Review Detail

Ashes, Shadows and Monsters – this trilogy has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I have never read survival novels, simply because I used to feel they are so depressing and slow. But Monsters wasn’t like that – the first few chapters were a bit slow, with Alex trying to escape from the collapsed mine. But from the moment she is rescued by an unlikely ally, the story just plunges into a whirlwind. The book is so long and divided into parts – at which I had to pause because man, this book is a rush! My heart was palpitating wildly from the shifts in voices, the events in the book, the horrifying incidents, the shocking reveals – it was all so exciting that I was getting tired from reading. I wish I could say I read this book in one stretch, but I couldn’t and it wasn’t the book’s fault too. It was just so overwhelming for me, and in a good way.

The story may have begun with Alex but everything had to end at Rule. Everything that Finn did, the children kept at Oren, the Changed – all had to culminate in Rule. And to reach there, the lead characters all had to go through so much. Each of them – you come to love to them will all their faults. When survival is at stake, people are forced to make tough decisions. Even in Rule, the rules are no longer supporting the community. Anarchy is rising and war is coming to their doorstep. The way these events happen – it’s just brilliant. You rejoice when the characters reunite, you mourn when someone dies – it’s so many feelings you go through. The only thing I was disappointed with was that it was never revealed what caused the Zap – it was explained why it wouldn’t be explained (smart) but still, I wanted to know. The epilogue – The Long Walk – was equal parts heart-breaking, with the characters getting closure and equal parts uplifting, because even with the last line, the author left us hope.

So, I say – even if this isn’t your genre, take that leap – the writing alone is worth it.