In the last book in Andrews' contribution to the Afterblight Chronicles no punches are pulled. This is a post-apocalyptic world where death and danger is commonplace and no one is safe. What I really loved about this series is how we got to see the characters grow and change over the trilogy and not necessarily in a positive way. In a world surrounded by violence, and killing to survive, all the characters are changed and this is the crux of the book. Whoever they were before The Cull they have been irrevocable altered by the things they have seen and done. Yet the dystopian tone of the book is not forced. Instead it feels honest and while I cannot say there is a lot of hope left by the last chapter I believe the choice of placing this story over a trilogy allowed it the scope and time to properly convey the realities of children forced to grow and survive in a world ravaged by a viral apocalypse.

Highly recommended. ( )