Anne Mendel

That which made me want to try this book was the cover, I mean look at it! So cool and weird, I love it.

It's the end of the world but some are struggling to survive (it helps having a genius for a brother who can make painkillers:) It's a new world where those with a skill has survived. Sophie sells drugs, but even in this bleak bleak world the book itself does not feel overly bleak. Because the book is so much more than just another dystopic apocalyptic story. It's a story about a mother trying to do right by her daughter, a girl becoming a teenager in this kind of world. Oh yes she is not happy. About a marriage that is not as passionate as it used to be. And it's not easy to be loving when you have nothing to eat and people die around you left and right. And last, dealing with a mother who does not want to accept that the world has changed.

But the family drama and issues aside the book is also a bit of a mystery as women are being murdered and Sophie wants to find out who is doing it. Because no one else care. And by digging around in things she should not more happens, I can't go into details but it gets exciting.

A bleak world about a family trying to cope. It has this certain feel to it, bleak yet so normal. Many apocalyptic books are awesome, but in the end they are just so freaking big. So much happened, the world has changed too much. Here it feels like this could happen. A supervolcano would just have to explode and that would send ripples through out the world. This is how people would try to get by.

Conclusion:
I have said it before, but a different sort of end of the world book, one that I enjoyed and one that felt like it was happening right now.… (lisätietoja)

Mendel has taken a subject normally relegated to paranormal romance and science fiction and made it far more realistic. Her post-apocalyptic world is not filled with zombies and other supernatural atrocities. She creates a very believable situation and her characters are easy to identify with. Sophie’s drug’s are not recreational. Her brother makes, and she sells, what today would be over the counter drugs for medical ailments. Her husband still slaves away as a doctor at the local hospital even though it no longer pays and his job is far more challenging in a time when electricity, most drugs and other medical necessities are impossible to find but the number of dying patients has greatly increased. Their daughter is a typical 13 year-old in a very atypical time. Being a teenager is, in many ways, the same as before the apocalypse – rebellion against the parents, anxiety over boys, you know the usual – with the added problems of a lack of food, no organized schools and rampant street violence. Sophie’s mother’s grasp on reality seems weak most of the time and yet she can be very astute. She has a way of seeing the really important parts of a problem. She, ever the Jewish mother, is the one who has instilled Sophie’s good etiquette and still considers it very important despite, or perhaps because of, the horrible conditions the family lives in.

Sophie’s investigation into the dumping of murdered prostitutes leads her to an important role in a turf war. Being a mom and budding entrepreneur has prepared her well to be a para-militaristic leader.

Working together reignites a long dormant flame between Sophie and her husband that is touching and exciting.

Sophie is sarcastic and irreverent. I laughed put loud numerous times and marked several pages. This book is a very entertaining read and who knows, it might just come in handy if we find ourselves in similar circumstances!

Rating: 4.5

Heat Rating: Mild – Mild detailed scenes of intimacy, mild violence or profanity.

Reviewed By: Jeanne Stone-Hunter for My Book Addiction and More… (lisätietoja)