Between the Bookcovers

Pages:  476
 
Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.
Review:

Enter my giveaway for The Blizzard by Marty Martins. Comment on this post to enter.



Author: James Dashner
Published: October 6, 2009
Pages: 400
Rating: 2/5 Stars

My Review:

Thomas wakes up to find that he has arrived in a strange place called the Glade, a and he has no memory of his past life. The Glade is a dystopic self sufficient colony without adults in the middle of a maze with lots of boys and weird monsters. This is the setting for The Maze Runner. The kids in The Glade have tried for two years to find a way out of The Glade without success. Every day several boys run through the maze trying to find a way out, every night the walls in the maze move. The day after Thomas arrives a girl also arrives, an event because there had never been a girl in The Glade before. The book explores how Thomas reacts to his situation in The Glade, what his relationship with the new girl is, and if there is a way out of the maze.

I am a huge fan of dystopian fiction and I was really looking forward to The Maze Runner. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was disappointed. The characters in the book were not well developed and there was nothing to make me care about what happened to them. Even when they died, I felt nothing for them. The premise of the story sounded good, but after hearing about the maze that could not be solved over and over again, I didn't really care if they found a way out or not. What was meant to be an adventure with building tension was a boring story that I found difficult to get through. The use of words unique to The Glade didn't make any sense. I think that if an author uses unique words or languages, there should be a reason for it. As used the words made no sense and were distracting. Finally, the end was abrupt and obviously a set up for the sequel, but I think books should have some sort of a stopping point, not just a cut off that leaves the reader hanging. There was nothing here that made me want to seek out the next book in the trilogy.

I will note that my opinion of this book is in the minority. Many other reviewers love the story and have given it very positive reviews. I encourage you to read other opinions and decide for yourself if this is a book that will appeal to you.

My Rating: A disappointment

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Published: October 12, 2010
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Pages: 512
Rating: 4/5 stars




Description from Goodreads:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Rating:

An excellent, fun read you will enjoy

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Published: September 14, 2010
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Pages: 592
Rating: 4/5 stars

Description from Goodreads:

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Ethan Wate cannot wait to get out of his small hometown, Gatlin, South Carolina, where things have remained the same since the War Between the States. But as he starts his junior year in high school things begin to change. He is grieving the death of his mother in a car accident. A new girl has started school and she immediately catches his attention. Lena is the niece of Macon Ravenwood, the town recluse. Soon everything he thought he knew about his small town will be turned upside down and he will never be the same.


When Lena arrives Ethan begins to have strange dreams about her. When they finally meet he realizes that they can communicate in their minds without speaking. Strange events start happening and Lena finally reveals that she is a Caster, or a modern day witch hiding in plain sight. She introduces Ethan to the parallel world of the supernatural that exists right in the streets of Gatlin, alongside the normal ordinary world that he has always known. Lena is about to turn sixteen and when she does her fate as a either a Light (good) or Dark (evil) Caster will be determined. But as the day approaches events occur that will change them both forever. To get into more detail would spoil the book, just know that there are lots of surprises along the way.


This is a tender, realistic love story that is told in the first person by Ethan, an unusual twist as these types of stories are usually told from the female point of view. The writing in the book is wonderful and a treat to read. Set in the Deep South, the authors make the town come alive with detailed descriptions, traditions and social norms one would expect to see in a small southern town. The fast moving events held my interest and kept me wondering what would happen until the very end. Also included is the theme of cruelty to anyone who is different than the norm, a timely topic with the current focus on bullies. The hypocrisy found in small minded people is also explored. At 592 pages, it is quite a bit longer than similar YA novels, but it allows for full story development and I enjoyed having the story told in such detail. I never felt like the story was too long or that pages were added just to make the novel longer.


The book was named a New York Times best youth book for 2009, a well deserved award. The ending screams for a sequel, and one has been released, Beautiful Darkness, which I will review later next week.

Rating: An excellent, fun read, you will enjoy this one