Thanks to NetGalley for the advance readers e-copy of this book.

Debut author, Jen Alexander has taken her deep interest in gaming and written an appealing YA novel that is sure to please fans of Hunger Games and Ender's Game.

The story is written in the first person and narrated by Claudia Virtue (aka Olivia).

The harsh apocalyptic environment of 2036 Nashville sees daily battles between clans of survivors and blood thirsty clans of cannibals. Life is a daily struggle to find food, shelter and water in a contaminated world. The food supply has been destroyed and the only reliable food are stale protein bars.

Claudia struggles with the violence and bloodshed that she feels physically compelled to commit to secure rations. Something in her mind tells her that it is wrong but she just can't seem to stop herself. Over time she learns a deeper truth about herself and the shadows of her mind.

Although there is mention of daily violence, the story handles the action in a manner that is not highly graphic. The author has done a fine job of creating a gaming scenario that pushes the story to level after level of intrigue ending with a sharp and startling end. The reader is left with…what's next!

The author has indicated that Aftermath is Book One in a planned Aftermath series.
I highly recommend it to my grandson and other avid fans of the Hunger Games and Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy. ( )

Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville-polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibals. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge-sometimes with devastating consequences-all just to live another day. As her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. ( )

The world in THE AFTERMATH is pretty insane. The characters are real and have NO clue that they have someone in their mind playing them like puppets while they starve, run for their lives and kill the bad guys. Even worse is that these players are doing it for fun. Claudia remembers nothing of her life before but starts to have flashbacks and starts having lucid moments while she is being 'played'. The more she learns of The Aftermath, the more she wants to escape it and bring her team members with her.

I found this book to be very fast paced. The characters were interesting and the world building was well done. I enjoyed the slow information reveal, but wanted more from the romance that was introduced. The ending kinda blew my mind and left me with way more questions than I have answers to, so I will be continuing the series with book 2.

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Claudia lives in the aftermath, a world ravaged and torn and filled with cannibals. She has banded together with a small group of people for survival. However, nothing is as it seems. Claudia finds herself saying and doing things outside of her control. Sometimes, she slips into the mind of her gamer, a person controlling her from a sterile white room.

I thought this was an interesting concept. The book started out a bit slow, as Claudia realized that she was a character in a game and that she had little, if no control over her own actions. I don't want to spoil the book, but the reveal at the end really didn't add up to how things happened throughout the story. There were too many inconsistencies for my liking. I think teenagers will really enjoy this book, and won't even think about the incongruities throughout the story. I might pick up the next book, just to see how things are resolved and explained. ( )

It all started with a dream the native NC author had one night. Although The Aftermath by Jen Alexander is a YA dystopian novel, I almost hate to classify it as that because it’s also a sci-fi novel, a psychological thriller, a technological thriller, an adventure novel, and an RPG novel with a bit of horror thrown in for good measure. In other words, it crosses genres so much it’s hard to classify as any one kind of read…and I think that’s a good thing because it actually works and it makes for one hell of a read. If you’re a video-game junkie, you’ll feel right at home; however, this novel will also appeal to sci-fi, dystopian, and thriller fans. Sound interesting? Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7658. ( )