ARC Review: After the Red Rain by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, & Rob DeFranco

Title: After the Red Rain
Author:  Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, & Rob DeFranco
Genre: Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy(?)
Source: NetGalley
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
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Summary: 

On the ruined planet Earth, where 50 billion people are confined to megacities and resources are scarce, Deedra has been handed a bleak and mundane existence by the Magistrate she works so hard for. But one day she comes across a beautiful boy named Rose struggling to cross the river--a boy with a secretive past and special abilities, who is somehow able to find comfort and life from their dying planet. But just as the two form a bond, it is quickly torn apart after the Magistrate's son is murdered and Rose becomes the prime suspect. Little do Deedra and Rose know how much their relationship will affect the fate of everyone who lives on the planet.

Review:  

*This review does contain spoilers. Read at your own risk*

I just want to note that reading this book with the knowledge that an actor helped write it affects my views on it at all. Though I do like Peter Facinelli. This book was good, it wasn't amazing and it isn't something I will rave about, it was good. 

Hundreds of years ago something called the Red Rain whipped out 50 million people on earth. Now, earth is in ruins. Animals are extinct, there is virtually no plant life and food is made synthetically in a lab. One day while scavenging Deedra spots a beautiful boy across the river, and when he tires half way across she helps him. They soon go their separate ways. Deedra works for the Magistrate under a strict set of rules and never questions them. But when an incident with the Magistrate's son occurs and then he wounds up dead Deedra questions many things, including her friendship with Rose. The boy she helped across the lake. 

I don't know where to begin. Do I talk about Rose, and him being a plant? Do I talk about the fact that Deedra falls in love with a plant? I LOVE what the authors were going with. The planet is dying, humans destroyed it. So now their hope is in a boy that is part plant. It is actually a cool idea. I wish that the book focused more on Rose, how he came to be, and exactly what he was, then how it focused on Deedra getting him out of prison for the murder of the Magistrate's son. I see that the questions are left off for another book, but in all honesty, I wasn't impressed with this one and I am not all that eager to read book two when it comes out. 

This book wasn't a total bust though. There is a reason I rated it two stars. The idea is original and interesting and the romance was awkward at moments but it wasn't instant, it developed faster then I prefer but it was no where near instalove. This one just wasn't for me. I get frustrated when I think about this book for the fact that not much is answered, a great plot and romance only gets a book so far. Maybe I will be on the look out for book two when it comes out. We'll see. 

Rating: