Review: Apocalypsis: Book 4 (Haven) by Elle Casey

Purchase Price: $4.96 CDN on Amazon.ca
Apocalypsis: Book 4 (Haven) [Kindle Edition]

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Young Adult, Action Adventure, Series

Book Description: My name's Bryn Mathis. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm alive at a critical time in our world's history, unlike all the adults and babies who didn't survive the virus that almost wiped out the human race. Alliances are building, enemies are gathering, and everything's about to reach the boiling point. I'm in a race against time to get Haven ready for the final showdown, a confrontation that could very possibly destroy everything my friends and I have worked so hard to create. People I trusted have betrayed me. People who I thought were my enemies are not. Nothing is as it seems, and nothing will ever be the same for me, now that I've embarked on this one last adventure that could be the undoing of everything that is me. [From Amazon.ca]

Review:
This last book in the Apocalypsis Series, Haven was so much more than I could have expected, which is exactly what I have come to expect to the fabulous Elle Casey.

Picking up precisely where were left in the third book in the series, this final novel brings us in with no gentle embrace, we find Bryn, Peter, Bodo, and the rest of the 'survivors' finding shelter behind the chain-link and razor wire fences at the Florida prison they have come to call 'Haven'. With a steady influx of starving and wounded children, and work to be done, the group begins the unpleasant and often horrific work of 'cleaning' out the leftovers from the previous inhabitants of the prison. One scene in particular was so gruesome and shocking that I found myself feeling ill. I was really surprised to find myself reacting thusly, as I am a nurse and in no way unfamiliar with all manner of body exudates and have seen and handled many deceased in my time on the job. This was supremely gross, and I am impressed by Casey's ability to craft horror into a story that has been largely shocking, but not necessarily creepy and scary.

Bryn and friends realize that with the arrival of news that the kids in the Glades have been besieged by the hideously evil 'Canners', they must leave their sanctuary and go to try to get as many as they can to safety. As a small group heads out on the road to reach the Kahayatle, meeting trouble almost the entire way. There are some new friends, and new connections that serve to be monumentally important for the survival of the 'peace-minded'. But there are also cruel twists, malevolent individuals that have turned to such a dark place they are beyond reach.

Throughout the story, we are met with the conflict brewing between Bryn and her boyfriend Bodo. While Bryn decides to 'come clean' with Bodo about her small romantic indiscretion when he was lost to the group and likely dead, he refuses to forgive her, and piles on additional problems by refusing to speak to her and then becoming more secretive about his past. The tension is palpable, and it is finally a real teenage relationship. Of course, the communication troubles are compounded by the stress of attempting a rescue of friends where trust is essential.

When the Bryn and Bodo eventually reach the swamps, the signs are ominous. The boats are gone, and they must get into 'gator infested waters to get deeper into the area. There is a lot of loss in this novel, perhaps more than in all the other "Apocalypsis" series books combined. It is filled with violent struggles, society's breakdown now beyond repair as far as the "Canners" go, and people are fighting for land, food, resources, and just to stay alive. The consequences of a system breakdown on this societal level has left things like medication and other necessities of life scarce and disappearing rapidly. Casey has clearly thought about this deeply, and it is presented with the drama and dark humour one would expect, but also the sadness that cuts through it all.

Though there seems to be a challenge erupting the moment they adjust to the previous trauma's tremors, the group is tight knit and seem to be so well equipped to work together to create the world they want to live in, the kind of world that Bryn's father would have wanted for his daughter, and the one Bryn so richly deserves. While there is always trouble on the horizon, and room for new stories to be spun from all over the continent, by all the teens who are facing the horror and joys to be found in the 'new world', this book is immensely satisfying.

As others have hinted, the ending is not one most expected, not one that I saw coming, but it is precisely why Elle Casey is such an exceptional writer. You care about her characters, you root for the under-dog, you are horrified - thrilled- overwhelmed - and overjoyed as they all move through their individual journeys. Not everyone has a happy ending, not everyone makes it through the struggle, others are beyond hope, but they are all remarkably real, and you can understand on some level how they became the way they have after the tragedy that has befallen human-kind.

The scenes are fleshed out with the kind of detail that makes them so visually accessible, almost immediately, without being weighed down with too much flowery or filler words. The words have purpose, they move the story along, but there is also so much there to flesh out the story and make it feel real. It falls precisely into that perfect wedge of balance few authors get right. Elle Casey got it right in this novel, and in all the other works I have read from her. You shall not be disappointed.

Fired Up Rating: 5/5 Flames

 

Bottom Line: Highly Recommended. Read the whole series, you will absorb these novels into your soul, and they are fast reads - and they will stay with you. You will wonder what the characters are up to, even when you know that their world is not our world, it is just too real to ignore. Amazing read!

Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Purchase Price - $32.59 CDN on Amazon.ca
Uglies: Uglies; Pretties; Specials; Extras; [4 Paperback Box Set]


Genre: Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Action Adventure

**This Review Contains Some Spoilers**

I was drawn to this title, and in fact the whole series, by several reviews I had read online, but also because I have been on a bit of a Post-Apocalyptic bent of late. I am always on the lookout for good Young Adult titles that I can share with my 15 year old niece. I was intrigues by the tag line;

"A world where everyone's ugly. And then they're not."

So instead of buying the individual titles, this four volume set was actually less expensive, and more suitable for sharing with my young friends, I decided to get all four novels in one snap. I started off with no preconceived notions of the novel, and dove in eagerly.

The first thing I noted was that there is a lot of 'slang' in this novel, terminology that is unique to the time and place it is set in, and rather difficult to tease out the full meanings of at first. We are introduced to almost 16 year-old Tally Youngblood, our main protagonist, who is left behind in 'Uglyville' while all her friends have turned 16, and have moved across the river to 'New Pretty Town', where they have undergone extensive surgical procedures to be what is known as Pretty.  These include what those familiar with genetics will recognize as the hallmarks of beauty through evolution of man, starting with facial symmetry, and including the traits that make other humans want to take care of them, including many of the features of newborns, such as large eyes, full lips, rounded cheeks, and a sort of childlike innocence. I did happily note that there is a definite emphasis not just on facial beauty, but also healthy body weight as being the ideal, no one is allowed to be too skinny, as stories of old warned of crazy people who starved themselves until they were sick.

The entire society that Tally lives within is geared towards these Pretties, they are indulged in a life of idleness, allowed to party endlessly and drink to excess, participate in 'safe' monitored risk taking, and allowed to customize their wardrobes and even facial and body traits over and over again like living dolls.  This is prized as the ultimate ideal outcome for any 'Littlie', or child, and all the schooling they receive is geared towards seeing past human societies as wasteful, dangerous, and violent. It seems being Pretty is the solution to all the problems of mankind's past.

Tally is anxious to become Pretty, but is lonely and isolated without her former friends. This is where she meets 'Shay' another almost 16 year-old, who in fact shares her same birthday, and is similarly the last of her group awaiting the surgery. A friendship quickly evolves, and the girls spend their final weeks playing what are known as 'Tricks', basically finding ways to break the rules, play practical jokes, and leave the secure confines of Uglyville in search of adventures.  As their birthdays near, Shay suddenly drops a bomb in Tally, telling her she is not going to become Pretty, she will instead run away and look for a group of people living outside this well crafted futuristic society. Shay doesn't think being Pretty is what it is cracked up to be, and so she disappears, leaving scant directions to her new home with the bewildered and shocked Tally.

Tally is ready for her surgery, making it all the way to the hospital waiting room, when suddenly the tables are turned. A group of sharp featured and slick Pretties, known as 'Special Circumstances' or 'Specials', tell her she must lead them to her friend 'Shay' who is in danger.  If Tally refuses, she will be an Ugly forever. Tally is left having to decide between a life of social isolation, or going after her friend and trying to save them both.

I think the concept of the book is brilliant, and actually have to give Westerfeld proper credit, he has gone to the extreme with what we are seeing happening all too often, the pursuit of physical beauty over intellectual acumen or even kindness. Westerfeld has placed the reader in a future world that has managed to control the expectations of an entire society by using a single turning point, a surgery, to mark their acceptance into a larger community. I think that there are ample hints in the book that also point to the destruction of the environment, war, and bioengineering as certain evils that have brought about an almost total decimation of the human population, and the need to control those who are left by instituting new technology, new rules, and a system of protections.

On the other hand, the book is difficult to get into at first, as all the new made-up slang and technological terminology of this future world make reading it rather like climbing a steep cliff in the dark. There is no lexicon, no list of terminology, that could help us navigate, and often terms have more than one meaning, adding yet another layer to the confusion. There is also a fair bit of cultural frame of reference when looking at the basic language as well, Scott Westerfeld originates from the US, but also spends a lot of time in Australia, and there is a set of slang terminology that might be difficult to access for teens in the Canada in particular. I had never really heard the term 'SpagBol' before, but later discovered it is a common abbreviated term for Spaghetti Bolognese, used often in the UK as well.

While I myself found a number of good topics for discussion in the novel, my niece informed me that she just couldn't get into this book. Though I find Tally to be a strong lead character, who develops nicely over the arc of the book, she is at first is rather difficult to warm to.  I did enjoy the story, and looking back I can say that I am glad I persevered, but the payoff comes towards the end of the novel, The pace of the book varies greatly from beginning to end, and almost seems to stop short by the final pages, which of course makes it perfect for a 4 book series, although somewhat frustrating on it's own.

There is no sexually explicit content or language, and no cussing in this novel, so I would say it is suitable for younger teens, but you need to know your reader. As I have said, the unique slang in the novel makes it somewhat difficult to immerse oneself in satisfactorily.

Fired Up Rating: 2.5 / 5 Flames

Bottom Line: While this book is a satisfying start to the series, it is not a book that stands alone entirely well. I would not generally recommend this book for very young adults, it might lead to more frustration at first and they might not wish to continue with it, which would be a shame.  As it is a full priced stand-alone novel, it is a rather expensive gamble in my humble opinion.

Note: Future Review of Box Set Planned.