Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Title: Ashes 

Author: Ilsa J. Bick

Publisher: Egmont USA

Publishing Date: September 6, 2011

Pages: 465

Genre: Young Adult Apocalyptic

Series: Ashes Trilogy

Source: Book

 

It could happen tomorrow . . .
An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.
Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.
For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.
Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

Ashes is an apocalyptic book, about a teenage girl named Alex, who experiences a shock wave that causes electronics to short, animals to go crazy, and teens to become zombies. The book follows her, a young girl, and another teenager as they try to make their way to civilization, and to find out what exactly happened, and why. 

Why I picked up this book: 

I'm not really sure where this book came from, I think Jenn had given it to me a while back. I have been away from reading for a while, just with having a new job, moving, and everything else going on in my life. I had this book on the bookshelf in my room and I kept glancing at it. I decided that I wanted to get back into reading again, and I figured why not start with the book that kept catching my eye.

What did I like about this cover: 

I have the edition where the yellow words go from top to bottom of the whole book. It looked creepy and mysterious. 

What made me read this book: I always like anything apocalyptic, and well the synopsis sounded really interesting. Like I had said before, I kept seeing it on my shelf and something really drew me to read it. 

What did I like most: 

I really liked the main character, she was resourceful, strong, sarcastic, and didn't give up. She had every chance to be whiny and just give up and she didn't. I feel like all of the characters were built up really well, along with the story line. I also really liked how unique the book was, most apocalyptic books are all the same, or have the same idea at least. Zombies, electricity going out, some sort of virus making everyone sick. I won't give any spoilers, but let's just say it was pretty original with it's apocalyptic-ness. This book really kept me wanting to read, because I never knew what would happen. It kept me on my toes the whole time, and it didn't take long for the story to get going.

What didn't I like: 

It was a little confusing at times. There were a few times I had to go back and reread sentences to understand what was going on. It did get a little slow maybe three quarters of the way through, and I just had to get over that little hump. Once I did though, it right back into wanting me to read more. I also don't like that the next book is even longer, and the one after that is monstrous (Ha.. get it? Because the third one is called monsters.. No? Not funny? Okay..) Anyway, I don't like that they keep getting bigger because I want to hurry up and read them, and so I can move on to other books. I just can't make that kind of commitment to books of that size right now.

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me wanting to read more and I wasn't annoyed by anyone in the book. Which is pretty impressive because I always get annoyed by people in books. The ending made me want to jump right into the next one. Which I will, soon.

Among other things, I was an English major in college and so I know that I'm supposed to write things like, "Ilsa J. Bick is ." Except I hate writing about myself in the third person like I'm not in the room. Helloooo, I'm right here . . . So let's just say that I'm a child psychiatrist (yeah, you read that right)as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe (meaning I did an internship in surgery and LOVED it and maybe shoulda stuck), former Air Force major—and an award-winning, best-selling author of short stories, e-books, and novels. Believe me, no one is more shocked about this than I . . . unless you talk to my mother.