MONSTERS : The ASHES Trilogy - Book 3

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Monsters: The Ashes Trilogy

Ilsa J. Bick

Pages: 688

Publisher: Egmont USA

Publish Date USA: September 10, 2013

Source: (digital ARC) Publisher via NetGalley

Genre: YA / Teens/ Dystopic / Zombie / Horror

ISBN: 9781606841778

Rating: DNF / Unrated

Amazon Synopsis: 
"The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now.

When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse--until the doctors found the monster in her head.

She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death.

Now, with no hope of rescue--on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit--she discovers a new and horrifying truth.

The Change isn't over.
The Changed are still evolving.
And...they've had help.

With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply.

A world where, from these ashes, the monsters may rise."

My Thoughts:
My 13yr old daughter and I absolutely loved Ashes, and Shadows and eagerly awaited the final instalment of the trilogy. However, I was rather disappointed. I found the writing style to be jumpy, leaping from one scene and character to another, sometimes it seemed mid sentence. This was far too disorienting for me to want to continue and I regretfully did not finish this one.

Ashes in my opinion was by far the best and told the story focusing on, Ellie, Alex and Tom's points of view. Shadows, not packing as much punch as Ashes, but still a great read, concentrated on a greater cast of characters perspectives. Monsters has too many voices, with the main cast and secondary characters jostling for attention. It also became tedious at times with so many long drawn-out action scenes that I began to skim read, and ultimately abandoned it.

Maybe it's been too long between reads, about a year since Shadows but I just found it hard work to keep up and just wasn't enjoying having to put such effort into a YA/Teen book. There is a section at the back summarising some events and characters from the previous books which I feel would have been better placed at the front, but even this wasn't enough for me to want to persevere.

Don't get me wrong Monsters is very well written and I would still recommend it to anybody who has already invested in this trilogy, but just not to expect any wrapping up of the series as it certainly didn't answer any of the questions raised in Ashes, like who or what was behind the EMP for starters.

My daughter is still reading it and thoroughly enjoying the story line, all be it very gory. She does say that it's very confusing with all the different characters but she is determined to finish it. I will include her final verdict in due course.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley and would like to thank them for the opportunity to review this title.

DUST by Hugh Howey

Spoiler warning: I have made an effort not to reveal plots although I may have unknowingly done so.  If you haven’t read 'Wool' or 'Shift' yet you may want to read them before my review and especially before reading 'Dust'.

You can read my review on 'Wool' & 'Shift' here.

Initial rating 3.5 but once it got going rose to a steady 4.0

I loved 'Wool', it was hauntingly atmospheric and beautifully written. 'Shift', as a prequel of sorts had an interesting backstory, and 'Dust' picks up from where 'Wool' left off.  We rejoin some familiar and much missed characters and follow them to the climactic finale.

'Dust' is released in one volume unlike its predecessors 'Wool & Shift' which were in episode format initially.  Not sure if it was because of this that I found the pace slower. I wondered if Howey had lost his 'magic touch', but then it picked up pace and pretty much kept going.

We still find the majority of people in the silo living in ignorance of a terrible truth which is being discovered by the inquisitive few. They are comfortable remaining in the dark, living routine lives.  What will happen when they are confronted by the truth after their world is sabotaged?

Howey creates some unforgettable, believable characters and uses several strong assertive women, as well as male protagonists, with a sense of vulnerability without feeling patronising or going 'over the top'.  There are some intense moments throughout and in one scene I felt absolute angst and sorrow after finding out that maybe one of the villains wasn't so bad after all... Who could they have trusted without being betrayed or misunderstood.   It was an highly emotive discovery.

Dust is an exciting, thought-provoking, action-packed read which kept me guessing right through to the very end.  An absolute 'must read' for those who have already invested in Wool & Shift wanting to find closure, and those of you wanting an extremely well written, easy to read Dystopic, sci-fi tale.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title.

'Wool' & 'Shift' - The Silo Series by Hugh Howey

My Thoughts:

'Wool' and 'Shift', (#1-#8) kept me reading into the early hours even with flu. The opening chapter of  'Wool' was a real clincher.

Will not say too much about plot or characters as, in my opinion, the Silo series needs to be read in ignorance to get the full surprise impact, and have the mystery slowly revealed throughout the series. In brief it's about life and survival in a silo sometime in the future after a world wide catastrophic event.

Hugh has written an intelligent, engaging story with totally credible characters in an environment full of tension and intrigue. I felt many emotions ranging from dread, disbelief to excitement, fascination and relief. Hugh's descriptive style is perfect in bringing to life the world that his characters live in. The scenes played out vividly and effortlessly in my mind to such a degree that I hope I'm not disappointed with the film version whenever it comes out.

It may not be a 'hard core', 'hi-tech geeky' Sci-fi book and may not be suited to everyone but for fans of Dystopian fiction or for anyone who enjoys a really good story, I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Gripping stuff.  Totally addictive.  Loved it !

I hope the energy and thrill of the ride will continue into the final phase in the series...Dust

25 Perfect Days by Mark Tullius

Title: 25 Perfect Days

Author: Mark Tullius

Pages: 322

Price: Paperback $13.99 US Dollars

Release Date:  30th June 2013

Publisher: Vincere Press

Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia

Source: (e-copy)Publisher via NetGalley

ISBN: 9781938475030

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Book Synopsis:

"A totalitarian state doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a slow, dangerous slide. 25 Perfect Days chronicles the path into a hellish future of food shortages, contaminated water, sweeping incarceration, an ultra-radical religion, state sponsored measures to reduce the population to name but a few.   Are these policies designed for the greater good or disguised to benefit a chosen few at the expense of the masses? Is this brave new world the best we could do or part of a sinister grand plan?

Through twenty-five interlinked stories, each written from a different character’s point of view, 25 Perfect Days captures the sacrifice, courage, and love needed to survive and eventually overcome this dystopian nightmare."

*** ***

My Thoughts:

Too far fetched? A touch paranoiac ? Think North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Syria, Hitler, and you will see a semblance of these practices for a regime to control the masses. Any word said against the State, religeous order, government, or attempt to rebel is met with violence, imprisonment, torture and even death.

25 perfect days is twenty five chapters of interlinked stories about the characters related or known to each other in some form or other over a 40 year period.   It opens with '5 Minutes Alone' where Olsen has raped and murdered Jenny a 13 year old.  Her family, The Adams, have all been granted 5 minutes alone with Olsen in his cell.  Prior to the visit, Olsen's family have pleaded and begged on several occasions to forgive him.  Their pleas go unread and destroyed.

The Adams' choice will set in motion the slow but constant downslide into chaos of the nation.  A choice that will affect everyone's freedom of choice, speech, individuality, rights and thoughts.  Religion will merge with the government to evolving into 'The Way' and 'The Controllers'.  Inch by inch lives will be ever more controlled.  The population  is controlled by either voluntary or forced sterilisation; children forcibly removed and adopted into 'The Way'.

You are asked what you might do in similar circumstances  if you were the family of the victim.  What you do could  have a catastrophic effect for the future of your country and the morality of its people.

Each of the character's actions have a cause and effect which generally result in severe consequences for everyone as 'The Way' tighten its grip on all aspects of human life.

Loss of freedom, human rights,  every aspect of life is controlled and manipulated by 'The Way'.   People are divided into 2 groups, 'them or us' with the chosen living in 'The City of Light' with clear blue skies and the others in 'The Districts'  with an atmosphere of choking grey ash and crumbling destruction all around.  Where uncontaminated food is hard to find and where a priest might be imprisoned for supplying food to the starving.   No one will escape,  all  live in fear of 'The Way' and 'The Controllers'.   A wrong word, action or thought will eventually  be reported and invoke punishment by death.

All in all I really enjoyed reading this one, however, I did  became disoriented with the multitude of characters.  There is a glossary at the end of the book which I tried to ignore due to some plot spoilers and instead made notes on each chapter of the characters noting their relationship to each other.   Although this didn't detract my enjoyment of the novel I did miss getting to know more about certain characters of interest and building a relationship with them. The result was flat card board characters on many occasions and  I  would have liked the author to concentrate on a smaller group of characters developing and fleshing them out more.  It was a pretty fast read even with the complexities of the characters relationships.  My notes definitely helped and reading the glossary at the end was immensely useful to fill in some of the gaps.

Mark Tullius has created a disturbing dystopian nightmare. This is an intelligent and fun read with a cautionary tale about the dangers of just going with the flow and not questioning what secret covert agendas are in practice behind the promises we are made by those who may one day wield immense power over us.

Thank you to Vincere Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.