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Alone
When everyone you know is dying, how do you go on living? When the world collapses, how do you rebuild it? When you are little more than a child yourself, how do you rule the remnants of such a world?
All Eve wanted out of life was to graduate college, marry her high school boyfriend, and write for World Weekly News, but when a sickness is set upon the world, she finds herself caring for a slowly growing group of survivors.
Can she save herself and them from starvation, from insanity, from each other? Can her group survive a plague-ridden world, while learning to fight against those who have let the loneliness, the isolation, the emptiness destroy who they once were. She doesn’t think so, but she’s determined to try.
All Eve wanted out of life was to graduate college, marry her high school boyfriend, and write for World Weekly News, but when a sickness is set upon the world, she finds herself caring for a slowly growing group of survivors.
Can she save herself and them from starvation, from insanity, from each other? Can her group survive a plague-ridden world, while learning to fight against those who have let the loneliness, the isolation, the emptiness destroy who they once were. She doesn’t think so, but she’s determined to try.
396 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2014
24 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Reynolds
20 books296 followersJennifer Lynn Powell Reynolds is a native of North Alabama.
Jennifer has a Master of Fine Arts degree from National University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Alabama.
Writing has always been a large part of her life. In high school, her local newspaper published a large number of her poems, and she won numerous poetry and short stories awards. Since high school, she has worked on a number of different projects, but her focus was on acquiring her degrees.
She finished the first draft of her first novel, a post-apocalyptic piece titled Alone, around the time she graduated with her B.A. Since then, she has written numerous other novels, short stories, and poems.
Aside from spending her days immersed in the fictional worlds she creates, she works part time at Stained Glass Artistry.
Jennifer has a Master of Fine Arts degree from National University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Alabama.
Writing has always been a large part of her life. In high school, her local newspaper published a large number of her poems, and she won numerous poetry and short stories awards. Since high school, she has worked on a number of different projects, but her focus was on acquiring her degrees.
She finished the first draft of her first novel, a post-apocalyptic piece titled Alone, around the time she graduated with her B.A. Since then, she has written numerous other novels, short stories, and poems.
Aside from spending her days immersed in the fictional worlds she creates, she works part time at Stained Glass Artistry.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 8, 2018
Wonderful character-driven novel. I loved the characters and the storyline. I enjoyed it a great deal. The only thing missing is the conflict I love in dystopian novels. There's no real conflict between the remaining humans until the end of the book and it's glossed over. The small conflict around the middle is even dispatched quickly with no drama/action. Even the survivors who band together have no real issues with each other. This would definitely have been a five star had the user added in the conflict between humans that would undoubtedly occur during the end of the world. I'll be reading more from this author.
NOTE: I listened to this on my Kindle, so I can't say anything about spelling or other mistakes you might notice reading. I didn't find anything that jolted me out of the story by listening to it though.
NOTE: I listened to this on my Kindle, so I can't say anything about spelling or other mistakes you might notice reading. I didn't find anything that jolted me out of the story by listening to it though.
April 15, 2014
A New Beginning!
The aptly named Eve is a college student who is just beginning to decide what direction she will take in her next step to independence and full adulthood. Than a man-made plague comes and destroys 99% of the world's population's immune system so even a cold becomes fatal. Eve is gradually left completely alone as every member of her family dies in front of her with only her infant nephew, Caleb, surviving.
It is Caleb who forces Eve to keep getting up each day. Eve's darkest fear is dying and leaving her infant nephew helpless to fend for himself. It is also because of Caleb that Eve does not leave her hometown and instead continues to clean out the decaying bodies house by house while planting vegetable gardens in her back yard in an effort to prepare for this uncertain future. Gradually a trickle of people begin to arrive, bringing news of the overall desolation of the outside world. Eve becomes the reluctant leader of this new community as they work together to secure their area from the new bands of amoral maurauders that are springing up in the wake of the this global disaster.
Eve is easily relatable representing how the average person might react under such extreme circumstances. I think Caleb is the touchstone for Eve. His presence keeps Eve grounded and focused on survival. The baby's presence prevents her from completely giving herself over to despair as she helplessly watches as all her family, friends and neighbors die around her. Eve finds inner reserves of strength she never suspected she had and develops into a grounded and trusted leader.
One of the things I liked best about Eve, is in the middle of a global crisis, she makes good use of her library card. For basic gardening, medical treatments, etc. Eve relies on the information she finds in books to help supplement her knowledge.
I enjoyed this story and thought it was a change of pace from many apocalyptic novels, in that Eve remains in her hometown struggling to rebuild her life while staying in the home she grew up in. Eve's story is the story of the beginning of a new civilization. I hope this will be the beginning of a new series following the matriarchal dynasty Eve founds and their eventual war with the violent groups who are creating their own savage, cannibalistic society.
Alone is well written story with a strong lead character trapped in an unimaginable situation.
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The aptly named Eve is a college student who is just beginning to decide what direction she will take in her next step to independence and full adulthood. Than a man-made plague comes and destroys 99% of the world's population's immune system so even a cold becomes fatal. Eve is gradually left completely alone as every member of her family dies in front of her with only her infant nephew, Caleb, surviving.
It is Caleb who forces Eve to keep getting up each day. Eve's darkest fear is dying and leaving her infant nephew helpless to fend for himself. It is also because of Caleb that Eve does not leave her hometown and instead continues to clean out the decaying bodies house by house while planting vegetable gardens in her back yard in an effort to prepare for this uncertain future. Gradually a trickle of people begin to arrive, bringing news of the overall desolation of the outside world. Eve becomes the reluctant leader of this new community as they work together to secure their area from the new bands of amoral maurauders that are springing up in the wake of the this global disaster.
Eve is easily relatable representing how the average person might react under such extreme circumstances. I think Caleb is the touchstone for Eve. His presence keeps Eve grounded and focused on survival. The baby's presence prevents her from completely giving herself over to despair as she helplessly watches as all her family, friends and neighbors die around her. Eve finds inner reserves of strength she never suspected she had and develops into a grounded and trusted leader.
One of the things I liked best about Eve, is in the middle of a global crisis, she makes good use of her library card. For basic gardening, medical treatments, etc. Eve relies on the information she finds in books to help supplement her knowledge.
I enjoyed this story and thought it was a change of pace from many apocalyptic novels, in that Eve remains in her hometown struggling to rebuild her life while staying in the home she grew up in. Eve's story is the story of the beginning of a new civilization. I hope this will be the beginning of a new series following the matriarchal dynasty Eve founds and their eventual war with the violent groups who are creating their own savage, cannibalistic society.
Alone is well written story with a strong lead character trapped in an unimaginable situation.
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
April 14, 2020
With the world dying around her Eve had no choice but to sit back and watch it happen. Slowly day by day Eve watched as her family and friends died around her with the exception of her nephew Caleb whose mother, Eve’s sister died giving birth to him.
Eve wakes up every day to take care of Caleb he is the only thing keeping her going in this world now. Before the world started dying all Eve wanted was to go college and marry her high school sweetheart. Now she lives alone with Caleb in the home she grew up in.
Eve spends her days taking care of Caleb and just trying to survive one day at a time. Eve finds her strength to keep going just by waking every day and looking upon Caleb’s little face. He is her inspiration, her motivation to climb out of bed and face this desolate world.
Just as Eve starts to believe that she and Caleb are the only ones left alive others start to trickle in giving her hope once more. Eve soon finds herself leading this small band of people. If they work together maybe they will and can survive to live another day. Eve puts her all into trying to keep these people safe and protect them from all the bad that is out there.
After reading all the dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic books that I have, I always believed that they could happen that they could become real but I never knew just how real but now with what we are all living through with the Coronavirus, Alone really hits close to home and can open your mind to so much and to what more could happen and help with what may or could be our future real soon, hopefully not.
I have said it before but I do mean it every time I say it, Alone has become one of the best books I have ever read and I don’t think I will ever forget it. The world building is so realistic and brilliantly written by an author that has become one of my favorite authors right up there with Stephen King.
Jennifer makes you feel as if you are right there with the characters and seeing what they see. The words and the scenes jump off the page right into your heart and have you feeling what all the characters are feeling. With the words jumping into your mind it is like each and every scene is playing out in your head like a movie like you have ESP or something. I can’t seem to get enough of Jennifer’s stories and can’t wait to read more of her work.
You know how when you have a favorite author and you want to read everything they have written, you don’t even have to read the blurb to know that it is going to be good? Yeah well Jennifer is one of those authors. So if you get a chance pick up one of her books to begin a great adventure.
Alone is such a great book that I would like to recommend it to everyone even if you are not a fan of this genre as it has so much more to offer.
Eve wakes up every day to take care of Caleb he is the only thing keeping her going in this world now. Before the world started dying all Eve wanted was to go college and marry her high school sweetheart. Now she lives alone with Caleb in the home she grew up in.
Eve spends her days taking care of Caleb and just trying to survive one day at a time. Eve finds her strength to keep going just by waking every day and looking upon Caleb’s little face. He is her inspiration, her motivation to climb out of bed and face this desolate world.
Just as Eve starts to believe that she and Caleb are the only ones left alive others start to trickle in giving her hope once more. Eve soon finds herself leading this small band of people. If they work together maybe they will and can survive to live another day. Eve puts her all into trying to keep these people safe and protect them from all the bad that is out there.
After reading all the dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic books that I have, I always believed that they could happen that they could become real but I never knew just how real but now with what we are all living through with the Coronavirus, Alone really hits close to home and can open your mind to so much and to what more could happen and help with what may or could be our future real soon, hopefully not.
I have said it before but I do mean it every time I say it, Alone has become one of the best books I have ever read and I don’t think I will ever forget it. The world building is so realistic and brilliantly written by an author that has become one of my favorite authors right up there with Stephen King.
Jennifer makes you feel as if you are right there with the characters and seeing what they see. The words and the scenes jump off the page right into your heart and have you feeling what all the characters are feeling. With the words jumping into your mind it is like each and every scene is playing out in your head like a movie like you have ESP or something. I can’t seem to get enough of Jennifer’s stories and can’t wait to read more of her work.
You know how when you have a favorite author and you want to read everything they have written, you don’t even have to read the blurb to know that it is going to be good? Yeah well Jennifer is one of those authors. So if you get a chance pick up one of her books to begin a great adventure.
Alone is such a great book that I would like to recommend it to everyone even if you are not a fan of this genre as it has so much more to offer.
December 7, 2024
End of the world
This one was quite different from many other end of world stories I have read. My favorites are usually ones with zombies in them, but this one doesn’t have any. I felt that she did a really good job building up the story and carrying it throughout. Making most of it a flashback really worked on the story. The main part of it starts off right before the end, but things happen very quickly. The survivors were all interesting characters with good storylines. From beginning you take an interest in each and every one. The main lead is a strong woman also shows vulnerability. The core group of them were hard to survive, and the story keeps building and expanding and interesting throughout.
This one was quite different from many other end of world stories I have read. My favorites are usually ones with zombies in them, but this one doesn’t have any. I felt that she did a really good job building up the story and carrying it throughout. Making most of it a flashback really worked on the story. The main part of it starts off right before the end, but things happen very quickly. The survivors were all interesting characters with good storylines. From beginning you take an interest in each and every one. The main lead is a strong woman also shows vulnerability. The core group of them were hard to survive, and the story keeps building and expanding and interesting throughout.
April 6, 2014
Some guy in a hospital waiting room empties a vial of powder in front of the air vent, and from then on, people start dying in vast numbers, not from a virus as such, but from exacerbated effects of any injury or illness they already have. This continues with such speed that it isn’t long before the planet’s entire population is wiped out, with the except of a handful of apparently immune people.
Our protagonist, aptly named Eve, is one of the handful of survivors in her town in a southern state. She, and her sister’s baby, who was born on the day her sister died, seem to be the only ones who survived, until a knock at her door turns out to be a cleaning crew, small teams that are going around cleaning out the dead bodies in the houses and neighborhoods, burning trash, and turning off the utilities in the empty houses.
The book is about how gradually a few other people find her, and create a small enclave of survivors, and how they managed and their community grew.
I don’t usually read post-apocalyptic books because I like my world to be PollyAnna bright and cheery, and post apocalyptic stories are usually dire, dismal and dismaying, but the idea of being entirely alone in the world hooked me, and I was interested to see what the author would do with this idea.
Of course, if Eve and her baby nephew survived, there have to be others as well, so there is scope for an interesting story line. What I liked about this book was that it was about survival and adjusting to being first alone, and then with only a small number of people. It wasn’t all about how nasty bands roamed the country creating murder, havoc and destruction and how the country became terribly dangerous to live in, as so many other post apocalyptic books seem to be about.
All in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit. From the promotional blurb, I thought it was going to be about some kind of Boadicea type of chick, leading the remnants of society into battle, but it was really just about a young woman doing her best to survive and take care of her young nephew in the face of horrific events.
Our protagonist, aptly named Eve, is one of the handful of survivors in her town in a southern state. She, and her sister’s baby, who was born on the day her sister died, seem to be the only ones who survived, until a knock at her door turns out to be a cleaning crew, small teams that are going around cleaning out the dead bodies in the houses and neighborhoods, burning trash, and turning off the utilities in the empty houses.
The book is about how gradually a few other people find her, and create a small enclave of survivors, and how they managed and their community grew.
I don’t usually read post-apocalyptic books because I like my world to be PollyAnna bright and cheery, and post apocalyptic stories are usually dire, dismal and dismaying, but the idea of being entirely alone in the world hooked me, and I was interested to see what the author would do with this idea.
Of course, if Eve and her baby nephew survived, there have to be others as well, so there is scope for an interesting story line. What I liked about this book was that it was about survival and adjusting to being first alone, and then with only a small number of people. It wasn’t all about how nasty bands roamed the country creating murder, havoc and destruction and how the country became terribly dangerous to live in, as so many other post apocalyptic books seem to be about.
All in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit. From the promotional blurb, I thought it was going to be about some kind of Boadicea type of chick, leading the remnants of society into battle, but it was really just about a young woman doing her best to survive and take care of her young nephew in the face of horrific events.
April 12, 2015
This book was recommended to me by a friend, but I put it off because of the post apocalyptic genre. When I think of those kinds of stories, I think zombies eating people or Mad Max/Waterworld type of extreme futuristic elements that barely resembles anything to which we can relate. This book was different. It was about adapting and surviving, about trying to re-build and forming relationships--and knowing who to suspect. Eve is one tough cookie... a loving aunt, a little flirtatious at one point, but she was sure carrying a shot gun around and barking orders from time to time. Love it! Rather than a "there is no way that could ever happen" scenario, this story played out realistically. From the excitement of seeing a plane after years, to the incredibly sad point where wishing on a star meant "I want to survive one more year."
The only reason I even picked up this book was because I saw it on Kindle Unlimited and already read Ms. Reynolds book HIM. THAT is really the kind of book that gripped me in with suspense and drama. It was Reynolds excellent writing style and balance of narration vs. action/dialogue that kept me interested in both. Something Reynolds did in both books that I love... she broke up the stories with "inserts" if you will. In this book news articles intermittently told the tale, whereas in HIM, the patient/doctor therapy sessions did so. It is a refreshing break from the norm.
The only reason I even picked up this book was because I saw it on Kindle Unlimited and already read Ms. Reynolds book HIM. THAT is really the kind of book that gripped me in with suspense and drama. It was Reynolds excellent writing style and balance of narration vs. action/dialogue that kept me interested in both. Something Reynolds did in both books that I love... she broke up the stories with "inserts" if you will. In this book news articles intermittently told the tale, whereas in HIM, the patient/doctor therapy sessions did so. It is a refreshing break from the norm.
September 9, 2014
Not many of us have given thought to what we would do if our lives, our homes and our world as we know it was to slowly come to an end because of a virus that mutates so rapidly and so uniquely that the hope for a cure is non-existent. This story tells the tale of such an event with a very courageous woman as the main character. Eve has had to stand by as so many others have and watch her family and loved ones die one by one. Only she and her nephew Caleb remain and she is sure they are the last. She makes the best of her home that she can and learns to protect Caleb and herself. They eventually run into others and not all of them are good. In a world where human contact has become almost a fairy tale it is hard to not only want to survive but to stay sane as well. This is a story filled with tremendous loss, love, hope and overall the great capacity that we as humans have to overcome anything and continue to not only live but adapt to our new world. Greatly written but the end left me craving more.
February 10, 2015
To be honest, I can't remember how the author came to send me a copy of this eBook for an honest review, but I found it when I was scrolling trough my email. I opened it up and in a few pages I was totally hooked. This is an excellent premise for man-made extinction event, and even though the author pulls no punches in showing the disintegration of society, I enjoyed every minute of reading it. It was emotional and amazing and I highly recommend it. The only thing that kept it from a full 5-star review were a number of typos and grammar mistakes that I found distracting. Otherwise, an excellent book and that I definitely think is worth the read. I look forward to reading more of this author's books.
January 29, 2015
I couldn't put it down! 5 stars will be my rating and my review will be as follows: Alone written by author Jennifer Reynolds gripped my attention since the first chapter in this post apocalyptic story! Eve, the antagonist, must learn to survive in a post apocalyptic world when a powerful plague like virus spreads swiftly enough to wipe out a large percentage of mankind. When she meets up with a group of survivors, she too must continue to learn how to survive. I highly recommend this book to any readers because of its rich content and strong story plot that keeps the reader tuning the page thinking 'how is she going to survive this?' or 'does anyone end up surviving this?'
August 11, 2014
I received an ecopy of Alone in exchange for an honest review.
Post-apocalyptic stories are not usually something I read, but because I loved the last book by this author, I was willing to give it a shot. It’s so much more than I expected. When I think post apocalypse I think zombies and that just doesn’t work for me….but this story is different! And it’s so well written. I think it is definitely worthy of anyone’s time to read. I can’t really suggest it to a certain genre because well, I usually only read paranormal/fantasy….but yea I am so glad I read it. Way worth it! Great story!
Post-apocalyptic stories are not usually something I read, but because I loved the last book by this author, I was willing to give it a shot. It’s so much more than I expected. When I think post apocalypse I think zombies and that just doesn’t work for me….but this story is different! And it’s so well written. I think it is definitely worthy of anyone’s time to read. I can’t really suggest it to a certain genre because well, I usually only read paranormal/fantasy….but yea I am so glad I read it. Way worth it! Great story!
March 12, 2014
I couldn't put this book down. It sucked me in and I loved the characters and the story. It is thought-provoking. I still think about Eve and the way she managed to go from a typical college party girl to a caregiver and leader of a society. Just when you think the story is going in one direction, it takes another turn. Just really, really enjoyed this book.
May 10, 2014
This was a wonderful first book. Jennifer has an extremely well-developed writing style, though the grammar is lacking slightly. Overall, I truly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. Eve is easily relatable, and shows impressive strength and character. I look forward to reading more from Jennifer in the future.
April 1, 2014
I loved reading this book. Once I started reading it, I found myself not wanting to put it down. The story line is very plausible and loved the character development. I do hope that there will be a sequel due to the feeling that there is a lot more story to tell.
March 18, 2014
loved the visuals created in my head as i was reading. descriptions enough to create good visuals in my head but not too much so i would skip over.
April 25, 2014
A captivating book that I feel could be real life. Could not put the book down until I finished it. Looking forward to reading more books from Jennifer
July 22, 2014
loved the book so much. so hard to put it down:) reading it again!!!
August 3, 2014
Really enjoyed the 'end of the world' with Eve!
November 11, 2014
Just when you think the story is going in one direction, it takes another turn. Just really, really enjoyed this book.
November 12, 2018
I was along for the ride with this book despite the appalling number of grammatical and copy-edit issues until I got to the end. The entire book turned out to be a prologue for the real story, which is told in a few paragraphs in the epilogue. It was like reading Gone With the Wind, only the entire novel is all about life before the war followed by a summary like "There was a war and most of the people died and Scarlett almost starved to death, but then she married a Yankee and had his baby and then the baby died and her husband left her, the end." If this author had written the Wizard of Oz it would have been 150 pages about life in Kansas and an epilogue like this, "Then a tornado ripped Dorothy's house and hurled it in the air, dropping it in a magical land where she met a bunch of peculiar people and learned that there was no place like home after all." I was going to give this book about 3 1/2 stars but the epilogue was so incredibly heavy-handed and gratuitous that it got 1 1/2. I can see why this was self-published because no self-respecting publisher would have touched it.
December 3, 2019
********spoiler******
This was a very good book but I didn't like its sort of abrupt ending. Eve's story had me crying a tad bit especially when everyone died and she was left alone with Caleb for a while. It is sad that everything Eve built was destroyed and lost because of the Rebels that decided since the world has fallen let's just be evil. At least she experienced the good of the world before she died (encountering the rebels that is).
This was a very good book but I didn't like its sort of abrupt ending. Eve's story had me crying a tad bit especially when everyone died and she was left alone with Caleb for a while. It is sad that everything Eve built was destroyed and lost because of the Rebels that decided since the world has fallen let's just be evil. At least she experienced the good of the world before she died (encountering the rebels that is).
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews