Book Review-Shadows by Ilsa J Bick

 

Title: Shadows

 Author: Ilsa J Bick

Series:   Ashes #2

Published: 27  September 2012 by Quercus

Length: 518 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: Review of Ashes here

Summary : Alex has escaped from Rule - but what new horrors face her in the ravaged world outside?
Tom is safe - but what will he risk to find Alex?
Chris - how much does he really know about the terrible darkness of Rule? And what are his true feelings for Alex?
Ellie - where is she? 

Review: I remember Ashes. The electromagnetic pulse, Alex with the enhanced sense of smell, the zombies/Changed and the cliffhanger of 2012. Now out on her own, and surrounded by a pack of Changed. Also, the elders in Rule may be hiding secrets and Tom is looking for Alex. Fun times!

Yeah, when I started this, I knew I had a basic rememberance of the features of Ashes. So I went into Shadows ready for action. After a bit of Tom, and then the conclusion to the cliffhanger, we follow each of the others in turn, which would be ok..but I’d forgotten most things . lots of characters turn up that I don’t remember meeting in Ashes.

In terms of plot for this, it all seemed very scattered. Normally. I like multiple perspectives, but for this one, I was lost from about page 100 onwards. We flick between groups of characters a lot, with quite a lot of smaller cliffhangers, quite quickly, and I just didn’t keep up with it all. `                       

The zombies, changed, chuckies in this got a bit more development in this one, as did the characters in Rule.

In terms of action, it was amazing. The action scenes are written  so well, you feel like you’re there with all the gory details that mean you can see it all happening in your mind.

I like the fact that humans are evil comes up in this book. It’s a good contrast to the OTT zombies tearing people apart, but just as creepy.

The writing is once again third person, but following a character at each point. the focus changes along with the switches of plot also stopped me really following this throughout. As the action scenes are  so frequent, being randomly thrown from one  to another scene, it’s confusing and slows it down for me.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a book with a lot of action but is one of the hardest things to follow I’ve read for a long time.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |