The Aftermath, Book 1 (My New Normal)

by Sara Michelle

Cecilia has always been secure in her world. A high school cheerleader, she is pretty and popular. And she dates Ryan, one of the cutest boys in her school. She leads a charmed and pampered life. Clearly everyone forgot the warnings buried deep in the quatrains of Nostradamus-- the end of days. When the world they know is destroyed, will their struggle to survive destroy their love? This new normal-- this new life-- is cruel and unpredictable and tests both of them in ways that they've never imagined. But it's not the end, only the beginning, but the beginning of what? From what we ve calculated, it s been seven days since The End. We don t really have a more suitable name for it. There was absolutely no warning. It was three days after Christmas. We were alone and scared. Nobody expected the theories and stories to actually come true. After 2012 passed with no strange activity, the whole idea of the apocalypse seemed like rubbish. But we were proven terribly wrong. Nostradamus got it right after all.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction

84 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was O.K. It is more like a novella than a full blown novel. I have to give credit where credit is due to being published as a high school student. If only all students were this motivated.

[Sara Pritzl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Read. I thought the story was good due to the author being in high school.

[madeleine]

REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED ON READER VIEWS KIDS.


The end of 2012 indeed brought the end of the world as we know it in “The Aftermath” by Sara Michelle. Few survivors are left following the terrible disaster; roads are torn up, houses decrepit, food and water are in short supply, and those left are struggling to survive.

Cecilia lost all her family and friends except her boyfriend Ryan, and it is lucky they have each other: their chances of survival alone are slim. It has now been a week since the end, and Cecilia and Ryan are looking for help as they begin to starve. They are hoping to find help at the local snow shelter – still a couple days’ walking away – but if this attempt doesn’t work out their prospects look grim. “The Aftermath” is the first book in a trilogy. It follows Cecilia and Ryan’s search for the snow shelter, and leaves us hanging at the end, ready for the next step in their journey.

I often felt that “The Aftermath” would have been benefited by more descriptions. Perhaps questions about Cecilia’s old normal (what did it look like, where does she live, what does she do for fun) or her new normal (how it came about, what caused the destruction, what happened and how it played out) would flesh out the characters and story. I can see a case, however, for this, book one, setting up questions for the next book - in which case, I am intrigued.

I read an Advanced Uncorrected Galley, and it must be mentioned that there were many grammatical and structural errors. However, these were not inductive of poor writing, so much as a lack of editing. As a bit of a grammar Nazi – one of my favorite books is “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation” by Lynne Truss – these errors left me disgruntled. However, on a second read through the book, I found the story itself much more enjoyable. I am sure that these errors will be fixed by final publication, and the book itself is good in spite of any problems.

Although “The Aftermath” isn't a game changer or likely to win many prestigious literary awards, it is a solid first release for author Sara Michelle, who shows lots of potential. I would recommend this book to fans of “Twilight” and readers looking for a quick, light-hearted, action, sci-fi and romance.

[Summer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Synopsis: After THE END a major earthquake happens, everyone but Ryan and Cecelia fall into Hell Ryan and Cecelia navigate a strangely deserted world where no one thought to go into the emergency shelters but hey. Ryan has barely a basic sense of direction, and Cecelia is actually a whiny piece of luggage.

The 75 page double-spaced 'novel' barely covers any kind of storyline at all, and there's not an ounce of realism to it. Example, Ryan is practically on his deathbed in one chapter and then no less than 12 hours later- he's perky and fighting-fit again. They have no access to medicine, and they are stuck with no food or clean water, and they are sleeping on a torn-up couch that was covered in dust and debris? Yeah... I guess it would be okay for reluctant readers or not very good readers who want a dystopian-romance storyline... but I didn't care about Ryan or Cecelia at all.


This feels more like a vanity publishing more than anything.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously?! Only 75 pages practically DOUBLE SPACED?! As if the length wasn't bad enough what she attempted to use as a "plot" to fill said 75 pages is just mind blowing...and not in a good way. I'm pretty sure the back of this book said she's some tween still in High School and whatnot but come on! And to have the nerve to charge $7.95 for this pocketbook sized novel of trash is just atrocious. Finish school then give being a writer a go...maybe not even then.

[Deborah]

I'm hesitant to be too harsh of such a young writer, but while this would deserve a high grade in a high school creative writing class, it should not have been published.

[Beth Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be written by a girl in high it's ok. Needs to be long and have better plots.

[Margaux Collier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Michelle is the author of The Aftermath Book 1. The book first starts on Day 3 after “The End," this is how Cecilia and Ryan called it. “The End” was caused by the biggest earthquake they had ever experienced, it had killed most of the population, and Cecilia was lucky to have her boyfriend, Ryan by her side to go through this. They both had to live many days without eating, and when they were obliged to drink they would melt dirty snow. One day, Ryan remembers about that shelter in the mountains that was built in purpose for earthquakes or tornadoes. This refuge is underneath the ground and equipping food, rooms, and bathrooms. Of course, Ryan and Cecilia could not take the car; they had to go walking there, which was a two-day hiking. So, off Cecilia and Ryan go, and as they go, Ryan becomes sick and being sick at this moment, being cold, having no food, medicine, or water, Ryan could die. So Cecilia and Ryan decides to stop at a house that was not that destroyed compared to the other broken shelters. As they entered, they found a couch (that was not that much destroyed), blankets, and cushions. They decided to sleep there for two days so that Ryan could feel better. As the next morning arrived, Ryan felt much better, and they decided to take the path to the shelter. Cecilia thought that they would never reach the dwelling, that both of them would die, or that the shelter would be utterly broken because of the earthquake, she had no hopes. On their way there, they meet two women, a young girl that would be about the same age as Cecilia and Ryan, and the mother who would be the same age as their mothers. When the two women, saw Ryan and Cecilia arriving, they started asking for help, how they could go away, but they had no answers to their questions. Ryan and Cecilia could not afford to help other people since it was already hard for them, how could they keep track with other people? So, they had to tell the two women that they could not help them, they were disappointed, but how could they help some other people if its was already hard for them? So, off they restarted their path to the shelter. When both Ryan and Cecilia thought that they would never find the haven, they see on the top of the mountains the refuge. It was about 300m aways from them. Cecilia was excited but, she didn’t want to have her hopes too high, in case the house would be entirely broken. Arrived at the door of the shelter, Ryan and Cecilia stops, what if, the house was busted? What if, there is no rooms, bathrooms, and no food? What if, they just wasted all their time on some shelter that was smashed down from the earthquake? As they entered the shelter, they found everything shattered, what if the shelter that is underneath the ground the same as the one on top? They slowly walked down the stairs, into a room, and again downstairs, and they arrive at a door. Should they open it? Ryan decides to open the door, and there they found a beautiful salon, with a TV plasma, six rooms, bathrooms, with hot water, a kitchen, with a lot of food, and finally found real water. While they were turning on the TV to relax after all this adventure, Ryan and Cecilia hears footsteps, coming from above, coming closer and closer…

3 questions:
-What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?
-In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author’s world view?
-What did you think of the ending?
What was unique about the setting of The Aftermath Book 1, is that since it talks about the end of the world, it had a unique setting. It was all about, how they had to live with all the houses damaged, that they could not find food or water. Wherever Ryan and Cecilia would go, they would find dead bodies everywhere. It made the story enhance because we saw the characters evolve throughout the chapters. The beginning of the story, the reader does not know, if Ryan and Cecilia will survive since it was difficult for them to find food, water, and shelter. Especially, since the story took place four days after Christmas, it was freezing outside, and for sure Ryan and Cecilia did not have the right kind of clothes to wear. In this book, the author imagines how "the end of the world" would be. For the author, the reason to "the end of the world" would be an earthquake, that managed to damage every house. The author also imagines that the whole population died because of the quake and that some people were still alive but they were badly hurt and could die at any moment. Michelle also imagines that when the end of the world happens there might be a house, or refuge somewhere that was built underneath the ground and that it holds, food, rooms, bathroom, and water. The ending, of the first book, was left in suspense. We know that Ryan and Cecilia heard footsteps coming closer and closer to them, but we do not know who it is. But, it was evident that Cecilia and Ryan were going to arrive at the shelter.

Thus, my favorite part from The Aftermath Book 1 was when Ryan and Cecilia arrived at the shelter because they came from a long way to finally arrive safely there. What I also really liked was when they came in the house, the didn't believe what they were seeing for them, finding this place was like going to heaven. My least favorite part about the book was when, Ryan got sick, and told Cecilia to continue the path by herself. It was irritating because he kept on telling her to go, but she did not want to leave him alone and die. This little “game” of “you stay, you go” was getting irritating until they finally found a place to sleep and rest, so that Ryan could finally get better and they could continue the path to the shelter. I would read other books from Sara Michelle, because her books are well written, with lots of details and explanations. I would recommend this book to anyone from 6-9th grade because the book it quite easy, and it is not very long, but there are some hard words.

[Daphne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm.. te kort om een echt boek te kunnen noemen. T idee is wel oké denk.

------
Dit boek gaat over 2 tieners en hun struggels om te overleven na een ramp die twee weken geleden is gebeurd. Iets met een grote aardbeving en veel doden.
Meer weet je eigenlijk niet.
Het gaat slecht met ze, en ze zijn een paar dagen op weg naar een bunker, waar ze aan het eind van het boek ook aankomen. Er is niemand en ze leven daar nog lang en gelukkig?

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[Gia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was an amazing quick read and got me out of my major reading slump! The way that each book had a cliffhanger at the end really made me want to keep reading

[Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are written in almost a short story format rather than being one huge book. There is also only 5 books in this series. The first book was really good simple writing, easy to read but we didn’t get much into the story since it’s so short, I didn’t feel like I had a good grasp on who the characters are and what the storyline is going to insist of. I really did enjoy it though and I’m interested to see where the storyline ends up. I didn’t realize this was sci-fi dystopian. I thought this was gonna be something entirely different based on the cover but nonetheless I think this is a good short read if you’re in the mood for it.

[kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written by a high school student so I give her great applause for getting published. It does, however, read somewhat as if it is written by a high school student. Other teenagers will likely love this story and zoom through it. For me, there are too many sentences beginning with "I" and much of the actual story seems to be in the description of the story.
It appears that Cecelia is a pampered, sheltered cheerleader only because we are told that she is, there's nothing in the story to lead you to see her that way.
Anyway, the characters are nicely drawn, the action flows smoothly. Some choices seem odd, but that's okay. My biggest objection is that this is only seventy-five pages long and really reads like only the first few chapters of a bigger book. I think instead of putting in out in these tiny installments, I'd have preferred to have the entire story in one go, but that's just me.
So, a good effort for a young writer.

[[ T.A.L.L.Y ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty good especially since the author was so young when she wrote it. This was purely a school read. I know this is the first in the series and is really short but the narrator, Cecilia, is basically unreliable. She gives as little detail as possible and just keeps repeating that the roads are destroyed. I don't really care about apocalypse books so I have no intention to pick up the next book. Cecilia was a bit backwards in moments like with the Italians. One second she's about to start crying because she has to walk and the next she's yelling at two other people crying about being in a different country and no way to get home. Like girl! Pick a side, empathetic or unempathetic.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell this book was written by a high-school-er by the wording and format. Over all the book is about 75-80 pages long and pretty much double-spaced. The book has an interesting story line to it that made this one hard to put down. I would recommend this to light readers. You can pretty much finish this an about an hour but, as I said the story plot, for some reason, makes it hard to put down! :)

[Shannon Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have always been an avid reader and now I am an author and English teacher. If one of my students produced writing on this level, I would be ecstatic. I read it from beginning to end and can't wait to go on to the next book. Excellent work! This book is perfect for readers in my classroom that need shorter books or are reluctant to read. You cater to that group of students. Thanks Ms. Sara! Job well done :)

[Eddie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

First to start of this review Ms. Sara Michelle is a very talented author she has a unique style of conveying the characters to you it makes you feel as if you are in this book watching the characters through the plot since this book is also very realistic so this could also be used to help in real disaster situation but it gives very graphic images in your head about the bodies the blood of the victims of the earthquakes.

[J. S. Seebauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book -- written by a high school student -- is a compelling read for my struggling female readers. I picked it up today and read it as I promised a student I would read it with her. While the book seemed more a few chapters of a book, the storyline and vocabulary will provide struggling readers a quality read that will allow them to be a successful reader.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written by a high schooler. I think the story has potential (this is the 1st in a trilogy), but you can definitely tell it is written by a teenager. It is a very quick read and I will likely finish the trilogy just to see what happens.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to be honest, I only got about 20 pages in when I had to put it down. I couldn't take it anymore, the writing was poorly written, and to be brutally honest it reminded me of some of the stories I wrote in middle school. Cringe worthy. But that's my own personal opinion.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of a science-fiction series broken up into shorter books. However, I felt this book was really too brief. There were things left unsaid that needed to be written out. Other parts were unrealistic or not believable.

[Michelle Marin]

While I understand this is intended to be a hi/lo novel, I don't feel like it completely succeeds. Other than following the post-apocalyptic trend, this novel doesn't have high interest. I felt like was too shallow of a starter. This was not to my tastes.

[Fyre.Katz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, just a waste of paper with its size 18-20 font and only 75 pages... I think she should have put her three books together and maybe put a size 12 font on it... just me I guess.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I don't bother making character judgements on fictional characters, but this author's characters are so comfortable with their selfishness that I can't help but despise them.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took longer than necessary to read, but it was a Good step to a series.

[Jaudica · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is AMAZING book I read the whole series at school and it is amazing :)

[Courtney]

This book was a good fast read. I thought it was brilliant for a high school writer.

[Melenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh

[MelMon Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Im not much for YA books but this one caught my eye at the bookstore. Im far from YA but I will be looking for the 2nd book to this series.

[SaraKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that I am not the target audience for this book series. I read it for a project I'm having my students do over natural disasters. This one didn't really make the cut because the natural disaster isn't really discussed as more than a few sentences about how it destroyed everything. This is more of a teenage girl romance. There is a lot of hearts breaking and "I can't live without you"s. The story alternates points-of-view throughout the series, though this book is all from Cecelia's POV. She is a weak character who expects a boy to save her and really makes me afraid for the female sex. They are one week into this disaster after an enormous earthquake destroys everything when the book starts and we don't really know much about how they survived before this. After one week, the characters are already so jaded and focused on survival that they pass by a seven-year-old and abandon him and also some old ladies and an Italian couple. It is inconceivable that people could be this jaded this soon. Then later they profess how much they love children and want to help others. And I'm surprised that no one else has thought of this snow shelter. And why does it even exist? Does Denver have a bunch of snow shelters that only house 20 people? It is short, so at least I didn't spend too much time on it. But I added a star since I know some middle to high schoolers that might enjoy them.