After the Ending (The Ending Series #1) by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

After the Ending (The Ending Series #1)

Author: Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue
Pub. Date: Feb. 21, 2013
Acquired: Amazon

THE FIRST BOOK IN THE EMOTIONALLY CHARGED POST-APOCALYPTIC ROMANCE SERIES, The Ending.

The Virus spread. Billions died. The Ending began. We may have survived the apocalypse, but the Virus changed us.

When people started getting sick, “they” thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family…they’re all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them—with the rest of the world—but I didn’t. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I’d ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O’Connor, and I survived The Ending.

The Virus changed everything. The world I knew is gone, and life is backwards. We’ve all had to start over. I’ve been stripped of my home, my dreams…all that is me. I’m someone else now—broken and changed. Other survivors’ memories and emotions haunt me. They invade my mind until I can no longer separate them from my own. I won’t let them consume me. I can’t. My name is Zoe Cartwright, and I survived The Ending.

We’ve been inseparable for most of our lives, and now our friendship is all we have left. The aftermath of the Virus has stranded us on opposite sides of the United States. Trusting strangers, making sacrifices, killing—we’ll do anything to reach one another. Fear and pain may be unavoidable, but we’re strong…we’re survivors. But to continue surviving in this unfamiliar world plagued by Crazies and strange new abilities, we have to adapt. We have to evolve.

And more than anything, we have to find each other.

THIS BOOK CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT AND LANGUAGE.

~My Review~

So, I’m not going to lie. This was a re-read for me. I read it last year, I believe, during the time I wasn’t blogging due to my lack of a computer. I read it again because I wanted the story fresh in my mind for the second installment, and because I wanted it fresh to be able to write this review. Two birds, one stone.
I feel like reading it the second time around was better because instead of rushing through to find out what happens next, I was able to appreciate the story even more and pick up on things that maybe I didn’t before.

Because this is a dystopian story, you can expect there to be some common formulaic similarities between this and other dystopian novels. You have the “good guys”, trying to survive in a world that no longer resembles the world they lived in just days before. Good guys that are multi-faceted enough to make them believable and endearing.
But, there’s also the “bad guys”. The ones that like to take advantage of the current situation and are harmful to our protagonists and others. However, you also have the “collateral damage”. In zombie books, that’s usually the zombies. The ones that, unluckily, managed to become face-eating monsters. In After the Ending there are no zombies, though. The poor souls in this story are, in my opinion, worse. They’re almost scarier.

What this book has that the others don’t? An absolutely fantastic narrative, for one. I loved seeing what was going on with both Dani and Zoe. Seriously, having each author write their own character, was brilliant. Each of the girls stands out to me. At times I felt like I was in a movie watching everything play out. And just when I’d be so devastatingly immersed in Dani’s story, I’d get swept away into Zoe’s. Both girls were likable, but not perfect. And their friendship is probably my favorite relationship in the series so far… Okay, maybe.

Also, what this book has is two amazing writers who know how to make a story interesting and informative at the same time. I didn’t get bored. Ever. I mean, I was able to read it a second time without skipping over any of it. And the characters. ALL of them were interesting to me. All of them made me want to get to know them a little more. How can so many characters be interesting? I don’t know! Ask the Lindseys!

My review for Into the Fire is coming. I just finished it last night. You’ll want to pick up both of these. And then go pray that the next one comes out soon.

~My Rating~

~About the Authors~

Lindsey Fairleigh lives her life with one foot in a book—as long as that book transports her to a magical world or bends the rules of science. Her novels, from post-apocalyptic to time travel and historical fantasy, always offer up a hearty dose of unreality, along with plenty of adventure and romance. When she’s not working on her next novel, Lindsey spends her time reading and trying out new recipes in the kitchen. She lives in the Napa Valley with her supportive husband and confused cats.

Lindsey Pogue has always been a little creative. As a child she established a bug hospital on her elementary school soccer field, compiled books of collages as a teenager, and as an adult, expresses herself through writing. Her novels are inspired by her observations of the world
around her—whether she’s traveling, people watching, or hiking. When not plotting her next storyline or dreaming up new, brooding characters, Lindsey’s wrapped in blankets watching her favorite action flicks or going on road trips with her own leading man.