After the Red Rain (A Book with a Color in the Title)

Pro: A solid post-apocalypse book all around.

Con: Only if you want more...because I don't know the plans for that.

Bottom Line: A great book - and no, I didn't forget the picture. There's a special one at the bottom.

 

As for right now, I need to read 35 books before October in order to complete the District 120 Reading Challenge. Some of these are going to be tricky. But until then, here's a book with a color in the title! Funny thing, I'd picked this one out a long while back and it suited that particular slot perfectly. I'm only just now getting to read it. I was not disappointed. The interesting thing is that it was created by three people - Barry Lyga (author of many books), Peter Facinelli (Hollywood actor), and Robert DeFranco (producer). How that happened I have no idea. But I'm glad it did.

 

This is the future. Where man has covered the world in concrete, metal, and glass. Where there were once people – too many people – and the Red Rain purged billions from the planet. Deedra lives in one of the megacities that still function, living from day to day assembling parts at a factory and occasionally scrounging the wasteland for useful and interesting thing.

 

And then she sees Rose. A bizarrely beautiful boy who seems to come from nowhere, and who doesn't know exactly who – or what – he is. His abilities are like nothing she's ever seen before, and he begins to change the way she sees the world and her future. But when the Magistrate's son is murdered, all signs point to Rose. Can she save Rose? What's more – do she and Rose have a chance at saving a dying world?

 

Honestly, that's really only the tip of the iceberg. After I read this book I decided that the blurb didn't do it justice. What Rose is, what he can do, and the way he thinks are so different from everything else in the story, the whole murdered Magistrate's son thing is a drop in the bucket compared to all the other stuff going on. This isn't your typical dystopian formula either. I know, it sounds an awful lot like: Girl meets boy, boy is pretty, boy changes how girl thinks, girl and boy take on establishment. Yeah, no. Deedra thinks Rose, while pretty (not handsome, mind you), is quite strange as he sticks out like a sore thumb in every way possible. She has no idea what to make of him and when he brings things up that make her think, it actually takes a while for her to consider them or change her mind in any way. And that's a good thing. It's more realistic since people brought up believing something their entire lives don’t just change their minds overnight. As for taking on the establishment, there's none of that. Maybe in the future, but I honestly have no idea if the authors are going to write more or not.

 

And that's another funny thing about this book; I'm okay if there aren't more. Which is weird since it's sort of a cliffhanger in the end in that they state they should warn people about the big bad thing that is supposedly coming, I'm possibly a terrible person in that I'm cool if they were to just run off together and find their own little place of peace away from all people and live happily ever after. Though there really are a lot of questions that beg asking, such as how Rose came to be, Deedra's backstory, and what exactly was up with the guy in the very beginning who found Deedra as a baby – and just where exactly he was working because…ew. (I wonder now – was he in a big bad?)

 

I realize I'm kind of rambling, but sometimes it's tough to review a book when you don't want to give anything away at all. I just want you to read it. I want you to see what Rose is for yourself. What he can do. The way he sees the world (which is beautiful and I love him for it). Discover what the Red Rain was, what the big bad thing is, and step into a brand new dystopian world where half of it isn't sunshine and roses (a la the Capital in The Hunger Games or the Domes in Under the Blue Sky or cities in Divergent). This is a place where the entire world sucks and even Deedra is convinced that there's no way to change it and it's going to keep on sucking until she dies. The characters are interesting and complex, the world a fascinating place even in its demise, and the plot is weird and unique and occasionally violent.

 

So go forth and read this book. Even if you're tired of dystopia by now, I think it's different enough to be a bit refreshing for you. The funny part is that while reading this, I have little bookmarks that look like they're tiny plants growing from the book. I didn't realize until I was finished with the book just how appropriate it was.

 

NT