Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: June 25th, 2013
Source: ARC
Goodreads

Rating: 5/5 Stars

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. -Goodreads

Review: In The After grabs you from the very first page, and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat (or curled up under your blanket in fear) from beginning to end. This book was everything I was looking for and more, seriously… I loved it. Demitria Lunetta did a great job of balancing suspense, sci-fi and character elements all while keeping the reader engaged with Amy’s perspective. There are even some dystopian elements throughout, so there’s something for everyone here.

The big bag race is mostly just referred to as Them. They showed up one day and started devouring the human race, with no thought of world domination beyond their own hunger–you can definitely draw some zombie comparisons here (love!), but they manage to be a whole new kind of scary that keeps you holding your breath any time Amy encountered one of Them. They can’t see very well, but have great hearing, so you can be standing right beside one and be a-okay, so long as you don’t even breathe. Hence the supportive breath-holding. *shudder*

Besides Them, Amy has only been sharing her world with one other person–Baby. Amy found Baby as a toddler, and has raised her in the years since the initial attack. The two of them rely on each other 100%, even communicating silently through sign language in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Baby is a pretty good kid but has her mood swings like any other. I actually really enjoyed seeing Baby evolve as Amy’s sister, and then eventually try to figure out how to interact with other people.

I cannot recommend this book enough. In The After is a fantastic YA/sci-fi blend that will leave you feeling both satisfied and desperate for more.

Purchase In the After:
@Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN) @The Book Depository

Second Opinions:
@IB Book Blogging
@Winter Haven Books
@The Reading Nook Reviews