A riveting title that is a lot more introspective than I expected, but still thought-provoking. The concept will hook teens, especially with an increased focus on how humans are impacting the planet.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.
Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh this book made me cry so many tears. What a good story.

I am going to recommend to my 8th grade team that we adopt this title as one of our book club options in the future. The writing style is simple without being uninteresting, which makes this a great choice for lower-level readers who need a straightforward storyline to follow. The content overall doesn’t get too heavy. One friend of our main character is struggling with alcoholism, but this is handled well and is a great conversation starter with teens about what to do when a friend is going through something serious. The main character and her other friends struggle with that logical teen reaction of covering up for their friend and keeping her out of trouble versus her increasingly self-destructive behaviors. This is also a great book for kids who are struggling to accept a new step parent or similar family changes in their lives. Most importantly, this is a story about redemption and regrets, and the way tragedy forces us to reflect on our lives.

Oh, I loved this one! It took me a while to read it because I wasn't 100% sure about it, but genuinely it was one of my absolute favorite reads of the year. I loved the fast paced, urgent feeling of it and the emotions. I was crying for about half of the book, especially the scenes with Ruby and Charlie. It was such a short set up for the world before the actual disaster and yet with the world building and genuine emotion coming through with Ruby made me care about everyone, and made me care about people we'd only seen for about a chapter or two before hand.

I know I've mentioned it a few times already, but the emotion felt really genuine and spot on. Ruby's terror, sadness, and realization that none of the trivial stuff mattered was absolutely heart breaking.

I wish there was a bit of a different ending, because it did feel a bit cheesy. Or maybe rushed? in comparison to the rest of the book, and just felt like a quick wrap up to get it over with. It didn't ruin it for me though, I just wish it was a bit different/played out a bit different! Otherwise, I did really love this one.

The thing that was so startling about Aftershocks by Marisa Reichardt is how possible it is. This story could totally happen! Scary and so, so good. Will be purchasing for the library's collection.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Aftershocks by Marisa Reichardt.

Ruby is a normal HS girl, she has a boyfriend, plays for the water polo team, and has a solid group of friends. However, one of her friends is making a series of self destructive choices, causing Ruby mountains of stress. Going to the laundromat, she is seeking someone that can buy alcohol for her, in order to soothe her nerves. When a handsome young man walks in, she sees just the target, but her plans are quickly foiled when a hugely destructive earthquake hits. Now she is pinned and injured, but not alone.

Oh my goodness, I don't think I was quite prepared for the high emotions of this book. It had a lot of great talking points, as well as the perfect formula for a great dramatic YA read. Very fast paced, well written, and gets you right in the feeeeeelz.

This was like, really good. I, without really noticing, picked up two survival stories in a row. I just finished Alone by Megan E. Freeman, about a girl who has to keep living in her town, and in her house(s, her parents were divorced) after the whole town gets carted away by the government. This is nothing like that. This story comes out swinging - about two chapters in, while our main character Ruby is at a laundromat trying to get someone to buy her beer, a huge earthquake hits. "The Big One", in fact, the one that Californians are warned about their whole lives. She and a boy named Charlie are quite literally trapped in the building, pinned by tables and dryers and all kinds of rubble and debris.

It's tense and emotional, and really well-paced. The story begins in the laundromat on the day of the earthquake, but follows Ruby through the following days and whatever happens after. Ruby forms connections and spends a lot of time reflecting on her "normal" life and the things she thought were so important.

As much as realism hurts in survival stories, there's a good amount of realism in this one. Things absolutely do not always go the way you, as a reader, want them to. But there's also unexpected goodness in the story.

Boiled down to it, this is just a disaster story about a girl; it's one that will make you tense up, make your heart race, and maybe even make you cry. I wish this had more hype because I really thought it was well-done.

A compelling YA book - I liked how the story switch from present time in the aftershocks of of an earthquake to the recent past of the protagonist as she struggled through typical teenage relationships.

People my age have been hearing about “the big one” all our lives. Someday there is going to be a colossal earthquake, the biggest ever. This is the story of some teens and what happened to them when it actually hits. A YA thriller/love story, nearly the entire book, occurs at a laundromat where Ruby and Charlie nervously chat while both wonder if they will survive.
It’s a heavy book. Definitely, maybe not the stress you need during COVID, but a different kind of disaster, so perhaps that makes it okay? For kids who love Hatchet, this is a similar kind of survival tale.
I read it in one late night binge because I had to know what would happen to these kids. I’d keep this for 9th grade and enough just because there is an emotional toll with this story that I’m not sure if pre-teens can handle.

Aftershocks is a positively lovely and heart-wrenching story of what happens when the "big one" hits. True story, I have been high key scared of earthquakes ever since I saw an episode of Full House where Stephanie has some real trauma after an earthquake. (Also good on you, Full House, for actually promoting mental health and therapy positivity back in the '80s! I digress, but the point is, earthquakes are terrifying.) Ruby is physically trapped in a laundromat after a hugely devastating one hits her California home. She's alone, save for Charlie who is a stranger who was also in the laundromat at the wrong time, and is injured and scared.

And the bulk of this book takes place exactly in these moments, moments in which Ruby has to fight to stay alive- and face the possibility that she might not. She and Charlie share stories, and the reader is given insight into Ruby's life through both flashbacks and her current thoughts about her family and friends.

The story is compulsively readable, both because I wanted to learn the fates of Ruby, Charlie, and everyone they care for (and the city at large), but because they're incredibly sympathetic characters who I genuinely wanted to know more about. The author also does a great job of making the reader feel the desperation and horror that Ruby would have been feeling, and it's so clear to see how easily this sort of disaster can happen to any one of us.

Also, as a random aside, Ruby is a water polo player and this is the first book that I have ever encountered a water polo-playing main character, and the author did a great job depicting the sport.

Bottom Line: Both beautiful and devastating, I could not put this book down as I yearned for positive fates for the characters I had grown to love.

I’m always curious about earthquakes because living in Utah, we’re waiting for our “big one” just like in the book. It’s hard to be prepared for some natural disasters and while each disasters have their downfalls, earthquakes scare me a lot due to their unpredictability.

Ruby is a selfish, typical teenager who gets stuck in the rubble during a huge earthquake. A guy named Charlie is stuck too and they talk to each other to help pass the time and end up getting very close. It was easy to get sucked in and I was entertained throughout. It goes back and forth between present day and memories throughout the year for both characters and it’s a great way to get to know them. Ruby reflects on these memories and learns about herself and what is important.

The story is full of many intense moments obviously during the earthquake, but many afterward also. Many are not able to find their families and the scenes of this are heartbreaking. It’s hard not to put yourself in their shoes.

It was a really quick read and interesting to see what happened. I recommend this for those who love intense novels but also great character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Kids for the galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to be an early reader of Aftershocks. This YA novel hooked me from page one and I read in within 12 hours. Ruby plays water polo and finds out her mom is dating her coach. She storms out of the house after lashing out at her mom. After skipping practice, she winds up at a laundromat hoping to find someone who will buy her beer. She meets Charlie and before she can ask for beer, their town is hit with a 7.8 earthquake. While Ruby and Charlie are trapped in the rubble, they speak honestly and openly with each other. It’s a quick read, but the message is deep. I’ll be sharing this one with my students.

This book has some great themes to explore- survivors guilt, peer intervention, priorities, teen alcoholism; sport team dynamics. The descriptions are great, you almost feel like you are trapped in the rubble. The friendship that is established with a stranger that Ruby met shortly before the earthquake is well developed. Effective use of flashbacks along with the dialogue bring rich character development. The final chapter brings the story full circle. With few words and chapters, the reader gets a horrible glimpse into what the West Coast may be like if "the big one hits." I would have rated this book higher if the use of curse words had been avoided. I know this is marketed for YA, however, the cursing was unnecessary, did not fit the characters, and did not belong in this particular story. This ruins great themed books for younger readers that may really need to explore these themes. Yes- children have heard all these words I am sure, but that does not make it okay to model them in stories that don't need curse words to move along a story line or develop authentic characters. All of the use of curse words could have been avoided- especially F_ _ _. This part really ruined what I would consider a very strong story and easy read for many students. Without the curse words, this would be a great book to use in older middle school classrooms for book clubs or a novel study.

This was a great book! Interesting survival story, and it came off very realistic! The story was well paced, I found myself rooting for Ruby, and despite all the struggles, she made it. Well done!

Aftershocks was a fast-moving book about a girl who suddenly finds herself trapped under debris after a huge earthquake. While she's stuck there with no way to move or call for help, she gets to know the guy who's trapped there with her, and thinks about her life: her friend's drinking problem and the fact that her mom is dating someone she's not sure she approves of.

I think this book would be a great fit for reluctant teen readers and for anyone who likes plot driven books and books with a lot of drama.. At times to me it got a little heavy handed with the emotional manipulation, but I know there are readers out there who will really enjoy it.

Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram as jenryland!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

This was fantastic. I devoured this book in less than 24 hours and loved every minute of it. It is a great blend of adventure/survival (two strangers are trapped in a laundromat under rubble after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in California) and contemporary fiction (their time spent trying to survive is intermixed with vignettes and stories from their past about their relationships) and both blend to make a compelling story about what really matters in life. To be fair, the last 15% does get a bit cliched, but the rest of it is so amazing, I couldn't even hold that against it.

Ruby is a talented water polo player, but when she finds out that her mother has started dating her coach, she seriously considers quitting the team. It would be awful to have him at her house, in her life in that way, so she blows off practice and heads to the local laundromat. There she sees a boy writing in a notebook with paint on his knuckles. The next thing she knows, the walls are rattling, the floor is shaking and she's heading to the ground with her hands over her head to protect herself from the rubble. She and Charlie are trapped and help doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. As they try to keep each other awake and hopeful, they begin to share stories about themselves. A bond is formed in their tragedy and it is what keeps them pushing on until the end.

Highly recommend. Appropriate for grades 9 and up.

This book was a ride!! To follow Ruby's struggle through surviving the earthquake was very emotional! The author did an amazing job describing it !! I deffs cried by the ending!

It is a really quick read and will lead you having to turn every page to find out what happened to Ruby and everyone that is important to her. I went into it expecting one thing and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the story !!!

When Ruby decides to skip water polo practice, she never thinks she’ll end up in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Now, she’s trapped in the rubble of a laundromat with Charlie, a boy she met minutes before. With only a sliver of light and each other’s voices, no water or food, and pain from injuries they can’t even see, Ruby and Charlie struggle to keep their hopes up…and stay alive. Will they survive? And if they make it out, how will their lives have changed?

I can’t stop thinking about this book. I read it in a matter of hours because I could not put it down. Gripping, tense, and emotionally complex, it grabs you from the moment the earth starts shaking and refuses to let you go. Ruby is a fantastic heroine: strong yet flawed, positive yet terrified, and persistent yet slightly selfish. Reichardt’s writing is fast-paced and urgent but also lyrical and fluid, making it easy and enjoyable to read this high-stakes survival novel in one sitting. Having never experienced an earthquake myself, Ruby’s narration placed me directly in the center of her situation and taught me so much about what happens when disaster strikes. Readers will be able to sympathize with themes of loss, fear for those we care about, and the fight to find one’s courage. Fans of young adult survival stories will love this powerful book.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing us with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

While I did actually enjoy this novel, it was very different from what I was expecting when I read the blurb. I thought there was going to be a romance between Charlie and Ruby as they were stuck together in the rubble. But really, at the core of the novel, it is about family and friendship and truly living life with no regrets. It wasn't some dreamy, everything goes perfectly and no one dies or gets hurt novel. It felt pretty realistic to what would actually happen when the "big one" does strike. I enjoyed Ruby's struggle and her revelations as she fought to live.

This book surprised the heck outta me.
I was fully expecting this to be a book about survival. But it was so much more.
It’s about friendship, family, appreciating life and the importance of kindness. I read this in a couple of hours. I just couldn’t stop reading.

In this story we follow Ruby who is having a bad day and decides to skip school. She ends up in a laundromat when “The Big One” hits. From then on it’s nothing but suspense and we get to see how strong Ruby is.
This book had me crying, I’m not even gonna lie.

Aftershocks has suspense, action, but it also has love.
It is YA but it didn’t always feel like it was.
I truly enjoyed it and I loved the writing style of the author.