Review: After The Love Is Gone
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2013
If you are looking for a warm and fuzzy read this is not the book for you, if you cannot stomach books about man's inhumane treatment of man this is not the book for you.  But if you like post-apocalyptic stories that do not shy away from the hard decisions the survivors have to face in trying to establish a new world order out of chaos you will find this book intriguing but at times hard to read.After reminded me of The Walking Dead minus the zombies. A pandemic has decimated the population, the hardest hit were the women.  The bookbegins a couple of years after the "dying" and is broken up into 2 parts that  overlap.The first part is about Eva, a lone survivor that is captured by a group of men lead by an ex-military officer. They have established an all male society, their leader has made the decision that to keep order amongst the men and due to the almost extinction of women drastic measures must be taken if they find a woman. Her purpose will be to revive the human race. A lottery would be held to see who would get the privilege to impregnate her. The reader will be shaking their head no as they eagerly turn the pages to see what happens next.The 2nd part occurs 23 yrs after the 1st , our h Nix is part of the resistance forces, she reminded me of  Sara Connor from Terminator 2, a Rambette with a serious attitude and a take no prisoner mind set. She barely remembers a time before the dying when the world consisted of love between men and women, when family units were the norm and women were equal partners in all facets of life. To me her story was the most tragic and believable. Her need to liberate women and her utter hatred of all men was compelling, as a reader you totally understood her and the choices she made.I rate this book a 3 for the theme. On multiple occasion I almost put this book down due to the awkward beginning and the repetitive scenes.  I felt the author did not know if she wanted to show or tell the story.  There were moments when I did not know who was speaking.  Two things drove me batty throughout the entire book, 1. The lack of or bare minimum description of the characters, 2. I wanted to know what chain of events caused the world to change. It is not until well into the story the reader is given small glimpses into the past. The sex scenes although plentiful were demeaning as they were meant to be, but they were also not written very well. After reading a couple I skimmed the rest.  The scenes between Eva, John and Avery felt off to me. I had a problem with Eva's acceptance of her role as earth mother. I preferred Nix and Gareth scenes more, their relationship felt true to the world they lived in. The 2nd half of the book was better executed than the first.  The author successfully captured the effects of abuse the women and men suffered living in a world without love or tenderness.  Mothers would rather kill their babies than let them live in a world were females were hunted like animals and abused beyond belief.  And the males were trained to abuse the women or suffer for not doing so.I liked how the author ended this book with a feeling of better things to come. In spite of my negatives this book was a page turner, and I'm glad I did not put it down without finishing it.