Title: World of Ash
Author: Shauna Granger
Publication Date: December 2, 2013
Pages: 263
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There are two inherent truths in the world: life as we know it is over, and monsters are real.
The Pestas came in the night, spreading their pox, a deadly plague that decimated the population. Kat, one of the unlucky few who survived, is determined to get to her last living relative and find shelter from the pox that continues to devastate the world. When it mutates and becomes airborne, Kat is desperate to avoid people because staying alone might be her only chance to stay alive.
That is, until she meets Dylan. Dylan, with his easy smile and dark, curly hair, has nowhere to go and no one to live for. He convinces Kat there can be safety in numbers, that they can watch out for each other. So the unlikely couple set off together through the barren wasteland to find a new life – if they can survive the roaming Pestas, bands of wild, gun-toting children, and piles of burning, pox-ridden bodies.
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Review
I really didn’t know exactly what I was getting into when I decided to sign up for for the Ash and Ruin tour, but just judging by the cover I expected it to be good. What I got was a new-adult post-apocalyptic story that ended up being pretty unique.
The main character in World of Ash is Kat – a privileged college student from California who is used to exercising on the regular and getting her hair done at expensive salons on a very regular basis. She doesn’t know what to do without her fancy shmancy lotions and, to be honest, these things were why I didn’t really love her. Sure, she’s forced to get over it and deal with the world around her, but she constantly makes references to her high maintenance life before. I would actually say that Kat must have been a valley girl in her previous life… Luckily, like I said, she does get over herself to an extent, so I didn’t hate her – I just didn’t love her. I did like Dylan though! I felt like their relationship was realistic based on their situation. He’s a little naive, but likeable. My favorite character was probably Blue! What can I say? I’m a dog person.
Pestas is a totally new take on the post-apocalyptic genre too! I really felt like this was a good spin on an old (but set in the future so new?) story. No zombies this time – just disease monsters. My major complaint with World of Ash is that it started off soooooooo slooooooow. I wanted to jump right into this book and take off running, but the first third of it was extremely slow. I understand that Shauna had to explain the current state of things, but I wish it hadn’t taken quite so long to get off the ground.
The world building was pretty great in this book! I really felt like I was right there as Kat and Dylan made their journey. It really makes me wonder what the world would really be like in this situation. Would everyone turn nasty like the people in this book? Or would people help each other? Because basically every post-apocalyptic book or show I’ve encountered has a pretty low opinion of humanity in times of crisis. Let’s hope we never find out…
Overall, I liked this book. I didn’t love it, but I’d say it was certainly worth giving a try if you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction with a little bit of magic!
Author Bio
Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.
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