Dust to Dust

I feel like I haven't written in forever! Mostly because everywhere I stayed whilst on vacation had no wifi, and so no blog. I did finish Crossed by Ally Condie, Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson (reviewed previously) and Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick while I was on the drive, but I'm not going to review Crossed or Crescendo except to say that Crossed was great and Crescendo was not so great. Becca Fitzpatrick isn't my favorite. I just started reading The Enemy by Charlie Higson. Might be good. I think that is all I wanted to cover, so now onto my book of the day.
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick is book #1 in the Ashes trilogy. Book 2, Shadows, is coming out later this year. Ashes begins with a girl named Alex. She is hiking in the woods, trying to put the memories of her parents to rest, when all of a sudden a pulse hits the earth. The pulse kills every electronic device, knocks out all computerized systems, and kills millions of people. Soon Alex is on the run, trying to find others who survived the pulse. She forms a make-shift family with a small girl named Ellie, whose grandfather was killed by the pulse, and a young soldier named Tom. Together they cross the woods, in search of anyone. But the pulse appears to have done more than just kill. Kids are going mad, or something like it. Alex and Ellie come across a very gruesome display of just what this EMP (as Tom and Alex have named it) has done to the brains of many young people left. How can this family pulled together in a disaster make it through this world wracked with pain and destruction?
Ashes was really fantastic. I adored reading it, and couldn't put it down after I started it. The book was fast, smart, and horrifying. The idea that something as simple as an electromagnetic pulse could wipe out civilization as we know it is a little too real to feel safe as you read it. The characters were very well written and their pasts colliding was one of the better ways I have seen the people-brought-together-by-destruction theme that has been in books lately. Alex was a very complex character, and I felt like I knew her, but I was still in the dark enough to keep it interesting.
Oh, be forewarned, this book is not going to be OK for a few younger audiences. There were, I believe, 3 F-words very near the end of the book, along with some very very Gorey images. One near the very beginning was quit intense, and a little sickening, but it did add to the story. Overall, it was worth it. Very good book, and it's about time we saw the beginning of a dystopian disaster thriller. FINALLY a look at what caused the destruction!

Rating: 4.5/5