Review of Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick

Bick, Ilsa J.  Monsters.  Egmont, 2013.

As Monsters begins, Alex is frantically trying to climb out of a mineshaft that is flooding due to an explosion in the mine. Peter is still stuck in one of Finn’s cages and is having hallucinations and acting like one of the Changed.  Chris is unconscious, lying underneath a spiked tiger cage.    Rule’s Spared are considered “Golden Children”—untouchable and entitled.

But Rule is running out of food, ammunition, and medicine.  The Awakened have grown tired of the Spared—Aiden, Greg, Lucian, Sam, Tori, and others—getting extra food and special treatment.  The Rule Elders are planning a mutiny against the Council and the Spared.  Kincaid, who is back in town, is keeping Jess in hospice, away from everyone.

Kids hiding in Oren—Hannah, Ellie, Jayden, and Eli--have discovered Chris underneath the tiger trap.  Hannah thinks he has too many injuries to save and gives him water containing a lethal poison to put him out of his misery.  This upsets Ellie, who wants to help him.

Alex, who was saved from the mine by Wolf and his gang of Changed, is now buried underneath the avalanche caused by the explosion.  Tom has gone out to look for her, hoping to find some indication that she is still alive.  However, he ends up fighting for his life against a Changed girl who has a strange look in her eyes.  While they are fighting, he notices someone watching from a distance in the trees.

Finn is still running experiments on the Changed.  He is giving them mind-altering drugs so he can control them.  He plans to attack and take over Rule.  Others are secretly working with him because everyone has a grudge to settle.  Weller and Mellie are keeping secrets from Tom and “his kids”.

Wolf finds Alex underneath the avalanche and is keeping her alive.  Even though there is not much "food” to go around to his gang members, he is keeping her safe while they travel.  She doesn’t know where they are going, but he has her carrying a medical pack.

All these plots weave together in an exciting climax in Monsters, the final book in the Ashes series.

Ilsa Bick has again given readers a riveting thriller of a novel!  Though there are a large number of characters, readers who have followed the other two books may remember them.  However, she has also put a refresher chapter at the end of the book to bring readers up to speed on characters and what was going on as Shadows ended.

The book is extremely character driven and nearly every character has a point of view in this installment.  At times, I had to put the book down and walk away due to the enormous amount of characters.  I needed time to absorb and mull over all the plot threads and their implications.

The novel is terrifying, gory, and dark, as are the other two volumes.  It seems like the characters have to overcome obstacle after obstacle, as more and more horrifying situations are thrown at them.  There is violence, and shock and awe, with twists and turns, as our three main characters—Alex, Tom, and Ellie—eventually make their way back together.

Fans of the series will not want to miss this ending!  I highly recommend it for high school, public, and middle school libraries that already have Ashes and Shadows.  I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Ashes by Ilse Bick

Ashes by Ilse J. Bick.  Egmont, 2011.

Seventeen-year-old Alex’s life has not been a picnic since she lost both of her parents in a medical helicopter crash four years earlier. After going to live with her Aunt Hannah, Alex discovers she has an inoperable brain tumor. She finally grows tired of the chemo, radiation, and experimental medical treatments and heads off to the Waucamaw Wilderness, a forest where she and her father used to go camping in Michigan. Her plan is to spread her parents' ashes somewhere in the Waucamaw.  One day while Alex is camping, sixty-five-year-old Jack Cranford, his nine-year-old granddaughter, Ellie, and her dog, Mina, show up during their morning hike. While talking to Jack, a strange and devastating event happens. Suddenly, Alex feels the most horrible pain in her head. Unbelievably, while she is paralyzed, birds fall from the sky and deer commit suicide by running off a cliff. When Alex is finally able to sit up, she discovers that she is bleeding and Jack is dead. Unwittingly, Alex becomes the guardian to Ellie, who is angry and resentful that her father was killed in Iraq. After the “Zap”, Alex surprisingly discovers that her sense of smell has returned. While trudging through the wilderness, Alex and Ellie meet up with Tom Eden, who saves them from a cannibalistic zombie and wild dogs.

Tom and Alex discover that changes have been caused by EMPs—electromagnetic pulses. It has disabled modern technological conveniences, like cars, phones, computers, and televisions and triggered nuclear radiation due to power plant failures. It has also caused teens to turn into flesh-eating zombies, “The Changed”, and has killed people between the ages of about twenty-six to sixty-five. Tom, Alex, Ellie, and Mina seek refuge at a ranger station, but eventually begin heading north in an old jeep. They are robbed by a group of elderly people, who also take Ellie and Mina and wound Tom. Eventually, Alex makes it to Rule, a small town in Michigan. She is part of a rescue team to help Tom, but by the time help arrives, Tom has disappeared. Alex is accepted into the town, but she soon discovers that she may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. The town is governed by the Council of 5, which consists of the families which founded Rule and have lived there for generations. The older teens and twenty-something youths are encouraged to “Choose” someone with which to live and eventually have children. Everyone has jobs within the town, and two brothers, Chris and Peter, often go off on long missions supposedly searching for food and other supplies. Unfortunately, the town and some of its residents are harboring secrets. Alex desperately wants to leave and search for Tom and Ellie, but she is attracted to Chris and is being lulled into the safety of Rule. Ultimately, it is Jess, one of the town elders who helps Alex escape. Too late, Alex discovers that Jess actually has ulterior motives and her own agenda for eliminating Alex.

Readers, hold onto your hats! What an intense and great ride and read this was! Ashes is a fast-paced and exciting novel! The main characters have strong and endearing personalities. There is a lot of information included about camping, hiking, and physics; the author has certainly done her research in these areas! The roadblocks that are placed in Alex’s, Tom’s, and Ellie’s paths…flesh-eating teenagers, crazed, thieving elderly people, wild dogs, and starvation, are almost insurmountable. The descriptions of “The Changed”, the cannibalistic teenagers, are horrific and terrifying. In addition, to think that sweet old people could turn into ruthless thieves, killers, and kidnappers is very creepy! This book is a real page turner! I was so upset when I got to the end and realized that the ending is a CLIFF HANGER! Boo hiss! So, look for a sequel! According to the author’s website, there will be two more books in the Ashes series. Ashes will be released on September 6, 2011. It will be followed by Shadows and Monsters.

This is one book you will not be able to put down! It is definitely for readers who can’t get enough of dystopian novels or zombies!! I highly recommend it book for high school and public libraries!

Reviewers note: The edition reviewed was an advanced readers’ copy from netgalley.com.

Review of The Complete History of Why I Hate Her by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

The Complete History of Why I Hate Her by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Atheneum, 2010.

In the summer before her senior year, Nola decides to take a summer job as a waitress at a Rocky Cove, a resort in Maine. Her sister, Song, is dealing with cancer, and while it is affecting the entire family, Nola is taking the brunt of the ordeal. While traveling on the bus to Maine, Nola meets Carly, who eventually becomes Nola’s roommate at the camp. While the girls bond quickly, Nola comes to realize that Carly is quite adept at manipulating and controlling people. When this character flaw begins to involve Song, Nola has to figure out how to release Carly’s hold on her and her sister.

While this book began slowly, the pace picked up around the middle and quickly sped to the end. The way that Nola allowed herself to have her identity nearly stolen by Carly was, at times, frightening. At one point, the two girls are so close that the other staff members referred to them as “The Cannolis”, a combination of Carly and Nola’s names.

Nola and her sister, Song, often create haiku for each other and also include them in their letters to one another in the summer. Carly picks up on this, and begins doing it, as well. The veiled implication that Carly has a mental disorder is never really brought out, but it soon becomes obvious that she needs to always be the center of attention, stealing others’ friends and even others’ ideas.

Girls will enjoy the book for its summer romances and friendships. I recommend this book for upper middle school, high school, and public libraries.