Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: After the End
AUTHOR: Sara York
PUBLISHER: Self Pub
LENGTH: 279 pages
BLURB:
With international flights crisscrossing the skies on an hourly basis, are we ever really safe?
When a strain of the Ebola virus mutates; it spreads quickly leaving the medical community shattered. People are dropping in the streets and life, as most know it, comes to an end. Two city dweller survivors, Dean and William, are forced to flee the city and live in the wilderness—where dangers lurk behind every tree and in every valley. Not everyone alive after the end is good, and William and Dean are faced with challenges that would bring many to their knees.
Growing up in the hood of Atlanta, Dean knows how to overcome trials, but he knows nothing of love. Can he sustain a relationship with William, or will his doubts end them before they even have a chance?
From birth William has had a silver spoon in his mouth and two in each hand, but the end brings him face to face with reality where he has to take responsibility for his life. After the end, money has no meaning, and life is lived on the edge.
Join William and Dean after the end and find out how close to the edge they come.
REVIEW:
I’ve read a few apocalyptic/dystopian stories and I usually always enjoy them but for some reason I generally do not seek these books out. I’m going to have to change that because I really enjoyed this book.
Dean is the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. He doesn’t come from money. But he is brilliant so he makes it into one of the most affluent and prestigious high schools in the state. He knows that school is his only way out of the “hood.” While attending school Dean meets Will, and they hit it off almost immediately due to the fact that they both share the same secret, they’re gay.
Will has never wanted for anything. His parents are beyond mega rich and the lavish him with gobs of money and expensive toys. Dean and Will embark on secret rendezvous where they quench their physical desires in each other’s arms.
While navigating this tentative relationship a devastating strand of Ebola breaks out. It devastates the world. People catch it and have only hours before they die.
Remarkably the outbreak actually brings these two closer together. Dean always worried about Will’s feelings towards him. But during the fight for survival it becomes blaringly obvious that what Dean and Will feel for each other goes well beyond just like.
I hated how desperate the situation became. The fear was tangible and I was on the edge of my seat quite a bit throughout this story. I truly loved the connection that Will and Dean had for each other. I loved watching it grow stronger as the story got more and more serious.
The hardest part about books like this is watching the people pick up the pieces of life after such a devastating disaster.
This was a really great book. I absolutely adored it. Even though the MC’s are high school students this story doesn’t read like YA. This was a thoroughly enjoyable book.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: