Ashes, Book One
by Ilsa J. Bick
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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.
IB Teenie Reviews Ashes:
Reading Ashes felt like I was being in the drivers seat of a car I had no control over. I thought I was braced for punishment- I knew cannibalistic zombie-like people were now the majority of the population- but each turn of the page revealed a new and jarring shock. And while I didn't love each new development (a huge section of the book angered me), a post apocalyptic novel should never go according to plan. By their very nature these books should make you feel uncomfortable and angry. Besides, the upside to any developments you don't like, just wait a couple chapters and everything will change again.
My only real disappointment had to do with Alex, the heroine of Ashes. Everything was going as I hoped, she was strong, resourceful, honorable, and trustworthy. But that twist that upset that knife edge balance of the book, the one that drove me nuts, was mostly because it showed the flaw in Alex. Her actions lessened the emotions from earlier relationships, and made her seem.... weak and easily manipulated. Maybe she was just sacred.
The cliffhanger at the end of Ashes is especially vicious because we are left hanging at the precipice of mayhem. All in all, this is an apocalyptic origins story, of which there are too few, and one I highly recommend. I can't wait for book two, Shadows, coming in 2012.
