Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1)

Quite often you come across books that when you read you think, where had this book been all my life? Why the heck did I not read this until now? Let me start by saying I never read any survival based stories until now – I thought they were too raw and horrific for me to stomach (I never even watched Lost). Sure, I have read dystopic fiction but most of them are set in the distant future – like a few centuries after an apocalypse. But never a just-happened post-apocalypse story. So when I took up this book to read, I mentally prepared myself for the horror that usually accompanies such stories and I don’t regret taking this book at all. In fact, by the end of this book I am wide awake (which considering it’s 6am and me having read all night is quite a feat for the book). I just couldn’t put it down!

Ashes begins with Alex camping out and going forward to Lake Superior with a specific purpose in mind. She is a cancer patient who has gone through ever treatment imaginable and been told there is not much light left at the end of the tunnel, besides the proverbial white one. So, when in the midst of camping out and meeting an old man and his grand-daughter, an EMP strikes affecting the entire world, she is exhilarated to regain some of her lost senses – which seem to be sharper than before. Traversing through the trails with the kid and her dog, she meets Tom who saves them from the new danger of this new world – cannibalistic people whose brains got affected by the EMP, essentially Changed. They go out in search of help at the Ranger’s station and learn that the whole world has been made anew and the old rules no longer apply. Survival would be easier if they weren’t headed towards civilization and the three of them carved an existence for themselves. Soon, times comes for them to move and there are new dangers on the way. Without giving out spoilers, I’ll just say that Alex’s journey takes her through some weird community (which is ironically called Rule) where they have reverted back to older ways. In this new times, people like her, the Spared are a commodity and a hope for the future. And while she wants to escape this new life, some bigger things are also going into play. Let me just say – last two lines of the novel? Best cliffhanger ever! (I would hate the author if I didn’t already have the second book with me)

I cannot gush enough of the fact that the book was so well-written that I have chewed my nails to stubs and have been awake an entire night. The writing is so descriptive and realistic, and Alex puts a very nice perspective on things. She is slightly jaded, but a survivor – so she is hopeful. Most of the times, that’s what carries her forward, even though with her condition she could have just given up. Although the events leading up to her entering Rule do dampen her spirit to some extent, I feel at that point of time she was just tired of her life. The plot twists come out of nowhere and at times, you just hold your breath to read whats happening next. The gore and the horror – yep, this one’s not just for everybody. There are a lot of things going for this book though – don’t let the horror part scare you off. I am glad I took my chance with this book.

Quite often you come across books that when you read you think, where had this book been all my life? Why the heck did I not read this until now? Let me start by saying I never read any survival based stories until now – I thought they were too raw and horrific for me to stomach (I never even watched Lost). Sure, I have read dystopic fiction but most of them are set in the distant future – like a few centuries after an apocalypse. But never a just-happened post-apocalypse story. So when I took up this book to read, I mentally prepared myself for the horror that usually accompanies such stories and I don’t regret taking this book at all. In fact, by the end of this book I am wide awake (which considering it’s 6am and me having read all night is quite a feat for the book). I just couldn’t put it down!

Ashes begins with Alex camping out and going forward to Lake Superior with a specific purpose in mind. She is a cancer patient who has gone through ever treatment imaginable and been told there is not much light left at the end of the tunnel, besides the proverbial white one. So, when in the midst of camping out and meeting an old man and his grand-daughter, an EMP strikes affecting the entire world, she is exhilarated to regain some of her lost senses – which seem to be sharper than before. Traversing through the trails with the kid and her dog, she meets Tom who saves them from the new danger of this new world – cannibalistic people whose brains got affected by the EMP, essentially Changed. They go out in search of help at the Ranger’s station and learn that the whole world has been made anew and the old rules no longer apply. Survival would be easier if they weren’t headed towards civilization and the three of them carved an existence for themselves. Soon, times comes for them to move and there are new dangers on the way. Without giving out spoilers, I’ll just say that Alex’s journey takes her through some weird community (which is ironically called Rule) where they have reverted back to older ways. In this new times, people like her, the Spared are a commodity and a hope for the future. And while she wants to escape this new life, some bigger things are also going into play. Let me just say – last two lines of the novel? Best cliffhanger ever! (I would hate the author if I didn’t already have the second book with me)

I cannot gush enough of the fact that the book was so well-written that I have chewed my nails to stubs and have been awake an entire night. The writing is so descriptive and realistic, and Alex puts a very nice perspective on things. She is slightly jaded, but a survivor – so she is hopeful. Most of the times, that’s what carries her forward, even though with her condition she could have just given up. Although the events leading up to her entering Rule do dampen her spirit to some extent, I feel at that point of time she was just tired of her life. The plot twists come out of nowhere and at times, you just hold your breath to read whats happening next. The gore and the horror – yep, this one’s not just for everybody. There are a lot of things going for this book though – don’t let the horror part scare you off. I am glad I took my chance with this book.

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick was absolutely FANTASTIC. It was all kinds of creepy and gruesome and horrifying and utterly riveting, and even a bit romantic in certain parts.

You might look at the 480 page count of Ashes and be deterred. But let me just say – they flew by. I’d be on page 90 and then all of the sudden on page 202 and I could not believe I’d already read that much. The pacing of Ashes is absolutely brilliant and the story really, really sucks you in.

I loved the variety of characters. Alex was brave and yet terrified at the same time, and I really admired her for her actions throughout the book. There is a bit of a love triangle but not really? It’s hard to explain. And I really loved the character of Ellie, although she was (at times) a bit too mature for an 8 year old girl.

Just a fair warning to animal lovers like me – there are about 2 pages in Ashes that contains some pretty graphic dog attacking/dog death, but the rest of the book is SO worth it, so if you can stomach it or skip over it, I highly recommend reading Ashes despite it.

Overall, I freaking loved Ashes. I loved the pacing and the tone and the characters. Ashes has such an interesting concept – zombies but not zombies, and they’re not even really the whole focus of the book. And the ending was like whaaaaat! I absolutely can’t wait to read the next book in this series, Shadows, which releases some time next year.

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2011/09/ashes-by-ilsa-j-bick/

It took me longer than usual to get to this book, probably because the cover didn't really appeal to me, but wow. Just, wow. Ashes is beautiful, terrifying, real, painful and just plain scary. Usually, dystopian and apocalyptic novels, to me, are a representation of what life may be in the future, and generally happy and calm even when the characters meet conflict. But this pretty much just freaked me out, something that books don't do a lot to me. This is not only dystopia, but pure horror. Generally I have two reactions to horror novels:
1. I freak out and leave the book forever with this kind of face. O_O And then I cower beneath my blanket and hope the monster under the bed doesn't get me.
2. I read it, for the sake of trying to fool myself into thinking I'm not that chicken and end up liking it.
But Ashes wasn't just there to scare my pants off. It connected with me, like I was living in Alex's shoes. Alex, with her own baggage to get rid of. Ellie, who at first seemed like a bratty little sister but a character who I came to love afterwards. Tom, sweet and just plain good, even with his own secrets, who I cried over, something that doesn't happen a lot. The setting, very modern and real in the beginning morphing into a nightmare making the apocalypse seem not too far off in the distance, way too close for my own comfort. Any choice you make could be your last. (I think I read that from a book, but I don't remember . . .) I generally don't go around buying my books because of lack of money (I get 99% of my reads from the library), but all I want to do is go to the nearest bookstore to get a copy for myself and cry myself to sleep while reading this.

This book is a mega-loop-the-loop-roller-coaster-ride, so buckle up and hold on tight! Oh my gosh, I honestly could not put it down. Within only pages, I was beyond my family's grasp. It's riveting, terrifying, touching, heart-wrenching, hopeful, romantic, and tragic--and I loved it! It reminded me a lot of Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin, but Ashes is most definitely YA, while I think Rot & Ruin is still upper MG friendly.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'm trying to keep this review vague. I want to make it absolutely clear, though, that for the dystopian, zombie-loving readers out there, this is a WINNER! It will rock your world.