Nocturnal Book Reviews

Egalley thanks to Tanglewood Press

I've already mentioned that this book chilled me to the bone.

The fact is, Ashfall makes us face the unpleasant fact that humanity is not pretty. Strip off the thin layer of civilization, get rid of the organized force which maintains the order and what you get is greed, fear, and hate running unchecked. Well, you can see what's happening in Africa at the moment...

This is why Ashfall is so scary, the scenario so believable.

A supervulcano erupts. Ashfall covers most of US grounds. There is no electricity, not much drinkable water and very little food. Among the post-eruption harsh winter a 16-years-old boy Alex tries to get from his home town to his parents who went to see his uncle living two hours away before the eruption.

Walking through wastelands covered by ash and snow, in danger of dying of hunger or thirst, hypothermia and attacks of the human scavengers in all their horrendous glory, Alex's growth to an extremely admirable human being is astounding.

During his journey he meets another beautiful, strong soul, 18-year-old Darla.

Together they survive through incredibly dangerous situations and tragedies, and what emerges is these unbreakable ties of friendship and then love.

I couldn't find a single fault in this book. The world-building is believable. The characters' growth is amazing. It's an intense, quick, jam-packed with action read. The only downfall of this book is its abrupt inconclusive ending. I was so wrapped up in what was happening I couldn't believe the book would end in the middle of the sentence while I was still expecting this sentence to end...

Oh well, at least there was no cliffhanger.

Overall, a brilliant debut. I'll be reading the rest of the series, for sure.