Title: The Aftermath
Author: Jen Alexander
Series: Unknown Series
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Release Date: August 26th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: ARC received by publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Sometimes, I dream that I'm someone else.

A girl with dark hair who doesn't worry about hunger

or thirst or running from flesh-eaters.

In her world, those sorts of things don't exist.

Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville: polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibal Hoarders. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge sometimes with devastating consequences all just to live another day.

With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.

If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.


Usually when I read YA books I need to be grabbed from the very beginning because I have so many books to read and if you don't grab me from the beginning then I will usually just out the book back down. So when I picked up The Aftermath I was surprised that the beginning was as slow as it was. I loved the concept of the book going in and I have to be honest and say that in the beginning I was extremely confused as to what was going on. This does happen sometimes but I have to say that this books beginning threw me a bit and i had to make myself keep reading. But I will say that I am happy I did finish this book because the second half of this book was great!

Once our main character, Claudia, met Declan, then everything started to make sense for me and flow a bit better. I really liked their relationship because it felt real. It was not love at first sight, but once they spent some more time together then things started to change. I also really loved the dual perspectives between Claudia and Olivia and how it was done. Both perspectives were from Claudias head so that was very interested to me, and figuring out what was going on with Claudia was a great way for me to get into the book.

I will say that pacing was a huge problem for me in this book. There were times when I was so invested that I could not stop reading, but then there were times were I was bored and would just start skimming to get to another scene. I really wish that there was more dialogue in this book because when I was reading it I learned more about the characters than from the authors descriptions.

The end. The end of this book was my favorite part. I usually do not like cliffhangers but seriously this one was a great one. It reveal something that I was not expecting and it made me really want the next book! I also loved that we got SOME answers but not enough so it makes you really want the next book.