Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick


My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Alex has run away and is hiking through the wilderness with her dead parents' ashes, about to say goodbye to the life she no longer wants to live. But then the world suddenly changes. An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky zapping every electronic device and killing the vast majority of adults. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who has changed... Everyone still alive has turned - some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh). Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the zombies that are on the hunt, Alex meets up with Tom - an Army veteran who escaped one war only to find something worse at home - and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to find food, shelter, while fighting off the 'Changed' and those desperate to stay alive. A tense and involving adventure with shocks and sudden plot twists that will keep teen and adult readers gripped.

I really loved this story- which was at times dark and disturbing, but also a powerful and positive portrayal of humanity banding together to survive against bad odds. What I love about dystopian novels is their ability to throw all societal conventions and laws out the window, to make anything possible, and to show us the real gritty side of the way people behave when the world as we know it is changed beyond recognition. Everything becomes a real struggle just to survive, and we see people behaving at their worst and most selfish, but also those people who will band together and work together to stay alive- sharing limited food and risking their lives for people who had been strangers days before. This book has all of this and more in spades.


The story centres on 17-year-old Alex and the people she meets and loses along the way. At the start of the book she is a desperate teenager dying of a brain tumour and too depressed to be around people. She has decided to hike up her favourite mountain with her parent's ashes, as a final attempt to reclaim the freedom that she has lost in her life and say goodbye to her parents. Out in the wilderness out of nowhere the sky suddenly turns purple, there is an ear-splitting sound and the birds start falling from the sky. The sudden and unexplained Electromagnetic pulse destroys all the technology, kills most of the population outright, and, as Alex soon discovers changes most of the younger members of the population unrecognisably into savage creatures. Those that have survived will do anything to stay alive and keep the new threat in the woods at bay.


The plot is original and well-paced and takes us from an isolated mountain wilderness back to the mean streets of a society battling to survive, and finally to a new guarded village where a few residents have taken complete control and think that they have the answer to the way to survive. Alex herself is tough and resourceful, but also tender and patient when she is saddled with an angry and stubborn 8 year old with issues. She is fiercely loyal to the new friends she makes on her journey back down the mountain. I love the way that despite her stubborn independence she is also very vulnerable, and when she and Ellie find ex-army guy Tom, she is happy to have some of the responsibility off her shoulders. Tom was another of my favourite characters- just someone who is completely kind and selfless. I loved the way this little makeshift family banded together.


This book is very clever and really moving- turning from a story of loss and wilderness survival into a struggle against both zombies and the darker side of human nature. It is at times horrific and gory but still brilliant in it's portrayal of the main characters, who like the focal survivors in a disaster movie you can't help but identify with and root for. Alex was a wonderful lead character who was the right mix of feisty and vulnerable, and has to learn to trust the people she is thrown together with. The second half of the story changes in tone from a desperate escape into trying to accept a new way of life in the village and Alex must use her own resourcefulness to do what she feels is the right thing. The whole book is full of dramatic twists and turns, action and drama. The story left my nerves on edge and the explosive cliff-hanger ending has left me desperate for the next installment of this series.


Thanks to Egmont Publishers and Netgalley.com for the advance e-copy of this book.



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Book 2 in the series Shadows is due to be published late 2012. I already can't wait!

In My Mailbox 6th November 2011

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where book bloggers can talk about the books they've gotten the past week- whether bought, borrowed, swapped or given for review. This feature was started to increase interaction between bloggers and increase our awareness of all the new books coming out.


It also gives me a chance to be nosy and see what everyone else has got to read, and so gives me plenty of new books to pine after!

Seriously AMAZING book haul this week- check it out!
 
Bought:
 

 
 
 

I told you!
This week I spent the rest of my Amazon vouchers from my birthday, then I made use of the 10% off discount at The Book Depository, then I discovered an incredible site called FishpondWorld, (an Australian booksite with free worldwide shipping) where I found a lot of the American hardbacks that I had been pining for on Amazon (but which were too expensive) were only about half the price on there. I think I did a little happy dance for nearly all of these when they dropped through the door!
Ones that I am most excited to read are Sweet Venom Tera Lynn Childs, and Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck, which is book 3 in the fantastic Tiger series. Reckoning is the 5th and FINAL book in the Strange Angels series which I love so much and can't wait to see how it ends (Team Graves!). So Silver Bright Lisa Matchev is book 3 in the Theatre Illuminata series- I loved book 1, which was so original and fun, but I still haven't read book 2 yet. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu is a retelling of the fairytale The Snow Queen. Steel by Carrie Vaughn sounds like a fantastic read with action, adventure, pirates and time travel, and then Faerie Ring and Watched- I'm not too sure what they're about but look at how pretty the covers are!
Descended By Blood- fantastic review by Ashley at The Bookish Brunette.
Deadly Cool- this looks like such a funny book- check out this review by Lesley at My Keeper Shelf.
Drink, Slay, Love- It was this review and then the book-boyfriend post by Missie at The Unread Reader that sold this book to me. Vampires and unicorns in a unique supernatural romance story.

From the Library:

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. I'm really looking forward to reading this book- I've heard so many great things about it. It is a historical book set in London about (or featuring) Jack the Ripper (I think).
 
 
 
 
For Review:
 

 

Saving June  by Hannah Harrington. I didn't originally take any notice of this book, but then the reviews started coming in- all 5 stars! The reviews that I read (that I now can't find grrr!) made it sound so much better than the blurb on the actual book. I don't read a lot of contemporary books but this one looks cool, funny, and heartbreaking all in one- so excited to read this now!
Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder. I love Maria Snyder's books, so even though I'm not entirely sure what this book is about (something magical) I still can't wait to read this book.


Thanks to Harlequin publishers and Netgalley for the advance e-copies of these books.




So, those were the books that came into my house this past week... yikes, I had better get reading...!
What did you get in your mailbox?
Happy reading!

Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:
A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.
Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

"I am Dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it...My friend "M" says the irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off."

I knew as soon as I read the first paragraph that I was going to enjoy this book. It has a very dry humour and is also a very witty satire on modern society.


Warm Bodies is a really unique take on the zombie apocalpse story- told from the zombie's point of view! The main character in this book is a zombie called R (because that's all that he can remember of his first name) who lives with a horde of other zombies in an abandoned airport. Although the words that R speaks out loud are usually only monosyllabic grunts, his narrration of the story is very intelligent and extremely witty.


I loved the main characters in this book, particularly the zombies themselves. Sure, R occasionally kills people and eats their brains, but he's also a very funny, very resourceful and sweet guy, who loves to ride the escalators, hoard his few little treasures and listen to Frank Sinatra records. M- R's zombie friend seems to have a little more smarts, and a little more humanity left in him than the other lurching and groaning mindless drones, and I really enjoyed his sarcastic humour, and his whole quirky attitude to the world.


When R meets Julie everything changes, and he has the overwhelming desire to look out for her, and to be close to her. He begins to notice the world around him once again. He tries harder to communicate, and gets better at speaking and moving like a person- being around Julie starts to bring him back to life. In this story the zombies have taken over and what is left of the human race are barricaded into cities or stadiums, and fighting the constant tide of the undead. We see glimpses of flashbacks to the past and how it all started, and a horrifying vision of this militiaristic society exhausted, demoralised and on the brink of giving up. But with R and Julie forming an unlikely friendship across the divide, suddenly anything is possible.


This is a clever book with excellent characters, a decent story, and a completely unconventional romantic hero. I just loved the sarcastic humour throughout the book, all the snarky quips- and come on, it's pegged as a "zombie romance story"- how can you not want to read this?


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There are also plans to release a film of Warm Bodies starring Nicholas Hoult in August next year, by Summit Entertainment, and directed by Jonathan Levine.

R is a young man with an existential crisis–he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.

After experiencing a teenage boy’s memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim’s human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.

Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.

The Time Will Come #37

The Time Will Come is a weekly meme hosted by Jodie at Books For Company, where we can spotlight those books that we've had sitting on our shelves for too long. Books that we really want to read but never seem to get around to.

I have wanted to read Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson since it first came out, and I don't why I still haven't read it yet, since I really like werewolf books. I like the sound of this one too, with a bit of a twist on the mythology. Book 2 titled Nocturne was also published earlier this year. I should just read it already shouldn't I!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Torn between two destinies?

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.
As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?

Book 2- Nocturne published August 2011

Werewolves, and a love story, and the usual trouble and strife- sounds good right?
Maybe one day....

Review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.
Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion.

When I started this book I thought that it would be a light and fluffy story of high-school bitchiness- I couldn't be more wrong. It was quite dark and disturbing but no less brilliant for being so harrowing. The first chapter opens up on a drunken teenage party, and sets the stage for a scene that was very hard to read about. We are thrown straight into the drama of the story, told in Regina's own words. Feeling unable to tell her parents what has happened Regina confides in a girl that is supposed to be her friend, but instead betrays her and twists her story. Regina has gone through high-school as one of the popular girls, the best friend of Anna- the queen bee of the school, but now she is accused of sleeping with her friend's boyfriend and is an outcast from her former group- the bully now becoming a victim of bullying herself. Her former friends go out of their way to make Regina's life hell, painting her locker, destroying her possessions, and setting up an abusive website. The tension in the book builds up and up as their taunts get worse and worse, and start to descend into physical attacks.


Despite Regina being a mean bully and complete bitch, you can't help but feel sorry for her and admire her courage in what she is going though, even if it is a taste of her own medicine, the rumours about her completely untrue. Courtney Summers writes about a group of teens who have sex, drink, take drugs and skip school, but despite this they are still vulnerable teenagers with confidence problems who just want to fit in and be admired. Regina has a serious eating problem, and Kara worries about her weight. They act confident and superior to the rest of the school, but underneath they are just desperate to be accepted.


Afraid to be on her own Regina approaches the people at the back table at lunchtime, dubbed "the garbage table", and the bottom of the social ladder. Michael has never cared about being popular, and is happy to spend time on his own, unnoticed in the corner. But when he does start to open up he is a very sweet person, and believes Regina's side of the story. A victim of Regina's bullying in the past, I found myself really hoping that he could get over the events of the past and be the support that Regina needed. Michael was the surprise of the story and I was surprised to find how much I grew to like him, his unlikely friendship becoming a light in a dark time. Despite not wanting to get involved in any conflicts he can't help but be put in the middle at times, and is forced to choose between sticking up for Regina and taking abuse himself or to not get involved at all and let Regina deal with it on her own.


This is Mean Girls taken to the next level. It is a tense emotional read which highlights an important social issue, and gets right into the minds and hearts of the characters- showing in a very real way the hopelessness, terror and loneliness of being the victim of bullying, and the malicious cruelty of those who perpetrate it, by the extreme level that they take it to. This book is shocking and horrifying, but feels so terrifyingly real that it's also a work of genius. I loved this book and these characters, and would recommend this story to any fans of a gritty contemporary YA story. This is one of those books that is hard to read but impossible to turn away from.