Release Date: June 5th, 2012
Genre: Apocalyptic
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 304
Rating:
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Summary:

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

Blurb: This book had me on the edge of my seat! ...and running to check my food storage every couple of minutes.

Review: I'll admit that when I first read the summary of this book... I wasn't wowed. And to be honest, I probably wouldn't have been in any hurry to read it if the author wasn't coming to my area next month.

HOLY COW. I'M SO GLAD I READ THIS BOOK.

For real, guys. This book grabs you by page one. Before you even know the name of the main character people are dying, things are exploding, and you're wow-ed out of your mind! And when they finally were safe inside the Greenway (Which is essentially a Wal-Mart) I thought to myself "Surely it must slow down now." Oh no. That same high-energy is maintained throughout the book, with just enough low-energy moments to stop you from pulling out all your hair from the stress.

The characters were also really interesting. Emmy created quite the hodge-podge of people in this book. No two characters are alike, although they might seem like it at first glance. Another interesting thing was that the narrator is male! There's nothing from the cover, summary, or anything that warns you of this. I read the first few pages thinking it was a female narrator, and it was very jarring to find out he was a guy. So... go in knowing that. But after I got over that shock, he was a very nice narrator. I love how he struggles with being himself, being "good," and being liked. Was a big fan of Dean by the end.

But, the reason why it's only a 4.5 stars instead of a perfect 5 is because there was quite a bit of sexual innuendo, as well as some substance abuse and swearing. Granted, some of the swearing was redacted (it looked like "f--------"), and some of the sexual content certainly added to the plot, but I can't absolutely adore a book with so much teen sex. It just makes me a little creepy crawly.

Along those same lines, though, this is a great crossover for those who only read contemporary or only read non-realistic fiction speculative fiction (like me). I think it's got enough contemporary elements to satisfy a contemporary reader, and enough apocalyptic elements to satisfy a non-realistic speculative reader (is there a word for that? Thank you, Q, for introducing me to the correct usage of "speculative")

All in all, an awesome debut. The book doesn't quite end in a "cliffhanger" per say, but it definitely leaves you begging for more. I literally begged Emmy for more. I HAVE to know what's going to happen next! Can't wait for Monument 15! (Just kidding. That's not actually what it's called)


Other Reviews:

• Books with Bite (Loved it!)
• Great Imaginations (It was okay)
• Book Labyrith (Didn't like it)

*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.