The Eleventh Plague

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This dystopia is a good middle grade age or young adult read. And while there's nothing over the top about the story like aliens or super powers or zombies, what makes it so good is its plausibility. The story behind the plague and what happens after is plausible.

Stephen is born into a world that is harsh and survival is an every day struggle. And at the same time he is still just a kid. He wants to not have so many worries and struggles and just play baseball with his friends and go to school and have a girlfriend. And when he faced with having those options he is torn between the life he wants and the one that he was always taught to have.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. Its a good dystopia for the age group it was written for. Its no so harsh and dark that its unfit for a younger crowd. It has great characters and lots of excitement and its plausibility factor earned points with me.



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Colony East

Colony East by Scott Cramer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for my honest review.

Colony East picks up right where Night of the Purple Moon leaves off and it hits the ground running. Abbey and Jordan are on the mainland waiting for Jordan to recover enough to return home. They are hopeful that the adults that have discovered the cure will continue to help the suriving teens and children. Soon two years have passed. We see the anguish caused by death as well as seperation from growing up and going your own path.

Soon we hear that the bacteria have mutated causing a new illness without any cure or treatment. Abby, desperate to save Toucan, risks all to get her to Colony East for a cure. But what she finds there is anything but what she expects.

While this is a very believeable world with great new characters as well as past characters that have grown. There were a few things that I expected to be different. The kids that have been left are very resourceful. They have managed to start growing crops and learning to take care of livestock and learning to commercial fish however no one has learned how to start the water/sewage systems. I would have also thought that possibly the military systems left in place would have been concerned about the electrical systems as well as water. But I guess considering their train of thought concerning the catastrophy maybe not.

Overall, I enjoyed this read as well as the series so far. And the cliffhanger ending made me want to yell 'NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!' I would recommend this to any lovers of dystopia. A great series for kids as well as adults.



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The Twelve

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Actual rating of 4.5 stars but I rounded up because I feel it was so well written and intricate. And OMG! what a long read. I was begining to think I would never finish. When I started reading The Twelve I wished that I would have been able to re-read The Passage. There was so much that I had forgotten about the first book and although the original story was woven in I had difficulty remember some of what had went on in the first book.

This book weaves a story around several threads. Many of the original characters are still involved--especially Amy and the virals. The religious aspects become even more pronounced as we are constantly hearing about the afterlife and God having a purpose for everything. The relationship between Amy and Wolgast also aludes to this right up to the very end.

Some aspects of this book are almost like short stories. What happens in year Zero is a story onto itself as well as "The Field". Some of which I wasn't sure what it had to do with the rest of the story. Although it added to the storyline it was really unneccessary. And at nearly 600 pages, I could have stood a bit less of the story.

This is certainly not a story for everyone. Its not an easy read as it is very long and at times a bit confusing. But if you enjoyed The Passage I would recommend continueing with The Twelve and I am looking forward to what comes next.



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After the Ending

After The Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Awesome read!! I'm always up for a good apocalyptic/dystopia and this pretty much fit the bill. I admit, there were some holes in the plausibility factor, but I'll get to those. I first considered this to be a YA, but towards the end the sex scenes are definitely too much for the under 18 readers.

This is the story of two friends, separated across country when a savage strain of flu virus nearly wipes everybody out. Dani and Zoe have been friends since grade school and now they are working to find each other after all has happened. The story moves back and forth between them along with emails that tie them together.

This is a really fun read, with some great characters. I loved how it moved back and forth between the two main characters. And the integration of their new found abilities. Mostly it seems that its all mind generated abilities like telepathy and clairvoyance. There's no X-men like powers such as controlling fire or anything like that. I did find two big plausibility problems with this story. First of all, its the apocalypse and suddenly the phones aren't working, but they all seem to find wifi wherever they are. Secondly, the love triangles on both sides of this story seem to be almost identical. It doesn't matter that one girl lost the love of her life she's all ready to fall in love again. It doesn't hurt I guess that everybody is hot, everyone is slim or well built and gorgeous. I guess all the average people died in the flu outbreak.

Overall, its a fun read. It had a great cliff hanger. I so want to see how this continues.





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Oceans of Red Volume One

Oceans of Red Volume One by Willow Cross
Title: Rise Of The Demons: Oceans of Red Volume 1
Author: Willow Cross
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 67

Blurb:

By 2015 the streets of Los Angeles have been transformed from a thriving metropolis to a hostile world ravaged by demons bent on assimilating the human race. Standing between this total apocalypse of humanity and their chance for survival is 19 year old Remy Martin.

White Horse

White Horse by Alex Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received this courtesy of FirstReads.

This was one of those books that I really had trouble putting down once I started it. I love dystopias and apocolyptic type books and this fit those categories perfectly.