Ashfall by Mike Mullin Review

Title: Ashfall (Ashfall #1)

Author: Mike Mullin

Genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic

Page Count: 466 pages

Publish Date: October 11, 2011

Book Type: Kindle galley from Netgalley 

Publisher: Tanglewood Press

ISBN: 9781933718552

 

From Goodreads: Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

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.

My Review: Oh I really enjoyed this book. One thing is for certain, if I was in Alex’s situation, I would totally be dead. What he went through was absolutely awful. I cannot imagine having to go through any of that. While this was a long book, the pacing was done very well, so it never felt like a long book--if that makes sense.

I was amazed, but I guess not that surprised, at how quickly the society crumbled. In Ashfall, there were the people who completely fell apart, the people who thrived, and then everyone else who were sort of in between. It was very interesting to see how the people a greater distance away from the supervolcano were handling it. I don’t want to say too much, because I think this is one that you should read for yourself, but the character development was pretty exceptional.  

One of my favorite aspects of this book was that I felt like I was really learning some survival skills while reading. I could definitely tell that Mike Mullin did his research, so I can’t wait to see what new skills Alex and the gang learn throughout the rest of the series. [Does anyone know if this is a planned trilogy? More? Just two?]

I’m so glad I have Ashen Winter waiting for me on my Kindle - I’m not sure I could wait until fall to read it!

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa Review

Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)

Author: Julie Kagawa @Jkagawa

Genre: Young Adult, Vampire, Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic

Page Count: 480 pages

Publish Date: April 24, 2012

Book Type: Kindle galley from Netgalley, Signed Hardcover

Publisher: Harlequin Teen @HarlequinTeen

ISBN: 9780373210510

From Goodreads: In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.        Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters. Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

My Review: The cover model isn’t exactly how I pictured Allison Sekemoto to look, but I like how it’s essentially black and white with only the red accent. Plus, I read this book in two days--which for a 480 page book is pretty good for me. It was a pretty hard book to put down!

Julie Kagawa did something really smart here. She combined two of the most popular Young Adult genres: dystopian and vampires. This may seem like overkill, but it actually worked really well. I was starting to get sick of vampire books because they all seem to have a very similar Twilight-esque formula. This is why I absolutely adored the addition of the dystopian society.

The registered and unregistered humans in The Immortal Rules reminded me a lot of my favorite Young Adult vampire series, The Morganville Vampires, by Rachel Caine. This made me really excited and added an extra element of danger to the world Kagawa created. Kagawa is an amazing world builder and a master of character development. In all of her books, I can picture everything vividly. It makes the reading experience that much more enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the characters in The Immortal Rules. Allie was an excellent protagonist and pretty badass. Zeke was a complex character who made some very interesting choices. I want to get to know Kanin more because of his extremely rich history. I have a feeling we will get to know more about him in future books and that makes me so excited. The rabids in the book were pretty genuinely terrifying. I definitely wouldn’t want to face them.  

Overall, this is one of the best Young Adult vampire novels I have read in a long time. I’m impatiently waiting for the sequel!

Side note: The excerpt from the next Iron Fey novel was kind of awesome! 

Thanks to Harlequin Teen, NetGalley, and Julie Kagawa for this review copy. Also, a special thanks to Harlequin Teen and Julie Kagawa for the signed copy and Immortal Rules hoodie I won on Twitter!