Author: Ilsa J. Bick Her Site
Series: Ashes (#2)
Genre: Apocalyptic, Dystopian/YA Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Moral: 4/5
The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive. Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love. But she was wrong. Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.
You know that moment in the book, where you just sit there and think, "Oh, this author is evil"?
Well if you don't, I would recommend reading Shadows. I was thrilled by the quick paced plot and the mysteries unraveled. I can't even put to words how decisive and enthralling the book really is. Oh, and that die hard ending!
The Plot:
It was brilliant. As I said before, it was fast paced and mysterious. There was five times the amount of action from the first book, Ashes, and I am pretty sure Ilsa has perfected the art of writing gore. What got me most was the crazy twists Ilsa threw in. One moment, your routing for someone to win, and the next moment you realize that they are fighting the good people!
The Characters:
In the first book, we met Alex. She was a great main character and fun to read about, but in Shadows the viewpoint switches between roughly five people, with an added few. So, not only is there the thrill of connecting all the people and places, Shadows has a broad cast of unique characters.
I really enjoyed this book, though there was some rough language. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't enjoy lots of blood.
The Setting:
Well, with so many view points comes tons of atmospheres. It switches from wandering the woods with a pack of 'wolves', to fighting in the street, all with the turn of a page. The snow was beautiful. It was annoying to the characters, and added yet another stumbling block in their paths. The descriptions were fascinating and weren't overdone. It wasn't a standout to me, but I understand how incredibly important pieces of it were to the plot and story-line.
The Setting:
Well, with so many view points comes tons of atmospheres. It switches from wandering the woods with a pack of 'wolves', to fighting in the street, all with the turn of a page. The snow was beautiful. It was annoying to the characters, and added yet another stumbling block in their paths. The descriptions were fascinating and weren't overdone. It wasn't a standout to me, but I understand how incredibly important pieces of it were to the plot and story-line.
The Standout:
The deceptive style is currently my favorite. Ilsa has this way of writing the book so that you can never quite trust anyone. It was like a YA version of The Walking Dead. It seemed to me that the book was showing how often there isn't just two sides. There is people with different ideas everywhere. Almost everyone believes what they are doing is right. Although, you do have those few people who are just plain evil. I loved that you could never really tell what someone was going to do. It was this constant fear, "Did he really just kill her! I thought he was the good guy?" and stuff like that.
The Moral:
Fight for what you believe in and never stop!
Well that is what I got from Shadows. It was inspiring and convicting. I loved how the terrible things happening stared you right down and you had to choose what side you wanted to be on. There wasn't sex, but there was tons of gory scenes and profanity.
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