The Reapers are the Angels - Alden Bell

The night comes, and when the sun rises again it rises over a motionless desert, over streets full of rusty, broken-down automobiles, over tumbleweed towns filled with derelict buildings, signposts twisted and bent so that their arrows become nonsensical, pointing into the dirt or up into the sky, billboards whose sunny images and colorful words flap unglued in the breeze, shop windows caked with the grime of decades, bicycles with flat tires abandoned in the middle of intersections, their wheels turning slowly like impotent tin windmills, some buildings charred and burnt out, others half fallen down, multistory tenements split down the middle, standing like shoebox dioramas, pictures still hanging on the upright walls, televisions still in place on their stands teetering over the gaping edge of the floor where the rest of the living room has collapsed to the ground in great mountains of concrete and dust and girder like the abandoned toys of a  giant child.

Set in a post-apocalyptic time, it’s never mentioned how people started turning, just that they did. Temple is the illiterate young heroine of the story that follows her on adventures in a world that she was born into. She never knew the world before, where meatskins and slugs didn't patrol the streets to attack and devour any living things they come into contact with. Seeing the world through the eyes of 16 year old is nothing knew but Temple has seen things and done things even she can’t comprehend. She journeys through American states coming across desirables and undesirables. The story is crafted with punctuation but is lacking speech marks which adds another unknown element into the story. Sometimes I found myself doubling back just so I had it clear in my head who said what and if it were out loud or in her head. She meets some interesting people and we get a peek into how different circumstances lead people to face hard times in different ways. Some people aid strangers whereas other people are always out for themselves, following their own set of rules or reclaiming something they felt was owed to them from another lifetime. Temple is coming to grips with being a monster while also not realising she acts like an angel. The story gets even weirder when she rescues a man (who she refers to as Dummy) that she passes in her car, being chased by a horde while carrying his expired granny. Very rarely does a tale full of zombies not also come hand in hand with gore. Although not extremely graphic, this book has its fair share of shocks and horrors. In spite of that, I found the ending a tad heart breaking. It made sense and fitted in with the story well, but I was still gutted after growing to know and love several of the characters.

If you enjoy the post-apocalyptic/zombie movies/stories then I would definitely recommend you give this book a read.  

http://www.joshuagaylord.com/

Awaken - Katie Kacvinsky

He studied the tree trunk. “This planet will outlive us all. People are just lucky enough to pass through. But we’re so self-absorbed - we don’t get it. People are deluded enough to think we can conquer the planet. Or that we’re powerful enough to destroy it.” Justin shook his head and stepped back. “But we’ll never have that kind of power. Humans are like every other species. We’ll come and go. We’re just passing through.”

When I first saw the cover of awaken it was sitting on a book stand, something about the jar with the flowers caught my attention. I opened it up and read the first chapter, I was hooked. There is something to be said about a book that grabs your attention from the very first words.

When Madeline was in her early years of school suddenly the world around her changed drastically. High School shootings had lead to mass shoots, which then lead to mass bombings. Trying to make a radical change, to save the lives of thousands of children, the world around her began to move their children to Digital Schools. Fast forward twelve or so years and Madeline is almost 18, and about to attend her first ever tutor class with real people. Most of her time is spent securely in her house, attending digital school, painting on her digital canvas, plugging into different social chat rooms or going on scenic runs (on the treadmill in her basement). Each year her (old skool) mum (who reads printed magazines instead of digital ones! THE HORROR!) hands down real paper books to Madeline, from years gone by, before trees were plastic and needed their leaves painted for the fall.

It’s terrifying to read something that is so close, and could in fact become our reality. Awaken follows Madeline’s journey as she makes friends, and meets people who hide in the shadows of society. People who aren't as ‘plugged in’ as most of the zombies existing in society she ‘lives’ in.  Although it comes with the traditional teen angst of first love and dealing with authoritative parents. I really enjoyed reading about the world through Madeline’s eyes as she begins to relish the sound of her name and starts to wonder and think about the things she has been taught and the things she starts to see. It really made me think about all the technology we plug kids into at such an early age. Education & technology are moving so fast, we no longer have a where to next, we are standing on the edge of a cliff waiting to see what hurdles come at us next. Highly recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian fiction. I also just realised there's a sequal so I can't wait to see where that leads.

http://katiekacvinskybooks.wordpress.com/

The Fault in our Stars - John Green

Me: “If you want me to be a teenager, don’t send me to Support Group. Buy me a fake ID so I can go to clubs, drink vodka and take pot.”Mom: “You don’t take pot, for starters.”Me: “See, that’s the kind of thing I’d know if you got me a fake ID.”

Hazel (or Hazel Grace as she is so often referred to) has cancer (a side effect of dying). It wrecked her lungs and nearly killed her but now shes on a drug that keeps it from growing. Her mother thinks she is depressed (Hazel notes that depression is not a side effect of cancer, it’s another side effect of dying, like almost everything). Hazel’s doctor agrees so she gets shipped off to support group even though she doesn't think it will do her any good.

Upon arrival at support group she sees the regulars, one being a boy named Isaac who is losing his vision. Its through Isaac that she meets Augustus (also often referred to as Augustus Waters). There begins this epic tale of what turns out to be the adventures of a life time. The story follows Hazel and Augustus with their superior wit and intellect through ups and downs, adventures and sorrow.

It’s a remarkable book and I was very pleased to see they left very little out when they made the movie. Some bits made me laugh out loud while others made me cry. Beautifully written, I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions with one another. I find it hard to believe anyone could read this and not fall in love with the Augustus Waters character and his outlook on life.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, /But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2

http://johngreenbooks.com/