Arden Highmore is
majorly cynical, but even she wouldn’t have predicted the end of the
world–or at least the world as she knew it. One winter day, everything
modern society has grown to rely on–electricity, cell phones, and,
unfortunately, plumbing—stops working. Arden and her best friend, John,
flee to his family’s cabin near the Canadian border. On the way there,
they’re assaulted by scavengers, but saved by John’s hot brother,
Gabriel, who takes an instant dislike to Arden.
The duo think they’ve finally found refuge at the Seong’s cabin, but things aren’t quite as peaceful as they seem: John’s parents are missing. Maggie, their teenage sister, resents Gabriel for treating her like a child. No one knows what, exactly, is going on in the outside world, and in the midst of all that, Arden and Gabriel are finding that there’s a thin line between love and hate, indeed.
The duo think they’ve finally found refuge at the Seong’s cabin, but things aren’t quite as peaceful as they seem: John’s parents are missing. Maggie, their teenage sister, resents Gabriel for treating her like a child. No one knows what, exactly, is going on in the outside world, and in the midst of all that, Arden and Gabriel are finding that there’s a thin line between love and hate, indeed.
You know what? This was pretty good! First, I want to say how much I absolutely hate the blurb for this one. It gives away too much information!! I, personally, want something a bit more vague ... grab my attention but don't give me the deets! Le sigh.
Other than that ... as I said, it was pretty good! I really enjoyed the first chapter ... the suspense and scariness of it all was absolute perfection for a first chapter. I love being thrown into a book that is in the middle of a situation and not knowing exactly why or how or anything! It kicks up the adrenaline and sets up the rest of the book wonderfully. The rest of the book went kind of the same way! There were a few times when I felt like it was long winded and I found myself skimming a paragraph or two but that was probably because I'm impatient and I wanted to get to the excitement.
I haven't read an apocalypse book ... ever, I think. I can't think of one that I've read ... sure, I've read bundles of dystopian novels but not an apocalypse. So this was a nice change of pace, getting involved in a soon to be dystopian environment right from the beginning. It was interesting to follow the characters as they are trying to traverse this new lifestyle and brave the new world that may or may not last for the rest of their lives.
The characters were endearing ... I really loved Gabriel almost right from the beginning. It was hard not to! And then John and Arden and Maggie were all equally captivating. I think I would have been a little happier if I had known more about each of their pasts though. It would have made the story just a bit deeper and I would have enjoyed that.
Between the new environment, the excitement, the romance and the lighthearted moments, I found myself wanting more with each page. Someone did say in another review that it seemed a little childish at moments but I didn't get that at all. I think that the characters were bored in their situation (who wouldn't be) and the way that they let off a little steam was a nice break from their dreary new life. All in all, a good book and I'll be interested to see what the next in the series holds!
Available February 2nd, 2015
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