Showing 1-4 out of 4 reviews.

• After the Snow is pretty near perfect. The idea of the storyline is unique, the plot rarely drags, and the author's writing is nice and cohesive. I found the writing style and overall content to be more of a middle-grade read than a YA one (minus a bit of profanity towards the end), though it's certainly a great read for either target group.I loved Crockett's idea for the apocalypse/dystopia. It picks up on current issues over global warming, sustainable practices, and ethics, but these are rather muted and a background to the characters' adventures. Every once in a while, the author will delve deeper into the issues running behind everything. Part of what's unique about After the Snow as a dystopia is also the method of resistance, based more on a utopian theory than fighting the oppressors. The novel becomes more about a teenage boy finding himself and understanding the world, unlike other YA sci-fi books where the characters are just trying to bust the system.

  4.50 out of 5

  SusieBookworm

• The climate has changed, and Europe is in a new ice age. People are huddled together in poverty striken cities and shantytowns, slaving for the government in coal mines and power plants. A few live out in the wilds. Known as stragglers they live as the pioneers did. When the government comes to clear them out, Willo was out snaring hares. he came home to an empty house. He sets out to find refuge, and finds a girl, also alone.

  4.00 out of 5

  pmlyayakkers

• Like many survivor stories, After the Snow isn’t exactly fun, per se. It’s gritty and tough; Willo’s life after losing his family is pretty darn hard (and it was that way before he lost them, too). S.D. Crockett isn’t afraid to show her readers blood, gore, and suffering. This can be a good thing, because it increases our emotional reaction to Willo’s struggle, but it’s also tough to read through. I enjoyed the harsh realism to a point, but there were certain parts of the story that were tough to stomach. If you’re sensitive, you might want to be wary of After the Snow.S.D. Crockett’s writing style is a bit reminiscent of Patrick Ness’ in The Knife of Never Letting Go: it’s close to steam-of-consciousness, and it’s written in a dialect that takes some getting used to. This kind of writing really adds to the experience of the novel; it helps us understand a bit more about the culture in which Willo was raised (that is, the groups that survived S.D. Crockett’s imagined apocalypse scenario). This style also gives us a better feel for Willo as a character: we access his inner thoughts and doubts though internal dialects he holds with a dog skull he wears on his head. Aside from this subtle characterization, Willo isn’t the easiest to connect with, but he’s still quite a trouper, and it’s easy to sympathize with him.After the Snow didn’t quite impress me as much as I’d hoped. The story focused more on the struggle of a single boy, rather than on that of a people as a whole. It was interesting, but not gripping. If survival stories are your thing, I think you’ll enjoy S.D. Crockett’s debut.

  2.50 out of 5

  renkellym

• Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: After the Snow is difficult to get in to because of the narration style and the reason for what is happening is never fully developed.Opening Sentence: I’m gonna sit here in my place on the hill behind the house. Waiting. And watching.The Review:After the Snow starts when Willo sees his family being taken away in trucks, and he runs off to hide in a cave until they leave. The time period is never clearly stated, but we find out that this takes place in Europe after the weather drastically changed, leaving the world blanketed in endless snow. Willo lives out in the woods away from civilization with his father, step-mother, and lots of kids. He never feels like he fits in well, so he spends most of his time hunting and praying to his dog skull to inherit some of the dog’s qualities. The dog often speaks to him and gives him advice on what he should do. He takes the dog’s advice sometimes, but ignores it when he disagrees.He knows he is alone now, so Willo sets out for the closest homestead where he thinks he will find answers about why his family is missing. Unfortunately, he never makes it there. Instead, Willo comes across two abandoned children in an empty house along the way. The dog tells Willo to leave them, but he comes back the next day, and takes the only living girl, Mary, with him. The world is a harsh and brutal one, but Willo knows how to hold his own against nature. When it comes to people and towns, he has no clue how to act. Willo and Mary are picked up by a caravan heading to the nearest city. The two get separated in the city, but both manage to survive for a while until they are brought back together through unusual means.It is not until almost to the end of the book that we find out anything about the political situation going on. The town seems to be under some sort of marshal law, and the citizens are terrified. A certain book by John Blovyn that urged people to live freely in nature instead of cities has been banned, and anyone with a copy is treated like a criminal. The book with the revolutionary status is not unknown to Willo, but he never really sees the importance of it. Honestly, this portion of the book did not seem well executed. I still do not really know why the Blovyn’s book was a killing offence to own. This may be because it came through Willo’s point of view, and he did not care much about books. I would have liked to see the political side developed more. All it did was leave me confused since I didn’t know why so many people were dying.This book is told from Willo’s point of view and in his voice. By that I mean his sentence structure and word choices are very primitive. He knows how to read, but he can hardly form a complete, correct sentence. I have to admit that it was extremely hard to get through the first time I tried to read After the Snow. The second time I tried, I was able to get used to it, but the speech patterns are very jarring and uneven.Notable Scene:“Anybody here?”I got to listen good, cos if someone been upstairs waiting for me, I want to hear them creaking on the floor above.But the only creaking is just the old house moving in the cold.And there aint no answer.I put my hand against the wall and feel my way down the passage. I can feel every lump under the cold plaster, and I know my palm’s gonna be dusty white if I can see it. I come to the coats still hanging on the pegs, the fur all soft. But no one go out without their coat in this weather? I don’t understand why the coats still here and the people aint.I got a funny feeling about being all alone in the house, cos my back’s to the door and it’s dark and I don’t like it with no one here.But like the dog say, Can’t stop to think about that now.I get to the kitchen, the same roundside smells seeping out of the dark. I tap along the beam to find the box of tinder, cos I got none in my pouch–but the box fall to the floor with a bang. It really make me jump, and I got to stay still for a while more. But no one come leaping out the shadows, so I reckon the house is safe for now.The dog worrying me too much. Thing is dogs can’t make fire and stuff, so they got to be more careful than us. That’s the only trouble with wearing the dog skull. The spirit of that dog get right inside me sometimes, and I forget who I am. That’s what my dad say when he make me stay in the house with the others and do my reading with Magda.I say, “Dad I can read enough.”FTC Advisory: Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends provided me with a copy of After the Snow. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

  1.00 out of 5

  DarkFaerieTales

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