For Love of Dystopian Fiction

I am a big fan of books like Knife of Never Letting Go, Divergent, Delirium, Unwind, Starters, and Skylark. These books are all ‘epic quest to fight the evil of the world in order for the good to survive’ type books and the fighters are all just average everyday people.
Not people trained to be fighters just everyday people.

Recently I have been reading a blog called A Love Song to the Apocoalypse on WordPress.
Find it here: A Love Song For The Apocalyps

In the interest of full disclosure the author of this blog is a former co-worker of mine and life long best friend which is why I took so long to devote an EnterTAYned page to it. I had to be sure that I could fully 100% stand behind all the good things I have to say about it. I had to be sure that what I was saying is the same kind of things I would say if I didn’t know the author. I believe I can.

AndreaHitsTheRoad is writing a story that I would choose for my Teen/Paranormal Book Club to read if there was an actual book for them to read. In my opinion it stands up to many of the above mentioned titles that we have read for book club. The one exception to those titles being that the heroine is nota teenager but a married woman.

The writing is forceful and compels you to keep reading. I missed two postings recently and couldn’t wait to devour them at the first opportunity. The writing is raw and honest. Yes there are typos and what not, a he that should have been a she or a moment when two words are in the incorrect order, but remember this is not a professional author. This is a story coming from a woman that just HAS to get it out at the insistence of the characters in her head and is trying to do so at 5:00am before heading to work.

A Love Song for the Apocalypse is the story of a young married couple trying to survive the start of the end of the world as they know it. For over a year they stay contained in their small house struggling to survive and maintain as the world around them goes crazy. The story really begins once the couple becomes separated which they vowed would never happen. This story is set in the Canadian West with ties to the East and the country it is set in is as much a character as any of the others.

Speaking of the characters…..there is a full and varied list of them to entertain everyone, a heady mixture of good and bad to root for or hiss at and a good mixture of ages, personalities and worldliness. People you will want to hang out with for an afternoon or smack or just walk away from. A more diverse cast list I have yet to see.

This story truly has something for everyone. There is mystery, romance, action, survival, deep family roots, death and despair and on and on and on. I can not begin to describe the complexities without giving away the story.

I challenge you to read it for yourself and not come away wanting more.

So far, I give this ongoing story 4 out of 5 Reads. Who knows maybe it will become a book club challenge, they all have computers and what not to read off.

The Sky Caught Fire, Now What?

A few weeks ago I read Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne and was blown away by this original story of a group of kids caught at the inception of the apocalypse. Yes it’s another YA Dystopian novel but it presents it in new and interesting ways that really leaves you thinking.

In the sequel, which luckily I only had to wait a week to read, the battle continues on two different battle grounds. One inside the store where Dean and a few others remained, the other on the road as Niko, Alex and the rest of them head to Denver and hopefully rescue for the others. Will the kids make it to Denver? What troubles will the kids in the store face?

Book two is just as visually stunning, heartbreakingly disturbing, and genuinely touching as the first. If these books were movies I’d be on the edge of my seat for the entire ride. The second story is half the size of the first and I was ready for disappointment. Instead I was thrilled beyond belief and left hanging, waiting breathlessly for the next book.

Maybe the writing isn’t spectacular and there is to some degree repetitiveness but not nearly as much as many of the books I’ve read lately. None of this bothered me because I thoroughly enjoyed the straight forward simplicity the author uses to keep the story moving. Despite the numerous amount of characters and the many places involved it isn’t difficult to keep things straight in your mind.

I really enjoyed both books and was thrilled to find that Sky on Fire didn’t suffer the sequel ‘Let Down’ that often happens. I have been recommending it to everyone who enjoyed Maze Runner, The Knife of Never Letting Go and the like. I think that this is definitely a series to watch! If you haven’t read it yet I say give it a try.

I would recommend these books for both boys and girls but definitely ages 14+ due to some sexual content and violence.

4 out of 5 reads