Publication Date: March 27, 2012Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Stand Alone Novel
Young Adult
Pages: 304
Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge 2012
F ifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone.*Galley provided by publisher for honest review*
But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?
After reading different opinions of this novel, I decided to dive in a brace myself for the back and forthness that I'd read about from fellow reviewers. Within the first few chapters I began to feel that shove and awkwardness that slang-writing happened to emit within this novel. And the farther I went into reading, the more of a challenge it was for me to keep my attention drawn to the text rather than the sparse thoughts that circulate to the top of my mind every now and again.
-- "EVERYONE IS GONE" --
Willo, our fifteen-year-old protagonist, is the only one left after his family, friends, and village are taken away. The whole novel is narrated by Willo so, as the reader, you see his stream of conscious and I wondered if the synopsis is misleading about his age. It was like reading Lord of the Flies, where the actions of the boys diverge their true age, but unlike LOTF, Willo seemed much younger than the book was letting on. Even with the encounter with Mary, I felt like the concept of age was very vague throughout and made it difficult to picture the characters within my head.
During most of the duration of the novel, due to the slang that Willo uses, I found myself skimming through the book, unmoved by the scenes that were being presented until the very end of the book when Willo and Mary make it to the city. Half the time I was confused as to the actions being presented, where Willo was going, who Dog was most of the time, and the premise that was trying to be presented to me. I ended up skimming though three-fourths until the very end, which is rare for me because I love post-apocalyptic worlds--take Ashfall for example--but unfortunately I did not enjoy reading this one since I barely could read it in the end.
Sadly, this book didn't hold my interest as I hoped it was going to. Though the scenery of never-ending snow did keep my somewhat interest, the other factors of dislike ended up proving that this book was not for me.
First Line: I'm gonna sit here in my place on the hill behind the house.
Story: C
Cover: C
