Review: Ashes by Ilsa Bick

4 chewy snickerdoodles.

Cover Love: No. I do not like this cover much at all. Mostly because the model looks so creepy.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
I had this one from NetGalley but wasn't sure if I wanted another dystopian. My friend Shannon raved about it though, so I decided to give it a try. Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

Alex has run away and is hiking through the wilderness with her dead parents' ashes, about to say goodbye to the life she no longer wants to live. But then the world suddenly changes. An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky zapping every electronic device and killing the vast majority of adults. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who has changed... Everyone still alive has turned - some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh). Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the zombies that are on the hunt, Alex meets up with Tom - an Army veteran who escaped one war only to find something worse at home - and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to find food, shelter, while fighting off the 'Changed' and those desperate to stay alive. A tense and involving adventure with shocks and sudden plot twists that will keep teen and adult readers gripped.

I Kept Reading Because: It caught and held my attention.

Romance?: Kind of.

What I Liked (& Didn't):
I loved, loved, loved that this book started with the "event". Most dystopians take place long after the big change has happened to our world. This one shows the direct aftermath of the event. So I would call it an "apocalyptic" book. It was very interesting to see how people change with an event like this.

Tom! I loved Tom. Another book with a character named Tom that I fell in love with.

I thought it was very interesting how the author isolated Alex, Tom and Ellie for awhile in the book timeline. So by the time they rejoin society things had really changed. So not only do they have to learn how to live in this new world, they have to find a place in one of the new societies.

There are so many little things introduced that can go in so many different directions with plot and characters. Watching a world get rebuilt in a story is very fascinating.

What a cliffhanger of an ending! And I still have hope...

To Sum Up: A great introduction to a new dystopian/apocalyptic world! I already bought it for my library and can't wait to booktalk it for my readers!

ebook from NetGalley and Egmont USA. Thanks!