funnish start but wut about yor topic title? How Th’Irth Wint Rong. Tell me wut you has to tell, says the Big Ant. Hoo wins th’essay contist gits a hole ham for the wintir.”
12. Rust with Wings by Steven Gould
Imagine a world with a horde of bugs that could eat through anything metal–anything, including that zipper on your jeans–and is drawn to electromagnetic waves(goodbye, cell phone). And there’s so many of them that they can eat through a car. Oh, and you have an metal pin in your knee? Good luck with that. This was one of the simpler-plotted stories in this anthology, but the simple plot worked in this case. It was terrifying and I never want to see a beetle again. 3 stars, would recommend.
13. Faint Heart by Sarah Rees Brennan
One of the longer stories in this collection, Faint Heart was written as if it was set more in a fantasy world with Dystopia elements rather than in our own. In this case, it worked. There’s a beautiful Queen–a clone, really–who takes the throne every 25 years. Because young men are so often violent and the cause of so many crimes, any young man alive who is not married must take place in the trials. The lone winner wins the Queen’s hand. This was a satisfying story, partially because there were a few great scenes that concentrated on Rosamund, the Queen in question. 4 stars, would recommend.
14. The Easthound by Nalo Hopkinson
As children grow up, they become monsters that are murderous and quite terrifying. Groups of children have to fend for themselves, and fight each other off once puberty hits because all the adults have turned. Pretty simple and decent–there were some sibling dynamics presents that could have been explored more. 3 stars, would recommend.
15. Gray by Jane Yolen
This is a VERY short poem, and I have no idea why it’s in this set. I mean, yes I liked it, but it’s not a particularly post-apocalyptic of Dystopia poem, and I’m not sure why it’s included. Um, didn’t rate, don’t know what to do with this one? Yeah. Strange.
16. Before by Carolyn Dunn
Had an interesting premise involving slavery and a girl trying to remember her name, but I felt it was too short and unfocused. When I typed this, I actually had to look at my notes to remember what it was about, which I haven’t had to do with any of the other stories. 1.5-ish stars, would not recommend.
17. Fake Plastic Trees by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Other than reminding me of the Doctor Who episode with living plastic, I thought Fake Plastic Trees was pretty intriguing, and probably the most original of the stories. I really liked that this story started with the idea that people really were trying to fix problems, and accidently made them worse by inventing replicating plastic(it’s a little more in-depth than that, but it’s the best way to describe it). The narrative way this story was done was also really original. 4 stars, would recommend.
18. You Won’t Feel a Thing by Garth Nix
There’s an author note at the end of this story that described how this story took place in a world that Garth Nix had created in a certain book, and I thought that showed. While I did like the writing and the premise, it did not feel like a story at all–maybe just a few scenes. It definitely had potential, but something never quite made it. 2 stars, would not recommend.
19. The Marker by Cecil Castellucci
In some ways, this reminded me of the short story Beth Revis contributed to After, but with a greater level of detail. I was surprised by how much worldbuilding and detail went into such a short story, actually, and this was one of the few stories that really stayed with me after reading(and not just because it’s the last). It would be difficult to summarize here but let me just say I found it fascinating. 4 stars, would recommend.
This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.
After is an anthology of 19 post-apocalypse and Dystopia short stories, many written by well-known YA authors. While it’s not uncommon for stories to vary in quality in such a collection, After in particular had quite a smattering of both really great stories and boring and/or illogical stories. While reading, I assigned each short story a rating from 1 to 5, and after reading I averaged my ratings out. Those ratings averaged to exactly a 2.5, which is about what I had suspected. While there were some great post-apocalyptic stories in After, most of them were rather uninspired. There are several stories in After worth reading, but not enough that to justify buying the complete collection.
The Stories:
1. The Segment by Genevieve Valentine
This was definitely one of the best stories in the collection. The news is manufactured by big companies, designed to pull on the heartstrings and purse strings of the still-wealthy. There might not actually be a war in a third world country, but the agencies want you to believe that. The main character has been cast in a segment featuring child soldiers, and a slightly older and “retired”(now teacher) actress is trying to warn her away from it, but won’t say why. There’s a sense of foreboding that invades the entire piece and is everything a short story should be. When the twist happens towards the end, it’s shocking enough to be effective but also it’s easy to see how the entire story had been building up to that point. 4 stars, would recommend.
2. After the Cure by Carrie Ryan
After the Cure takes place after a zombie apocalypse, when scientist have discovered a cure for the zombie virus, and have been able to turn several once-monsters back into humans in a rehabilitated state. The main character is one of the rehabilitated who wishes she was still a monster because she wasn’t so alone. She makes some interesting choices and there’s a few intriguing characters, but nothing that really gets this one off the ground. It was just all right. 2 stars, would not recommend.
3. Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin
Without giving away too much of the plot for this short story, I will just say that this one was highly enjoyable. It dealt with humans and artificial intelligence, prejudice and how resistant people could be to change, even if it’s not such a bad thing. This was one of the few short stories I felt I could really get a sense of the characters in only a few pages. 4 stars, would recommend.
4. Visiting Nelson by Katherine Langrish
In this future there’s a drug that turns everyone who takes it over long periods of time into harry beasts. There’s something about visiting someone to get information. I read about half of it before growing increasingly frustrated and actually DNF-ed this one. The drug-turning-into-hairy-beast seemed a bit too eye-roll worthy for me. DNF-ed, would not recommend.
5. All I Know of Freedom by Carol Emshwiller
Okay, this was by far probably the BEST story in this collection, because it does so well what the best post-apocalyptic and Dystopia stories do: remind of us of the evil already in our culture. Technically, there’s almost nothing in this story that couldn’t take place in 2013. A girl is sold as a slave to a couple in the US. She decides to run away, where she finds a group of people claiming it’s the end of the world and they need teenage girls, about her age, to go with them away from Earth and become mothers to keep the population going. Because she doesn’t know any other way to get information, B–the girl–believes them until a few things begin to happen. This one deals with a lot of modern issues–slavery, doomsday prophecies–in an incredibly unique way. 4.5 stars, would recommend, book favorite.
6. The Other Elder by Beth Revis
This one takes place on board a spaceship and deals with the “Elder” system that’s in place. There’s a few people every generation chosen to be the elders, who rule and control everyone on the ship. This one was okay, but that’s because it was basically The Giver on a spaceship. Not too much originality or heart. 2-ish stars, wouldn’t really recommend.
7. The Great Game at the End of the World by Matthew Kressel
This short story is about a brother and sister who didn’t get along too much before the end of the world, and the sister always begged her older brother to play baseball. Bad things happen to the world and they play baseball with alien-like creatures. I think. This was a weird one and I both did not enjoy it nor saw the point. 1 star, would not recommend.
8. Reunion by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Reunion contained one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever read. It’s a fairly simple story, but very powerful. It deals with issues of power and seizing it, and also having to make terrible choices. There’s some intentional (or what I assume to be intentional) parallels between the world in this story and also Nazi Germany, and included some characters that will stay in my mind. 4 stars, would recommend, not for the faint of heart.
9. Blood Drive by Jeffrey Ford
Here is the world of blood drive: No such thing as gun control anymore–seniors in high schools and senior teachers always have guns on them(and yes, shoot-outs happen), abortion is illegal, and church is mandatory for every citizen. While seriously creepy and effective, this was one of the hardest worlds to buy, since there’s no hint as to how this would be possible. That being said, the situations presented were quite terrifying. 3 stars, would recommend.
10. Reality Girl by Richard Bowes
Not really a fan of this one, though some of the writing was quite lovely. The actual story, though, still left me confused at the end. There was a definite them of people wanting a hero, and the main character–Reality Girl–giving it to them. Not one of the worst in the book, but not great. 2 stars, would not recommend.
11. How Th’Irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.Guv by Gregory Macguire
NOPE. Look, there’s dialect for the sake of authenticity, and there’s dialect that makes reader put your story down after a paragraph. This was the latter. If I have to strain to read dialect, I cannot keep from remembering that I am reading, and that is not good. I should be able to let that wall of “reading” pass, and this one was a chore to get through a page. A sample:
The Big Ant says OK OK git to work buster. Very funnish start but wut about yor topic title? How Th’Irth Wint Rong. Tell me wut you has to tell, says the Big Ant. Hoo wins th’essay contist gits a hole ham for the wintir.”
12. Rust with Wings by Steven Gould
Imagine a world with a horde of bugs that could eat through anything metal–anything, including that zipper on your jeans–and is drawn to electromagnetic waves(goodbye, cell phone). And there’s so many of them that they can eat through a car. Oh, and you have an metal pin in your knee? Good luck with that. This was one of the simpler-plotted stories in this anthology, but the simple plot worked in this case. It was terrifying and I never want to see a beetle again. 3 stars, would recommend.
13. Faint Heart by Sarah Rees Brennan
One of the longer stories in this collection, Faint Heart was written as if it was set more in a fantasy world with Dystopia elements rather than in our own. In this case, it worked. There’s a beautiful Queen–a clone, really–who takes the throne every 25 years. Because young men are so often violent and the cause of so many crimes, any young man alive who is not married must take place in the trials. The lone winner wins the Queen’s hand. This was a satisfying story, partially because there were a few great scenes that concentrated on Rosamund, the Queen in question. 4 stars, would recommend.
14. The Easthound by Nalo Hopkinson
As children grow up, they become monsters that are murderous and quite terrifying. Groups of children have to fend for themselves, and fight each other off once puberty hits because all the adults have turned. Pretty simple and decent–there were some sibling dynamics presents that could have been explored more. 3 stars, would recommend.
15. Gray by Jane Yolen
This is a VERY short poem, and I have no idea why it’s in this set. I mean, yes I liked it, but it’s not a particularly post-apocalyptic of Dystopia poem, and I’m not sure why it’s included. Um, didn’t rate, don’t know what to do with this one? Yeah. Strange.
16. Before by Carolyn Dunn
Had an interesting premise involving slavery and a girl trying to remember her name, but I felt it was too short and unfocused. When I typed this, I actually had to look at my notes to remember what it was about, which I haven’t had to do with any of the other stories. 1.5-ish stars, would not recommend.
17. Fake Plastic Trees by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Other than reminding me of the Doctor Who episode with living plastic, I thought Fake Plastic Trees was pretty intriguing, and probably the most original of the stories. I really liked that this story started with the idea that people really were trying to fix problems, and accidently made them worse by inventing replicating plastic(it’s a little more in-depth than that, but it’s the best way to describe it). The narrative way this story was done was also really original. 4 stars, would recommend.
18. You Won’t Feel a Thing by Garth Nix
There’s an author note at the end of this story that described how this story took place in a world that Garth Nix had created in a certain book, and I thought that showed. While I did like the writing and the premise, it did not feel like a story at all–maybe just a few scenes. It definitely had potential, but something never quite made it. 2 stars, would not recommend.
19. The Marker by Cecil Castellucci
In some ways, this reminded me of the short story Beth Revis contributed to After, but with a greater level of detail. I was surprised by how much worldbuilding and detail went into such a short story, actually, and this was one of the few stories that really stayed with me after reading(and not just because it’s the last). It would be difficult to summarize here but let me just say I found it fascinating. 4 stars, would recommend.
This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.
Overall I did not love this compilation, it was OK. Many of the stories felt too young adult, while others just didn't interest me. A few of the stories still interested me and the idea behind the book was pretty neat.
My favorite story from the book was Faint Heart and I also liked the Other Eldest.
My favorite story from the book was Faint Heart and I also liked the Other Eldest.
According to its info, this book is meant for ages 10 and up. If it were up to me this book would be removed from the young adult section and put into the adult section of libraries and book stores. In no way is this book appropriate reading for 10-year-olds.
Don't get me wrong, an anthology on the apocalypse and dystopian societies should be dark and miserable (it's the apocalypse after all), but this book pushes it. Young readers can handle a lot of twisted stories, but some of the tales in this collection are too much. I really want to smack the editor upside their head and ask them what the hell they were thinking. A disturbingly cold story about a young girl being molested and having her body searched "inside and out" is not exactly what I'd have a 10-year-old read. I'm an adult and I thought that story was dreadful and SO out of place. There are many others that weren't meant for a teen anthology, they didn't feel right and they didn't work with the intended audience at all.
Now, some stories in this book were brilliant. They were age appropriate, thought-provoking, and captivating. Sadly, the awful stories make overrun the good and make this collection an overall failure.
I don't think the authors or the editor of this collection fully understand young adult literature. Having a teenage main character doesn't automatically make it a story for teens. There's more to it than that. This book was a big miss.
Don't get me wrong, an anthology on the apocalypse and dystopian societies should be dark and miserable (it's the apocalypse after all), but this book pushes it. Young readers can handle a lot of twisted stories, but some of the tales in this collection are too much. I really want to smack the editor upside their head and ask them what the hell they were thinking. A disturbingly cold story about a young girl being molested and having her body searched "inside and out" is not exactly what I'd have a 10-year-old read. I'm an adult and I thought that story was dreadful and SO out of place. There are many others that weren't meant for a teen anthology, they didn't feel right and they didn't work with the intended audience at all.
Now, some stories in this book were brilliant. They were age appropriate, thought-provoking, and captivating. Sadly, the awful stories make overrun the good and make this collection an overall failure.
I don't think the authors or the editor of this collection fully understand young adult literature. Having a teenage main character doesn't automatically make it a story for teens. There's more to it than that. This book was a big miss.
I somehow missed that these were YA dystopian stories when I checked it out. So, not my thing. But I read it through to look for hidden gems. Sadly, I only kind of liked a few, and a couple were sweet if otherwise regrettable. There was a sameness to most of them, with poor writing and nonsensical world-building, and annoyingly illiterate voices explaining everything. I feel like channeling Ripley: “Did IQs just drop sharply ‘after’?”. Though one story had an illiterate voice yet was well written and immersive. So I guess it’s more my old age, scientific bent, and need for good writing that will steer me clear of further dabbles with this genre.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
Good collection of YA apocalypse slash dystopia short stories. There were a couple I didn't like, such as "How Th'irth Wint Rong by Hapless Joey @Homeskool.guv." I kinda hate eye dialect, and this is like written eye dialect. I mean, all eye dialect is written, but it's intended to catch the idiosyncracies of the spoken word. Annoying.
I felt like Nalo Hopkinson's "The Easthound" was a standout, just beautifully constructed with a banger of an ending. "Fake Plastic Trees" by Caitlín R Kiernan is great too, incredibly unsettling while being smooth and bright, which is hard to pull off.
I felt like Nalo Hopkinson's "The Easthound" was a standout, just beautifully constructed with a banger of an ending. "Fake Plastic Trees" by Caitlín R Kiernan is great too, incredibly unsettling while being smooth and bright, which is hard to pull off.
A future where nanobots have turned most of the world to plastic? A cloned queen who's only purpose it to be beautiful attempting to shake off her shakes and be free? A woman who has been "cured" from a vampire/zombie-like infection and attempts to reintegrate into humans while fighting her true desires? All of these over-simplified futures and more can be found in this collection of tales.
Honestly, several of them had me so intrigued, I would have continued reading had they been a novel. Almost all were satisfying and just fantastic reads. I breath of fresh and new air from the typical zombie dystopian novels I have been reading of late.
Highly recommend.
Honestly, several of them had me so intrigued, I would have continued reading had they been a novel. Almost all were satisfying and just fantastic reads. I breath of fresh and new air from the typical zombie dystopian novels I have been reading of late.
Highly recommend.
These short story books edited by Ellen Datlow are always truly hit or miss for me. No in between. This one, was a hit for me. Not excellent but I dug almost all of the stories. These are YA which doesn’t bother me and if you like post-apocalyptic stories it won’t bother you either.