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.
PREFACE:
I'd seen a lot about Ashes on Twitter, mainly about how good the book was. I'm often wary of dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction as I don't see the genres as "my thing." This usually boils down to two reasons. One, I can't handle severe amounts of suspense. Two, I don't like hopelessness or too much tragedy. Ashes is a perfect example of why I don't normally pick up anything like this, and yet...
It was an amazing novel.
WRITING:
I've gotten to where I prefer first person point of view, but in Ashes, the story is told from third person limited, the limited being the main protagonist, Alex. I'll admit that it was a little hard to get into at first, mostly because of my aforementioned preference, but also because with third person, it often seems to me that there is too much exposition between the moments of action and dialogue. But once the story got rolling, I didn't have any issue. This novel is action packed and extremely suspenseful. Part of the suspense is because it is in third person and Bick uses the point of view to draw out the tense scenes in a way that puts you on the edge of your seat and keeps you there.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the writing. Bick did well creating the tension. There was a lot of action, something I enjoy, and many twists and turns that kept you guessing. This was the kind of novel that just plops the characters into a world and you watch them survive. It was intense and brutal (sometimes too brutal) but also realistic, which is what made me so terrified most of the time I was reading it. But terrified or not, I couldn't stop reading it.
SETTING:
The setting of the novel is at first a wilderness area in Michigan. Most of the book happens in this place or similar areas. There is some time spent in more urban locations, but everything has been mostly abandoned due to the events mentioned in the synopsis. Later in the novel, there is a town of sorts called Rule, though its of the rustic kind and kept guarded from intruders.
I thought Bick did well with the descriptions, not being overabundant in details but still getting across the atmosphere of each place visited. I felt like I watched this book in my mind while reading it. Maybe it is because of shows like Falling Skies and The Walking Dead (not that I watch either of them, but I've seen stills and clips) and movies of the same nature that it is easy to picture the post-apocalyptic locales easily. Whatever the reason, I saw every event and setting clearly with Bick's writing.
CHARACTERS:
Alex is sort of a conundrum. She was more than a little jaded about life, so she didn't have the sort of warm, likable persona you usually find and connect with in a novel. But the girl is tough and I definitely came to respect her and like her more as the novel went on. The things she goes through, both before the novel and during, would be enough to have me curled up in a little ball and hiding under a rock. But she presses on, even when things go wrong, even when she doesn't want to, even when others make it difficult for her. Her survival instinct was kicked into overdrive and she went with it.
Now I want to address two things about Alex. The first is my own observation. What I'm about to reveal may be a slight spoiler, but you learn about it on page six of the novel, so not much of one, in my opinion. Alex has an inoperable brain tumor. She had decided sometime before the beginning of the novel that she was not going to continue treatments. Basically, she had given up hope of getting rid of the tumor, or rather, resigned herself to her fate. In looking back on this after having finished the book, I wondered why someone who knew she could die any time and had resigned herself to that fate would fight so hard to stay alive.
My conclusion was fourfold. The first answer, in my interpretation, was to find out what happened to the world. I would want to know, whether I was dying or not, what was going on. The second was Ellie. Despite it being easier to leave her behind, Alex did not and chose to take responsibility for Ellie even though she didn't have to.
The third reason is less easily summed up. If it were me, I would want the tumor to take me out, not some mutated human or raider with a gun, so I'd keep fighting until I did die. Basically, the "I'm not dead yet" principle. I think Alex had this mentality. She wasn't dead yet, so she was going to keep on living as best she could, which meant fighting her surroundings and circumstances. The third reason sort of plays into the fourth reason, and that is, at the beginning of the book, Alex makes a statement about taking control of her own life, choosing not to take more treatments, and I think surviving and fighting was her again refusing to let her situation control her.
The second thing I wanted to address about Alex was something I've seen in other reviews. The complaint usually mentions that Alex doesn't really act like a teenager, that she is too grown-up and knows too much about first aid and hunting and science for her character to be a realistic teenager. Some argue that she grew up fast because of the tumor, but then the response is that she didn't get the tumor until after her parents died, which happened when she was about fourteen. Some also say she didn't have enough time with her parents to learn all that she knows in order to survive as she does.
My rebuttal to the complaint that Alex doesn't act like a realistic teen is that, yes, Alex does seem a little grown up, but I didn't not find her to be more so than any person who had gone through what she had. She did grow up more quickly because of her parents' deaths and her tumor. It doesn't really matter what age those things happened as they are profoundly affecting events. Also, for the first major bit of the story, she is with an eight year old girl, so of course Alex would seem like an adult next to Ellie, and most people, when forced with a situation like surviving the apocalypse, will grow up and act more adult. Even Ellie did, because by the end of it I was thinking she was more like twelve even though she was still eight.
My answer to how much Alex could possibly know has to do with how Alex seems to have grown up based on what she says about her past. Alex was an only child that doesn't seem to have had any close friends as none are ever mentioned. I believe she probably hung out with her parents most of the time. We find out that she went camping and hiking a lot with her dad and she talked about medical stuff with her mother, not to mention learning more once she discovered the tumor, so I don't find it odd that she knew quite a bit and was able to use that knowledge to survive. I mean, she had enough knowledge to go on a twelve day solo trip into the wilderness (this is what she is doing at the beginning of the story) so if that was feasible to begin with, the rest doesn't seem out of place to me. Her Aunt Hannah even comments that she is not worried about Alex's competence at what she is doing and is only concerned because of Alex's health regarding the tumor.
Okay, now that that is out of the way, we can move on to the other characters! I liked Ellie and thought she was a well-characterized bratty child that acted out of anger and fear but even so, she had growth as the novel progressed. Tom, when he comes along later, felt very closed off to me and even though we find out stuff about him, he still seemed mysterious. I liked his relationship with Alex and how he acted toward Ellie. Also, I loved Mina. I've grown quite fond of sidekick pets and Mina was a great one.
The cast of characters Alex, Tom, and Ellie run into while trying to survive range from the sad to the scary. I thought all the characters seemed realistic, even when they were being horrible, which again, added to the fear factor in the book. Rule's townsfolk were especially well-done. I was glad that Bick let Alex be a little tortured in the romance department, though things don't really get romantic. Chris was a good character and despite being dark and broody, he felt more open than Tom did, but Chris also didn't seem as brave, so I don't know who I would have Alex choose (if they all survive, that is).
DOWNSIDE:
While I enjoyed this book immensely, I cannot bring myself to love a novel that terrifies me so much. It's not the kind of story I fall in love with, what with so much tragedy and horror and gore and uncertainty. It's true that those things increased the stakes and the tension, so the novel's strength turns out to also be it's weakness when it comes to me.
COOL STUFF:
Other than this being an hang-on-for-the-ride story, there were some specific things I enjoyed. The first is something I've seen a lot of people complain about, which is that the front half of the novel is way more action packed than the last half and many often give separate ratings for each half because it bothers them so much. Not me. I was glad that things slowed down in the later part of the book. I found what was going on during the last half to be really interesting and revealing another aspect of the now broken world, and I needed a break from all the suspense and tension anyway. So while it was unpopular with most, I say kudos to Bick because I liked the book as a whole.
The second cool thing was the slight sci-fi, almost paranormal, element that comes about because of the big bad event. There is a lot of speculation as to why some people were a little different after the event and why some lived and some died and some got changed. I liked the speculation and it made me want to find answers, which commits me to reading the rest of the series.
The third cool thing was something I've mentioned before, the twists and turns. There are many that sort of pop out of nowhere, making me jumpy and expecting the unexpected. And even when I did expect something to happen, I still was surprised. The ending especially had me gaping and wondering when the next book was coming out because I needed to know what happened (no matter how terrifying the ending was).
VERDICT:
Ashes is a well-written post-apocalyptic tale that is chillingly realistic. Full of uncertainty, horror, tragedy, bravery, loyalty, and survival, this novel is the kind that keeps you on the edge and rooting for the characters as they battle their way through a dangerous new world. I will definitely be reading the rest of the trilogy when it comes out and and look forward to finding out the answers to so many questions, even if getting to those answers keeps me up at night.
