Hearts On Fire, Hiding From the World

Expected Publication: May 28th, 2013
Monument 14: Sky On Fire (Monument 14 # 2)
By: Emmy Laybourne
Feiwel and Friends
ISBN-13: 9780312569044

The world hasn't ended...yet.

In this sequel to MONUMENT 14, the group of survivors, originally trapped together in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, has split in two. Most of the kids are making a desperate run on their recently repaired school bus for the Denver airport where they hope to reunite with their parents, be evacuated to safety, and save their dying friend.

But the world outside is dark and filled with dangerous chemicals that turn people into bloodthirsty monsters, and not all the kids were willing to get on the bus. Left behind in a sanctuary that has already been disturbed once, the remaining kids try to rebuild the community they lost. But when the issues are life and death, love and hate, who can you really trust?

Review

 

     Brothers Dean and Alex have parted ways, with Dean staying behind at the superstore and Alex going away with most of the other kids on the school bus, trying to make it to Denver.  Both groups still face horrible dangers, with all of the kids in the store being Blood Type O which makes them violent when exposed to the chemical compounds in the air outside.  When the bus is hijacked and the store is under siege by a group of teenage raiders, it will be up to Dean and his brother to each try and keep their respective charges safe until they can find a way out of their destroyed world and back to their families, in the safety of the world beyond.  So, I had really enjoyed the first book and went into this one with pretty high expectations.  I mean who has never once wondered what it would be like to live in one of those superstores.  Well, this book picks up right where the first one left off.  It deals with some harsh realities, like when to give up on a friend if they're dying and there's nothing you can do.  Jake, the father of Astrid's baby, finds his way back to the superstore but because he wants the drugs in the pharmacy not to help anyone else.  Dean still has feelings for Astrid and she treats him like shit until the chemical reactions bring them together involuntarily (which I still don't know how I feel about that - did she even really like him, or was it 'just because?').  The kids on the bus deal with being stolen from, on the verge of starving, and being the guests of a crazy old guy in an airtight bunker (who is most likely a killer).  The fact that more than half of their parents are still MIA was very realistic and I was disappointed that not everyone made it to Denver, but the author's realism pleased me and makes up for it.  This is an 'apocalypse' book.  Not everyone gets a happy ending if the author's doing it right!  I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the next one in the series, especially with the cliffhanger the author dropped on me at the last second!  I highly recommend this series to fans of Ashfall by Mike Mullins, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Article 5 by Kristen Simmons.

 

VERDICT:  4/5 Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on May 28th, 2013.*

3...2...1, I'm On My Way

Published: August 14th, 2012

Counting Backwards

By: Laura Lascarso

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13: 9781442406902

Three weeks ago I tried to run away from home. Now all I want is to go back.

When troubled Taylor Truwell is caught with a stolen car and lands in court for resisting arrest, her father convinces the judge of an alternative to punishment: treatment in a juvenile psychiatric correctional facility. Sunny Meadows is anything but the easy way out, and Taylor has to fight hard just to hold on to her sanity as she battles her parents, her therapist, and vicious fellow patients. But even as Taylor struggles to hold on to her stubborn former self, she finds herself relenting as she lets in two unlikely friends-Margo, a former child star and arsonist, and AJ, a mysterious boy who doesn’t speak. In this striking debut, Laura Lascarso weaves together a powerful story of anger and self-destruction, hope and love.

Review

   Taylor Truwell's home life sucked a lot.  With an alcoholic Mom who needs a parent to care for her (not the other way around like it should be), an absent and cold Father she has no reason to stick around.  So she steals a car and tries to run away.  But when she's caught the Judge throws her into Sunny Meadows, a juvenile psychiatric hospital, per her Dad's recommendation.  Angry, scared and seriously lost Taylor is now being forced to take a good long look at her life and why things are going so badly.  Is it really all her parents' fault or is Taylor somewhat to blame too?  Also, can she do things the right way this time and heal, even if it's easier to just run away?  I liked this book a lot.  I felt like I could really identify with Taylor, because even though my Dad wasn't as hardcore of an alcoholic as her Mom, it's still such a hard situation when you're growing up.  All of the broken promises, fighting and unpredictability really wear on your mental state after a while.  I appreciated how angry and seriously panicked she was, but sometimes her behavior made me want to shake some sense into her!  Seriously, stealing a car and running away was the only way to get out?  I think there were some other things she could have tried first!  My favorite character was probably Margo, who is a former child star and arsonist who is in Sunny Meadows due to a nervous breakdown.  But unlike Taylor we meet her when she's already almost completely healed and ready to re-enter the real world.  She is Taylor's mentor and really makes an effort to get her involved with life again and to take getting better seriously.  AJ intrigued me, at first because of his silence and then because of his absolute ability to do the right thing even when it hurt him to (like when Taylor tried to steal the car from Auto Shop and run away again).  The friendship that blooms between them is very realistic and is not easy, but definitely worth it.  I loved the ending for it's realism and it's burst of hope.  I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins (although it's A LOT cleaner than an Ellen Hopkins book, Yo!).  

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book became available for purchase on August 14th, 2012.*