Audiobook Review - Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, Book 1) by Susan Ee (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 290 pages
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: August 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0761463276
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Penryn and the End of Days series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This book was recommended to me by one of my Goodreads friends. It sounded interesting and ended up being a decent read. I am a bit sick of post-apocalyptic/dystopia type novels right now, so take that into consideration when reading this review. This is another YA post-apocalyptic novel but with angels!

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was okay. This isn’t one of those audiobooks that was so stellar I would recommend listening to this instead of reading it. Still the narrator did a decent job of distinguishing between character voices. I had a bit of trouble with the different male voices since they sounded awkward and occasionally similar to each other.

Penryn is trying to survive in a world where angels have recently (6 weeks ago) ravaged many major cities on Earth. As if just surviving isn’t bad enough Penryn has a psychotic mother and a handicap younger sister (who can’t walk) to take care of as well. When an angel with black wings kidnaps Penryn’s little sister, Penryn is determined to rescue her. Penryn has decided the best way to do this is to kidnap an injured angel from the scene of the crime and make him take her back to his aerie.

This book was okay. It was pretty typical YA post apocalyptic type of fiction. In this case rather than a nuclear disaster or a plague wiping out humanity it's a host of angels attacking from heaven that wipes out all the major cities. This isn’t ever explained very well and it seems like even the angels aren’t all that sure why they attacked the humans.

Penryn is an interesting character. She is small but tough. Penryn’s mother thinks that she (the mother) gets possessed by demons and is worried about hurting her daughter during one of her demonic episodes. As a result of this insanity Penryn has been trained to fight from a very young age. Penryn has this very practical attitude towards life and just kind of goes with everything. Her dedication to her family is admirable.

The other main character is the angel that Penryn rescues, Raffe. To be honest Raffe is kind of a pretencious jerk through the first part of the story...then again Penryn isn’t very nice to him. As the story continues we learn that Raffe is a complex set of secrets and has a very complicated history of his own.

There is a lot of grotesque and horrific stuff in here. Including cannibalism, genetic tampering/torture of small children, and of course angels attacking humans in brutal ways. There is actually quite a bit of talk about sex as well; the angels really love human women and Penryn is constantly in danger of being sexually assaulted. Needless to say it's an incredibly dark story with very little light or hope throughout.

The book was decently enough written, but this book just basically sets everything up. We don't ever get any resolution around anything by the end of the book. There is no explanation as to why the angels have attacked humanity, as to why humanity couldn't defend themselves, or even much explanation about the angels' society in general.

Then there is the whole star-crossed love thing going on between Penryn and the angel she saves. This kind of made me roll my eyes a bit. I get a bit sick of the tortured man forbidden to love a human girl thing that seems to be ever present in paranormal YA.

Overall I didn't really love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It was somewhat engaging and an okay read. I did like the idea of angels causing an apocalypse, that was creative and intriguing....however, why all this happens is never really addressed. Penryn is an okay heroine, but didn’t really stand out for me. The world is interesting but not all that well developed. I guess in general I am just a bit sick of post-apocalyptic YA and this book didn’t change my mind about that. So if you are a huge fan of post-apocalyptic YA I would tentatively recommend this to you. I personally will not be reading any more of this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge/a>
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Review - Dance of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, Book 2) by Bethany Griffin (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Steampunk
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062107824
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Masque of the Red Death series
Source: eGalley through Edelweiss
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the second and final book in the Masque of the Red Death duology by Griffin. I really loved both books in this series. I love the contrast between grime settings and beauty of the crazy world that is created here.

Araby is fleeing the city she loves so much with members of the Rebellion. They need to regroup and find a way to save their city. Araby wants to return to the city to find her father and hopefully a cure for April. Elliot on the other hand wants to raid the Prince’s palace so he can return to the city with much needed food and weapons. Both of them are determined to find a way to cure the Red Death and cleanse the city of its disease.

Griffin does such an excellent job with this world and with creating a bleak and dark atmosphere that is sprinkled with bright glimmers of beauty. This is a world of disease and grotesque beauty where even the smallest glimmers of good will and hope stand out brilliantly. The language throughout is beautiful and really made these scenes come alive for me.

In this book we learn more about the Red Death and about the disease that struck down the world before current time. We learn about Araby’s father’s involvement in the whole thing as well.

Much of this book is dedicated to Araby searching out her father while Elliot plots to take the city away from the Prince (his uncle). Along the way they must dodge the men of the man who has been terrorizing the city, who is Elliot’s father (although Elliot isn’t aware of this in the beginning of the book, Araby is). There is much rabble rousing and strategizing and a mystery to be solved about a mysterious machine that can drain the swamp away from the city.

There is still a love triangle going on between Araby, Elliot, and Will. I liked how all of this wrapped up; I thought it was appropriate and fit the story well.

I also liked Araby a lot more in this book than the last one; she is much less naive and takes more action. You can tell she is finally emerging from the depression that gripped her in the first book. While she dislikes the gore and death around her she never flinches from it and does what needs to be done. She still comes across as weak at times, but you can tell she is finally turning into someone she is comfortable with.

Griffin does a phenomenal job of giving the reader the unexpected; for example in the darkest and dankest of settings the characters will have some of the most tender and loving scenes while in the gilttery beauty of a ballroom the most awful and horrible things will happen. I really enjoyed the unexpected contrast in these scenes.

The story does have a bit of a steampunk feel to it; there are airships and clockwork mechanisms, as well as some tinkering with genetics. Society has reverted to Victorian type of sensibilities, so this also lends a bit of a steampunk vibe to the story. However this story is also one about a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by disease and about the people who try to survive in it. There is also a gothic feel to the story with all of the Victorian-like tragedy and talk of death.

I thought this book wrapped up the series well and did an excellent job doing it. The writing flowed well, was engaging, and the book was very easy to read. Mostly I just had trouble putting it down!

Overall an absolutely wonderful conclusion to this duology. I really enjoyed how Araby grew as a character and continue to love this dark and dreadful world. I also loved the beautiful writing and how Griffith often had beautiful things happen in horrible settings or visa versa; the contrast between beauty and tragedy was interesting and ironic. I definitely recommend this series to fans of YA books; this is a creative YA read that is a bit steampunk, a bit gothic, and a bit post-apocalyptic.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Get Steampunk’d Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Color Coded Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden, Book 2) by Julie Kagawa (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Science Fiction
Size: 448 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Date: April 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-0373210695
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Blood of Eden series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the Blood of Eden series by Kagawa. I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for a chance to read and review this book. This was an action-packed and fast-paced continuation of this post-apocalyptic vampire series.

Allie has vowed to rescue her maker, Kanin, who is being held captive by the psycho vampire Sarren. In her hunt for Kanin, she runs into her blood brother, Jackle. Allie and Jackle form an uneasy truce and end up hunting Sarren and Kanin back to where it all started...New Covington and the Fringe. Meanwhile a new strain of the Red Lung plague has broken out and is killing humans and vampires alike.

This was an excellent continuation of this series and I actually liked it better than the first book in this series. Allie spends a lot of time struggling with the balance between her vampiric nature and human morals. She is a very intense character, just like in the first book. In this book we spend a lot more time with Jackle, her brother (he was also made by Kanin). Jackle adds a lot of snark and dark humor to this book and I really enjoyed him as a character.

Zeke is in this book as well, later in the story. I liked him better in this book than the first one, he still comes across as a little needy; although he has become more accepting of Allie and what she is. There are a number of interesting revelations about him as well. The romance between Zeke and Allie is there, but it doesn’t necessarily drive the story. I enjoyed that their romance was in the background but still part of the story.

There is a lot of action in this book and a lot of mystery solving. They are trying to track down Kanin, figure out what Sarren wants from the labs he’s been raiding, and ultimately find a cure for Rabids.

The plot is fast-paced and engaging and there are some interesting twists and turns throughout. The book is well written and easy to read, the writing flows well.

Overall a decent continuation of this series. Honestly I still like Kagawa’s Iron Fey series better than this one, but I think that’s just because I like reading about Fey more than post-apocalyptic vampires. The book is fast-paced and engaging and I found it to be an entertaining read. I am eager to see how things progress in the next book in this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

DNF Early Review - Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders (The Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin, Book One) by Richard Ellis Preston Jr. (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk/Science Fiction
Size: 456 pages
Publisher: 47North
Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1611099188
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 2/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This is the first book in The Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin series. I love steampunk books and was excited to read this one. Unfortunately I ended up not finishing it, it was just too hard to read and I could not stay engaged in the story.

Captain Romulus Buckle and his crew are taking their ship, the Pneumatic Zeppelin, on a mission to rescue their leader Balthazar Crankshaft. Their mission leads them across lands devastated by some alien war that has left the Earth in a post-apocalyptic mess.

I ended up getting about 1/3 of the way through this book before I decided it was time to set it aside. It was just so hard to read and I was absolutely not at all interested in it. Rather than being sucked into the story, I constantly felt like this book was trying to push me away from the story (if that makes any sense at all)...I constantly had to force myself to engage with this book.

The book throws a plethora of characters at you from the get-go. All of them are hard to picture and engage with. They all seem like interesting characters when they are introduced, but you bounce between them so quickly that it is hard to get a good grasp on the characters’ personalities.

A big problem with this book is how it is parsed into such tiny chapters and how each chapter bounces between different character POVs. Just as soon as I felt like I was actually engaging in the story, then suddenly that chapter was over and we were onto another character's perspective of the battle. Many of the chapters are only a couple pages long. It really fractured the story and made it hard to follow and engage with.

The book is also very wordy with a ton of description that doesn't really help to describe the settings or what is going on. For example nearly a page is spent describing Buckle's clothing, but no explanation is given as to how/why Buckle has to plug his hat into his ship. In fact all of the characters plug their hats into the ship but we really never find out why (at least not in the first third of the book).

The story goes basically from one action scene to another, the action scenes alternate with these scenes of long description. The action scenes are not all that well written and I had trouble figuring out exactly what was going on. I felt like the pacing and plot was just a jumbled mess.

The writing also flowed very poorly, I constantly had to go back and re-read portions of the story because I missed something. Not to mention somehow despite all of the action scenes the story was boring.... You know how some books just suck you in and suddenly you’ve read 100 pages and you don’t know how that happened because you are just so absolutely drawn into the story? Well this book was the opposite. I would sit there reading and realize that I was still on the same page I was on 10 minutes ago...reading and re-reading the same paragraph and trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

Anyway, I really really disliked this book and will not be finishing it. I just have too many other good books to read. I can say that reading this book was truly an epic struggle for me.

Overall not a good read and not recommended. If you want to read some good military based steampunk check out Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century series instead.

Audiobook Review - Fragments (Partials, Book 2) by Dan Wells (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Science Fiction
Size: 576 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Date: February 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062071071
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Partials series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars


This is the second book in the Partials trilogy. It was an excellent continuation of the series and I enjoyed it a lot.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narrator does an excellent job of distinguishing between voices and characters and also conveys character emotion well.

Kira is determined to figure out the secrets behind her origins, so she journeys to the deserted Manhattan to find a business office for ParaGen and hopefully find the answers to her questions there. Meanwhile Marcus is still desperately trying to find a cure for RM; issues are complicated when the Partials threaten to invade Long Island. There are many twists and turns and many secrets are revealed.

This was a fast-paced and well done YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic type of novel. Some parts have more of an adventuring feel to them as Kira heads out west to find answers about her origin and I enjoyed these parts a lot. I also enjoyed how we got to see other parts of the United State, for example the wastelands that Kira and crew have to cross.

The book switches between Marcus and Kira; I found the parts from Kira’s POV to be a lot more engaging. Kira is out exploring and finding new things while Marcus is mainly trying just to survive from day to day. This book has more of a science fiction and less of a dystopia feel to it than the last book. There is also a lot of survivalist stuff going on.

Kira comes off as a bit bull-headed and determined throughout the book. While I understood her drive to solve the problem and save the world, she comes off as incredibly selfish at times. Heron calls Kira out on this multiple times, finally Kira starts to question the morality of some of her decisions. Kira does have a point though, she has determined that it is okay to sacrifice a few people to save many...although she struggles with this decision towards the end of the book.

Along with Kira for much of the story are Samm and Heron. Both Samm and Heron were more interesting and fascinating characters for me than Kira. Samm always seems so emotionless but this book explores a lot more about Samm, his life up to this point, and what he wants out of the future.

I thought this book was more consistently paced than the first book. The story is engaging and there were some interesting plot developments. There are lots of twists and turns. Also this book is much darker than the first, all of our characters end up in very bad situations. So while it wasn’t exactly an uplifting story, it was intriguing.

The one thing that really bothered me was that there were a few inconsistencies throughout the novel. For example Kira didn’t even know what a computer looked like early on, but then a short while later she is running searches on a computer without any help. When did she suddenly get so computer savvy? There were also some things that seemed implausible and contrived. For example the wastelands caused by oil rigs burning and off gassing; this seemed a bit contrived for me...especially in the way it was isolated to only a certain region. It made for an interesting story, but I couldn’t help occasionally thinking “this totally does not make any sense”.

Overall I thought this book was an enjoyable read. It’s fast-paced and engaging. There’s a lot of interesting secrets revealed and I enjoyed spending more time with Samm and Heron and getting to understand them better. The world-building is a bit weak and contrived and there were a couple inconsistencies in the story. Despite these I still found this to be an entertaining read. Recommended to fans of YA science fiction/dystopia.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge
- Audio Book Challenge

Early Review - Taken by Erin Bowman (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062117267
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Taken trilogy
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to read review through the Amazon Vine program. Thanks to HarperTeen and Amazon for making this book available for review. I believe this is the first book in what is a planned trilogy. It was a decent read, but explored many of the same themes that a lot of YA post-apocalyptic dystopia novels do.

Grey and his brother, Blaine, live in Claysoot. Claysoot is a rustic city surrounded by a strange Wall. Oh, and there are no men in Clayfoot...on the eve of their eighteenth birthday all boys are taken in a ceremony called the Heist. They disappear forever. No one who has tried to escape over the Wall has ever survived, their burned corpses always show up the next day. When Blaine is Heisted, Grey decides he needs to figure out the mystery behind Claysoot and the Heist.

This was a well written YA dystopian novel with lots of interesting twists and turns in the story. Pretty typical to a lot of other YA dystopian novels out there; although this one is written from a boy's perspective so that makes it a bit different.

Grey is an impulsive boy who is driven to find the truth. I enjoyed his dedication to what he feels is right and his determination. He was an easy character to engage with. The story is told completely from his point of view.

Emma is also a strong and interesting character in her own way. She is tough and determined, but not as impulsive as Grey. She was a good counterbalance to him throughout the story.

There are some interesting themes explored in this book. For example what would happen in a society where there are no men? A society where all the boys disappear at eighteen years old and most of the society is made up of heartbroken mothers and young girls? What kind of implications does a situation like that have on the mental health of society?

The above questions are probably the most interesting part of the book. As the story continued it became more of a typical post-apocalyptic YA read. I won’t go into it too much so that I don’t spoil things. You do have many themes seen in other YA dystopian books though. For example; a desolate United States fractured by war, Rebel groups, corrupt government entities, and non-voluntary genetic experimentation.

Overall this book was easy to read and enjoyable, but honestly by the time I got to the end I wasn't dying to read more about this world or characters. I think I may have just read too many of these types of books lately and this one just kind of blended in with all the others. If you are a huge fan of YA dystopian novels this book is a good read. It is well written and if you are really into those type of stories then this might be your thing. It’s not as good as say, The Hunger Games, but it’s decent. I probably won’t read any more of this series since I am reading a ton of YA dystopia series right now and this one really didn’t grab my attention much.

I would also recommend the following YA dystopia series if you liked or as interested in YA dystopia: Partials by Dan Wells, Legend by Marie Lu, Wither by Lauren DeStefano, Matched by Ally Condie, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, Pure by Julianna Baggott and The Mystic City by Theo Lawrence. Also if you haven’t read The Giver by Lois Lowrey, well then you have to read that...that is pretty much classic YA dystopia and is an awesome read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, Book 2) by Paolo Bacgalupi (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post Apocalyptic
Size: 448 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316056243
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Ship Breaker series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the sequel to Ship Breaker, it’s set in the same world as Ship Breaker but with different main characters. I didn’t like this book quite as much as Ship Breaker...it was just too bleak and I had trouble engaging with the characters.

Mahlia and Mouse have fled the war torn Drowned Cities and live in a small town in the outskirts of a jungle. Mahlia works in the town helping the doctor there and does well, despite her lack of a hand. Mahlia dreams of a day when she will be able to escape these outskirts of the Drowned Cities and head North. When a dog man draws soldiers near their small town their lives change forever.

This book is set in an extremely bleak post-apocalyptic setting on the East Coast of the US. There are little hints throughout that eventually let the reader figure out what portion of the US this book is set in.

The is an incredibly violent and incredibly depressing read. So if you are offended by graphic torture and violence I recommend steering clear. It is even more violent and depressing than Ship Beaker was.

That being said it does a pretty darn good job of portraying the suffering of people living within a long and constant war. As to whether or not this is appropriate for young adults...I think it is okay but beware that the graphic violence in this book makes The Hunger Games look like a Disney Fairy Tale.

I had trouble relating to any of the characters. None of them are good and all of them make a large series of poor decisions. They are very human, but I mostly despised them. All of them kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Mahlia comes off as incredibly selfish throughout. Mouse and others are incredibly naive despite their violent upbringing.

The most intriguing of the bunch is Tool, the dog-faced man. Tool is complex and simple at the same time; he is a tool of war yet he follows simple philosophies that make a surprising amount of sense. He was pretty much the only part of this book I found intriguing and enjoyable.

The world-building is absolutely fantastic. If you have read The Windup Girl or Ship Breaker, you know that this world is absolutely incredibly creative. The number one strength of this book is this fantastic, dreary world that Bacigalupi has created. The book is fast-paced and fairly engaging.

Overall this is a decent story. I just had trouble maintaining a lot of interest in these brutalized characters and I found the level of violence and bleak outlook depressing. Bacigalupi always has to take things just a bit too far for me, and it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of reading the story for me. I guess I would tentatively recommend to those who are interested in absolutely brutal post-apocalyptic reads of war torn lands.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - The Kingmakers (Vampire Empire, Book 3) by Clay and Susan Griffith (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 374 pages
Publisher: Pyr
Release Date: September 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-1616146740
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Vampire Empire series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the concluding novel in the Vampire Empire trilogy. It was an excellent end to the series. Lots of wonderful action, some romance, and epic battles. These are some great characters in a truly creative world.

Adele is launching an all out attack on the Northern European vampires. She is set on using her Geomancy to its fullest to save lives and reduce combat time. At her side helping support her cause is Gareth as the Greyfriar. As the war continues Gareth realizes he might make a larger difference by leaving Greyfriar behind and stepping up to claim his birthright.

This book is very well balanced. There is a well thought out and detailed world that is creative and interesting. The characters are likable and easy to engage with. There are lots of excellent military/battle scenes but also lots of tender scenes between Adele and Gareth. This book seamlessly blends steampunk themes with epic fantasy.

Adele and Gareth continue to be very well done characters. Adele is strong and smart and does what she has to for her country. Your heart goes out to her and Gareth and their star-crossed love, especially since with the war moving at a faster pace Adele has to use her Geomancy power more than ever which makes it so that Gareth can’t be near her without being in pain. It was pretty awesome to see Adele finally embrace her Geomancy.

Gareth continues to be a complex and interesting character who is completely and absolutely loyal to Adele. He grew a lot as a character in this story and finally begins to realize that his birthright allows him a lot of power to influence the war between vampires and humans.

The side characters are all very well done. Anhalt is loyal and completely supportive of Adele; he is one of the few who truly understands what she is dealing with. We learn a lot more about Mamoru and some of the decisions he makes feature strongly in the plot as well. Cesare doesn’t have a ton of page space but Flay does, and she has an interesting role to play in things.

This is a long book, but it doesn’t feel like it when you read it. I am not a huge fan of war-based storylines, but this book completely sucked me in. The writing it so well done and so easy to read. Everything is just in perfect balance.

So you want to know if Adele and Gareth get their fairy tale ending? Well I can’t you that without spoiling the book, but let’s just say I think readers will be pleased with how things are left. Things end in a way that I thought was plausible and, while up beat,wasn’t completely fairy tale unrealistic.

Overall an excellent conclusion to this series. I can’t wait to see what the Griffiths come up with next. If you are a fan of epic fantasy check this series out. If you are a fan of steampunk check this series out. It is a very creative and engaging series that balances action, politics, war, and romance incredibly well. Highly recommended.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- Steampunk Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - Rebel Heart (Dust Lands, Book 2) by Moira Young (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 432 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: October 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1442430006
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Dust Lands series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the second book in the Dust Lands series by Young. I absolutely adored Blood Red Road and was so excited to read this book. To be honest this book was a bit of a disappointment. Gone is the fierce Saba from Blood Red Road, she’s been replaced by a whiny emotional wreck of a young woman.

I listened to this on an audiobook. The audiobook was very well done. The narrator does an excellent job of capturing the stark language and slang used throughout the novel.

We hear briefly from Jack a bit in the beginning. The rest of the story is with Saba and her siblings as they journey across the Waste to the west. Saba is seeing shadows that are slowly driving her insane; she seeks help from a spiritual healer in a nearby town. This part of the story was a bit odd and I don’t understand why it was included here...but whatever.

Then when Maeve stumbles into town she brings word from Jack. Saba and crew abandon their quest to go West and turn back to travel to the Storm Belt to meet up with Jack.

Gone are the awesome action scenes and kick-butt Saba from the first book. In her place we have a selfish, wreck of a girl that's a shadow of herself. Saba doesn’t come off as tough but more of an emotional wreck whose world is slowly falling to pieces. Seriously Saba is so overly emotional about everything, sometimes following her mercurial changes in temperament just plain wore me out.

Saba continually makes rash emotional decisions that end up hurting the group. She never seems to learn from her mistakes. I understand that Saba's ability to feel emotions so keenly is special in this stark wasteland; but by the end of the book I wanted to smack her.

For some reason it seems like Saba is defining her whole existence by the men in her life. Her actions are driven by her brother, Jack, and even her enemy the Pathfinder and her emotions about them. It’s so different from the tough and pragmatic Saba in Blood Red Road.

Saba’s brother Lugh is just plain creepy throughout the book; he is controlling and a bit evil. His manipulation of Saba and his possessiveness gave me the creeps.

The best characters in this book are Em, Saba’s younger sister, whose incredible wisdom and cheerfulness add a lot to the bleak story. Also Saba and crew steal a cart from a medicine man named Slim; Slim ends up accompanying them on their journey to the Storm Belt. Slim is an awesome character; he adds some humor and seems to genuinely care about this group of wandering kids.

I still enjoyed the stark language and dusty, dank post-apocalyptic setting. I also enjoyed the glimpses back into the old Wrecker culture that made this horrible bleak world what it was.

Overall didn't like this book as much as the first one. I continue to enjoy the dank dusty world and stark language used to tell this story. I did not enjoy the emotional wrecked and selfish Saba that we deal with in this book. I didn’t understand the why behind the whole first half of the this book and hope that somehow it ties in with the third book and makes sense. Hopefully the final book in the series will be better and make some of the things that happened in the second book more meaningful. I will definitely read the final book in this series just because I did love Blood Red Road so much and I do love this world. Still, this definitely wasn’t a strong continuation of the series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Dystopia Reading Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - Indigo Springs (Astrid Lethewood, Book 1) by A.M. Dellamonica (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: October 27, 2009
ISBN: 978-0765319470
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Blue Magic series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first book in the Astrid Lethewood series. I believe the sequel to this book, Blue Magic, ties up this duology. It was a creative and somewhat ambiguous story that can best be described as a urban fantasy apocalyptic eco-thriller. It reminds a bit of Elizabeth Hand in the somewhat vague writing style. It might not be a book for everyone but I enjoyed the creative ideas in here.

Astrid inherits a house from her dead father. We hear from her both in the present and past. As the story slowly unravels we find out that Astrid’s house hides a magic spring but the magic curses most of the people it contacts. She is supposed to guard the world from it. But her housemates interfere and the magic ends up corrupting the world; resulting in giants animals and human mutations.

This was a really cool concept; it was a blend of fantasy, urban fantasy, eco-thriller, and apocalyptic genres. It is a bit confusing when you start to read it because the chapters are told from two perspectives and those are not designated at the beginning of the chapter. The first perspective is from a negotiator that is sent to question Astrid in the present while the world is in the middle of a magical apocalypse. The second perspective is Astrid’s in the past (which she thinks is the present). It is awkward to get used to the switches at first, but the strangeness of the writing style really matched the weirdness of the story.

Astrid is a fascinating heroine. In the scenes from the past she seems relatively normal. She lives with a childhood guy friend (who obviously wishes that he could be more to her), and her girlfriend from college (who was Astrid’s lover until she left Astrid). Astrid also has a mother who is delusional and thinks she’s a man. Yep, there is a lot of gender-bending in this book...but it really matches the mixed up reality that is thematic throughout the book.

Astrid starts to loose touch with reality as she absorbs more and more magic. She doesn’t know where or when she is at some points. She also starts being able to predict the future and gets confused about what has happened and what will happen. As you can imagine this leads to ambiguity in the story, which might bother some readers.

None of these characters are good characters, they are all very human. They all do noble things and they all do evil things. But all of them are just as interesting, screwed up, and strange as Astrid herself. Sahara is Astrid’s best friend and she ends up so corrupt by the magic she calls herself a god and starts to gain her own following.

I loved how the plot unfolded and loved hearing about how the Blue Magic was causing strange things to happen in the world. The Blue Magic basically causes an eco-disaster of sorts. Humans mutate into part-animals, animals mutate into huge monsters, and the world starts to fall apart. This whole story is about how a few bad personal decisions can destroy the whole world.

The writing is a bit confusing as tense and POV changes are really noted, you kind of have to figure them out. It makes the book hard to read at times. This book is so absolutely interesting, creative, and absolutely crazy though that I really thought it was worth the effort to read. The unraveling mystery about how the magic got out to destroy the world was just super engaging for me.

Overall this was a fascinating read. I will say that this won’t be a book everyone will enjoy. It is a bit confusing at points, the story can get very ambiguous because the heroine is confused about when and where she exists. Still I really enjoyed it because it was so very different from anything I’ve ever read and so far out there. This is a seriously crazy book, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Elizabeth Hand’s earlier books (Black Light, Waking the Moon) in style. I would recommend to those who are okay with ambiguity and want to read an urban fantasy that is vastly different from anything else out there.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Early Review - Ashen Winter (Ashfall, Book 2) by Mike Mullen (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-apocalyptic
Size: 594 pages
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Release Date: October 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-1933718750
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Ashfall series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. This is the second book in a planned trilogy. It was an excellent continuation of the series, but also starts bringing in more typical post-apocalyptic themes...think cannibalism.

It is six months after the horrible volcanic events that sent the world into a nuclear winter. During this time Darla and Alex have been make a life of sorts for themselves on Alex’s uncle’s farm. Darla and Alex leave the relative comfort of Alex's uncle's farm in an effort to find his parents.

The book is fast-paced, full of action, and hard to put down. It’s a lot about survival and, as with the previous book, mostly about humanity and surviving in bleak surroundings.

In this book a long winter has set in because of volcanic ash blocking out the sun. As temperatures plummet so do Alex’s hope of finding his parents. Then raiders come to their farm and one of them is carrying Alex’s dad’s rifle. Alex and Darla decide to track down the man to get info on Alex’s parents.

A couple great new characters are added to the story. One is a girl Darla’s age who has had to do things to survive that no girl should ever have to do. The other is her brother, an autistic genius, who is both a great help and a great challenge to deal with.

The book is well written and progresses at a breakneck pace. You are constantly put through emotional turmoil as the characters encounter one life-threatening situation after another. The characters in this book suffer, immensely, and every gory detail is there. So if you don’t like gore you might want to look elsewhere. There were a number of times when the characters were injured in ways that made me a bit queasy.

Alex and Darla are great characters, but there are times in this book when I want to smack Alex. He has a serious problem with charging into situations and it doesn’t improve in this book. He gets everyone almost killed a number of times and many of the horrible situations they end up in are because of his hot-headedness.

I do love that there is some humor in here. Also Alex and Darla truly seem to love and respect each other, their relationship adds some light to a very dark story.

Mostly the story is engaging and interesting but there was one thing that had me groaning in exasperation. Guess what that was? Yep, cannibals. I mean I guess it wouldn't be a good post-apocalyptic novel unless people were eating each other. But seriously, go we have to go there again? I swear everywhere I look people are eating each other in a post-apocalyptic earth. Seriously it’s an uncreative and overdone idea in these types of books. Some characters build greenhouses...but others well I guess it is just easier to eat each other sometimes....

Other than the above this is a very well done book. It is well written and incredibly engaging. There is action and gore, but also situations where the good aspects of humanity really shine. Some great new characters add a lot more to the story as well.

Overall a great read and a wonderful continuation of this story. Some great new characters and a very engaging plot. The surroundings are dark and depressing, but this is lightened with a solid and loving relationship between Darla and Alex and occasional humor. The story is not for the weak-stomached and the addition of cannibalism adds to the yucky factor. This is a well written and solid YA post-apocalyptic read that should appeal to both male and female readers. I definitely recommend this series to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic novels.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge