Title: Tomorrow
Land
Author: Mari Mancusi
Series: N/A
Published: 8 March 2012
Length: 281 pages
Warnings: violence,
drugs, sex references 13+
Source: Netgalley
Other info: Mari
has also written the Blood Coven (Boys that Bite) series, and some others
Summary : Can
true love survive the end of the world? Imagine finding your first love, only
to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day
she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy
she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout
shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind. All
Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe
from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never
showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why. Now the two of them
have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan
children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As
they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a
way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to
save what's left of the human race?
Review: April
2030. Peyton Anderson is with her friends, discussing boys, as any fifteen year
old does. that’s how it is most of the time. and then her dad starts going on about
stuff from an old sci-fi book. And people start getting sick. And sick. And
dead. And not deader. Fast forwards four years. Chase, formerly Chris, Parker,
does what he has to do to survive. only just. So when the girl he’s had a crush
on for four years returns and suggests they run away, after careful thinking,
he agrees/ even if the girl does now have weird eyes. even if the girl does now
have retractable razor blades in her fingers. even if it does mean travelling
across a zombie-ridden USA
This is one of those books where if forgot what was meant to
happen, so I kind of went in blind. Which made things a bit confusing to start
with. Each alternative chapter is set in the pre=outbreak, in which Peyton is
fifteen, and Chris is Chris, and every other chapter is post-outbreak, in which
Peyton has her implants. While both are nice, it takes me a fair bit of time to
realise that they alternated timescales, how they intertwined, and the pattern.
The world building for both pre-and post-outbreak is really
good. The pre- is your kind of typical view of the future, wildly advanced with
computers and references to pop culture
scattered in. The post-outbreak world is totally different. Mari does a great
job of describing the changes and conditions of this new world.
I liked before-Peyton. She wasn’t standout, but she was a
good character. After-Peyton, I had a bit of a problem wth. Her personality was
great, but the blades and the eyes...how did they get in? How do they not cut
her? I can’t see it happening.
Chris is a good character. I didn’t really like him that
much before the outbreak, but after the four year timeskip, you can see how
much he’s been forced to mature and is now able to cope-just about. I don’t
blame him for getting addicted.
Plot turns range from the “interesting and useful” to the
“too convenient for them”. I get the need for them to go, but some things seem
a little too easy.
The ending...the ending was just...anti climatic. I was
looking forwards to some big dramatic showdown, which we kind of got, but it
wasn’t as interesting as the rest of the book had set it up to be.
Despite this, there was something about Tomorrow Land which
makes me want to see more form Mari.
Overall: Strength 3 tea to a book that varies with
quality depending on where you are in the novel.
I didn't like this book quite as much as you did. I like their relationship before, but couldn't stand it after.
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