Wonderful read! What took me so long to read this intelligent, not-afraid-to-ask-tough-questions novel about the values vs. the tough living?

After the EMP attack, the electricity stops to work and the world might never be the same. Maybe it should be not so hard for the Mennonite community of Mt. Hebron, because they still live the traditional farming way, but the rest of the world will not let them to just go their ways. They have food, and the food is very much needed community in the deprived world. So the Mennonites of Mt. Hebron allow the few Englischers among them to build the protective perimeter and to watch out for them - the Englischers will fight for them if needed, and the Mennonites will offer the food, the shelter and the community (and the community is quickly becoming as sought after as the food, as one can not live alone in the now unknown and dangerous world).
And this is how the ways of Mennonite girl Leora, burdened with the care of her family, and Englischer pilot Moses, who first brought the EMP news, cross. There is something about each of them that the other one is looking for. Not just the guilt they are both living with, but certain kindness and certain willingness to nurture and to protect. Or they are just simply feeling their soulmates.
They both question their ways and their values - and (brilliantly from the literary point) while Moses start to turn to faith under Leora's influence, Leora starts to question her own faith because of (supposed) crime.
And will they even live, when the attacks on the community start?

While the plot is a bit rough and sometimes the internal logic is missing, I immensely love the psychological depth this novel provides. Being a lover of honest struggles and the raw feelings, I appreciate how frank this novel is. No sugar-coating, but realistic stance against the world with many questions and no answers, with silent God (Who has a plan, but this plan is often hidden until the last second of our sanity). Bravo for such openness and such realism!
There is also something magical about Leora's and Moses's new love. They are attracted when they should not be, they rebel towards their best rational opposite stands, yet they can not stop to look for each other. And yes, they have - and they are - the answer to the other one's question/s.
And some od mine, too.

I have loved every page of this novel.
Recommended read.

This was quite different than I expected when I began to read this. I didnot know this would be dystopian with Amish but I loved it. This was well written and I loved the characters. I hope nothing like this ever happens because I really don't know how I would handle it. I loved the characters of Leora and Moses. I look foreward to reading The Divide soon. I received a. Loy of this book from bookfun.org for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

This book was a great read and was an interesting twist to the dytopian theme as it was about an Amish girl so that made it more unique and interested. I enjoyed the story line and the character development.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tyndale House Publishers for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Nothing but spoilers, please be warned. Do not read below this point if you do not want plot points to be spoiled for you.

Ok, the positives. EMP pulse, ends the world as we know it. Setting, Mennonite community in Montana. The Mennonites live simple lives, kind of like the Amish. The author has a Mennonite/Amish background. I'm assuming former, since she is writing books. But that is an assumption on my part. Mennonites are pacifists. The town ten miles away are regular people who can't live off of the land like they can. Conflict will ensue.

SO. I expected REALISM regarding the Mennonite community. The author seems to come from a place that should be full of knowledge of the Mennonite people. That intrigued me. What ended up making things fall apart?

Two, horrendous, shouldn't have a THING to do with the plot AT ALL words.

Love. Triangle.

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Main characters, two Mennonite young adults, Leora a 19 year old in charge of her 16 year old simple minded sister and her 13 year old brother since their father left and mother died. She's feisty and independent and speaks up to the men in the group! Not very believable for that society. Jabil, a 21 year old who is going to be the group's leader when the older leaders pass. He has been unsuccessfully wooing Leora for YEARS. But he won't give up. Man has persistence. He also makes decisions without going to the leaders first. Moses, Englischer whose plane crashes into a field on the Mennonite community when the power goes out. Not sure of his age. He is a Marine who has seen combat. A warrior who catches Leora's attention, as she catches his as well, with her feisty, independent ways.

Oy.

Despite the elders being in charge, you NEVER see things from their POV, only the three characters above. Now, I don't know much about Mennonites, but I would assume that they pray to the Lord for guidance when they have problems they have never dealt with before. If something is pulling on their moral values, I would assume that they would pray for guidance about it, rather than go full bore with that they think is best.

As per this book, I would be wrong. Other than to say "God will provide" and once in a while to stress that they can't defend themselves, because pacifists, God doesn't really come much into this story. Which is a shame, because I think having Him as a major character, along with the elders and their struggle to do the right thing, would have given the book more depth and realism instead of having the three young adults acting all jealous and hormone-y as the girl bounced back and forth between the two guys.

End of the world people!! Love triangles aren't the most important thing!

I do believe that things would fall apart if an EMP went off, however this could be me, I think the people of Montana are probably pretty able to take care of themselves and resourceful. I'm assuming they hunt and fish and can probably garden at the least. And they most likely have weapons with which to defend themselves.

The town/city ten miles from the Mennonite compound doesn't seem to sound all that large, so I doubt that less than five days after the EMP goes off that you are going to have looting and gangs rising up to take over. And the Mennonites are only ten miles away. I could definitely see a group from the city/town going over there to see about an exchange of knowledge/ideas/goods. Mennonites need people to protect them, city folk need to learn how to do things the old-fashion way. I would like to think that the people in a smaller town/city would have closer ties to one another too, so the breakdown of society would be harder. Again, I don't know how large the city/town is. It's referred to as both in the book, so could be larger than I imagine it is.

But no, gangs take over five days in and 11 days in, refugees are streaming out of the city, to the Mennonites, who feed, medic and water them, but keep the refugees moving. Doesn't sound very Christian to me. They couldn't come up with a better way? Maybe not, but still, we don't get to see the decision making process, just the end result.

Then, we get to the part where the mentally challenged beautiful sister is possibly raped. And that's when I tapped out. Whether she was or was not is not the point. I'm just so sick and tired of rape being used as a plot device, which it was here.

SPOILER!!!

The blood on her was from her shot dead cat, not being assaulted.

ALSO, somehow drugs were involved? And the father disappeared because he was involved? I skipped to the end to see if I should read past the 56% mark and when I saw that hooey, I completely threw in the towel.

Not a bad book, just completely not for me. I was looking for a book that focused more on the interactions between the Mennonite leaders and the Englischer community, for how they worked to survive, how things worked, how things didn't. For religious beliefs to come into play as decisions regarding life or death were made.

What I got? Mennonites who didn't act like I would expect (granted, I don't know any Mennonites, maybe they WOULD act like that, but I somehow doubt it) and a love triangle at the end of the world. Meh. Not for me. Two stars, because I had high hopes that were dashed, but I didn't hate it. Great idea, just not executed in a way I enjoyed.