Actual rating 2.5 
 The story picks up much like the first book did, after a summary of the first book, we followed a new group people following the initial outbreak then jump forward about a hundred years to the group of people we followed in the last book. (This book takes place 5 years after the last book ended.) 
 I was hoping that I'd like this one more than the first on but it was about the same for me or worse. In ways I liked it better, it wasn't as slow, I already cared about the characters, I liked seeing more of the direct aftermath from a normal persons perspective, and not dealing with Richards was nice. However the way The Passage played out was better for me than the way this book played out. I didn't like the beginning of The Passage but the ending really got me sucked in, The Twelve had be in the beginning but then ending was meh. To me it just felt like it was to easy and fast (though I maybe alone in this). 
 I also don't think Cronin wrote Alicia very well in this book, and honestly thinking back on The Passage I don't know that he wrote her well in that either. She has an intense scene in this book and I just felt like this dude did such a injustice to her in the way the scene was written and how the character coped with those events. 
 One thing that I keep seeing mentioned in reviews for this book is how it starts with a very religious style recount of the first book. I actually really liked this, I was on the fence about it but it seemed like the right tone for this retelling, and the way that people looking back on the events after might canonize the events. 
 I don't know if I'll finish this series. I don't Hate this series, I just think it's not great and could be better. I like elements in it but it also really just misses in some serious ways. So I guess we'll see later this year how I feel about finishing this, but right now I just don't know if I care about any one in the story enough to keep going with it.