The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Release Date: February 1, 2012
Publisher: Usborne (UK) / Marshall Cavendish (US)
Series: The Other Life, Book 1
Rated: YA 13+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
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3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of the dystopian trend. Sure, once in a while there'll be an absolutely amazing book which will grab everyone's attention, but others? It seems like the same repeated idea over and over and over again.
The Other Life I will say though, was pretty original in terms of contributing to the dystopian genre. It actually had a pretty different premise, even though it seemed like it spawned off of previous ideas, but I got sucked into the action, and the story was fast-paced and action-packed. I've had the eGalley for ages, and only now, when it's been removed from NetGalley did I actually venture into reading it.

Of course, as I do with most heroines, I found Sherry a great character. Just like many other dystopian leads, she's definitely got that strong-determination, and you could really empathise with her. The only thing I didn't like was how whiny she kind of was at the start. Counting down the days doesn't make it any better and being the oldest child (speaking as an oldest child!) you have to put your younger siblings before you– this was the reason why I pretty much loved her brother. He's so willing to watch The Little Mermaid with his younger sister despite the fact they've seen it so many times before. He wants to help his dad. Despite his mood swings, he really does want to take care of the family as well.
Speaking of the little sister, Mia was super adorable. I just love little kids in YA, don't you? And then of course, we have Joshua! It was so frustrating that they didn't get together sooner– I felt like screaming at them to just kiss already. But all in good time, all in good time...

One problem I had with the book was that it was just too short. It seriously went by super quickly! There was also the fact that it focused too much on both rescuing her father as well as the move to the safe house. I just thought there should have been more plot present there. Otherwise, I thought that the snippets of memories that Sherry has– it's interesting to see life before being locked in the basement for so long, and what actually lead up to it. There was also a fabulous twist at the end which totally left me wanting more, so I can't wait to get my hands on The Life Beyond!

Overall, I thought that while it had it's downsides, this was a great novel with lots of promise for exciting twists and shocking turns. Susanne Winnacker has definitely grabbed my attention with The Other Life and I'll be looking for more from her in the future.

If you like this, try...

• Glitch by Heather Anastasiu ● Goodreads
• Memento Nora by Angie Smibert ● Goodreads