Common Sense Media Review
By Julie A. Carlson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gritty sci-fi survival tale questions reality and authority.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Juneau Newhaven lives in the Alaskan wilderness with her clan and father. She's been taught to believe that World War III in 1984 destroyed the earth, leaving her people as the only survivors for decades. And she's been trained to believe she has a mystical, paranormal power that connects her to the earth, and has a religious belief in being one with nature, called the Yara. When she discovers her father and clan are missing, Juneau goes in search of them. Once outside her territory, she enters thriving, present-day Anchorage and discovers that everything she's been led to believe is a lie. There was no World War III or apocalypse. Juneau feels betrayed and hurt by her people. Along her journey, she meets Miles, a rich kid who helps her, but also questions her sanity -- and eventually falls for her. The farther she gets from home, the less she feels connected to nature and her powers. Eventually, Juneau and Miles are forced to make a choice between friendship and family. Juneau's race to find her clan turns into a game of survival against the men her hunting down -- including Miles' father, who wants Juneau for his own purposes.
Is It Any Good?
Told in alternating first-person, present-tense narration by Juneau and Miles, the novel's moves slowly at first, but once Juneau discovers her clan is missing, the pace picks up. Readers will especially enjoy the interaction and banter between Juneau and Miles, who need each other for specific reasons and come to rely on each other. Juneau's completely serious about her mission of finding her family, and Miles provides plenty of comic relief. He doesn't accept that Juneau was fed weird lies and has magical powers, even until the end, which helps makes the story believable.
There are lots of interesting characters and side characters, but Juneau and Miles are truly the heart of the novel. The cliffhanger will leave readers desperate to find out what happens next. After The End is a good mixture of science fiction, mystery, thriller, and romance, with lots of political and social issues to engage readers and possibly inspire them to question their own world. And for readers looking for diverse characters in novels, note that Juneau is part-Chinese, part white.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about dystopian novels. How is After The End different from other dystopian or post-apocalyptic novels you're read? How is it similar?
How would you feel if you found out that what you were raised to believe was a lie? How would you deal with the consequences?
Have you ever been camping? Do you think you would be able to survive in the wild? What would you do if you didn't have technology to rely on?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , STEM
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperTeen
- Publication date : May 6, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 13 - 17
- Number of pages : 336
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate