Review - Blackout by Mira Grant

Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn't end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there's one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it's this:

Things can always get worse.

I read Blackout by Mira Grant so quickly after reading Deadline that it's still a little fuzzy where one book ended and the other began. I'm still not 100% certain I didn't add some details from book 3 in my review for book 2. Oops.

I will say that I have never been so obsessed with a series of books in a LONG time. I literally could not put these down. I'd read at red lights while I was driving (ONLY at the red lights), took it to my daughter's gymnastics class to pass the hour and 15 minutes I had to wait, read until I fell asleep at night, took it to read while I waited for my kids to finish with Girl Scouts.

Fantastic series.

Shaun is still a little crazy, but his team is there for him. George v.2 is lucky to have people working in the ranks of the CDC to remove her and return her to her brother. Or... not return her I guess since technically she's a clone and she's never ACTUALLY met him before. But she remembers him. She remembers him because, more or less, George v.1's brain was scanned and implanted in to George v.2. She is 97% actual Georgia Mason.

So in this particular installment there are, as the blurb states, zombie bears, infected mosquitos, backstabbing doctors, hostage presidents, tropical storms, foxes, cats, monkeys (read it and you'll know what I mean)... It's a lot of action and not everyone comes out of it unscathed. Maggie is injured and Becks... well... she was a hero in the end.

Like I said before, I was totally obsessed with this series. It didn't matter that a lot of the information on the scientific aspect of things didn't really stick with me, I caught the general idea of what was being said during those parts. That's what mattered.

How often does your favorite character die, or does the main character/hero of the story die and you just WISH the author would write a new one and bring them back some how? How often do you watch movies and someone dies and you just sit there stunned with your mouth hanging open going "Well that can't possibly have actually happened.... they'll be back in another episode... RIGHT?!?" Well, a big round of applause to Mira Grant because she found a way to bring George back. Sure it may not sit well with some reviewers, but honestly... how many of you didn't at least say "Wow, that sucks" just once after she died in Feed? I think I admitted that I cried. Just a little. ::cough::

And how many of you weren't totally heartbroken that Shaun was just going completely off the deep end?

I didn't really know what to do when I finished this book. It's one of those stories that just kind of leaves you breathless after not giving you a chance to sit still the entire time you're reading it. The whole series I mean. Not just this book in particular.

Normally I would say I wish there were more books following Blackout. And in a way, I do. I would love to see more of this highly technological post-apocalyptic world. But I think that Shaun and George deserve some time off.

I would highly recommend this series. To ages 16 and above, if I haven't said it before as there are some mature situations (aside from all the dying and stuff). It's quite an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse story and one that I think is absolutely fantastic. Just once, the world doesn't completely fold in on itself and die. It ADVANCES! How cool is that? There are also some really interesting tidbits at the end of the stories that sort of add to them or perhaps help you to understand them better. So, if you've been on the fence about reading the Newsflesh Trilogy, hop off and go open it up!

Review - Deadline by Mira Grant

Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has.

But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news-he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.

Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun.

I admit it... I cried at the end of Feed by Mira Grant. The beginning, middle, and most of the end of Deadline did nothing to help the heartbreak leftover from the first book.

Poor Shaun is slowly going crazier and crazier by the day while his poor team watches. They do their best to ignore the fact that he talks to himself.... er... Georgia in his head, but he starts seeing her and feeling her too. Everyone's just waiting for him to take his final dive off the deep end. But he's got work to do first. The conspiracy that got George killed didn't end with Governor Tate. The good Doc blows holes right through that story when she shows up at his home. The more information is revealed the worse things look for Shaun and his team. But he wants to get to the bottom of George's death before he's either murdered himself or permanently goes off the deep end.

I felt so bad for Shaun. I've lost people, but never someone as close to me as George was to him. I don't know what that soul crushing feeling of emptiness and loss is like. Not in that way anyway. I find it interesting that the only thing keeping him relatively sane enough to do his job is the fact that he's going insane. Without his hallucinations of George I reckon he'd go insane but in a not so... user friendly way.

I understood the team's hesitation to embrace the Doc's presence but I kind of felt bad that they were so suspicious of her, almost even until the end. I think she deserved a little more credit than they gave her. Not that "hind sight is 20/20" kind. But legitimate credit for the fact that she faked her own death so that she could come and help Shaun figure out what happened to his sister and what was happening all over the United States to others with reservoir conditions.

I don't think I really got to know Alaric very well. I mean he was all over the story and I saw how he comforted Maggie and got mad at Shaun and panicked over his sister... but I don't feel like I got to see him as a person outside of those instances. Becks, I felt, I got to know a little bit better. Maybe because of her issues with Shaun, or maybe because I got to see more of how fierce she was and how loyal she was and in the end... how heroic, even if she had no other choice but to be that way.

It was kind of sad to see just how many people were willing to betray Shaun. Heck, how many people were willing to betray the government and the innocent people in it, whether for money or ratings or... just revenge. It almost mirrored real life, but I won't get in to politics here.

Maggie was a good edition to the story. A girl who could have been perfectly content to just stay home and fund things from far away, or do nothing at all. Instead of staying safe and sound and hidden away in her ninja secured house, she put her life on the line several times for the team. And I loved her poetry. It was fantastic.

There isn't much more that I can say except that the end of this book shot the end of book one in the face and then stomped on it. And I absolutely loved that.

If you haven't read Feed, you need to before reading Deadline. If you HAVE read Feed, then you HAVE to read Deadline. It's just not acceptable if you don't. I recommend it for older readers as there is some mature language and situations... but you're missing out if you don't give the series a chance. I promise.

Review - The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.

Except, Catcher has his own secrets -- dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah -- can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

Ah. I finally got to The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan. I wasn't sure I'd want to read the book. I took a look at the first chapter at the end of book two and saw that it followed Annah, Elias's "sister" and was worried I wouldn't get any closure for the first two books in the series.

Always... I'm ALWAYS wrong. I'm really glad I picked this one up despite my misgivings.

It was nice to follow Annah for this one. Although I hate it when people take out their hangups about themselves on other people (Catcher included!). She finds her sister and Catcher (but she doesn't know it's him) and Elias fairly early in the story. She, Catcher, and Elias have to go and save Gabrigail (see what I did there?) from the Recruiters at the Sanctuary only to find out they're more or less bait/prisoners. Catcher is who the Recruiters want.... everyone else is either bait or collateral damage.

Ya know... I got a glimpse of just how horrible folks could be in books one and two... but in a completely different way than book three. You don't really like to think that the people still fighting to survive in this world are going to be the ones that you have to look out for the most. I always hate that. Even when people are all you have to rely on, they're still your worst enemies.

I think out of the three narrators in the series, Annah may have been my favorite. She was kind of selfish, but not in the way Mary and Gabrigail were. Hers was a more righteous emotion if you follow me (don't worry if you don't, I'm not sure I do either). There was no stupid love triangle FINALLY. Sure she thought she loved Elias, but she wasn't flip flopping back and forth between he and Catcher or any other male in the story. She was insightful and very protective over everyone she loved.

This has been my favorite of the series. Not just for the narrator but finally, as I said before, for the closure. Everything came together in one way or another by the end of the story fairly nicely. Nothing was really left open and no questions were left unanswered. And even though it is the same time frame as Gabrigail's story, the world Annah lives in couldn't be more different. It's sad. She never had a chance.

If you read the first two books I suggest you read the third. If for nothing more than to find out how it all ends. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I know that I wasn't.

Review - The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

I had a little issue with The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. The issue being that it disappeared on me for about a week and I couldn't figure out where it had gone so I couldn't read it. I actually went out and got another copy and then lo and behold, my original was found. So now I have 2 copies. Word.

This installment of the series finds us in the beach town of Vista following Gabry who we find out is Mary's daughter (Mary from The Forest of Hands and Teeth). It starts off with action as Gabry and her friends climb the barrier separating them from an area where Mudo (zombies) roam. Several of Gabry's friends are bitten (including the boy she likes) and Gabry runs back to the safety of the lighthouse she lives in with her mother, only to find out later on that the friends who WEREN'T infected by the Mudo are being sent to the Recruiters. Something that seems to be a fate worse than a death sentence to them.

Gabry goes out in search of Catcher, the boy she likes, but meets Elias who also seems to be searching for someone. He helps her out in more ways than one and she discovers something about her friend Catcher that no one else can ever know, or else they won't ever let him go. Gabry gets herself in a lot of trouble in this book and ends up having to flee Vista, but with several people in tow. She goes out in search of her mother, who left before her, and a world away from Vista where she can be safe with her friends instead of hunted by the Recruiters.

This book seemed younger than the first in the series. Gabry seemed younger, although according to Mary she was about the same age that Mary was in the first book. Maybe it's because she was kept in a more protected area and hadn't been forced to more or less mature beyond her years the way that her mother had.

The city they were living in didn't seem like a place I would want to be. I think I'd much rather prefer the village that Mary grew up in even though it wasn't as well protected as Vista. Both places had their drawbacks though I reckon.

Oh my gosh, the love triangle. How I hate them. Why oh why must EVERY novel with promise have a stupid love triangle? First Gabry is in love with Catcher. Then she forgets Catcher when Elias is around. Then she forgets Elias when Catcher is around. Then she.... well, you get the picture. I want to pull my hair out. I like the story but not EVERY BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF BOOKS now a days has to have some stupid Edward-Bella-Jacob-esque love issue. It really doesn't. It just... it doesn't.

Whew.

Ok, where was I?

If you read the first story, I suggest reading this one. They can almost be read as stand alones if you're not interesting in reading book one, but I would suggest that if you HAVEN'T read The Forest of Hands and Teeth you do so, just because it helps a bit. I enjoyed the first one MUCH more than I liked this one, but I wouldn't totally count it out. I do plan on seeing what happens in book three because I hate mysteries and unfinished stories.

Review - Feed by Mira Grant

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

Fantastic story. I loved Feed by Mira Grant. Completely different than any zombie/post-apocalyptic story I've read and completely awesome.

Georgia, Shaun, and Buffy are journalists. Georgia is strictly news, Shaun is action and opinion, and Buffy is what they call a Fictional. She writes poems and stories and stays away from field work and the grim bits of reporting. The trio are picked to accompany a new presidential candidate along his campaign trail and end up with so much more than they bargained for. More than anyone bargained for.

This was definitely a unique story in that, while there were zombies and there was a plague that destroyed most of the world it seems, it did not cripple it. If anything, in the not so distant future, technology is more advanced and things are more or less running business as usual, just with zombies on the side. There are schools and blogs and newspapers, there are presidential elections and corrupt politicians and publicity stunts galore. There is also an actual disease behind the cause of the change. A disease that they tell you from the beginning that everyone has (animals included) but that stays dormant until death (with the exception of some situations).

I found myself jealous during most of the story of all of the high-tech gadgets that they had and their ability to record and display and just get their stories out to the world almost immediately. I was also jealous of George's relationship with her brother. I wish me and my brother could have been that close. Best friends.

Their parents made me angry though... this is where the publicity stunts come in. That seems to be all they wanted George and Shaun for. Publicity. After the death of their first child when a dog over 40 pounds "amplified" and bit him, you would have thought that being in the spotlight was the LAST thing they wanted. But no. They used it to their advantage. I guess if they hadn't, though, Shaun and George would not have had the opportunities that they did.

Buffy disappointed me though. Turning on her friends the way that she did. I wasn't sad when she bought the farm. Maybe I should have been, but I wasn't.

Another story where I hated the ending. Absolutely hated it. I cried, I won't lie. It was so sad. I picked up the second book to start reading it, not long after I finished the first one, but I haven't been able to bring myself to actually open it yet.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a different kind of zombie novel. Again, it's for an older crowd, but you won't be disappointed for giving it a go.

Review - The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan reminds me a lot of the movie The Village. Which, weirdly enough, is one of my favorite movies. Add a few generations and some zombies and there you go.

The Sisterhood knows the truth but won't share with anyone, especially Mary. But Mary, who has lost her mother and her father to the Unconsecrated, is not content with just becoming the wife of someone she's not sure she loves and having children to repopulate the village. She's heard stories of the ocean and she dreams of seeing it one day. Unfortunately, she gets her wish. I say unfortunately because it came at the cost of 99% of the people she knew. Totally not her fault, but devastating all the same.

I liked this story. It was interesting and I enjoyed the fact that it wasn't like your normal zombie story. Like I said, it reminded me of The Village so that made it a little easier to picture the setting and the types of people that would have lived in that particular place.

I couldn't stand the Sisterhood. I hate liars and manipulators and they just rubbed me the wrong way immediately from the beginning. They knew about what the world was like before the Rising but kept it from everyone thinking that was the way to keep them safe. They all died anyway.

I didn't like the love triangle. I never do. I especially didn't like it because once Mary got the one she wanted, she treated him like dirt. Completely ignoring him and just wallowing in self pity. And yet, he still sacrificed himself for her. I also did not like that she was just dragging everyone along with her, seemingly to prove to them that she was right and they were not. And then after they'd been through so much together, she just LEAVES them.

The story made me angry. I'm not going to lie. But I reckon that's a good thing. I hated the ending though. I just couldn't believe it ended that way. So sad.

I'd recommend this story as a good read for any zombie fan though. It's different and it's interesting. I enjoyed it. Perhaps for a bit of the older crowd though. Definitely not a read for kiddos.

Review - The Kill Order by James Dashner

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

Reading The Kill Order by James Dashner was interesting. I expected more like the other books in the series but was pleasantly surprised that I liked how completely different it was. I was also pleasantly surprised that even though I'd gotten so used to reading about Thomas and Newt and Minho and the rest of the crew, I didn't miss them at all going through this story.

The sun flares have come and damaged much of the earth. If the heat didn't kill you then more than likely the flooding would have. Still, there are always a few who survive. But not without the help of others. Mark and Trina were lucky when they ran in to the old bear of a military retiree, Alec. The trio, along with several others, set up sort of a little village in the mountains where they've been surviving since escaping after the sun flares and flooding.

One day, though, the Bergs arrive. And start firing darts at people from the sky. Not just any dart... but darts that we find out are full of a virus that makes you feel like you've got bugs crawling around in your brain. Ick. Some it affects immediately, some take a little bit longer to fall ill. But eventually... everyone is going to succumb.

Mark, Trina, Alec and co. travel out in search of answers and stumble across a lot more than they bargained for. Including a little girl they take under their protection. And then everything goes wrong. Some of their group is taken. Mark and Alec learn that they're infected and don't have much time. They need to rescue their friends and get them somewhere safe before they, too, fall to The Flare.

I will say, again, as with the other three novels in the series, I thought I had figured a certain character out. But I hadn't. Thought that maybe what he was going through was simply a figment of his own imagination.... I hate being wrong. Although I'm not sure why I expect any different when it comes to these books. I haven't been right about any of them.

I really liked reading this. I won't say I enjoyed it, because how can you enjoy a book with the subject matter being what it is. But it was a good read. It was full of action and excitement (maybe just a little TOO much action for poor Mark).

My favorite character would have to have been Alec. He was a secondary character to Mark, but he was fantastic. He was their rock. The one who could hold everything together when it all threatened to fall apart. The one you could always count on to get you out of a tight spot. Even if he wasn't quite sure how he'd accomplish it.

I loved reading the flashbacks as well. You get a better glimpse in to Mark's and Alec's character. I do believe that they're really the only characters in the story who are fleshed out enough to really invest in their outcome. I felt sorry for Trina, and DeeDee, and Alanna, etc... but losing or almost losing them didn't really bother me. For me it was all Mark and Alec. But mostly Alec, if I'm being completely honest.

The twist there at the end was something I DID expect (yay me! one right finally) about 3/4 of the way through the book. So I was super glad when it came out how I'd thought it would.

I've read through a lot of reviews on this novel and a lot of people seem to be disappointed in it. They thought they'd be getting more of Thomas and Teresa and co. But really? You can't judge a book based on expectations like that. If they'd read the back of the book or even past the prologue it would have been completely evident from the start. And I will say that I vehemently disagree with all the negative reviews that are based SOLELY on the lack of Thomas and his friends.

I would recommend this if you've read the Maze Runner series. But I would warn you that if you're just reading it to get answers to questions the other three books have raised... don't. If you want more of Thomas (even if it's just a little bit) read Thomas's First Memory of the Flare. Just go in to this expecting action and a bit of heartache and you'll be fine.