For What It's Worth


Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Review: After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, Rob DeFranco



18588738A postapocalyptic novel with a cinematic twist from New York Times bestseller Barry Lyga, actor Peter Facinelli, and producer Robert DeFranco.

On the ruined planet Earth, where 50 billion people are confined to megacities and resources are scarce, Deedra has been handed a bleak and mundane existence by the Magistrate she works so hard for. But one day she comes across a beautiful boy named Rose struggling to cross the river--a boy with a secretive past and special abilities, who is somehow able to find comfort and life from their dying planet.

But just as the two form a bond, it is quickly torn apart after the Magistrate's son is murdered and Rose becomes the prime suspect. Little do Deedra and Rose know how much their relationship will affect the fate of everyone who lives on the planet. ~
Goodreads


Source: ARC from the publisher via BEA15

My thoughts:

After the Red Rain was...fine…

I am, admittedly, completely burned out on the dystopian/post apocalyptic genre – but it’s been almost a year since I’ve read one, so I thought I would see if I’m ready to jump back in. I guess not.

On the plus side, despite the usual bleak dystopian world set up (few resources, territories ruled by different leaders), this was a fairly inventive story. It was a relief to read a YA dystopian that didn’t rely on being sorted into factions or lengthy fight training sequences or silly love triangles.
The hero is quite different from the norm. His name is Rose, and is described as androgynous looking. He’s a very straight forward character. No brooding past, no passive aggressive behavior. But he does have a pretty big secret that provides the big twist for the novel. Deedra, the heroine, is just a girl – no special snowflake status or powers – just a plain old girl, which was also a nice change of pace.

Problem is, I can’t say I cared all that much about what happened. There is plenty of action and a few cool, inventive twists, but the story seems to just be going through the motions and hits all the notes required for the genre but didn’t really dig deep enough to put me on the edge of my seat while reading.

This book wraps up this particular story arc while leaving room open for a sequel. There were a lot of things regarding world building that were left too vague and hopefully would be addressed in a second book, almog with stronger character development.

So yeah – it was fine. I’m not sure how much if this was from my dystopia fatigue or the book itself, so if you still love ALL things dystopian definitely give it a go. I will say - that it has a unique premise, particularly concerning the hero.

21 comments:

  1. I happened to find out what the big twist was, and I was glad I had crossed this one from my TBR list, because I couldn't have bought that particular situation...
    Dystopia is a difficult genre. I mean, a writer must be big on world-building, plus have fresh ideas. But at least this one was original in some respects.

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    1. I thought it was interesting and has a lot of potential if this is a series but it's also weird - especially if there's a romance because (no spoilers but you should be able to guess why it's weird if you read the twist).... lol

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  2. I post apocalypse themed books never get old for me, but I'm sorry to hear they're burning you out. I have been eyeing this one for awhile and planned to purchase a copy sooner or later. :)

    Sarah @ One Curvy Blogger

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    1. Then you should definitely give this one a try! It's different from the big anti government fight scene tropes - more character focused.

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    1. Yeah - it just didn't really grab my attention

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  4. Hm... I am intrigued. I actually haven't read a dystopian for a while so I'm not quite burned out yet. I don't like that you weren't fully in the book, but you have left enough interesting points for me to be curious. Might have to try this one if my library gets it.

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    1. Then you might like this one. It has the dystopian basics but is still different enough to stand out a bit.

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  5. I've never heard of this one! I think I'm a bit over the post-apocalyptic types too. I probably wouldn't give this one a second glance, to be honest! Not my thing :/

    Fantastic review, Karen!

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. I hadn't read anything by Lyga before and that's why I gave it a shot. From what everyone had told me about his writing - I guess I was expecting darker than I got.

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  6. I haven't read many dystopia types lately, but good to hear it was at least decent and has good premise

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    1. I think this one would be something you might like Brandi. It's more character focused than action packed (although there is action)

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  7. Too bad it wasn't spectacular. I was hoping it would be MORE because Lyga!

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    1. That's why I tried it. I was expecting dark and violent and got meh instead.

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  8. I haven't read that much dystopia, because they tend to all sound the same after all. So in that case, I might like this once since I'm not "burnt out" so to speak on the genre and it sounds like this one is a bit different in ways - not as cliche.

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    1. It was different so that was nice - I was just kind of bored by it.

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  9. I love Post-Ap and some Dystopia...I will still give this a try despite what you said about the characters. Maybe if I go in knowing this, I'll be able to enjoy it more.

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    1. Yeah - sometimes a heads up cushions it lol

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  10. I've heard some blah things about this one but I really enjoy Barry Lyga, especially his characters (and Rose sounds AWESOME).

    I think I'm about to be on a dsytopia burn out too though. So perhaps I'll wait a few months!

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    1. Rose is a really different kind of character and I have a feeling this would be a case of the second book being stronger than the first.

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  11. Huh...sounds like lack of character development and connection really hurt this one.

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