edelm's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this one I really did. The premise of this book and all the hype surrounding it made me pick this one up. A story about kids finding refuge in a supermarket as the world goes hell sounds just about perfect to me, only that this story was far from perfect. Maybe it's the fact that I work part-time in a supermarket and spend my working days day dreaming about similar stories or maybe it was my love of the supermarket scene in The Darkest Minds, I don't know. All I know is that this sounded like an epic setting for a story at the beginning but I soon realised that 14 kids stuck in a supermarket for an ENTIRE book, gets boring pretty fast.
The main character Dean is meant to be 17 years old, I, however, could not imagine him any older than 12. Not only was it impossible to tell what age he was, his gender was questionable throughout. No joke, I genuinely kept thinking he was a girl, all the time and kept having to tell myself, no Edel, this is Dean, and Dean is supposedly a 17 year old guy and not a 12 year old girl.
Comments such as: "Her eye makeup was all smeared around her eyes and I wondered why nobody fixed her makeup. It was CNN, for God’s sake." did not help. Actual if I was watching CNN and the world around me was ending would care about what the news anchors makeup looked like? Eh, no.
That's just the main character, you also have 13 other characters and let me tell you they do not get any better. You have the jock, the bully, the all-american beauty, the motherly girl who takes care of the kids, the rebellious 13 year old, the evangelist 7 year old who preaches continuously and so on. Do I even need to point out how stereotypical all the characters are? None of them are fleshed out well enough to actually care about any of them, literally not one.
I think I gave this story two stars as it could have gone somewhere brilliant and at the beginning of the book it seemed to be headed that way. The first few chapters in this are action packed. The bus ride of death was easily my favourite part of this book. The people on that bus were being killed off left,right and centre, the author wasn't afraid to kill off a few kids, but as the story continued I just wished she killed off a few more. Sorry, but it's true. Once the kids get inside the store however, they seem more concerned with stupid teenage drama then the fact that the world is ending and everyone they know and love could be dead. We heard glimpses of the wreckage that was occurring in the outside world which would have been a lot more interesting then a couple kids running wild in a store.
The lack of any threat to these kids was what made this story so boring. This not edge of the seat, page turner action, this in fact is no action at all, and this along with the terribly stereotypical and unlikable characters sadly made this story a 2 stars from me. A generous 2 stars and I will not be continuing on with this series.
rox74's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting 'fluff' read. Nothing deep, nothing wonderful, but a plot that was engaging enough to keep me reading to the end. Not sure I'll continue the series though. Maybe, maybe not.
hereistheend's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my... wow. This was intense.
But I really enjoyed it and could n o t stop reading. You should have seen my face when I found out there was a second. I was hoping for one so bad!
But I really enjoyed it and could n o t stop reading. You should have seen my face when I found out there was a second. I was hoping for one so bad!
lawbooks600's review against another edition
3.0
6/10, eh, not that good of an apocalypse novel, where did these disasters come from? The characters seems pretty flat, and there's more realistic drama and stuff than action, which kind of drags the book down.
moogen's review against another edition
3.0
I spend a disproportionate amount of my reading time looking for books that will engage my 11 year old son. This will do the job nicely. But it doesn't have that Hunger Games or Neil Gaiman like spark that makes me glad to have read it as an adult.
im_not_creative456's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
raven_nivhaar's review
1.0
FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!
CW: Sexualizing of minors; underage drinking; sizism; homphobia; drug use; attempted rape.
Where do I begin?
I hate to be harsh, but I didn't find anything redeemable about this book, unfortunately.
From constant thoughts on the appearance of certain characters, to the many awkward sentences and phrasings, this book was a hot mess.
Literally nothing was spared. From rampant inconsistencies, poor word choices, the 'development' of the characters, and the so called plot. WHAT PLOT? It's literally just a bunch of stereotypes masquerading as people stuck in a department store during an apocalyptic event.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional, the dialogue was flat, the descriptions were all over the place, I could go on and on.
Not to mention the countless instances of misogyny and sexism, there were also a multitude of descriptions that I found appalling. The characters (particularly the main character) felt the need to comment on the weight of several of the other characters (at one point a character late in the novel felt the need to comment on the weight of a woman he had helped, when it was completely unnecessary).
I went into this novel with the notion that it would be a thrilling novel about a group of teenagers forced to survive in a Walmart-esque department store during an apocalypse.
Instead, I was forced to endure a novel revolving around the angst of teenagers set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic event.
The entirety of the book I FELT like I was reading a book, you know? There was no immersion that took place. Nothing felt real, and this book was a chore to get through. Literally the only thing this book had going for it was that once you started reading it, it was relatively quick to get through, but I had to fight my instincts to roll my eyes every two sentences!
The main character, Dean, was a creep, and at times appeared to display sociopathic tendencies. He is the most disturbing main character I think I've ever read. He literally STALKS his crush, Astrid, and is obsessed to the point that whenever she shows him the slightest bit of attention he goes on about how they're meant for one another.
"It was like we were magnets, meant to be fitted together."
and at another, comments:
"What I wanted was Astrid. She looked so good to me I wanted to take her, in a dark and terrible way."
UMMMMM???? EXCUSE ME?!! He literally thought about RAPING her, and it is never mentioned again! I do not care that he had been exposed to the dangerous chemicals. That is no excuse!
He spied on her without her knowledge, as well as numerous other offenses. And this was the character we were supposed to root for? I found myself wishing a meteor would crash into the store to end my suffering!
There were constant thoughts on how provocative Sahalia is dressed, numerous mentions to the weight of the smaller children, and a lot of mentions of wanting to strangle said children. So many of these comments were incredibly creepy! There was one instance where Sahalia was dressed in short shorts and a white t-shirt and it got wet, and the teenage boys just STARE at her! She is 13!!!
Getting back to the sexism for a moment, the female characters (Josie, Astrid, and Sahalia) were the only ones who seemed capable of taking care of the younger characters at any given time. Our MC had one kid help him prepare meals, but that was literally the extent of it, and he made it clear his disdain for them early on.
Astrid was immediately forced into the role of babysitter when they become stuck in the store, and then disappears when something happens (I'm still debating whether or not to actually write spoilers on this review so we'll just leave it at that), and then Josie takes over. She is even referred to as "Mother Josie"!
Yet none, and I mean NONE of the male characters do much of anything besides "protect" the others. It was horribly imbalanced and sexist.
For instance, there is a scene where they have to take the children to the restroom and Astrid (naturally -.-) is volunteered to do this. Alone.
"Astrid got the kids organized. She told Henry that they were all going to stick together and go in the ladies' room, which was good psychology, even if it elicited a round of groans from the boys."
Why didn't the males step up and take the boys to the men's room, you ask? Because that would have been the LOGICAL thing to do, and this book has shown that logic is definitely not in its wheelhouse.
The female characters were CONSTANTLY relegated to the role of babysitter, while the male characters did whatever DIDN'T involve them. There is another instance, where they force Josie to go take care of the kids when they encounter an issue, rather than having her input on it, despite the children being asleep! And on and on it went.
No female was spared, towards the end, it was Sahalia who was forced to be the babysitter, and just... WHY?!
And to briefly touch upon the attempted rape, of which Sahalia was the victim. I'll keep this brief because I am not familiar with this topic, but I do believe that this was handled poorly. It was mentioned very briefly and then it appeared to be glossed over, with our main character even describing Sahalia as "more grown up" towards the end of the novel, once the event had passed.
I was so enraged after I read that, because no one listened to the ONLY character who had common sense throughout the novel, when you could see the red flags IMMEDIATELY.
Overall, flat writing, unrealistic characters, rampant sexism... I could go on and on, but I think my review has gone on long enough. My friend has written a review of her own, which I will link HERE so please go and check it out, she was much more thorough than I was.
Do yourself a favor and skip this book, you're not missing much.
CW: Sexualizing of minors; underage drinking; sizism; homphobia; drug use; attempted rape.
Where do I begin?
I hate to be harsh, but I didn't find anything redeemable about this book, unfortunately.
From constant thoughts on the appearance of certain characters, to the many awkward sentences and phrasings, this book was a hot mess.
Literally nothing was spared. From rampant inconsistencies, poor word choices, the 'development' of the characters, and the so called plot. WHAT PLOT? It's literally just a bunch of stereotypes masquerading as people stuck in a department store during an apocalyptic event.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional, the dialogue was flat, the descriptions were all over the place, I could go on and on.
Not to mention the countless instances of misogyny and sexism, there were also a multitude of descriptions that I found appalling. The characters (particularly the main character) felt the need to comment on the weight of several of the other characters (at one point a character late in the novel felt the need to comment on the weight of a woman he had helped, when it was completely unnecessary).
I went into this novel with the notion that it would be a thrilling novel about a group of teenagers forced to survive in a Walmart-esque department store during an apocalypse.
Instead, I was forced to endure a novel revolving around the angst of teenagers set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic event.
The entirety of the book I FELT like I was reading a book, you know? There was no immersion that took place. Nothing felt real, and this book was a chore to get through. Literally the only thing this book had going for it was that once you started reading it, it was relatively quick to get through, but I had to fight my instincts to roll my eyes every two sentences!
The main character, Dean, was a creep, and at times appeared to display sociopathic tendencies. He is the most disturbing main character I think I've ever read. He literally STALKS his crush, Astrid, and is obsessed to the point that whenever she shows him the slightest bit of attention he goes on about how they're meant for one another.
"It was like we were magnets, meant to be fitted together."
and at another, comments:
"What I wanted was Astrid. She looked so good to me I wanted to take her, in a dark and terrible way."
UMMMMM???? EXCUSE ME?!! He literally thought about RAPING her, and it is never mentioned again! I do not care that he had been exposed to the dangerous chemicals. That is no excuse!
He spied on her without her knowledge, as well as numerous other offenses. And this was the character we were supposed to root for? I found myself wishing a meteor would crash into the store to end my suffering!
There were constant thoughts on how provocative Sahalia is dressed, numerous mentions to the weight of the smaller children, and a lot of mentions of wanting to strangle said children. So many of these comments were incredibly creepy! There was one instance where Sahalia was dressed in short shorts and a white t-shirt and it got wet, and the teenage boys just STARE at her! She is 13!!!
Getting back to the sexism for a moment, the female characters (Josie, Astrid, and Sahalia) were the only ones who seemed capable of taking care of the younger characters at any given time. Our MC had one kid help him prepare meals, but that was literally the extent of it, and he made it clear his disdain for them early on.
Astrid was immediately forced into the role of babysitter when they become stuck in the store, and then disappears when something happens (I'm still debating whether or not to actually write spoilers on this review so we'll just leave it at that), and then Josie takes over. She is even referred to as "Mother Josie"!
Yet none, and I mean NONE of the male characters do much of anything besides "protect" the others. It was horribly imbalanced and sexist.
For instance, there is a scene where they have to take the children to the restroom and Astrid (naturally -.-) is volunteered to do this. Alone.
"Astrid got the kids organized. She told Henry that they were all going to stick together and go in the ladies' room, which was good psychology, even if it elicited a round of groans from the boys."
Why didn't the males step up and take the boys to the men's room, you ask? Because that would have been the LOGICAL thing to do, and this book has shown that logic is definitely not in its wheelhouse.
The female characters were CONSTANTLY relegated to the role of babysitter, while the male characters did whatever DIDN'T involve them. There is another instance, where they force Josie to go take care of the kids when they encounter an issue, rather than having her input on it, despite the children being asleep! And on and on it went.
No female was spared, towards the end, it was Sahalia who was forced to be the babysitter, and just... WHY?!
And to briefly touch upon the attempted rape, of which Sahalia was the victim. I'll keep this brief because I am not familiar with this topic, but I do believe that this was handled poorly. It was mentioned very briefly and then it appeared to be glossed over, with our main character even describing Sahalia as "more grown up" towards the end of the novel, once the event had passed.
I was so enraged after I read that, because no one listened to the ONLY character who had common sense throughout the novel, when you could see the red flags IMMEDIATELY.
Overall, flat writing, unrealistic characters, rampant sexism... I could go on and on, but I think my review has gone on long enough. My friend has written a review of her own, which I will link HERE so please go and check it out, she was much more thorough than I was.
Do yourself a favor and skip this book, you're not missing much.
waywardskyril's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warning: Sizism, sexism, misogyny, possibly racism, underage drinking, drug use, homophobia, sexualization of a minor, non-con voyeurism (ish), nudity, attempted rape, general creepyness and grossness throughout
Stupid, banal, monotonous, and overall without heart. Monument 14 reads like a very rough first draft with plot devices thrown is as they occurred to the author. It needed a massive overhaul. I'm 99% sure I have edited this review more than the author edited her book. Basically, the writing alone was so bad I DON'T KNOW HOW IT WAS PUBLISHED!!!!
On top of that, I had so MANY issues with the plot and characters, I have never loathed a book more.
Yes--loathed.
It's that infuriating. Just wait to find out why.
As this book was an unqualified trainwreck from start to finish there'll be a comment after this review full of some of the notes, quotes, and snark I took while reading.
Before that, however, the bullet points--or, highlights from hell.
Now, to kick this off I will start with my first issue, the awful writing.
I thought I would never read anything worse than Pawn, but here we are. Where do I even start? The grammar wasn't great, but honestly compared to everything else that was minor.
The sentences were annoyingly repetitive. Let's play: How Many Consecutive Simple Sentences Beginning with "I" Can We Fit in One Paragraph-
With little variation in sentence structure and abrupt course re-directions that come out of left field (and note: the formatting and punctuation is also taken directly from the book)-
Zero sense descriptions beyond sight, cliche adjectives, robotic descriptions-
With these nonsensical analogies peppered throughout-
On top of ALL OF THAT, there were time discrepancies and plot holes, the kids didn’t act or sound like kids, and the teenagers and adults were to all appearances either psychos or robots.
Ultimately, I can’t even describe to you how bad the quality of the writing was from beginning to tedious end without copying and pasting the entire book into this review.
Besides, this wasn’t even nearly the most infuriating element of this dumpster fire.
Strap in, because this is gonna get gross.
But let’s slip into this gently, shall we?
(As a Supernatural fan, the name "Dean" claims an individual place in my heart. Therefore, our MC will hence forth be known by his prank name from the book: "Geraldine.")
The plot.
The plot devolves from (badly written) apocalypse (plot holes, stupid science) to… wait for it… teen drama. For a huge middle chunk of the book, it’s what they’re having for lunch, jealousy over who’s dating whom, and how dare my little brother Alex like Niko more than me.
I... I wish I were joking.
Afraid for their lives? Constantly assaulted by new catastrophic threats? In-group fighting? Thrills? Suspense? All as the synopsis subtly suggests? I WISH!! How can a story with such a great outline be so dull?
What is this?? Codependency? Or just psycho stalker possessive Geraldine again?
Now that I’ve eased you in, time to talk about... the characters. From the very start I had issues with all of them, especially Geraldine, and they only multiplied.
For example, from literally page two I was skeptical about the way Geraldine described people, beginning with his bus driver--"morbidly obese." Sadly, that was only foreshadowing. He proceeded to describe the same little girl, Chloe, whom he found annoying, as "chunky" and "chubby." Not just once, in passing, as a natural description of her appearance, but repeatedly, almost whenever she was a featured character, as well as another child, Max (at one point, twice on the same page), which was... weird? He never described anyone as "skinny," let alone repeated that description whenever the character appeared as he did with these-
If it was once only, then okay. Sure, there are fat children in the world. Nothing wrong with that.
But, he kept describing her this way pages, at most, apart. THIS WAS NOT NECESSARY. And, as it was a recurring theme throughout the book with several side characters, there's nothing else to call it but what it is: sizest. And it was just the first black mark on an increasing tally of characteristics Geraldine and the book at large exhibited.
For instance, Geraldine read at times like a freaking psychopath.
I don't even...
How can I describe it better?
He wasn't INTENDED this way, but how he's written is... unsettling.
He's apathetic. He has these sudden strong likes and dislikes of people. He's short-tempered, especially with the kids, and so possessive of his brother that he's HAPPY when he has a fight with his friend. His attention is always drawn to skin, and he seems to STALK the girl he likes. Basically, he exudes this creepytastic vibe, and on top of his wimpyness and cowardice, I loathed him.
Stalker much? (Also, how convenient she happened to work here and happens to know how to run the ovens in the store they happened to crash into..... This is not the last time this happens.)
It gets worse. Here are some of the thoughts that go through his head about Astrid-
Trigger Warning: rapey
Full disclosure: that last quote (last quote only) was while he was under the influence of chemicals that affected his aggression, but I legitimately do not care what the excuse is. The main character was written in a way that had him wanting to rape a girl and that is not okay!
TW end
And on top of this already disturbing behavior, he: A) Thought everyone should die during the hailstorm in the first pages-
B) is freaking bizarrely sleepy and warm and comfortable in a bus full of blood and killed kids-
C) Thought writing a poem was "gay" and something to be embarrassed about-
And D) enjoyed tying up an 8-year-old girl-
Geraldine was disgusting, and were he to spontaneously combust, I would've cheered.
Direct quotes from the book, people. Sizism, mysogyny, GENERAL CREEPYNESS. How--no, why--am I supposed to like or support the main character, when he’s constantly demonstrating these horrifying characteristics?
Unfortunately Geraldine wasn't the only weak character (spoiler alert: they all were). Every character was his or her own cliche, but what disturbed me the most about them all was the sexism and misogyny vomited all over the pages of this book. Of the two 16-year-old teenage girls, both were made babysitter and nurturer to the children. Pushed back to watch while the big strong men took care of business. Neither barely remembered she could argue that dynamic and barely fought it when a strong male told her what to do-
Josie literally washed the kids, put them in clean clothes with sheets on their beds, told them bedtime stories, and was called "Mother Josie," while the five capable teenage BOYS... drank... took drugs... played board games... and were big strong men defending the castle from... nothing.
While this was disturbing enough as it was, it wasn’t even the worst of this mess of a book. And this is where some of those revolting content warnings come in, so brace yourself.
From third graders discussing a strip club-
And “jokes” about boy scouts’ masturbation skills-
To drunk teenage boys bonding over how great sex is-
To the non-consensual SPYING of a girl stripping in front of her boyfriend and watching as he fondles her, to the constant sexualization of a thirteen year old child and her attempted rape, this book was BRIMMING with inappropriate innuendos and vulgarity.
this is about a THIRTEEN year old girl. Literally the entire book describes what Sahalia is wearing at any given time, going into too much detail and turning her into a sex icon whenever possible. There is no adjective I can find to describe how wrong this is, ever, but especially here, in a young adult novel geared primarily towards teenagers.
What are they supposed to take from this book? That girls should be ashamed of the way they dress? Or that it’s an invitation to be raped? That boys can be immature slack-offs and sleeze-bags??
Shred this garbage!!
There was so much in this book I haven’t even fit in because it was too much. I can’t even, in good conscious, give this book away, or leave it somewhere for someone else to find because I don’t want young adults who are just beginning to understand themselves and this world to take this data that is so, so wrong and apply it to their own psyche and lives.
Men and women and boys and girls can be so. Much. Better than this.
If you take anything from this review, take that. And don’t read this freaking book, y’all. It is not worth the minutes.
I'm done!
Stupid, banal, monotonous, and overall without heart. Monument 14 reads like a very rough first draft with plot devices thrown is as they occurred to the author. It needed a massive overhaul. I'm 99% sure I have edited this review more than the author edited her book. Basically, the writing alone was so bad I DON'T KNOW HOW IT WAS PUBLISHED!!!!
On top of that, I had so MANY issues with the plot and characters, I have never loathed a book more.
Yes--loathed.
It's that infuriating. Just wait to find out why.
As this book was an unqualified trainwreck from start to finish there'll be a comment after this review full of some of the notes, quotes, and snark I took while reading.
Before that, however, the bullet points--or, highlights from hell.
Now, to kick this off I will start with my first issue, the awful writing.
I thought I would never read anything worse than Pawn, but here we are. Where do I even start? The grammar wasn't great, but honestly compared to everything else that was minor.
The sentences were annoyingly repetitive. Let's play: How Many Consecutive Simple Sentences Beginning with "I" Can We Fit in One Paragraph-
I pulled my sweater over my face and began to walk to my car. I got in my car and took care not to turn on the lights. I turned on the radio and heard the emergency broadcast that explained what was happening around me. I attempted to drive back to my home.
With little variation in sentence structure and abrupt course re-directions that come out of left field (and note: the formatting and punctuation is also taken directly from the book)-
We were locked in.
The little kids lost it. "What's happening?" "We're trapped!" "I want to go home!" That kind of thing.
Niko just stood, watching the gate come down.
"We should like get something under it. To like wedge it open," Jake shouted.
He grabbed a shopping cart and rolled it forward, under the central gate.
But the gate dropping just pushed the cart out of the way.
The three gates settled with a heavy CLANK that rang with finality.
"We're locked in," I said.
"And everyone else is locked out," Niko said quietly.
"All right," Jake said, clapping his hands. "Which one of you little punks is gonna teach me how to play Chutes and Ladders?"
Zero sense descriptions beyond sight, cliche adjectives, robotic descriptions-
I fought the young man off for a moment, but he might have injured me seriously if he had not been attacked in turn by another person. It was an elderly man who had earlier told me he was there for chicken wire. I watched as the old man and the young man fought each other to death.
With these nonsensical analogies peppered throughout-
-These tears, like jelly beans, plopping out of his eyes and running down his face . . .
-Everything was getting electric at the edges of my field of vision. Little zapping fish swimming up and nearly taking me down with them.
On top of ALL OF THAT, there were time discrepancies and plot holes, the kids didn’t act or sound like kids, and the teenagers and adults were to all appearances either psychos or robots.
Ultimately, I can’t even describe to you how bad the quality of the writing was from beginning to tedious end without copying and pasting the entire book into this review.
Besides, this wasn’t even nearly the most infuriating element of this dumpster fire.
Strap in, because this is gonna get gross.
But let’s slip into this gently, shall we?
(As a Supernatural fan, the name "Dean" claims an individual place in my heart. Therefore, our MC will hence forth be known by his prank name from the book: "Geraldine.")
The plot.
The plot devolves from (badly written) apocalypse (plot holes, stupid science) to… wait for it… teen drama. For a huge middle chunk of the book, it’s what they’re having for lunch, jealousy over who’s dating whom, and how dare my little brother Alex like Niko more than me.
I... I wish I were joking.
Afraid for their lives? Constantly assaulted by new catastrophic threats? In-group fighting? Thrills? Suspense? All as the synopsis subtly suggests? I WISH!! How can a story with such a great outline be so dull?
I didn't like Niko spending more time with Alex than I did. It didn't feel right to me. We were brothers. I should know everything he knew and vice versa.
What is this?? Codependency? Or just psycho stalker possessive Geraldine again?
Now that I’ve eased you in, time to talk about... the characters. From the very start I had issues with all of them, especially Geraldine, and they only multiplied.
For example, from literally page two I was skeptical about the way Geraldine described people, beginning with his bus driver--"morbidly obese." Sadly, that was only foreshadowing. He proceeded to describe the same little girl, Chloe, whom he found annoying, as "chunky" and "chubby." Not just once, in passing, as a natural description of her appearance, but repeatedly, almost whenever she was a featured character, as well as another child, Max (at one point, twice on the same page), which was... weird? He never described anyone as "skinny," let alone repeated that description whenever the character appeared as he did with these-
-A chunky little girl named Chloe started to cry.
-The little kids cheered, especially Chloe, who made a big show of jumping up and down and clapping her chubby little hands. She seemed a little fickle, emotion-wise. And a little annoying.
-Chloe was the third grader who had been whining when Mrs. Wooly said she was going for help. Chloe was chubby and tan and very energetic.
If it was once only, then okay. Sure, there are fat children in the world. Nothing wrong with that.
But, he kept describing her this way pages, at most, apart. THIS WAS NOT NECESSARY. And, as it was a recurring theme throughout the book with several side characters, there's nothing else to call it but what it is: sizest. And it was just the first black mark on an increasing tally of characteristics Geraldine and the book at large exhibited.
For instance, Geraldine read at times like a freaking psychopath.
I don't even...
How can I describe it better?
He wasn't INTENDED this way, but how he's written is... unsettling.
He's apathetic. He has these sudden strong likes and dislikes of people. He's short-tempered, especially with the kids, and so possessive of his brother that he's HAPPY when he has a fight with his friend. His attention is always drawn to skin, and he seems to STALK the girl he likes. Basically, he exudes this creepytastic vibe, and on top of his wimpyness and cowardice, I loathed him.
"I can make us lunch if need be," Astrid said. "I actually know how to run the ovens and the pizza shop because I had a job here last summer."
I knew she'd had a job at Greenway. It had been a summer that involved a lot of superstore browsing for me.
Stalker much? (Also, how convenient she happened to work here and happens to know how to run the ovens in the store they happened to crash into..... This is not the last time this happens.)
It gets worse. Here are some of the thoughts that go through his head about Astrid-
Trigger Warning: rapey
-I savored being near Astrid.
-Her shirt rode up in the scuffle and I caught sight of her lower back. Tan, muscled, gorgeous.
-Just the idea of . . . well, the idea of washing her hair, made me feel really, very awake.
-What I wanted was Astrid. She looked so good to me I wanted to take her, in a dark and terrible way.
Full disclosure: that last quote (last quote only) was while he was under the influence of chemicals that affected his aggression, but I legitimately do not care what the excuse is. The main character was written in a way that had him wanting to rape a girl and that is not okay!
TW end
And on top of this already disturbing behavior, he: A) Thought everyone should die during the hailstorm in the first pages-
"The bus is on fire!" "It's going to explode!" and "We're going to die!"
And I thought, They're right. Yes, we'll die. But it's okay. It's fine. It is as it should be. We are going to die.
B) is freaking bizarrely sleepy and warm and comfortable in a bus full of blood and killed kids-
There was a lot of shouting and people helping one another over the battered seats and slipping on the hail on the floor, slipping because everything was sticky, now with the blood of the kids who had been crushed and Mr. Reed and maybe also motor oil or gasoline, maybe . . . but, see, I was so warm and sleepy.
C) Thought writing a poem was "gay" and something to be embarrassed about-
I know. A poem. Gay. What can I say?
And D) enjoyed tying up an 8-year-old girl-
Chloe was an annoying kid anyway, it was a pleasure to restrain her. I held her fat little wrists with a big mean smile on my face.
Geraldine was disgusting, and were he to spontaneously combust, I would've cheered.
Direct quotes from the book, people. Sizism, mysogyny, GENERAL CREEPYNESS. How--no, why--am I supposed to like or support the main character, when he’s constantly demonstrating these horrifying characteristics?
Unfortunately Geraldine wasn't the only weak character (spoiler alert: they all were). Every character was his or her own cliche, but what disturbed me the most about them all was the sexism and misogyny vomited all over the pages of this book. Of the two 16-year-old teenage girls, both were made babysitter and nurturer to the children. Pushed back to watch while the big strong men took care of business. Neither barely remembered she could argue that dynamic and barely fought it when a strong male told her what to do-
-"Don't stick me with the little kids," she protested. "I'm just as strong as you guys are!"
"Just do as I say!" Niko hollered.
She did.
-"Josie, please stay here and make sure the kids stay safe.”
“I want to come,” she whispered. “They're asleep. They'll be fine.”
“We need you here,” Niko said.
“Come on, dude, she wants to come,” Brayden argued.
Trying to win points with his new girlfriend.
“The answer is no. I need to know that the kids are safe and here,” Niko said. “The rest of you come on."
I followed with the other boys and Josie crossed her arms and stayed behind.
Josie literally washed the kids, put them in clean clothes with sheets on their beds, told them bedtime stories, and was called "Mother Josie," while the five capable teenage BOYS... drank... took drugs... played board games... and were big strong men defending the castle from... nothing.
While this was disturbing enough as it was, it wasn’t even the worst of this mess of a book. And this is where some of those revolting content warnings come in, so brace yourself.
From third graders discussing a strip club-
Max, Batiste, Ulysses, and Chloe were discussing Emerald's, a strip club located near an off-ramp on the outskirts of town.
And “jokes” about boy scouts’ masturbation skills-
”You know,” Jake said, after he drained his cup. “I love Boy Scouts. You know why?”
“Why?” Niko asked.
“They give a real good hand job.”
We cracked up.
“No, really. All that time up in the mountains with nothing to do. They always come prepared, too, with the little lotion bottles.”
To drunk teenage boys bonding over how great sex is-
"Oh man, getting laid is so awesome," Jake said, scratching his head. "It's just absolutely the best thing ever. Once you get it, all you can think of is getting it again. Sometimes I'm having sex and I'm worried about the next time I'm gonna have sex!"
To the non-consensual SPYING of a girl stripping in front of her boyfriend and watching as he fondles her, to the constant sexualization of a thirteen year old child and her attempted rape, this book was BRIMMING with inappropriate innuendos and vulgarity.
-Now her behind is facing us, and they are SHORT shorts she is wearing. So we can see . . too much. We can see skin under the leg of her shorts. The creamy skin of her inner, inner thigh. It was like a Sports Illustrated bikini-issue spread.
-But it got worse (or better, depending on your POV).
She stood up and turned to face us.
And her T-shirt was all wet.
Now we could see her breasts outright, through the material of her T-shirt.
We could see the nipples. Everything about them, we could see.
It was hot. It was crazy.
this is about a THIRTEEN year old girl. Literally the entire book describes what Sahalia is wearing at any given time, going into too much detail and turning her into a sex icon whenever possible. There is no adjective I can find to describe how wrong this is, ever, but especially here, in a young adult novel geared primarily towards teenagers.
What are they supposed to take from this book? That girls should be ashamed of the way they dress? Or that it’s an invitation to be raped? That boys can be immature slack-offs and sleeze-bags??
Shred this garbage!!
There was so much in this book I haven’t even fit in because it was too much. I can’t even, in good conscious, give this book away, or leave it somewhere for someone else to find because I don’t want young adults who are just beginning to understand themselves and this world to take this data that is so, so wrong and apply it to their own psyche and lives.
Men and women and boys and girls can be so. Much. Better than this.
If you take anything from this review, take that. And don’t read this freaking book, y’all. It is not worth the minutes.
I'm done!
aschwartz184's review against another edition
5.0
This book really had it all - adventure, horror, even bits of comedy. I found myself very attached to all the characters and couldn't wait for my next free moment to see what they were doing to survive the end of the world. I had no idea that this wasn't a standalone book, so the cliffhanger ending killed me, but I look forward to reading what happens next. Highly recommended for grades 10 and up (due to some adult content)