Review of Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

 Ireland, Justina.  Deathless Divide.  Balzer+Bray, 2020.

This second installment of the Dread Nation duology picks up right where the first book ended.  During the Years of Discord, the time period just after 1863, “shamblers”, or zombies, have taken over the settlement of Summerville, Kansas.  Jane McKeene and Kathryn Deveraux have decided to travel together, heading to Nicodemus, Kansas, the site of a Negro settlement founded by Freedmen and Quaker settlers.  It is supposed to be a secure, welcoming refuge, but it turns out to be just another social-experimental community run by deceitful and criminal characters.  When Nicodemus is also overrun by shamblers, the girls part ways, each heading down their own path.  These two black girls trained in the art of fighting shamblers started out as enemies but ended up as frenemies.  They eventually hope to make their way to Haven, California, a safe Negro settlement near Sacramento, where they believe Jane’s mother is living.  Along the way, they each endure heartbreak, sacrifice, and challenges.

This well-crafted historical-fantasy series has such an unusual concept—that of black, mostly female, zombie hunters during the Civil War and Reconstruction Period. If you are looking for a book that is character-driven and has warrior heroines, look no further.  Both Jane and Kathryn, plus a few other minor characters, have spunk, grit, and determination.  They manage to overcome obstacles within a sinister setting and find intelligent ways out of dangerous situations.  The book is told in alternating chapters in both of their voices, and each chapter begins with a quote either from Shakespeare, the Bible, or some other literary work.  

This series contains, numerous social conflicts—exploitation of the black race, social tensions between native Americans and black characters, and relations between Chinese families and other races.  Add to those conflicts the themes of racism, nationalism, identity, kinship, resilience, immigration, bioethics, and vaccinations, and you have plot that is rich in layers and textures.

Hand this series to readers who love action, zombie stories, and alternative historical fiction.  While it is not necessary to have read the first book, it would be extremely helpful.  I had to go back and reread parts of Dread Nation to bring myself back up to speed.  I highly recommend this book and the whole series to high school and public libraries, and I give it five out of five fleur de lis!

Review of The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Carey, M.R.  The Girl With All the Gifts.  Orbit, 2014.

Melanie loves school and soaks up new information like a sponge.  She is inquisitive and has the IQ of a genius.  She would also do anything in the world for her wonderful teacher, Miss Justineau.  So why is she, along with a roomful of other children, kept strapped to a wheelchair instead of being able to run and play?  And why don't the guards laugh when she tells them that she won’t bite?  Melanie and the other children are “hungries”, or zombies.  However, when most of the population has succumbed to the parasite that has changed them, these children still have human traits, emotions, and an elevated level of intelligence.  They are even able to control, to some extent, their desire for human flesh.

Every now and then Melanie notices that students disappear from her classroom and never return.  It is revealed that the children are test subjects for a project run by Dr. Caldwell, a scientist employed by the British government.  She is in the process of cutting portions of their brains and studying how the parasite affects them.

When the base is attacked by “hungries” and “junkers”, violent human nomads, Melanie, Miss Justineau, and Dr. Caldwell flee in a humvee driven by Sergeant Parks, the head guard at the base, and Private Gallagher, another guard.  They must work together and get along to try to reach the city of Beacon safely.   It may be the only town left in all of England.

This fast-paced novel is intended for adults, but I consider it to also be a crossover novel for young adults.  In the summary, it is not revealed to be a zombie novel, but readers will make that discovery by the end of the first chapter.

Pandora’s Box, Melanie’s favorite story, plays a big part in the plot, hence the book’s title.  Relationships are significant, especially the one between Melanie and Miss Justineau.  Readers will learn a lot about zombie science and the way the human brain operates.  The novel is filled with action and adventure--there are chase scenes, shootouts, and gruesome, gory deaths.  The story is told in multiple points of view, and the characters are interesting and mulitfacted.

Readers will enjoy this new, refreshing take on zombies.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!

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 Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick.  Egmont, 2012.

The second installment of the apocalyptic Ashes series picks up where the first book left off.  Alex has left the town of Rule to search for Tom and Ellie and is taken captive by a group of “The Changed”.  This faction has adapted to their new lives by learning how to use weapons, cooperate with each other, and even ski!  However, they are still deadly, zombie-like killers. 

An elderly couple has given refuge to Tom; they are desperately trying to replace the void in their lives left by the death of their son.  Peter has been taken captive by a vigilante group who are performing experiments on “Chuckies” and “Spared”.  Chris, Lena, Kincaid, and Nathan are “rescued” on their way to the Rule jail and sent off, defenseless, to Oren.    Other citizens of Rule are actually traitors and liars who will say and do anything to keep their “Changed” children and grandchildren alive and support their own agenda!

The paths of the some main characters will soon surprisingly cross, culminating in a tense, exciting climax that will leave readers hanging and drooling for the third book!  I don’t want to give anything away, so that is much as I can reveal!

Shadows is a thrilling, gory, and exciting book!  However, if readers want to be able to follow what is going on in the plot, they might want to reread Ashes, especially the parts about Rule.  I read Shadows twice and made extensive notes about characters and plot in the second time through, just to keep track of everything!  In fact, I caught many things when I read it for the second time that I had missed on my first read.  Many of the characters are citizens of Rule, and while they are more developed, there are also new characters that appear briefly and then are killed off. 

 

Ashes alternated between the viewpoints of Alex and Tom, but Shadows contains numerous points of view, as well as many flashbacks.  The complicated plotlines are all going on at one time, so get ready to change personalities often!  This might be a little confusing at first, but readers will eventually get used to it.

There is plenty of action, blood, and gore for readers to enjoy.  There is even an orgy scene, although it is just alluded to, rather than described.  Readers who have read Drowning Instinct will notice a similarity between a particular scene in that book and one in Shadows.  In addition, the Amish culture and language is cleverly woven into this story. 

Revenge and retribution are apparently going to play a large part in the third book.  As with Ashes, there are plot twists and turns and a cliffhanger ending that will leave readers drooling for the final book in the series, Monsters, which will make its debut in about a year.

Ashes will be released on September 25, 2012.  I highly recommend this book for high school and public libraries!

*Reviewers note:  The copy reviewed was obtained at ALA MidWinter from Egmont in exchange for an honest review.

Updated Trailer! Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick; Egmont, 2011.

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.