Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Dark Inside
Jeyn Roberts
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Pages: 329

Rating: 3.5 stars

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police--who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.

Dark Inside was a book I was really looking forward to. I had heard all sorts of brilliant praise and while it was a still a good book, it sadly did not live up to the hype I had heard.

I loved the idea behind Dark Inside. The book was told between many alternating perspectives which was cool. Aries storyline was definitely my favorite of the four. The others had their interesting moments, but I wasn't as into their storylines. I loved as the story got more chaotic, the storylines began to intersect.

I was hoping for more from the plot. I thought this one was supposed to be scary, and for me, it was a bit intense at times at the most.  This book took quite awhile to get into - it was after page 100 until the story picked up enough for me to be captivated enough to read more than a few pages at a time.

The characters were intriguing. I really want to know more about Daniel. He is so mysterious, never revealing much. I really liked Aries as well - she had spunk. Chickadee was another character who I really liked, even though she played a small role in the book. Some of the other characters bugged me at times.

This was a book I did enjoy overall, but I had a lot of issues along the way. I am curious about the sequel, more because I'm hoping for more questions to be answered. This was a promising debut, and I'm curious to see more from Jeyn Roberts in the future.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Ashfall
Mike Mullin
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Pages: 466

Rating: 1.5 stars

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet. 

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

Ashfall was a very mixed boat for me. I really did enjoy some aspects of it, but overall, I found my dislikes outweighing my likes. It did hold my attention long enough for me to finish, but that is the biggest compliment I found for it.

I have to give major props to Mike Mullin for having a kick-ass female lead character. Darla always knows what to do, saves Alex's butt way too many times, and gets them out of situations. Though, I found her logic skewed in some instances. Alex on the other hand I had a bit of an issue with. I just felt like he didn't use his head - which should be your first priority. I mean, hello? You are in a DISASTER.

The concept of this book was cool, but the execution was a bit off. I had an issue with the descriptions of killing animals. I get it, it's disaster, people need to eat, animals get sick, etc but I found myself having to skip pages because I couldn't stomach the killing of animals. I did like the fact of how scary Ashfall was, in the sense that this could really happen some day!

The first chunk of the book was iffy for me. I was turned off mainly be Alex's behavior. I had this thing with the fact that he has a limited number of bottles of water, and he kept talking about drinking a whole bottle for breakfast and another for dinner, then realizing he'd be out of water soon. Again, in a disaster! I would think you'd conserve til the last possible moment. Another thing I found a bit odd was how it almost felt like

The story changed then and I was was enjoying it a bit more. Mrs Edmunds was AWESOME. I loved her! I also found the relationship between Darla and Alex that develops a bit awkward. I mean, there were definitely moments where is was absolutely adorable, but I felt like a lot of the time I was like *awkward turtle*. As the story went on, I had no idea where some of the plot turns came from. I mean they were definitely unique, but I found myself rereading going, wait, what? I didn't feel like the end had any closure. It was just done, and I get cliffhangers, but those at least are at a height of action of something. This was just an end.

This definitely was not the book for me, but I definitely would see how some people would find it a good read - with the whole factor that it really COULD happen! I have heard brilliant things from so many people, but I had a few issues along the way, which ultimately lead to my not being crazy about the book.

While I wasn't as crazy about Ashfall, here are some reviews that simply loved it:
A Book Vacation
That Bookish Girl
Bibliotropic