Book Review: After the Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

After the Ending (The Ending #1) by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue
Genre: New Adult (Post Apocalyptic/Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: February 21, 2013
Publisher: Self

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.

After the Ending is the first book in The Ending series by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue. I rarely read reviews before I read a book for myself, and this book is the very reason why. A few negative reviews caught my eye just before I started reading, and I almost passed this book by because of it. Luckily, I decided to go with my gut and read it anyway. I'm so glad I did! I found it to be very entertaining, and it added a little something different to most post apocalyptic books out there. I liked the paranormal touch. So, even though I can't always help judging a book by its cover (I know! I know! I can't help it though!), at least I don't judge a book by its review!

I'll start off with my main complaints, so we can get them out of the way and on to the good stuff. I sometimes got the two main characters mixed up. Especially towards the end. They have similar abilities, so they meshed together in my head at times. Also, each main character is traveling with a group. One group is closer to the West coast and one is closer to the East coast. The West coast group stopped off at a fort that is actually located closer to the East coast. It wouldn't have been possible for them to be there at that point. Even if it was the East coast group who stopped there, they would have gone way out of their way, and then they would have had to back track quite a bit. So, I think that was just a little something that was missed in editing, and nothing a little change of a fort name can't fix.

One of the things I loved about After the Ending, was that I got two different romances all in one book. With that being said, the romance isn't the sole focus of the story. There are many, many things going on around it. There are prejudices and jealousies formed among the survivors. Some people have gone completely crazy. And there are disputes among the survivors. Not everyone left has good intentions. As the story progressed, I found that some of the survivors who didn't go crazy were even more evil and scary than those who did. Plus, both groups come across various situations and dangers along their travels. To say this book kept my attention is an understatement.

While the book, didn't spell every little thing out for the reader(it didn't need to), I thought it was pretty clear where and possibly even how the flu originated. I have a pretty good idea where the paranormal gifts may have come from too. Maybe, I was reading to much into it, but it made sense to me. They way it ended makes me think we'll be getting some more information along those lines pretty quick in the next book too. Overall, I really enjoyed After the Ending. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series.

Looking around apprehensively, I made my way toward the convenience store in hopes of finding a bathroom. The vacant world around me was eerily silent. All I could hear was the creaking of a giant wooden billboard being assaulted by the wind. How long has it been since anyone was here? Through the dark windows I saw a bathroom sign that looked promising, but I couldn’t bring myself to enter. I wonder if it’s safe… As I stood outside of the store, I noticed a newspaper box still filled with papers. I leaned closer. The headline read, BILLIONS DEAD, and the paper was dated December 9, right before everything had started to shut down. I inserted a quarter and snatched out a paper. Scanning its contents, my mouth grew dry and my body stiffened.

…the H1N1/12 pandemic…
…looting and riotous outbreaks everywhere…
…end of civilization as we know it…
…survivors losing their minds…
…governments can’t control…
…the Apocalypse…

The newspaper slipped from between my fingers. Frozen in place, I was suffocated by the reality of our situation.
This isn’t going away.
The world ended.
Thinking of the strange feelings I’d been experiencing, I once again questioned my own sanity. My thoughts were too loud to silence. My heart thudded, and I couldn’t swallow the lump in my throat. Looking out into the abandoned world around me, I realized how alone we really were. I bent down to reclaim the paper and turned on my heels to head back toward the truck, completely awestruck as the words I’d read replayed in my mind. Each was a reminder that the only world I’d ever known had ended.

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.

To learn more about Lindsey Fairleigh and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Google+, and Twitter.

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.

To learn more about Lindsey Pogue and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.