After the End: A Dystopian Romance Collection Volumes 1-4

by Ali Hazelwood, Adriana Herrera, Nikki Payne

FIRST by Ali Hazelwood

A general plans to use a nobleman's bride to teach him a lesson. After meeting her, he decides to keep her for himself.

Content notes/ ableism, blood, death of secondary characters, dubious consent, infertility, violence
BAIT by Adriana Herrera

Alma Corvado has spent all her twenty-nine years believing there was no world beyond the bunker she’d always called home. Bound by duty and the fickle whims of the council she has only ever indulged in one simple rebellion.

When her act of defiance finds her being pushed out into the dangers of the outside, she discovers that the world never ended.

When she’s rescued from the clutches of dangerous raiders by the two people she thought were lost to her forever, Alma must confront the truth. Everything she thought she knew about the end of the world was a lie.

Content notes/ death of a parent, death of a secondary character, gun violence, physical violence
SKYN by Nikki Payne

When Fawl's ex dumps her for her stepsister, she takes the messiest deal dig up dirt on an Elite family for a golden ticket out of the Underground. Simple, right? No. Now she's somehow *Checks Notes* married to an emotionless machine who's weirdly obsessed with her skin.

Content notes/ extreme body modification, hints of cannibalism, intercourse in an altered state
M.A.Y.A. by Nina Saxena

In an effort to escape a war-torn dystopian planet where she would be used as a weapon to hurt innocent people, MAYA searches for a way to stop her captors by fleeing through one of six dimensions in a hidden bunker. There, she meets a pack of shifters and an alpha determined to claim her as his fated mate.

Content notes/ medical PTSD, torture

Genres: Audiobook, Romance, Fantasy, Dystopia, Short Stories

663 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 28, 2026

About the author

I'm Ali, and I write contemporary romcom novels about women in STEM and academia. I love cats, Nutella, and side ponytails. I'm also currently learning to crochet, so as you can tell I'm a super busy gal with an intense and exciting life!

I only use Goodreads as a reader, to review and hype books that I've loved (many of these book are ARCs received from fellow authors).

Reviews

[Paloma FC (in my reading era) · Rating 3 out of 5]

First
By: Ali Hazelwood

4 / 5 ⭐
3.5 / 5 🌶️
Dual POV 👀
Spicy chapters: 18, 22 🔥
Gabriel (MMC) and Sofia (FMC)

I appreciate the author's effort when writing the world building and the s*xual tension between the MC's. These two elements were in my opinion the best part of the book 🙌.

The MMC is a dominant, very experienced, general aplha, while the FMC is an virginal healer with no experience and pretty oblivious about everything happening around her. Is it cliché? Yes. 🙄
Did I enjoy the book anyway? Absolutely.

I personally didn't l like that when the MC's finally f*ck, they do it in front of the unwilling audience of the FMC's previous mate, who is also whimpering in pain after being tortured. Even if the FMC's mate/ex deceived her, I do not think that it was necessary in any way, shape or form to include his participation. Especially when it seemed that the MMC was focusing WAY more on torturing the ex and speaking to him, than the FMC. I don't find this particularly hot, charming, or sexy... more like the opposite 🤮🤢😮‍💨.

But overall I was thoroughly entertained. So 4 stars ⭐️.

Happy reading 📚

---

Bait
By: Adriana Herrera

3.5 / 5 ⭐
3.5 / 5 🌶️
FMC POV 👀
Spicy chapters: 4, 6, 8, 9,11,12 🔥
Torch (MMC) and Candela & Alma (FMC)

This Silo-like novella is both interesting and HOT 🔥.
I personally really enjoy post apocalyptic stories, so this one was right up my alley.

There's A LOT going on, plot wise. So buckle up and enjoy!

Happy reading 📚

---

Skyn
By: Nikki Payne

4.5 / 5 ⭐
3.5 / 5 🌶️
FMC POV 👀
Spicy chapters: 16, 18, 19, 20, 23 🔥
Ben (MMC) and Fawl (FMC)

I adore the MCs in this story: Ben, he's such a strong, kind sweetheart who is 85% robot. And Fawl is an unaltered, smart, badass woman who fights for what's right.

This book is very well written, the story is sooooo engaging and entertaining.
Even though this is a short novella, there's an intricate story and the characters have plenty of emotional depth. I highly recommend this one. The spice is also delicious and HOT 🔥 🌶.

Happy reading 📚

----

M.A.Y.A
By: Nina Saxena

2.5 / 5 ⭐
3 / 5 🌶️
Third Person POV 👀
Spicy chapters: 7, 8, 9, 13, 🔥
Isaiah (MMC) and Maya (FMC)

This book wasn't terrible, just not my personal cup of tea.
But if you are into the story of a wolf 🐺 shifter MMC and half human / half Android 🤖 FMC, perhaps this one might be for you 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Happy reading! 📚

[Hayley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first book by Hazelwood was brilliant, as hers often are. 4*

The second book I abandoned 5 chapters in. 1*.

The third book I dragged myself to complete with frustration - between an MC who doesn’t understand when the vibe in a room changes and an author who doesn’t properly describe/explain scenes/lore/subtext so you’re never quite sure what is going on, it wasn’t worth the energy of trying to figure out what’s happening in order to enjoy finish the story. I don’t think I’ll read anymore by Payne. 2*.

The fourth book I abandoned on chapter two. It had serious fanfic-written-by-a-teenager-vibes, with cliche dialogue that was ridiculous unrealistic, aimed at giving information to the reader (“No leader, even though you’re the youngest and stronger leader we’ve ever seen, it doesn’t mean you can defeat the thing that no one else has ever defeated in our entire history!” And that’s not a direct quote but really fucking close). 1*

Only thing worth reading was Hazelwood.

[Lindsay Olivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is what I imagine a teenage boy to write

[Cyd Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell me how EVERY SINGLE ONE of those short stories were omegaverse. I knew going into it Ali Hazelwood was freaky and she would write an omegaverse story, but All of them? Damn? Im actually impressed as to how all of them were subtle omegaverse.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm averaging this collection to a four star. Even though I didn't have the first one the other three were quality and I really enjoyed them.

Ratings in order , - dnf , 4 ⭐, 5⭐, 5⭐

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ali, I adore you, but respectfully, what the fuck were you thinking?

Are we just all going to look over the fact that he was okay with raping her?!?

PS: I only read First. I have zero interest in the others.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall 4.5 out of 5 novellas all together: First by Ali Hazelwood, Rating 4: The positives I loved Gabriel's pack and how they supported and bantered with each other. I loved Sofia's (sp? audio book problems) her unwillingness to back down. Her care for others being a medic. Also the epilogue was sweet and the spice was yummy. I did see part of the plot twist coming and when the male narrator wasn't being spicy his voice was a bit monotone and flat.

Bait by Adrianna Herrera Rating 5: The amount of queer love in this was every way perfection along with the amount of chemistry and banter with this why choose trio. The spice was some of my favorite. The setting was so vivid and one of my biggest fears which is why I don't read much dystopia.

Skyn By Nikki Payne 4:

This dystopic society I think scared me most, though the society did remind me a bit of the movie, "In Time". The less than and the ones that held power. Fawl's comparing of Ben to her ex while understandable with her trauma did get a bit repetitive. I loved the importance of touch and playing the part the others letting them assume before you can make your move. I did love the spice especially Ben's greediness for Fawl.

M.A.Y.A. by Nina Sai 4.75: I loved Isiah's pack the banter between them and when they got to know Maya was everything. I loved the honesty and truth that comes from Maya's medical trauma and Isiah's patience with it was everything. Also the banter and spice for them was everything I just cringed at some of the word's for anatomy as well as the nicknames were fun too.

[KML · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definite yes to First, soft yes to Skyn , hated Bait

It’s hard to rate this book because my rating varies dramatically for each story.

First 4.5 stars
Loved this story. Hazelwood does such a great job, establishing chemistry and connection between characters no matter the duration of the book.

Bait 2 stars
I really disliked the story. I didn’t care for any of the main characters and given that there are three of them you would think I would like at least one. I felt no genuine connection or chemistry between any of them and didn’t care for their dynamic. And a certain point it just felt like the author was trying to write taboo sex scenes. This is a novella so when you pile in that many sex scenes naturally I feel like the plot suffers.

Skin 3.5 stars
I was fascinated by this story. And the world concept in general. I didn’t love all of it hence only 3.5 stars, but I’d like to know that I might pick up a book by this author at some point. This was the first time I’ve read anything by this author.

M.A.Y.A. DNF for now
I started this one and just wasn’t interested. At that point I had already gone through three other dystopian stories and it may have been a combo of not being immediately gripped by the story and just not feeling like jumping into another dystopian story at that point.

[The Reading Mitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was SUPER excited to find these available on Kindle Unlimited I wasn’t overly wowed by them as I thought. With the slight exception of Ali Hazelwood, of course.

Her story, First, had a lot of the elements I was excepting for a dystopian romance! I enjoyed the change to human DNA and the class system in place being so skewed. The jobs were interesting as were some of the more “surprise” plot points! I was a little shook by the ending actions of the fmc and mmc but to each their own 😂😂

I skipped Bait bc it just didn’t seem up my alley!
SKYN really had me hooked and then kinda lost me a little 🤷🏼‍♀️
M.A.Y.A. Lured me in with werewolves and then dropped me off bc the writing style just didn’t vibe with me!

I was planning to check out the final few books in the series but I put that on hold since these didn’t suck me in as much as I thought! Maybe later I’ll give em a shot

[Lindsey Foltyn]

It's not that the premises of any of the stories were bad, or that I don't like dystopian fiction. I'm a millennial, of course I do. I'll even accept that some writing styles aren't my taste so long as the story is good enough to get me hooked.

I am going to have a problem when you use the wrong name for characters during a scene, or when the typos are extra-egregious or excessive (not judging independent authors for that, I'll let a lot slide)...or when you write a sentence in your story that literally does not make any sense. There was one, I won't say which, that I read three times, took a screenshot of, and sent to a friend to see if I just wasn't getting it.

Mid execution of a good idea, I can be flexible. Poor execution that includes the above? I can't.

Especially disappointing when it came from popular authors who have trad publishing deals.

[Meitachi · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the caveat that these are short stories, this was an interesting collection of post apocalyptic stories. Personal ratings, respectively:

3.5 star - Typical fun Ali Hazelwood writing, kinda annoyed with how subservient the FMC was. So many times, she was "This is the situation I'm in, I guess I don't really object to being treated poorly or threatened" attitude.

DNF'd Bait about 2/3rds in. Not my cuppa.

Skyn - 3.75 stars

M.A.Y.A - 4 stars. Love the AAPI representation! Prob my favorite one out of the series. I think this one is better on audiobook over reading. Not the most complex writing but it's entertaining and that's what I'm here for.

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

*DISCLAIMER: I only read “First”*

For a novella this was kind of amazing. My main complaint (as usual) is wishing it was longer but I had a great time! While I didn’t mind the shock factor at the end at all I do kind of wish we had gotten one scene without that (iykyk) and then one scene with it idk I was really looking forward to the romance aspect of that moment 🥲 I say this for every single Ali Hazelwood review but truly no one writes men the way she does and the way her MMCs speak about their love interests is unmatched

[|Stephanie| · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Maybe that's all you can really ask for in the end-not certainty, not perfection, but someone to stand beside you when the world falls apart." -Nikki Payne, SKYN

Despite book one, First by Ali Hazelwood being a DNF I really enjoyed the remaining three in the AFTER THE END collection. I'm breaking down my ratings but overall giving this 4 stars!

1. First Ali Hazelwood: DNF

2. Bait Adriana Herrera: 4 stars!

3. Skyn Nikki Payne: 3.5 stars!

4. M.A.Y.A. Nina Saxena: 4 stars!

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

First by Ali Hazelwood - 3.5-4 stars
Bait by Adriana Herrera - 3.5 stars
SKYN by Nikki Payne - 3 stars
M.A.Y.A. by Nina Saxena- 4 stars

Overall this collection needed another pass with editors because there were a lot of typos. Glad I was only reading this via KU because I would have been upset to spend a bunch of money on this and it gave errors like that. Definitely some diversity of ideas of what the apocalypse would end up looking like. Sad that men being horrible, corrupt, and controlling just sticks around.

[Allison Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half way through. These are spicy* little dystopian novellas. Jumped in bc I love all things AH and get novella (the first one) does not disappoint in terms of the science talk and spice/tension.
Enjoyed the next novella but maybe not quite so much up my alley - also, every time they talked about “the bunker” I thought back to that “Fallout” show, which was great. Character connections were pretty thin, even for a novella, but if you are looking for a poly-spicy dystopian story, that one’s for you.

[Milena Freddi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I don't think I'm the target audience for this kind of collection.
As an Ali fan I couldn't not read her novella, but I must say I really dragged my feet along the way. I loved her writing, as always, but the character dynamics and their development wasn't really for me.
I did try to finish bait because I really love a good dystopic book, but it felt so forced... Since she got out everything she could think about was fucking those two and, I'm sorry, but it was simply not realistic.
I don't think I will be reading the others, at least not now.

[K T · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first story by Ali Hazelwood was very good and flowed nicely. The next ones by Adriana Herrera and Nikki Payne were not bad, a bit hard to follow in places and trying to cram too many concepts into a short story, they could really have done with more space to fully realise the worlds and flesh out the characters. The last story by Nina Saxena was a bit of a slog, typos, plot holes and a bit rushed.

The star ratings should really be 5*, 3*, 4*, 2*

[Michelle Halber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow reading, as most of these a *really* dystopian.
Still, these books have more substance than 4 novellas.

I would happily read more of the world Ali Hazelwood created in First. IMO, that was the strongest book, but it was also the least futuristic, so that may have played a role in my enjoyment of it.

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know, it's hard to rate multiple stories like this. I liked the Ali Hazelwood one and felt like it was kind of like a crazy alternate version of Bride (in a good way). DNFed the next two. Finished the last one but ONLY BARELY and I honestly don't think I even finished the epilogue because I wasn't super into it and it was dragging. So... 🤷‍♀️

[Arabella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but I think I would have preferred if these were all four separate complete books. Given how much each of the authors was trying to accomplish it would have benefited from being longer and more detailed as some of the actions/plot felt unmotivated.

[Shelby Doss · Rating 3 out of 5]

First - Ali Hazelwood: Meh - I love an omegaverse but for some reason dystopian omega short story didn’t work for me. Needed to be longer.

[Frannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only managed one of these, DNFd 2 of them and didn’t bother with the last

[Isabella Capouya · Rating 3 out of 5]

average of 3.75⭐️
each one was good, hot, and dystopian so what more could i ask for

[R.L. Ní Fhlionn · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book is least shit

[Beth D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Live Hazelwood put the firced exhibition at the end wasn't great. Couldn't get into the others

[Willow Beaune · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for Ali Hazelwood as always - 3 stars for the rest!

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved First! Gave me Bride and Mate vibes by Ali which I love. Sadly the rest of the novelas weren’t as interesting.

[Jayla ✷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1: First 5/5
#2: M.A.Y.A 4.5/5
#3: SKYN 4/5
#4: Bait 2/5

[Ruvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 stars (Ali Hazelwood ofc), 1 star, 1.5 stars, 2 stars.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread (re-listen). I liked them the first time and loved them the 2nd time. The audio narration was really good.

First ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
Skyn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maya ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bait ⭐️⭐️