Amaterasu Reads: ARC Review: After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

I live in a tropical country, and like most people I know, I wish for snow. But not like in S.D. Crockett's novel. Never like it.

Title: After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
Pages: 304
Release Date: March 27th 2012
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Publisher (thanks Andrew!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?

Welcome to the new Ice Age. It's snowing everywhere, and it doesn't stop. A never ending cold weather filled the world with ice and it's not stopping soon. The population's lives were the complete opposite of the pristine whiteness of the snow. Through the frigid temperatures, people struggle to survive and among them are Willo and his family. The days were dark and bleak, food was scarce and everyone longs to feel warmth. It's as if time was rolling backwards, because even the most advance technology cannot stop the Earth from freezing over.

It took a while to get used to Willo's voice, but it adds to the overall experience of reading the novel as it shows us part of the culture present in Willo's time. It was hard figuring him out because he seems so unique, from his upbringing outside the city to his attitude, but there was no mistaking that Willo was determined to survive and find where his family was taken. A little stubborn, maybe even selfish, Willo gives the readers a chance to see and feel what it was like to live in a frozen world. You need to learn to hunt and make do of what you have if you want to stay alive. Rough, gritty and sometimes violent, Willo's world was not for the faint-hearted. The cold can take away one's life as easy as the breeze blowing through all of Great Britain.

There was much left to be explored in the story because as much as Willo presents himself as an interesting character, I wished the book's focus expanded to include more than just Willo. Mary is another person whose character I wished was developed more. A certain feeling of hopelessness will cling to the readers as they dive deeper into the story and I hoped there was more time to make it feel lighter and brighter, that there was something more definite and concrete to look forward to than just the endless snow, an escape, a drastic change.

After the Snow was dark and depressing, there's no other way to describe it. Despite the heaviness, I have to say that this book was well-written, the idea for the book was very original, a new kind of dystopia for those craving to read something new. It's a tough world, where violence and death is a constant part of everyone's lives and Willo's search for something more than what the frozen world surrounding him can offer gives the reader quite a gripping story of one boy's survival. S.D. Crockett knows how to write a novel properly set in a harsh and terrifying world, complete with emotions you wish you could change into something that will cheer you up by the end. After the Snow is definitely something new that fans of YA dystopian can sink their teeth into.

Content (plot, story flow, character):

A very truthful and unique portrayal of what can happen when the Ice Age hits.