2.5* for the book, 3* for this audiobook edition

The main plot seemed like an imitation of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale with the usual YA stuff added in. It wasn't bad but the most interesting feature (and an important difference from Atwood's world) was introduced close to the end & then glossed over and ignored (perhaps to allow for the sequel? YA authors seem to hate standalone novels!). ( )

In this version of the United States, the evangelical Church of America and its leader, Beaton Frick, have become enormously popular. This book begins just before the date when Frick said the Rapture was supposed to happen.

Vivian Apple isn't a Believer the way her parents are, but she doesn't know what to think when she gets home after a Rapture party and discovers both of her parents gone, with two holes in the roof above their bed. Her parents aren't the only ones who've disappeared - other Believers are gone as well. But only a small number of them, maybe 3000, leading to confusion, panic, and fear.

At first, Vivian strives for some kind of normalcy. However, "normal" is never going to be the way it once was. The remaining Believers cling to the hope offered by Frick's prediction of a second Rapture, and there's still the issue of the end of the world, which Frick predicted would come several months after the first Rapture. With everything in chaos, Vivian teams up with her friend Harp and Peter, a guy she recently met who has connections to the Church of America, in an effort to find out the truth and hopefully reunite with her parents.

My copy of this is a 2015 ARC I picked up at a library conference years ago. Yes, shame on me for not getting around to it until now.

I finished this a couple days ago and am still not really sure how I feel about it. I will say this: wow, did the adults feel real to my adult reader self. Not really in a good way. When you're younger you often picture adults as being the ones who know what to do when things fall apart and you, personally, are terrified. The adults in this, though, were like a lot of the adults I know, doing their best to keep it together while probably hoping for an adultier adult to take over.

For folks like Vivian's parents, the "adultier adult" was Beaton Frick. Vivian's dad had lost his job, and during these tough times, Frick was a guy who seemed to have answers. The thing that Vivian couldn't get past was that the answers her parents were looking for didn't need to include her. When she didn't become a Believer the way they did, they left her behind emotionally...and eventually physically as well, after the Rapture. Vivian, Harp, and Peter were all teens who'd been failed by the adults in their lives - it just took Vivian longer to figure that out than it did Harp and Peter.

The whole road trip, Vivian's quest to find out what really happened during the Rapture and whether her parents were still alive - I was interested in all of that, and tense during times when Vivian, Harp, and Peter had to stop for food or gas. Most of the post-apocalyptic stories I've read have zombies or disease actively threatening the characters. Here, there were occasional disasters, but they generally weren't as direct a threat to the main characters as other people were.

This was largely a gripping read that fell apart a bit at the end. Several of the revelations strained my suspension of disbelief. It's funny, because I'd probably have been willing to roll with something more supernatural.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

A semi-dystopian that seems all-too-plausible and really makes your think and question. ( )

2.5* for the book, 3* for this audiobook edition

The main plot seemed like an imitation of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale with the usual YA stuff added in. It wasn't bad but the most interesting feature (and an important difference from Atwood's world) was introduced close to the end & then glossed over and ignored (perhaps to allow for the sequel? YA authors seem to hate standalone novels!). ( )

This novel is a comment on American society, as the world is coming to an end with the Apocalypse.

Vivian Apple doesn’t believe that the Apocalypse is about to occur, as the Church of America has predicted. When she returns home from a mockery of the end of the world party, she finds a hole in the roof of her parents’ bedroom and her parents gone. Many people are gone--so many that school cannot go on. Chaos begins to spread, as people begin stealing from abandoned homes. Strange weather events are also occurring around the world. Could the end of the world really be happening? Vivian still cannot believe in the Church of America nor can her best friend Harp, but how can you dismiss the strange, destructive weather?

The question throughout the novel remains, “What is the truth?” Vivan’s grandparents also find the idea of believing ludicrous. They also refuse to believe that a devastating storm is about to destroy their town. Vivian takes their car, gets Harp, and a new friend, Peter, and they leave to find out what’s really going on. They determine to learn the truth--is the world really ending?

In some ways, this novel was hard for me because I am a Christian. I didn’t want my beliefs to be mocked. I had to read with an open mind and see where the story was going. For me, I determined that it’s less about Christianity and more about American society where people worship power and money, the essence of American society. I do want to read the second book because I’d like to see what happens, for I did find it intriguing. The content is pretty mature in the sense that you have to have knowledge of American life beyond school and teen years. If you like mysterious happenings and journey books--because they journey from location to location--as they seek knowledge, you will enjoy this novel as well. ( )