Ashes

   Ilsa J Bick's 'Ashes' was given to me by one of my Mum's friends. As she gave it to me, she said and I quote, "I know you're into vampires and Twilight stuff so here's a book about zombies." Zombies and vampires are totally different but I was still touched by her gesture. Ashes has probably been in my bookshelf for over a year and as my room is so disorganized at the moment, I was pleasantly surprised to find it in the mess and finally got to reading it.

   In my opinion, what sets Ashes apart from other novels in the same genre is the fact that it isn't set in a distant future; the events that occur in Bick's book could literally happen tomorrow, which is what makes the novel so chilling. As the novel begins, the reader is introduced to Alex Adair, a teenager with a brain tumour that is not responding to treatments. Alex is on a sole hike in the woods on a mission to say farewell to her dead parents and face her personal demons. There, an unexpected electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, killing billions, seemingly curing some people like Alex, heightening some of their senses while others (mostly teenagers) are 'Changed' into cannibalistic, violent and animal like 'zombies'.

   The first part of this book was awesome. I always ask my friends what they'd do in a zombie apocalypse (I seriously believe that we should prepare ourselves for such things) and Ashes gives many good tips for such an occurrence. I learned from the book that I'd be totally screwed in a zombie apocalypse as I cannot survive in the woods (making a fire etc is a foreign notion to me) my vision is abysmal sans my glasses, I've stopped doing sport so I'm now out of shape and would probably be unable to run away from speedy flesh eaters and so on. I think you get my drift. Anyway, back to the first half of Ashes. This is definitely not a good book to read whilst eating. Bick's vivid descriptions of humans feasting on the eyeballs and organs of fellow humans had me gagging into my dinner and I nearly threw up on multiple occasions.

  Alex's characterisation is very strong as well. It's good to have a strong, female lead that does not let her illness define her life and weigh her down. Alex is no Bella Swan, I'll tell you that. Although it seemed all too convenient that Alex just happens to bump into Tom Eden in the woods, a young soldier who also happens to be an explosives specialist and survival expert, I'll let Bick off for that as he too is a strong character with secrets that intrigue the audience. The character of Ellie Cranford, an eight year old girl that Alex is forced to care for after her grandfather dies in 'the zap' was highly irritating though. I understand that she was like this because she's experienced a fair amount of turmoil in her young life but still, I was not that annoying when I was eight (I hope).

  Now for my opinion on the second part of the novel. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first half because it just lacked the energy and action of the first. The characters that we as an audience come to care for, Ellie and Tom, are totally absent and Alex becomes the involuntary prisoner of an Amish like community called 'Rule'. This half of the book is too convuluted plot wise and genre wise (is it sci fi, romance, fantasy or a combination of all three?) and there were too many characters that I didn't care for. However, the book is saved by the ending, which was such a cliffhanger with so many unanswered questions and as Ashes is the first book of the trilogy, I will most certainly read the next book, 'Shadows'.

  Despite my whinging, I actually enjoyed Ashes. Yes, it was slightly Hunger Games-y at times with the killer teenagers, a bit The Host-y at times with the small community of survivors and even a bit Twilight-like with the ruling council of the Rule resembling the Volturi (you'll get it when you read the book). Nevertheless, Ilsa J Bick was very successful in exposing the negative aspects to human nature that tend to surface when disaster strikes: greed, selfishness and doing whatever it takes to survive, even at the expense of the lives of others. Bring on the sequel!

Rating 3.5/5 ***

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ashes-Trilogy-Ilsa-J-Bick/dp/0857382624