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YA Audiobook Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

9/5/2012

7 Comments

 
Ashes cover
Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1)
Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Publication Date: 9/6/11
Publisher: Egmont USA
[Goodreads | Amazon | Audible]


Blurb(GR)
: It could happen tomorrow . . .

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.

Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.

For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.


Review:

I don’t read too many of these survival-y books anymore, especially when they’re of the young adult variety. I tend to get bored and zone out when confronted with pages and pages of endless action, but I’m in a book club now and I’m trying to be good. I felt especially obligated to read this one because I already skipped the one from last month. Even though this book is very decidedly an ACTION, gore, survival, DRAMA read, I’m glad I tried it. 

The best part of this book for me was that it was narrated by Katherine Kellgren. She’s one of my all-time favorite audiobook narrators, and as Flannery pointed out, I may or may not have somewhat of a crush on this woman. (The most awesome thing is that if we got married and had the same last name, except for our first initials we’d essentially have the same name. That would probably come in handy for taxes and stuff.) The worst part of this book for me was the ACTIONACTIONACTION, which is about 75% of the book. Thankfully, when Katherine Kellgren is narrating those parts she reminds me so much of Anne Shirley reciting The Highwayman in the Kevin Sullivan adaptation of Anne of Green Gables that I couldn’t help smiling through my utter boredom. 

The book begins as the main character Alex heads out for an extended camping trip in the wilderness. She's been struggling with cancer for several years and has finally decided to seize what life she has left and enjoy it – in the woods. Which, except for the seclusion, is completely not how I would choose to spend my remaining days. Give me a nice hotel room with a well-stocked pantry, internet access, and a giant library so I don’t need to speak to anyone and we’re golden. Or failing that, how about indoor plumbing? I feel like indoor plumbing is a necessity for my final days. Anyway, it turns out that Alex made the right choice in this situation because a few days into her trip an electromagnetic pulse kills off the majority of the adult population, leaving behind hordes of teenage cannibalistic killing machines and only a handful of the elderly (why this strange pulse kills some and zombifies others is never really explained). Alex is one of the few teenagers left “spared” and with Ellie, a young girl she meets at her campsite and Tom, another spared, she struggles to navigate this new world.

This book is wilderness survival from start to finish, but the electromagnetic pulse-activated zombie teenager survival and controlling cult society survival (which she throws in at around the halfway point) really kept me interested. Water rationing/shelter building/foraging for food can only entertain me for so long – give me twisty/dark psychological action and survival and I can hang in there.  Ellie is one of the most annoying little girl characters in the entire world, and this is coming from someone who has the kind of tolerance for little girl whining that can only be gained through almost seven years of constant exposure to it. I also had a hard time with Alex’s feelings for Tom (as if you didn’t see that coming). Her perceived connection to him felt way too sudden for me, although by the end of the first half I could see why they would be fairly close.

It’s mainly for these reasons that I am probably the only person (if all of my friends’ reviews are to be believed) who actually liked the second half of this book more than the first. Number one, I was quite happy to see Tom and Ellie exit the stage. Number two, the crazy claustrophobic and misogynistic environment of Rule was so much more interesting than the woods. However, by the end Alex’s voice really started to grate on me - to the point where I actually started longing for a little Ellie time. I felt like Alex spent every single moment when she wasn’t engaging in ACTIONACTIONACTION either debating with herself about hypothetical details or making wild conjectures about Rule – all without spending any time actually looking for evidence that would support her theories. She just makes assumption after assumption after assumption. It drove me insane. Her actions at the end of the book make absolutely no sense to me.

Overall, this was an entertaining read with a fantastic narrator that kept me going through the more tedious portions of my life. It ends on a massive cliffhanger, so be prepared for that. I was unable to stop myself from requesting the sequel and plowing right into it. I’ll be posting a review for Shadows later this week!  

3/5 Stars 
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7 Comments
Maja
9/4/2012 08:47:17 pm

As you know, I'm one of those people who enjoyed the first half much more. It's strange how she split the book in half, almost as if she couldn't decide which story to tell. Truth be told, I read this a while ago and I remember little except being thoroughly annoyed by the second half.
Btw, where's the music?!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/5/2012 11:20:46 am

Yeah, in many ways this book seems sort of...unplanned to me. That feeling was reinforced more by the sequel.

I did think of a song, but I felt too worn out to add it in. I might save it for the review of the sequel though. Comfort yourself with Anne? :)

Reply
April Books & Wine link
9/5/2012 05:07:26 am

My boyfriend really liked Ashes when he read it, but he's really into zombies and action.

I, myself, am on the fence between the audio and the physical copy that I already have. You know those people who can't switch formats -- can't go from physical to audio and then back to physical? I am one of those people. So, I'm all like, well if I listen to Katherine Kellgren's AWESOME narration of Ashes then I am going to have to wait to listen to Shadows rather than just diving into the ARC I have.

Not that I need to unload that whole weird dilemma in your comments.

Also? Anne Of Green Gables? #WINNING

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/5/2012 11:32:35 am

Yes, these books are all about the ACTION - and if your boyfriend loved that in the first book, he will adore the second. The second book is pretty much 100% action from start to finish.

I missed KK for sure while I was reading the galley but I just needed to know what happened. It ends on such a huge cliffhanger...I didn't really care about switching mediums. Although I guess I'm usually not tooooo fussy about that. Sometimes I am though - when I occasionally favor the print. Sometimes I just can't listen to certain books.

Anne is the best! I love the end of that speech, when Gilbert gives her a standing ovation. <3

Reply
Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
9/6/2012 12:06:16 pm

I've skipped so many book club picks -- and months later, I still won't let other members discuss them in front of me. Worst book club member ever! Haha. I think I'm more interested in reading this for your future wife than the actual plot. What else does Katherine Kellgren narrate, Catie?

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
9/6/2012 12:17:25 pm

I suspect that this is much more interesting as an audiobook. I mainly know her as the narrator of the Bloody Jack series (by L.A. Meyer) but I just looked and it turns out that she also narrated Monstrous Beauty!! I just checked it out thanks to Noelle's review. How exciting!

Reply
Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
9/6/2012 12:33:24 pm

Ooh, I'll start with this or Monstrous Beauty then!




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