The Darkness After: Still Static, Shallow and Superficial

Image courtesy of amazon.com

Since my rather scathing review of this book last time, not much has changed.  The plot has picked up a little bit, but the excitement hasn't mounted to the extent that I want to keep reading and find out what happens.  It's honestly just more of the same: April and Mitch are still trying to get home, walking or canoeing through forests.  Nothing new really happens.  There was potential for a plot twist when Mitch and April arrive at Mitch's house, finding Mitch's sister Lisa missing as well as the old car and other goods.  However, Mitch immediately realizes that Lisa must have come by the house with friends to pick up the car and look for Lisa's friend's mom in Hattiesburg.  As a result, what could have been an interesting roadblock or complication just turned into another circumstance of their travels.

After looking through several reviews of the book on Amazon, I was surprised at how positive the feedback was, with an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars.  One review in particular completely contrasted my views of the book:

"Mitch and April's characters are well developed, with portrayals of strengths and weaknesses. Both of them draw strength from the other in various ways, learning to trust and adapt in a world cast into chaos. Each of them are forced to take violent measures when their lives are interrupted by those who prey on the weak. Armed with the skills taught by their fathers, Mitch and April team up and move toward their destination, but not without detours."

Mitch and April are not well developed characters.  Their only strengths and weaknesses are physical:  Mitch can shoot (with bows and guns) but can't fight, and April can fight but can't use a bow and arrow.  A truly well-developed character has quirks, a controversial past, and a personality with both good and bad qualities.  All we know about Mitch is his hobbies, his obsession with hunting and the outdoors, his family members, and where he lives.  April is a little more detailed, but not much.  Her parents both died a few years back, but she learned hand-to-hand combat from her father before his death.  Now she is a mother, determined to get back to her baby.  And that's it.  Everything about the characters can be summed up in one paragraph.

Back to the review: when the review describes the characters as "learning to trust and adapt in a world cast into chaos," the thing is we don't really see any of the chaos.  Mitch and April are always safely tucked away in the woods, and besides one or two encounters there isn't much interaction with other people.  As a result, the reader can't really experience or appreciate the interesting world the book is set in.  I would love to read more about what life is like without electricity, but we can't experience anything first-hand.  The plot of this book could take place in a world with electricity if the characters had different motivations for traveling in the wild.  The plot is not unique at all, and neither are the characters.

I continually find myself frustrated with this book and its style of writing.  Personally, I think that third person immediately distances the reader from the character, and as these are pretty shallow characters already, the way the book is written doesn't help.  Also, the word choice doesn't vary at all between narration and dialogue.  It all sounds the same.  All of these problems, both big and small, add up to my recommendation: don't read this book.

For more perspectives on the book from people my age, go on o'er to Molly's and Grace's blogs.