Given the subject matter, it is probably not the right time to be reading this, for me at least. I have enjoyed other books by Lauren Beukes, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I expected to. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was the setting, or perhaps it was because none of the characters were particularly likeable. There was clearly some history between the main protagonist Cole, and her sister Billie, which was alluded to. There was unexplained tension between Cole and Miles, her son. I would like to have known more. None of the characters seemed to like each other.

These aren’t necessarily bad things. The author sets up the situation, the characters find their way out of it, and there is a satisfactory ending. A lot of readers will think it is a fast-moving, on the edge of your seat read. However for me the acid test is “Would I read it again?” Sadly the answer in this case is no.

One final point, the nuns freaked me out!

A 4 star review, because it was a good book, I just didn't enjoy it very much.

I thought the premise, and the description of how the virus worked, was really interesting.
However; I struggled with the book itself. It took me forever to read, and I never really invested in the characters.

I have read every book by Lauren Beukes and I’m always disappointed when her novels don’t feature psychic sloths. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Afterland- it’s Y: The Last Man meets The Terminator meets Birdbox meets Children of Men, with shades of The Handmaid’s Tale and a great deal of family, religion and gender-based drama. The flashback scenes in airports, abandoned houses and at Disneyworld are laced with foreboding; the present-day chase across state lines to a boat and the promise of safety takes place at an alarming speed. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an unputdownable read, with the warning that it may feel a little too close to home in light of the Covid crisis!

I love Lauren Beukes’ writing and really that’s all there is to it, you should all go and get all of her books and read them right now.

Seriously.

And it’s been a while since Beukes’ last novel, and my expectations were high and I’m always so excited to get my teeth into one of her novels, and well let’s just say that Afterland was absolutely no let down.

Beukes’ writing is jagged, sharp, edgy, and somehow tender while she pulls you along on an escape across America, barely letting you catch your breath. Afterland has a sense of underlying terror, grief and unease that will not let you go, as the characters navigate a world that maybe isn’t so far removed from this one in some ways. Each character is alive on the pages, you feel the gut emotions churning as family ties and survival rub uneasily against each other. You feel the panic, the helplessness, the desperation and the fire.

Afterland has everything you could ask for - from gangsters to sex clubs to cults (hell, I know what my tick-list looks like) – with dark wit running through it, while at the same time leaving room for quiet moments that pull on your heart. Honestly, I’ve gotta say I kinda wouldn’t mind a beer or two with Billie, and that’s even after, well, you’ll see.

And in some ways this is one of the most beautiful things about how Beukes’ writes. Her characters are so real, so relatable, and so imperfect. Despite the darkness and the fear, there’s space for hope and redemption.

Take a breath, wash your hands, and settle in for a white knuckle ride across a post-pandemic landscape.

Favourite line: "tragedy can be small too, personal”

Read if: You want a masterclass in pacing, in a taut race across America with characters you’re going to want to hang out with, go for beers with, cry with.

Read with: No other plans because this is the sort of book that won’t let you take a break. Bring snacks.

I'll be posting the review closer to the publication date on www.thedustlounge.com

By about half way through,I felt we hadn't really got very far with a plot,beyond half the world's population being wiped out (and now might not have been the time to be reading about that).
I found myself skim reading the next lot of pages .
Billie was a really irritating character.
This time,it wasn't the book for

‘The future is female’; but what if that was the truth? Imagine a world in which a mystery illness wiped out 99% of the world’s male population and that is the reality for Cole and her son Miles.
This is a story about survival and a mother’s love as Cole will do anything to protect her child from a new world who considers him a commodity to be held captive and experimented upon. Miles and Cole cannot go home but they can’t even look to their own family for help as even his aunt, Billie, look to gain from her nephew’s immunity.
The pair encounter so many different groups of women that I appreciated the range of behaviours attributed to them as Lauren Beukes shows women can be everything from nurturing caregivers to power-hungry and violent in society.
I enjoyed the fast paced aspect of this novel as they seek out a safe haven but the reality that they can’t even trust their own family means that you’re rooting for them from the offset. The entire world is after a child and the humanity they once knew has been altered forever. A brilliant and exciting new thriller that absorbs you in their fight for freedom from beginning to end.