After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
My rating: 3/5 cats
i don’t know if i can guarantee a great and focused review right now. i might have to revisit this (read: float) at a later date. but i am gonna try.
first and foremost—my three-star cat ratings are all over the place. know that this book is a super-shiny three-star cat book, and not one of my “i didn’t dislike it enough to hate it” three-star cat ratings. i mean, if my star cat ratings do anything in terms of swaying you to read a book, know that i did like this and i do recommend it…with reservations.
other people have complained about the language in this book. not the profanity, although there is a little of that, but people who get all revved up about cussin’ really shouldn’t be allowed to read books in the first place. this book isn’t written in dialect or slang so much as “we are struggling to stay alive here—grammar’s gonna have to take a back seat right now, ‘kay?” so for people who only like to read books written exactly the way they themselves speak, then this book is going to grate on you:
But he’s my dad like I said, and you got to respect your dad I reckon. My mum got dead when I been a baby still scrieking in my ass rags. That happen a lot up here when the snow been deep and your breath freeze in the air. But Magda live with Dad now, up in our end of the house. Magda’s in charge of the little kids and I don’t envy her that job. If it been me I’m gonna bash them all.
my own personal reasons for not loving-loving it are twofold. one—i wasn’t sold on the protagonist. he’s an odd mix of the very capable and the overly-introspective slash possibly delusional. all the dog stuff was my personal thumbs-down, and that’s all i am going to say about that. you’ll see.
the second reason is mostly my own fault. i had forgotten the details of tatiana’s review (why didn’t that link work, goodreads?? OKAY I GOT IT TO WORK NOW!!), having read it oh so long ago, and i forgot that this wasn’t a straight “survival in the snowy woods all alone” book, but that it would at one point morph into a dystopian situation. however, events that occur at the end of the book point towards it maybe having more of the survival stuff i so love in the second part. fingers crossed.
umm—yeah—tell you what—i am in no condition right now to review this properly. i will return in the am to make it all better. INTERNET, WILL YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK?? if i wake up to a smoking barren wasteland, i will completely understand. and i apologize for the death of you all.
okay, i’m back.
and i thought i would have more to say about this, but now i am beginning to doubt that. maybe you should just go read tatiana’s review, since she’s better at this than me. bottom line is that the characters are a little flimsy, but towards the 3/4 mark, it really picks up with some good ol’ violence and a broadening of the story that could make the second part either really interesting or completely overambitious and porous.
no more book reports—i am on vacation…
i feel like my favorite character from the book:
I can look after myself, Callum. You know that. I was born in a tent like you but I’ve grown soft. I remember the feel of rags on my feet but I found chinks in the walls. You’re like a dog but I am a cat, always seeking the warmth of the fire…
i am exactly the same way. i read all these survival books thinking that when the time comes (and it will come), i will be prepared because knowledge is power and all that but honestly, i will be the one always looking for the fire. i’m no dog.
and right now, i am going to go seek my fire…
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