A Rushed Adult...

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Now I'm ready to review this one.
It usually takes me an hour after finishing a book, just so I have all my thoughts fresh and true to the book in question but this one was a bit different...I needed time.
Why? Because, I didn't know how to review it. Mr. Mullin, you touched me. If I have a soft spot, other than books, is the sense of never seeing my family again and the third in line is to survive on my own. A little background here, I'm 18 and have never lived on my own and to top it all, I'm a Med student so the possibilities of living on my own are still a long way from me. And it can not be compared to what Alex went through when he is only 16, but still, adulthood is scary at times.

What did Alex went through? You have no idea. And if you have one, is worse than that.
It's a typical Friday, his family is out, visiting  relatives that live in an another state, for the weekend. A weekend on solitary that transforms into a month long adventure trying to find his family in a new country, in a new world. So, what happened? A volcano. Yep, the almighty volcano, the father of all volcanoes, found in the beautiful Yellowstone National Park, did KABOOM! and all hell went loose.
So, here is one of the reasons I didn't give it all 5 stars... Is just difficult to me to believe that a 16 year old would know that Yellowstone is basically a Super Volcano waiting to explode... Come on, no offense, but if you don't even know the difference between Australia and Europe, how would you even know that there is a super volcano. The last sentence is based on a video I saw some time ago.(Apologize for the Americans that do know that very important piece of information.)
So, yeah, as you can imagine, everything is a disaster. Ashes everywhere, the sound is unbearable, and the sun is to be missed. I love that about this book, it's so very believable, the weather implications of an explosion of this nature. And not only that, not even three days after that first explosion, the people was desperate and didn't stick to normal society rules. Stores were emptied of anything that was thought could help survived this disaster. Riots were commonplace.
But Alex can't stay, he has to find his family. That's when all the good stuff happens. He has a long way to go, very little food, an even more little amount of water but motivation, he has plenty. And let me tell you, he is not stupid. He knows when to stop, where to rest and the direction he needs to follow. But, any precaution that he could have ever foresighted couldn't have prepare him to the dangers that awaited him on his journey.


So, here is reason number two to why not give this a 5 star review.
Darla. No, do not get me wrong, she is awesome, she is the reason why Alex lived to so many dangers and , actually, she helped him keep his good spirits and will. In so many levels.
Let me explain, although I'm a girl who cries when she reads about fictional characters dying, even real life people that didn't even know...I should've been happy just with Alex and Darla's adventure through this whole mess. When you read it you'll know why we can't take Darla out of the equations and why they are to be together.
But no, there has to be something for the romantics out there.I was hoping for the The Maze Runner little romance kind of thing, something that couldn't be avoided.(Go read that one too, BTW) And I'm grateful and all but ,seriously? It was so different of my expectations, it was like, nooooo! How can you been thinking in sex when there are killers out there, crazy people turning into cannibalism to withstand the harsh winter and lack of food supplies? WHY? I understand, basic need of human beings, but come on, are you kidding me? And some of you will be thinking this, "They are teenagers. They are missing their lives from before. They want to be normal teens again." And I completely agree with those thoughts, but if I were to be on their shoes, that would be the least of my worries.
It's a personal thing. Again, apologize. It's just such a good plot, amazing characters and much more, that some things that weren't really necessary, in my opinion, cast a shadow over it's greatness.

But my opinions are not important. READ IT! It's fantastic and just a good book. Makes you think about stuff.
And I can't get over that part, almost at the end, when you think that OK, this is it, and BAM! It's not.
Can't wait for the sequel! :D




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