Title: When We Were Human
Author: Kate L. Mary
Narrator: BettySoo
Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/When-We-Were-Human-Audiobook/B01K0EV1TY
Summary
They came four years ago. Invaded our planet, rounded us up, and decimated the human race. We fought back, and some even say we won, but they’re wrong. The invaders took everything from us. Our family. Our hope. Our humanity. We won the war, but there are no humans left. Only monsters who will do anything to survive. Some look human and some don’t, but they are all the same.
Eighteen-year-old Eva has spent the last year punishing herself for her sister’s death and hiding from everyone she comes into contact with, human or otherwise. With the population destroyed and Earth left in ruins, she sees little hope left for the future.
But when she crosses paths with Walker and Tara, something inside her awakens. Something she thought had died along with her entire family. In these new friends Eva sees a promise of what the future could be, as well as evidence that humanity might not be extinct after all.
When a ghost from Eva’s past makes an unexpected appearance, the group sets out on a cross-country trek that will teach Eva how to love and hope again, and will remind her what it truly means to be human.
My Review
5/5 Stars
Okay, so where to begin.
For me, this seemed the type of story that is more character focused than the plot. While the plot was wonderful, with the idea of aliens invading and leaving Earth in dystopia, I felt like the characters were the real purpose of the story. Learning their flaws and weaknesses made them all seem like real people.
Especially the MC Eva. She was probably one of the realist characters I’ve come across in fiction in a while. As a survivor of the war, she is all over the place and finds solace by skinning any of the alien creatures she comes across. To cope with the death of her sister, she cuts leaving one scar a day for each day that she is without her.
All the characters are very vividly created like that. The other survivors Walker and Tara are also described in detail, even down to the way that they eat and think. I absolutely fell in love with the characters, and I’m hoping there will be another book, even if it’s just a short story, where we’ll get to see these characters again, and how they’re coping in their new world.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Author Kayla Krantz 