Cold Light continues the 'After' series and relates the saga of Emma, Arthur, and other survivors of the apocalypse. Here the fight for survival and love continue as Emma and Arthur become part of a group that continues to face challenges and changes in a post-Apocalyptic world.

It's encouraging to think that in even the bleakest of worlds and circumstances, not only hope but love can still exist. It's about saving lives, handling underlying judgment, embarking on a mission to raise children in peace and safety, and organizing survivors. It's also about burying the dead and accepting the fates of those who cannot be reached in time.

As in any dystopian story, it's the protagonists and their reactions that 'make' the saga, and the 'After' series proves a compelling, involving survey of what it means to be a survivor, both initially and in the ongoing progression of challenges that makes up a new life. ( )

I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. This review is also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

I debated for a while over the rating for this book. As I have not read the first book in the trilogy, there were some elements of the story that made no or little sense to me. But it seems unfair to rate the book down for that reason, when it is not the author's fault at all.

The very opening of the story cuts straight into a short battle, painting a picture of this post-apocalyptic, and frankly rather horrifying world. A world where people group together for safety, safety from the rest of their own race, who pillage and ruin. Near the beginning of the story, there is a small flashback which was very handy to me, not having read the first book, but which I also imagine would be a good reminder to all those who have, as it is not too detailed.

At the start of the book, I saw Emma as a brave woman, determined and selfless. But this soon turned out to be very wrong - she is actually incredibly selfish in my eyes. Despite the fact that her husband is completely devoted to her and she loves him, she cheated on him. These events happen in the first book, but she explains that she began sleeping with Arthur so he would protect her and the girls she was caring for. So why is Arthur portrayed as some sort of Lothario, some irresistible man, when Emma had to resort to sleeping with him in order to keep herself safe? Part of the reason I do not feel this book deserves a five star rating is because of Emma and Arthur. Their relationship makes me angry: it sounds like he originally forced her to sleep with him, yet she is deeply in love with him, despite being married. He also seems quite threatening towards her at times, for example when she tries to sleep in a separate room to him. The only time Emma feels any sort of guilt about this twisted relationship is when she thinks that others will perceive her badly for it. Hence her need to 'disguise' herself in order to sleep with him, so their friends would not realise it was her. I did not understand that scene at all. It felt a bit gratuitous to be honest.

The rest of the characters were a mixed bunch, and I didn't get to learn much about them. The only one I had any sort of feeling for was Haywood, Emma's husband, and that was mostly just because I felt very sorry for him. His daughter has just been kidnapped by raiders, and all his wife seems to be able to think about (on her journey to rescue her daughter, no less), is when she'll next be with this other man, Arthur. I have the feeling that most of the character development happened in the first book, when we first met this motley crew.

However, the rest of the book made up for the characters. The world building wasn't too complicated, and quite standard in a way - post-apocalyptic world, people divide up into groups, resources are scarce etc - but Slatton's writing ensured that the story was continually exciting and well-paced. It generally flowed very well, perhaps with a few clunky bits here and there, but it was generally easy to read.

I do want to raise a few questions - if Arthur controls the mists, why does he not just disperse them all? Why does Irish Robert speak with a Scottish accent? (haha) Why on earth is Emma attracted to Arthur? I award it a very solid three stars, the reason I changed my mind from four stars being Emma/Arthur's relationship. But I did enjoy the book, despite getting angry at Emma at times, and that's what matters. ( )

Cold Light picks up over a year after Fallen left off. Emma has made it back to the Safe Zone in Edmonton, Alberta with Haywood and the girls, and quickly brings the reader up to date on how it happened. Even though my heart broke at the end of Fallen when she left Arthur, I understood her reasons. The story begins with Emma facing yet another hardship as her oldest daughter is kidnapped by raiders, and she realizes she must be the one to go after them. The rest of the story follows Emma as she treks across Canada and down into the US following the band of raiders while meeting new friends and being reunited with old ones.

Although I didn’t find this second installment quite as engaging as the first one, it is still an excellent story that I wouldn’t hesitate to re-read in the future. New characters are introduced early, and many of them are easy to like and amazingly relatable considering the circumstances of. My favorite early on was Gaff but edged over to Kangee by the end. Emma is still the survivor, Arthur is still the leader, Gaff is the resourceful kid, Kangee is the enigmatic mystery; the rest have their own unique attributes as well. Ms. Slatton did an excellent job creating believable characters and situations based in a hard to imagine post-apocalyptic world. It still impresses me that she can write these characters that despite everything that has happened and continues to happen to destroy the world and humanity as we know it continue to be positive and look for good in the world to help reshape mankind. Yes, there are the cynical characters that are only out for themselves, but she makes it easier to believe that if our world goes to hell in a hand basket one day, all hope may not be lost on humankind.Received for an honest review

Rating: 4.5

HEAT Rating: Hot more violence than sex, but a little of that too

Reviewed By: Daysie W.

Review Courtesy of: My Book Addictions and More ( )

Traci Slatton nails it with her follow up to Fallen. In Cold Light Emma is faced with hard decision after hard decision - and we're not talking about decisions on simply where to live or who to be with. We're talking life and death decisions in a place that is just simply not pretty.

The end of Fallen leaves of with the reuniting of Emma with her family. She leaves behind someone she's grown attached to and does what is right and honorable. But now her life in Europe has followed her to Canada - in more ways than one.

What I appreciate about the After trilogy is how the world can be so bleak, but yet there is so much hope in the story. There's love, and thoughtfulness, and honor in a place where those just don't seem like they'd exist anymore. And what I love even more is how honest Traci's writing is. She doesn't hesitate to do what needs to be done to move the story forward. When writing a story like Cold Light (or it's previous book), there are hard things which need to be done to give the story credibility. You cannot write about bad people and have them not do bad things. This is not a young adult dystopian or post-apocolyptic story - this is hardcore, knuckle-whitening stuff and it kept me riveted from page one. ( )