Review--In the After by Demitria Lunetta

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.

Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.

Demitria Lunetta’s In the After is positively one of the most chilling reads I’ve read in awhile! And I had just binged a few horror stories awhile back as well! In the After takes it up a notch with an apocalypse. And not just an apocalypse, but one with aliens. Aliens who EAT PEOPLE!!

Amy is one of the few survivors of this alien invasion. She was lucky her dad was a sort of “eco-friendly” nut what with solar panels and their own garden, and it’s also lucky her mother worked on super secret government projects that led to their having an electric fence. Amy is basically living in her own fortress during these scary times. And she has to grow up fast on her own in order to survive this new world, because not every human is friendly either. Some can be just as bad as the flesh eating aliens!

It’s not long into her survival period that Amy takes in Baby, a small toddler child who she’s pretty much raised on her own. They’ve done rather well for themselves.

The story starts off with Amy being a teenager and then the aliens just come one day and BOOM! The population starts dwindling fast. In our current present Amy is sixteen years old, though I did get confused a bit with the back and forth times. Amy has been living three years on her own with Baby and basically living in fear for these years. But some details feel muddied now, what with her flashbacks and remembering things. The flashbacks were necessary to help us understand what has happened and I understood all that, it was just at times, I got lost in these scenes and felt unsure if it was a past even or present.

But other than a bit of time confusion, this read was pretty incredible! I couldn’t read it fast enough and soon I found I was at the very end of a 450+ page book! It was that incredible!

Amy and Baby have always relied and counted on one another to survive, now they are accepted into a large group of survivors who are in their own protective fortress (of sorts). Amy and Baby both struggle to adapt to this new way of living, where people actually wore shores! For both Amy and Baby learned to walk and run around barefoot. Shoes are too noisy and the aliens have superior hearing.

As the story moves along we start to see that this sanctuary isn’t all that it’s meant to be. There are secrets hiding within. Dark secrets.

The story definitely has the suspense built up to a T! It was incredible and amazing! I enjoyed Amy’s character. I loved how she was able to grow strong…in a sense…and survive. It always makes me realize how screwed I’d be if I was in her position. I am so not tough enough! LOL!

There’s also a bit of possible romance in store for Amy. I liked how that it was such a small and subtle thing too. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good romance in YA, but having it be non-existent or just barely there is refreshing! Amy is a strong, independent kind of girl and you got to hand it to her, she knows how to take care of herself.

In the After was such a mind-blowing read! There is some seriously dark issues in this one and it really fit the scene for a post-alien invasion. And the ending? Just wow! Words cannot describe it! I mean, there are words, but they would sound spoilery too me, so basically, words cannot describe it!! It was shocking and thrilling and oh wow…I wish I had time to read the next book now! LOL! The problems of a reader! Always needing to read too many books at once! It’s definitely one problem I don’t mind having!

In the After is a read not to be missed if you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic type world. It’s engaging, suspenseful and action packed! There was hardly ever a dull moment as there was always a scene filled with some kind of suspense or intensity! Be sure to add this duology to your TBR piles asap!

Overall Rating 4.5/5—just a minor knockdown from my confusion early on. Like I said there were times I couldn’t tell what was supposed to be a flashback and what was the current time. Things like that made it a little muddy for me, but it’s such a small thing, because it’s still events that happen!