Monday, May 1, 2017

After Impact (After Impact #1) by Nicole Stark | A Book Review

After Impact by Nicole Stark | A Book Review by iamnotabookworm

Today is May 1, Labor Day on this side of the world . Happy Labor Day to everyone!

The author reached out to me via the contact form on this blog asking if I would like to review her book. I read the blurb and even if I didn't, I would still agree to review her book. I have never yet declined any requests for reviews. I think this is one of the reasons why my blog was created. I would want to help those authors get their works known in my own little way. 

After Impact is a dystopian. It happens after the earth was hit by an asteroid. Unlike the movie Armageddon, the asteroid was not stopped from colliding with our planet and turned it into a smoldering inferno. In this story, a brilliant scientist was able to come up with another solution. Cryosleep. HOPE. Humanity's One Plan for Escape. Selected 5,000 young individuals are going to be put to sleep for a hundred years and woken up in time for the harmful effects to at least disperse and be fit for life to thrive again. 

Avalon, is one of those selected to be part of the 5,000. Aside from being the daughter of the scientist who proposed the plan for humanity to survive the destruction, she is also brilliant with computers. Only individuals that are within the age and skill requirement are included in the list for HOPE. Those unfortunate died upon impact of the asteroid or did not survive the aftermath of radiation, starvation, etc. 

I was reminded of this story of the series Kyle XY. Kyle was a human clone that was in a cryogenic freeze until he was a teenager. If you have watched that series, the same process of creating Kyle was done to preserve Avalon and the rest. And like the series, a lot of people died in this story also. Secrets. A lot of them. Avalon has to uncover them. And how to do that? Trust no one? An impossible feat for someone who has just woken up from a hundred years of sleep. The biggest question where to start? 

I am still not a fan of sci-fi and dystopians but once in a while there are stories that throw away my doubt and change my mind. This is one of those stories. My main problem of not really into a lot of them is the fact that a lot of highfalutin technical words are used that some are not thoroughly explained to make the reader unable to picture them in detail. Most of the stories that I liked so far on this genre were not lacking in technical details yet very elementary in their descriptions. I guess, the skill and talent of the author also played into it. Something to be said about an author's skill of making a story appear less brainy yet fantastic enough to be enjoyed. This one falls in the same category. Mentions of advanced technology is not absent in this book but it was not daunting at all. I can even imagine them likely happening in the future. Hopefully, without the asteroid wiping out humanity.

I really enjoyed this book. I am giving myself a high-five for agreeing to review this book. It was a good decision and just strengthens my belief to never deny any author requesting for a review. Whether a review is good or bad, in one way, it is going to help the author, as long as s/he keeps an open mind. What I make sure to put in my reviews, especially if I am not so into the story is to make sure that I also point out the merits of the book and making sure that my review appears objective and with enough tact in it. This book merits 4/5 smart watches. A futuristic read but not over-the-top. Fortunately, no nosebleeds here. A dysotopian yet, not so glum or dark. Easily enjoyable. The mix of mystery and some surprises makes this even more worth the time. I am looking forward to the next story in this series. Thank you again, Nicole Stark!. Again, I am glad to be proven wrong that sci-fi and dystopians are way out of my comfort zone. This definitely is a series to follow.


There is nothing more difficult, to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
- A Quote from Niccolo Machiavelli -

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