Reviews

Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry

jessicaleahreads's review against another edition

5.0

Love this series... so sad its over...

smiles11's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

snowbenton's review against another edition

5.0

I was a little nervous since I didn't love the third book, but this was better than I could have imagined! Maberry did such a brilliant job bringing us from Benny Imura's tender and immature mind in the first book all the way through to a promising young man in the last -- all while never failing to let his female characters shine. And shine they do. Nix, Lilah, and Riot are three of the most badass young women I've ever had the pleasure to read about.

This book does the near impossible: wraps up a four book arc with moments of joy and moments of profound sadness, offers a plausible and satisfactory explanation for the zombie plague and its origins, somehow manages to increase the already impossibly high stakes, and shows us what humanity can be capable of when we work together--and learn what we are capable of.

bookgirl1209's review against another edition

4.0

This book was awesome..one of the best zombie related books I've read. Maberry tells a story that is not just blood and guts and gore but also a coming of age, a story of love and loss.
His characters are fantastically written...so much so that I'm still wishing that certain characters that were killed of in book 2 or 3 were alive for this, book 4.

And for those fans of the Walking Dead, there's a surprising little easter egg hidden in the story.

coldlikeadqblizzard's review against another edition

5.0

I just love love love this series.

cornmaven's review against another edition

4.0

A little too much lengthy recap for my tastes, but overall this was a fitting ending to a really amazing zombie apocalypse story. Maberry brings in themes of becoming the monster that you are fighting to eliminate, and how profoundly you can be changed by circumstances. The action was very Lord of the Rings-like, and openly acknowledged by one of the characters, with zombies standing in for orcs, and Benny as Frodo. I especially liked the final exchange between Benny and Saint John - very well done, including the part where each acknowledges that they understand the other on, well, some primal level.

I liked the ending of hopefulness as well. And I will miss Benny and and his friends very much.

I'll leave the details to readers and others.

crumb730's review against another edition

4.0

This book was ups and downs emotionally. Everytime something went good it went south and you worried nothing would go right for them. I know there is one more book in the main series but honestly i don’t know where they go from here this would’ve been a solid ending to the series

angrycroak555's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

blessedwannab's review

4.0

Shadows and blood. And monsters.

So... I guess you have to ask yourself, young samurai, how far would you be willing to go to stop Saint John if he was coming after you and yours? How scary are you willing to be in order to take the heart out of the enemy? Are you willing to be the monster in the dark? Are you willing to be the boogeyman of their nightmares? If you can look inside your own head and see the line that you won't cross, the limit that's too far, then I can guarantee you Saint John will win. No question about it."

I hate when you reach the final book of a series that you love. It's always so sad, especially when the last book is so good. And Fire & Ash was so good. It was hard to put down, and it was action packed. You're proud of these kids, proud of how far they've come. The series spans only one year, but by the end they're adults and they've seen and been through a lot.

There are ups and downs, sad things and wonderful things, and in the end I'm very satisfied with where the book was left. Not everything was perfect, but things were on the mend. You have no idea how much I love a zombie novel that ends with hope. I like to think that humanity will win in the end, overcoming all the odds.

And there were also the funny's, not a lot of them, but a few times that you'd snicker are grin. Annnnnd there was even some name dropping! Let me know when you get there! :)

The only thing that I found disappointing was

Spoiler

that despite all odds I really hoped that somehow, someway, Tom wouldn't actually be dead and he would find his way back to Benny

. Realistically I knew that it wasn't possible, but I couldn't stop myself from hoping.

The Benny Imura series is a consistent read from book to book, and it's really going to suck not having new ones to look forward to.

America was born in the fires of a revolution, with people who wanted to push back against oppression. It was made tougher in the furnace of a civil war to make everyone free. In every single decade there were people who stood up and spoke out, people who made a stand. I look at you and what you represent, and I look at these four kids here and all their integrity and potential, and sister, you don't measure up too well.

bookworm151719's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I couldn't have asked for a better conclusion to the series. It was sort of open ended but not too much to leave readers guessing. Just enough for us to decide whether or not the couple gets together or not.