February 23, 2021
When We Were Human Post Two
Week 8, Day 2 – When We Were Human
Genre: Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic
Release Date: August 3, 2015
Cover Design: Kate L. Mary (With the help of Kate Sanford)
Formats: ebook, audiobook, and paperback – grab the ebook for just $0.99!
***Leaves Kindle Unlimited on March 2nd, so grab it while you can!
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Universal
Audible
Goodreads
Audiobook Listeners Can Grab A Code for a FREE Audiobook HERE!
“They came four years ago. Invaded our planet, rounded us up, 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.”
What can you tell us about the characters in When We Were Human?
This story starts with Eva, a teenage girl who has been alone in a post-apocalyptic world for much too long. She’s lost part of her humanity and is struggling to even feel human at this point, both because of the constant threat of aliens and because of everything she’s witnessed. She’s lost hope not just in herself, but in humanity as well. She doesn’t believe people can be good. That includes herself. She’s determined to make every alien still around pay, and she does it in the most gruesome way. She’s also determined to make herself pay for what she sees as her biggest failure: losing track of her little sister in all the chaos.
Enter Tara and Walker. During the years of struggle that followed the alien invasion, they bonded and are now closer than siblings, which has helped them hold onto both their hope and their humanity despite the horror of this world. It’s been so long since Eva spent time with other people, and as she watches Tara and Walker interact, she begins to remember what it’s like to be human. Even more, she rediscovers old feelings that she’d thought had died along with most of humanity, and she finds herself attracted to Walker. The romance in this book is subtle, because it’s more about Eva learning to heal than about love, and I wanted to keep it light. I thought it was important because Eva had been alone for so long and had pulled away from her human side so much that she needed it to feel hopeful.
***This next one is a minor spoiler.***
Lilly is the sister Eva thought she lost. After learning she might be alive, Tara and Walker travel with Eva in the hopes of finding Lilly. She’s the last little spark Eva needs to reignite her humanity, because she’s the reason Eva lost it to begin with. She was the older sister, and it was her duty to look after Lilly, but she failed, and she’s been punishing herself every day since. Realizing she might be alive helps Eva see hope on the horizon for the first time.
I added Ben into the mix because I was watching Parenthood around this time and loved Max Burkholder’s portrayal of Max, a kid with Aspergers. Plus, I always try to add different characters into my stories, and thought the very literal mind of someone with Aspergers might actually be an asset at times in a post-apocalyptic world.
There are a few other characters in there, mostly added in just to move the plot along, but these are the big ones, the ones that push Eva in the right direction and help her find her humanity again. If you haven’t read When We Were Human, now is the perfect time to get it a chance because it’s just $0.99 on ebook!
