All Roads End Here by David Moody

All Roads End Here

by David Moody

Availble on Amazon

Rating (1-5) 📘📘
Genre - Dystopian, Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror
Format - Paperback
Length - 352 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

It’s taken Matthew Dunne almost three months to get home. Never more than a few meters from the Haters at any time, every single step has been fraught with danger. But he’s made it.
In his absence, his home city has become a sprawling, walled-off refugee camp. But the camp–and the entire world beyond its borders–is balanced on a knife-edge. During his time in the wilderness, Matt developed a skill which is in high demand: the ability to anticipate and predict Hater behavior. It’s these skills that will thrust him into a web of subterfuge and danger. As the pressure mounts inside the camp, he finds himself under scrutiny from all sides.
He’s always done his best to avoid trouble, but sometimes it can’t be helped. The shit’s about to hit the fan, and this time Matt’s right at the epicenter.


*My Review* 

I was introduced to David Moody when I read his book One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning. That book had me hooked right away. Unfortunately I didn't realize it was part of a series and of course I had read them out of order. Lucky for me it didn't matter and so I was super excited to read the next in the series.

My expectations were short lived. I hate leaving less that decent reviews on a book, but honestly this one felt like the horror version of Lord of the Ring. There was tons of walking. Tons of taking in the surroundings and staying out of trouble. It just wasn't what I had thought it would have been after reading the prequel.

Sorry David.

Athena's Choice by Adam Boostrom

Athena's Choice

by Adam Boostrom

Availble on Amazon

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Rating (1-5) 📘📘📘
Genre - Dystopian, Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Format - Paperback
Length - 272 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

Athena Vosh lives just like any other teenager from the year 2099. She watches reality shows with her friends, eats well, and occasionally wonders to herself: what would life be like if men were still alive?

It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth. However, a controversial project is currently underway to bring men back. There's just one catch. The project has been sabotaged.

So begins the award-winning novel, Athena's Choice. When the police of 2099 are tasked with finding the saboteur, they receive a mysterious command to investigate the otherwise innocuous Athena Vosh. After it becomes clear that the young girl might know more than she lets on, Athena is brought in to participate in the official investigation. Simultaneously, the girl begins to experience a series of cryptic dreams featuring a ruined library and an old book containing the saboteur’s true identity. As the police close in on their prize, Athena finds herself on a journey of her own. Her clue-filled dreams and incorruptible spirit bring her face-to-face with a pair of forgotten truths about happiness and gender. The world waits to see if men will return as Athena fights a separate battle, culminating in the choice that will define her and others' lives forever.


*My Review* 

Can you imagine living in a world without men? That's what has happened in Athena's Choice. There was a man made virus that was created to slowly kill off the "bad" men, but it accidentally rid the world of all men (and even some women).
Athena is called upon to help solve the crime, though no one is sure how she even fits into all this. She's not a detective or even a scientist, but rather a struggling artist. I was definitely kept wondering why her, until close to the end when pieces started falling into place.
Though I enjoyed the book, there were a few things I didn't care for. The first is the ads that were in the book. I know some people thought they gave more insight into the story, but for me it was like scrolling through my Facebook and seeing ads in my timeline (sorry Adam). The second was the ending. I am not sure why, but it just didn't satisfy me.

Deadfall by T. Graham

Deadfall: The Fallen Forest

by T. Graham

Available On Amazon

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Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘1/2
Genre - Dystopian, Science Fiction
Format - Paperback
Pages - 324

*Blurb* 

Trees begin falling in the American Northeast, only a few at first, but a building storm promises a disaster of biblical proportions. The government is helpless to stop the carnage as the world watches the Northeast reduced to a tangle of tree limbs and branches.
Roads are impassable and thousands are trapped in damaged rural homes without electricity and communication with the outside world. Flooding from obstructed waterways threatens lives and property as water cuts off escape roads and food supplies are running out fast...


*Review*

When I was contact by the author to do a review, my interest was peaked when he told me that the parts of the story took place in the area I live in. I figured it was going to be the Adirondacks or some well known place like that. When the actual town was mentioned I was shocked and it made those parts of the books not only easy to picture, but it was almost like I  could "see" what was going on.

Imagine waking up to trees being knocked over by the slightest breeze with no explanation. Would you make out ok or do you, like myself, live in an area that is mostly wooded? Imagine your home surrounded by trees, that once fallen, cause massive flooding from backed up streams and rivers. What would you do first? Would you try to ration the food you have and wait for help or would your try everything in your power to get out without knowing if there's any place to go?
The book jumps back and forth between characters each dealing with their own tree situation. Some trying to get out, some trying to get in to save their family or help others that may be trapped.

As much as I enjoyed the book, I feel liked it jumped from character to character too quickly. There wasn't enough time to form any kind of bond with them because you were only given a few pages at a time. And while I wasn't given time to form a bond, it seemed like the characters formed them too quickly. I know that people tend to get closer to each other when it seems things might be ending, but these characters got really close.

No Plain Rebel by M.C. Frank

No Ordinary Rebel (Book 2)

by M.C. Frank

Available On Amazon
Available on Book Depository 

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Format -Ebook


*Blurb* 
A soldier is summoned to the North Pole, days before the year changes, told to fix the great Clock for a celebration. He has no idea what to do.
A girl, hunted for the crime of being born, almost dies out on the ice. She is rescued by the last polar bear left alive.
A library waits for them both, a library built over a span of a hundred years, forgotten in the basement of an ice shack.
The world hasn't known hunger or sickness in hundreds of years. It has also forgotten love and beauty.
This is the One World.
The year is 2524.

Inspired by the short stories of Ray Bradbury, this futuristic young adult novel in three parts is set in a world where Christmas -among other things- is obsolete and a Clock is what keeps the fragile balance of peace.

Written in three parts, this is the breathtaking story of how two unlikely people change the world, and each other, one book at a time.

In No Plain Rebel, Felix finds out the truth.
Pretty soon, everything he thought he knew is crumbling around him. He’s about to lose it all. Even her.
But he must concentrate on what’s important; he must fight. It’s time. The Stadium is looming in the distance.
It’s ten heartbeats to midnight.

*Review*
This is the second book in the No Ordinary Star series and it's just as good as the first. Although Felix is no longer a tin soldier, he is still learning how things work and what they mean in the "real world". Everything he has know his entire life is just one big lie and there's no time to waste. Now he needs to work fast to get the ever important clock finished before time runs out. As the time gets closer Felix knows that he can't do this alone. Who can he ask to help him now that everything he is and does is again the law? Not returning home, building the clock, reading.....being near a female!

Once you start reading, you're not going to want to stop. My head was spinning with questions. Would the clock be finished in time for the celebration? What would happen with Felix and Astra? Do they fall in love? Will they get caught? What would happen if the clock IS finished in time?

So many questions, some will be answered and others.....I've got to hurry up and get the next book in the series. 

M.C. Frank is an author that is able to not only make me be able to visualize what I'm reading, but when the Timer was talking in the Vis, I swear I was able to actually hear him. I don't remember ever reading a book before where a character actually had a "voice" of their own.

No Ordinary Star by M.C. Frank

No Ordinary Star

by M.C. Frank

Available On Amazon
Available On Book Depository 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre -Science Fiction, Dystopian
Format -Ebook

Reading books set in the future never seem to hold my attention, but No Ordinary Star is no ordinary book. The beginning had me wondering if I was going to be able to follow the story or not. It didn't take long before I found myself unable to stop reading. The book just flows making it easy to read and the more you read the easier it is to picture everything happening. 

The year is 2524. People no longer sleep, eat or think on their own. Instead the take pills to keep them awake, pills to give them everything they need for nourishment and are told what to do. The world has become the perfect place, sort of.

Felix was just another solider, with the exception of always being the best and never breaking any laws...so why does he end up in a place that he shouldn't be. And why hasn't he left yet? Felix finds himself breaking laws rapidly. From not going home to his first meeting with Astra. Will this "tin soldier" be able to understand the truth or will he give up and head home to face the consequences of his disappearing? 


I can't wait to read the next book in the series. There are so many questions that need to be answered.