Review Detail

After the Snow reads like Huck Finn meets dystopia. Unfortunately, I really don't like Huckleberry Finn. Why? Because, even at the very best of times, books written in dialect are a struggle for me. For one thing, dialect tends to equal poor grammar, which always makes me shudder. I did a lot of shuddering in this book. It also slows down my reading, both because I don't like it, and because I'm reading it all out loud to myself in my head (if that makes sense).

The main character, Willo, constantly talks to a dead dog that he has made into clothing. He even thinks it answers him, which is freaking creepy! Not only that, there's a 'mad dog' personality and a 'good dog' personality. Really. Willo, in his head, keeps holding conversations with a dead dog with multiple personalities. What the effin' what?

So yeah, I didn't really like the characters or the writing, but what about the dystopian elements, the world-building? Not so much there either. I don't feel like I really got a handle on what was going on here. I mean, I see that the weather went crazy, and there is a brief comment on how that happens. However, I want to know more about how the society functions and why so many people don't have papers and why everyone's so interested in the mountain men. And what's up with the crazy pseudo-religion, rebellion group? None of this was at all clear, and not in a cool leaving you guessing kind of way.

I really wish book descriptions for books in dialect were written in dialect. If that summary had been written the way the book was, I would not have read this. Well, maybe I would have, but only because it's a dystopia. Still, the description doesn't really give an accurate picture of what you're going to get. This definitely was not for me.