After the Return

Afterlands #2

by Boots @ LookingLand

Tensions in the town of Whiptail ratchet up after a hard season of bad weather, famine, and strange bodies washed up on the beach.

Hyrhyn, Laria, Juba, and Nix must face these challenges and a new enterprise that tests the bonds of their tenuous friendship. Will they ever find safety and happiness so long as there is a Harrower among them?

After the Return, follows on the action from Afterlands: After the Harrowing, and the Betweentimes stories, which are available for free on the official website.

140 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[A.E. Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saga of Hyrhyn, Laria, Juba, and Nix continues in this heartfelt and captivating book. Each of these four characters still struggles with trauma from the Harrowing, though now they find themselves living near a beach in a sea-side town. While some of the themes in this book are heavy, I found this overall to be a delightfully comforting read. The four main characters don't always get along, but it is evident they hold great affection for one another. Boots does a fantastic job developing both romantic and platonic relationships and I'm very excited to see where this story goes next.

[Azalea Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Afterlands: After the Return is Book Two of this novella series. Juba, Hyrhyn, Laria, and Nix continue to reside in Cliff House, Laria’s family home, as they attempt to make a comfortable living despite unfriendly neighbors in the nearby town of Whiptail.

There are certainly heavy themes in this installment of the series, but the air of it all is no-less light and hopeful. Hyrhyn continues to be a ray of sunshine, even as she learns new things about herself, and even while facing the uncertainties of the present and future.

I especially love a scene with Hyrhyn and Juba early on in the book at the beach. Boots’ prose certainly evokes emotion! And throughout After the Return, Juba has really fallen into himself. Still ever the shy and anxious Harrower, he begins to find his voice in a steady and realistic way...

You can read the rest of my review on my blog! https://azaleaforrest.wordpress.com/2...

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite its rather heavy subject matter at times, I thought this book was rather light overall! There was much focus on healing and growth but also on facing things you might prefer to stay buried. It also helped that a good many threads were laid for future stories and I look forward to them!

[Talli Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy this series and its unique cast. AFTER THE RETURN presents Laria, Nix, Juba, and Hyrhyn with an additional set of issues as they try to settle and sort out their lives, but as always, this series promises a sense of optimism and hope in spite of the horrors these characters have witnessed. I'm very much looking forward to the next installment.

[Susan Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of the Afterlands tales, having read the first in this series and followed the Between times short stories which are free on Boots’ website lookingland.com/afterlands.The amazing central characters, Hyrhyn, “The Lostling”; Laria, “The Imperator”; Juba, “The Harrower”; Nix, “The Broodthrall”, are so unique and compelling, each coping with trauma in wholly individual ways. I love them all (even when Nix and Laria are being unlovable)... also Moth (over whom tears were shed). Add to this a post-apocalyptic world of famine, division and suspicion, and the central characters could easily fall prey to the frenzied plundering and hunting of the whiptails, though never to the suspicious meats on offer that speak to the possibilities of lostling flesh. Nix is a hero here, deducing the problem afflicting the massive jellyfish like whiptails and coming up with a solution which may also help the group to survive.
No more on the plot, since I don’t wish to give spoilers, only to say that Boots’ stellar imagination is at work again. There are moments of humour, of heart-breaking pathos, of unselfish love, and a subtle and intelligent philosophical questioning of ethics and of love among survivors in a world brought to the brink of extinction.

[Maxime Jaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again an utterly delightful book, a compelling and moving story, with unique characters, and some truly deep moments of love and emotions. Don't miss it!