Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Release date: September 6, 2011
Synopsis (Goodreads):

It could happen tomorrow...

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."
Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

My Thoughts:  Guys, I love post-apocalyptic books.  Love them.  There's something about the breakdown of society that gives me the good shivers.  This book hit all my broken society buttons and then some.  Alex's fight to survive is chilling and I kept thinking "How much more can she take before she crumbles?"  I'm talking about a literal, physical fight for survival.  She's up against the elements and a lack of water, wild animals and even wilder people.  She's already dealing with some pretty big issues before this fat bag of OMG! gets dumped on her.

I liked Alex from the beginning.  She's not your normal girl.  On so many levels.  She's dealing with death head-on in a way that most people will never see.  She has survival skills that rival the most seasoned rangers.  She's smart and quick on her feet.  Yet, I never felt like she was too much.  She's not perfect, she just has the perfect skill set for the circumstances she finds herself in.  Even when things start to turn around and get better, she keeps her eyes open and doesn't allow herself to stop fighting for the things she believes in.

I will say this: This book ends on a cliffhanger.  A Cliff.Hanger.  The type where you're dangling from your fingertips and you want to scream in agony that there isn't MORE!  In a good way, guys.  In a good way.  I was so caught up in Alex's world that ending brought a special type of pain.  The type that makes you look around and start obsessively googling when the next book will be coming out.

So, yeah.  Excellent book.  I keep wondering where Ilsa J. Bick is going to take the next part of the story and how things can possibly turn out well in a world that's so terribly screwed up.

More books by Ilsa J. Bick

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Ashes was provided for review by Egmont Publishing through NetGalley.