Review: After the Flood

Synopsis:

A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.

Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.

On their journey, Myra and Pearl join forces with a larger ship and Myra finds herself bonding with her fellow seekers who hope to build a safe haven together in this dangerous new world. But secrets, lust, and betrayals threaten their dream, and after their fortunes take a shocking—and bloody—turn, Myra can no longer ignore the question of whether saving Row is worth endangering Pearl and her fellow travelers.

A compulsively readable novel of dark despair and soaring hope, After the Flood is a magnificent, action packed, and sometimes frightening odyssey laced with wonder—an affecting and wholly original saga both redemptive and astonishing.

Rating: 4.5-stars

Review:

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag is a genre defying novel. It is epic. The danger, suspense of what will happen next, and the emotional toll of what is happening is great. I like the sense of danger and the present moment of what are the characters going to do next. The question of survival and the threat hangs in the air the whole time. This dystopian/post-apocalyptic read was amazing. So much at risk, so much to lose, and so much to find…there is plenty of action to keep my interest. The journeys made in this novel was stunning. Fear and hope went hand-in-hand as a mother searched for her missing daughter who was thought to be dead. It was easy to get sucked into this tale. The mother was a character that I felt instant sympathy for…the loss of a child. There is nothing that replaces the ones you love. It just shows how far and how much a mother is willing to go for her child. Overall, this was a very entertaining read.