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 - On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Comptemporary Fiction
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Plume
Release Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0142196724
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars


I had seen this book on a number of “Best of 2012” lists and decided it looked like an interesting read. So I picked up a copy from the library. It ended up being an interesting and engaging read. It would have been an exceptional book, except at times the dialogue between characters sounded a bit awkward to me.

This was an engaging read about a woman named Anna who is tutoring a teenage boy named T.J. T.J. is in remission from cancer and is supposed to be catching up on school work over the summer with Anna’s help. On the way to meet up with the boy's parents their plane crashes on a deserted island. They learn to survive on the island dealing with storms, general survival, sharks, disease, and malnutrition.

Anna and T.J. are both excellent characters. They both really keep their cool when they crash on this deserted island. Because of this they figure out ways to cope with the obstacles in their path to survival. I found them both to be very engaging and very realistically done.

There were a couple of things that bothered me about this book. At times the language and talking sounded a bit awkward to me. Also I thought that the fact that these two very attractive people were on this island by themselves so long and kept their relationship platonic was a bit unrealistic. Especially since they were so obviously attracted to each other and pretty much had nothing else to do.

-------SPOLIER START---------
Graves makes a big deal about pointing out how Anna and T.J. wait until T.J. is nineteen before doing anything sexual. It was a bit odd and forced feeling.
-------SPOLIER END---------

Still this ends up being a very engaging and quick read. You are constantly wondering if they will be rescued, if their relationship will go past friends, and if they are rescued how they will deal with the fall-out.

It's a quick fun read. It does go into some issues; like what society thinks about people who fall in love who are vastly different in age. It also delves into the issue of trying to balance happiness with society's demands.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. The story and writing wasn't anything spectacular but it was entertaining. There are parts of the book that are a bit awkward, but it is still a very engaging read. I would recommend to those who like contemporary romance and enjoy survival stories.

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

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

Audiobook Review - The Road by Cormac McCarthy (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult/Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 287 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books
Release Date: March 28, 2007
ISBN: 978-0307387899
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars


I had heard a ton about this book so when I saw it for sale on Audible.com for $4.95 I decided to download it and give it a listen. It is an okay book. The contrast between poignant landscape descriptions and the sparse dialogue is interesting. The ambiguity of the story adds to the mystery of it all. I didn't think there was much here that I hadn't read before though. Much of the story gets repetitive...especially where dialogue is concerned.

A boy and his father travel the Road South to escape the cold brought on my some horrible post-apocalyptic disaster. They struggle to survive and occasionally stumble upon the "bad people" who are basically cannibalistic cults.

The audiobook itself was very well done. The narrator did an excellent job distinguishing between voices of the characters and his inflection matched the mood of the story perfectly. I think I enjoyed this more as an audiobook than I would have reading it since McCarthy doesn't do a good job distinguishing between who's talking in the writing but the narrator did an excellent job with that.

There is a lot of ambiguity in this book. Some horrible disaster happened; it involved lots of fire and has ruined the air quality, it destroyed civilization as it was known reducing humanity to lone survivors and cannibalistic cults. You can only assume that the disaster was volcanic in nature because of the ever present ash, the occasional earthquakes, and the continuing growing coldness. I suppose it could have also been nuclear in nature or something like that. This is never defined well. I guess the point is the world has ended and all humans can do is survive.

The two main characters are a man and his son. Again lots of ambiguity here. We never learn either of their names or the boy's age. I was very curious about the age of the boy, he both seemed very young and very aged at different points in the book. McCarthy is careful not to give away the boy's age, not sure what purpose this had, maybe to make him more relatable across a wider age group.

Basically the whole story is the man and boy wandering South trying to find food and stay warm. It gets pretty repetitive. I stopped counting the number of time the boy said "I'm really scared" because pretty much that is the only emotion we get from the boy for the majority of the book. I also stopped counting the number of times the man said "It's really cold". I understand that fear, hunger, and cold were major driving forces in this book I just wish that more variations of language had been used to describe these themes.

That being said the language is stark and there is a lot of repetition; despite that there are moments of wonderful description where McCarthy paints an absolutely wonderful picture with the phrases he uses. These moments are all the more distinct because of the starkness surrounding them.

The relationship between the boy and the man is worth discussing briefly as well. They obviously love each other, but the man is a man of little imagination and few words. He loses his temper fairly easily and expects the boy to act more grown up at times. It is hard to judge how out of line the man's expectations are since we never learn the age of the boy. The boy acted much more mature than I would have expected any child to act in this situation; he has an innocence about him and a stoicness that is impressive, still he is more idealistic than the man. It was an interesting contrast in characters.

I would recommend this book for young adult and older because of some of the graphic violence. There is a lot of cannabalism in this book. One of the worst scenes involves a newborn baby being fried on a spit over a flame. There are also humans that are captured and held as food sources. The boy and the man skirt these evil communes, but manage to mostly stay clear of them.

Overall this was an okay read. It is kind of repetitive and there is a lot of ambiguity in the story that I didn't enjoy. It is a depressing read but makes an interesting statement about human nature in the face of apocalypse. I really don't think there is much here that you haven't read in other post-apocalytpic novels; this book deals with many of the same issues (food, weather, air quality) that you've seen in other books about apocalypse via volcano. The relationship between the boy and his father is somewhat interesting but pretty stark and it makes both of these characters somewhat hard to relate to. For those interested in post-apocalyptic reads I would recommend The Angels are the Reapers, Ashfall, Ashes, Blood Red Road , and Life as We Knew It over this book.

Review - Ashfall by Mike Mullen (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Survival
Size: 476 pages
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Release Date: September 27th, 2011
ISBN: 978-1933718552
Stand Alone or Series: 1st in the Ashfall series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. I love reading survival, post-apocalyptic type books and was eager to read about a world in which the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts (I was just in Yellowstone a couple weeks ago, so it was strangely fitting). This was a good book; not exceptional but a decent read. A sequel called, Ashen Winter, is planned for release in October 2012.

Sixteen year old Alex is spending a weekend at home alone when his house is hit by something and set on fire. Little does he know that the supervolcano in Yellowstone has erupted. As ash clogs the air, temperatures drop, and civilization collapses Alex decides to travel to the east in an effort to reach his parents. Along the way he struggles with ash filled air, lack of food, and desperate humans doing what they much to survive.

You can't help but compare this book to Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Granted that book is about an asteroid hitting the moon, but the results are similar. In that book many volcanoes erupt causing the characters to face many of the issues (if in a bit smaller scale) that Alex faces in this book. While I enjoyed reading this book, I couldn't help but feel that I've read about a lot of these issues (air quality, blocking out sunlight, long winters, lawless humanity) before.

This book has a lot of themes that other post-apocalyptic books do. Alex not only struggles against nature but against other humans trying to survive in a lawless society. You also see similar themes of refuge camps being horrible places to live and the military taking advantage of humans who don't have the firepower they do. Basically when faced with mass destruction, humanity shows both its best and worst face.

Alex is an interesting character; he knows karate so that gave him a good skill set for surviving the lawlessness he faced during his travels. He is also very resourceful as he shows by realizing that skis would travel well over ash (although anyone familiar with snow would probably draw the same conclusions).

Things get a lot more interesting when he meets up with Darla. Darla is incredibly strong, resourceful, and really an amazing girl. Her and Alex make a great team and watching them fall in love between attacks, horrible storms, and refuge camps is especially touching.

The book is paced well and the question that really drives the story forward is will Alex make it to his parents. The way the story ends is well done but definitely set up for a sequel. The book is well-written, easy to read, and engaging. The author includes an excellent afterward talking about Yellowstone and some of the other volcano eruptions the story is based on.

Overall while I enjoyed this book I didn't think it was incredibly original. Alex faces many of the same problems that the characters in Life As We Knew It face. The same issues of lawlessness, starvation, air quality, refuge camps, and abandonment by the government are dealt with. This book is a bit more violent than Life as We Knew was. The thing that sets this book apart from other post-apocalyptic books is the relationship that develops between Alex and Darla. Both of these characters are amazingly resourceful and watching them fall in love through all the hardships they face was a beautiful thing. The book is well-written and I would recommend to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic YA reads. I would also recommend Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, and The Reapers Are the Angels: A Novel by Alden Bell.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- The Debut Author Challenge
- E-book Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 336 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0316056212
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second Paolo Bacigalupi book I have read; the first was The Windup Girl.  I liked this book a lot better than The Windup Girl; while The Windup Girl was more complex it was also a lot slower moving.  This book presents us with a post-apocalyptic world which is thought provoking and a story which moves at a good pace with intriguing characters.  I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done.  The narrator is a little deliberate and talks kind of slowly, so I ended up listening to it at 1.25x the original speed, so that I could stay engaged.

Nailer works stripping down oilers, he's part of the Light Crew...the crew that strips copper wire out of the ducts of old tankers.  His life definitely isn't the best; he has a father who beats him, barely enough food to survive, and the Light Crew work is grueling.  But when a city-killing hurricane (category 6) hits their beach Nailer's life changes.  After the storm blows over him and his crew boss Pima find a clipper washed up on shore.  There is enough in the clipper to make them filthy rich, but there is one complication they also find a girl who is still alive aboard.  This girl complicates things and throws Nailer into a crazy adventure.

Like The Windup Girl this is a gritty novel.  These people live in an ugly world that is run by corporations who don't care what happens to humanity as long as they are making a profit. I find it a fascinating world (even if it is dark and dank) and it is interesting to read about. The world and the way it is run brings up a lot of political questions and questions around ethics.  With this book though that is less central to the story than the journey of Nailer.

As in The Windup Girl none of the characters are all that likable, although at points Nailer comes close.  They are very gritty and realistic though; they are what I imagine people surviving in those types of conditions might be like. They are interesting though.  Outside of Nailer, we really don't get to see into any of the characters heads...as a reader he is the only one we really get to know and connect with.  This definitely isn't a book focused on characterization.

It was an engaging story, so many horrible and lucky things happen to Nailer that it makes the outcome of the story very hard to predict.  There are a lot of twists and turns, lots of action and adventure.

Overall I enjoyed the story more than The Windup Girl.  The world presented is a creative and original one that is fascinating to read about.  Characterization definitely takes a backseat to the plot itself.  The plot is twisty turny and hard to predict, which makes the book very engaging.  It was a decent post-apocalyptic young adult novel; it is mainly about the good and bad turns Nailer's life takes.  In the background issues about corporate responsibility, genetic engineering, and racism are addressed.  People who enjoy dark and gritty worlds and sea adventures in a post-apocalyptic setting will probably enjoy this book.  

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- 100+ Reading Challenge
- The Debut Author Challenge
- Audio Book Challenge List

Early Review - Ashes (Ashes Trilogy, Book 1) by Ilsa J. Bick (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Apocalyptic/Zombie
Size: 480 pages

Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release Date: September 6, 2011
ISBN: 978-1606841754
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in a trilogy
Source: eGalley through Netgalley.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through NetGalley(dot)com.  This just sounded like a really interesting read and it ended up being exactly that.  This book has a very creative take on the apocalypse, is set in an interesting setting, and was absolutely engrossing.  The second book in this trilogy is Shadows and will be released in 2012.

Alex is taking a long hike to say good-bye to her parents and deal with her own personal tragedy, an inoperable brain tumor that is slowly incapacitating her.  During her hike she is flattened to the ground by a pulse of...something.  She meets up with a young girl named Ellie and an ex-military man named Tom in the woods.  Together they try to figure out what happened and what is going on with the crazy flesh-eating people that they occasionally stumble upon.

This book is super suspenseful and almost more of a thriller than anything else.  It was terrifying at times and incredibly hard to put down.  I was impressed by how many different things this book deals with.  Bascially you have brain tumors, nuclear warfare, the apocalypse, zombies, and even a dystopian community all in one book.  I kid you not.  This all made for an incredibly engaging and interesting read; I never knew what to expect next.

Unlike most of the apocalyptic novels that I have read this one takes place in the middle of nowhere.  Because of that it is not humanity, but the absence of it, that the characters struggle with in the first part of the story.  The characters just can't figure out what's happened and are trying to piece things together from a few static-filled radio casts and the things they see in their travels through the forest.  The pulse killed everything electronic, so right off the bat the characters are having to struggle with that.  There is also an interesting side note that only some people changed into zombies and it only seemed to be people of a certain age group.  The explanation behind this is fascinating.

This is not a novel for those with weak stomachs.  Things are gorey and nasty at a number of parts.  There are places where as a reader you are thinking as loud as you can "oh please don't let that happen, oh please don't let that happen" and then it does happen.  The book is utterly unpredictable and the foreshadowing filled with sentences like "that was the last time we laughed".  So, yeah, not an extremely uplifting read.  But the story absolutely grabs you and won't let go.

There is a constant undertone of the characters having to choose between humanity and survival.  There is also an underlying theme of who is really the monsters; the mindless zombies or the humans that are taking advantage of people trying to survive?

The only weak point of this book for me were the characters.  They are all okay, but I never really liked any of them.  The romance between Alex and Tom felt unreal and forced.  The people Alex meets up with in the settlement are in general unlikable too.  It wasn't that I disliked Alex as a character, I just had trouble really liking and relating to her.

The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but it isn't horrible.  It ends at a good place to start the next story and really made me want to know "what next?!".

Overall this was a fantastic addition to the apocalyptic/zombie genre.  It is more of a thriller than a sci-fi and not for the faint of heart.  Definitely for young adult or older only; there is some very graphic violence in here.  There are also some incredibly creative ideas in here relating to zombies and the apocalypse.  The book is done in an interesting way and in an interesting setting.  I loved the writing and was completely engaged in the story, it was so hard to put this book down.  The only weak point for me was the characters; I had some trouble relating too and engaging with them.  If you are a fan of young adult post-apocalyptic fiction definitely pick up this book; I think adults will enjoy it just as much as YAs and it was a really great story.  I can't wait to read what happens in Shadows.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- E-book Reading Challenge
- Zombies! Reading Challenge

Review - Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari (2.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Survival
Size:  352 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN-13:   978-0545255639
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Advanced Reading Copy from the Strand
Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I bought an ARC of this book at The Strand bookstore when I was in NYC for the Book Expo this year.  I had been trying to decide if I wanted to read this book or not.  I love post-apocalyptic survival stories so I decided to pick it up.  It was okay, not nearly as good as some of the other options out there, but an okay story.

Lucy has been surviving on her own for nearly a year in Central Park in NYC.  After small-pox epidemics annihilated the population, the climate changed alternating droughts and horrible flooding.  When dogs and floods drive her out of her makeshift home she ends up with a group of survivors living commune stle.  The mysterious Sweepers have started picking off members of the commune one by one an Lucy is frustrated with the groups acceptance of the situation.  Lucy is intrigued by a boy named Aidan and is urging him to rally the group to fight, but there are things about herself Lucy doesn't know that complicates the issue.

This book starts out very slow.  Around page 80 or so I almost stopped reading it, I didn't like Lucy as a character and Treggiari's writing style was just a bit too mechanical for me.  She does an excellent job describing the gritty side of survival; blisters and uncleanliness, gutting animals etc but somehow it just wasn't that interesting..the writing style was a bit to disconnected or something.  Once Lucy meets up with the large survivor camp things pick up and get a bit more interesting.

The "romance" between Lucy and Aidan is pretty thin, which is odd since the book touts itself as a romantic read.  There are lingering glances and a kiss or two, not much meaningful conversion.  The romance is definitely pushed to the back of the story, the story focuses more on survival and figuring out the mystery behind the Sweepers and their purpose.

The plot was a little schizophrenic.  In the beginning is was a book about survival, the mid portion focuses more on commune living, and the end is suddenly about genetic engineering and the science of vaccinations.  I think somewhere in here there could have been a really great story, but it got confused because Treggiari couldn't figure out what to focus on.  I was a bit thrown with the whole evil scientist thing at the end of the book.  I mean come on, that was so predictable and so cliche, I expected something more profound or deeper to happen. I was also a bit disappointed that we don't get any insight into the rest of the world.  The book is very focused on just Lucy's little world.

The characters were okay.  Lucy, Aiden, and Del are fairly engaging, if not really likable.  As readers we never get enough incite into them to really make us care a whole lot about what happens to them.  The book ends well enough and resolves the major plot point while leaving the characters overall survival problems unsolved.

Overall this was an okay book.  It starts out slow but the second half is engaging enough if a bit cliche and unfocused.  The characters are okay, the plot is a bit unfocused, and the book didn't have as big of an impact on me as I hoped for.  The problem is there are so many great post-apocalyptic young adult books out there.  I would personally recommend skipping this book and checking out the following books: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell, Feed by Mira Grant (more of an adult read), Divergent by Veronica Roth (more of a dystopia), and Wither by Lauren DeStefano (more of a dystopia).  After you read all of those if you crave more post-apocalyptic survival YA reads then maybe check this out.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges

- 100+ Reading Challenge
- The Debut Author Challenge