Savage drift - Review

Savage drift by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 book three.

Available now.

www.bookswithbite.co.uk 

What's it about?

The stunningly fierce conclusion to Emmy Laybourne's Monument 14 trilogy.

The survivors of the Monument 14 have finally made it to the safety of a Canadian refugee camp. Dean and Alex are cautiously starting to hope that a happy ending might be possible.

But for Josie, separated from the group and trapped in a brutal prison camp for exposed Type Os, things have gone from bad to worse. Traumatized by her experiences, she has given up all hope of rescue or safety.

Meanwhile, scared by the government's unusual interest in her pregnancy, Astrid (with her two protectors, Dean and Jake in tow) joins Niko on his desperate quest to be reunited with his lost love Josie.

Author Emmy Laybourne reaches new heights of tension and romance in this action-packed conclusion to the Monument 14 trilogy.

My review

(Warning: Spoilers from the previous two books.)

Savage drift is the gripping conclusion to a brilliant trilogy from author Emmy Laybourne. I've really enjoyed this series and loved the slightly darker tone of the last book. Our characters might have made it out of the Greenway and into a rebuilding civilisation but their troubles haven't ended yet, they still have lots of challenges to face to try to get reunited and have a happy ending. All the way through I really didn't know if that would happen for them but I certainly had my fingers and toes crossed that they would. I also felt so bad for Astrid being pregnant in a chaotic world, the help of doctors and hospitals isn't as readily available to her as it would normally be which made it difficult for her and Dean and Jake's constant bickering didn't help either. I felt she grew a lot as a character though, as it starts to sink in that she's going to be a mother and responsible for someone else she starts to grow up but she hasn't lost any of her sass either. I love the way she puts Dean in his place when he's being particularly immature. Astrid and Dean are an unlikely couple but they really work well together by the end and I'm glad they got together.

I don't want to give too much of the story away but rest assured that this is another thrilling, well paced book and you won't get any less than you did in the previous two. I was happy with the conclusion and that last scene almost had me in tears!

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Sky on fire - Review

Sky on fire by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 book two.

Available now

www.hodder.co.uk 

What's it about?

Trapped in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, including a monster hailstorm and terrifying chemical weapons spill, brothers Dean and Alex learned how to survive and worked together with twelve other kids to build a refuge from the chaos. But then strangers appeared, destroying their fragile peace, and bringing both fresh disaster and a glimmer of hope. 

Knowing that the chemical weapons saturating the air outside will turn him into a bloodthirsty rage monster, Dean decides to stay in the safety of the store with Astrid and some of the younger kids. But their sanctuary has already been breached once. . . .

Meanwhile, Alex, determined to find their parents, heads out into the darkness and devastation with Niko and some others in a recently repaired school bus. If they can get to Denver International Airport, they might be evacuated to safety. But the outside world is even worse than they expected. . .

My review

(Spoilers from book one are in this review.)

After such a great start to this series with Monument 14 I was expecting the same high quality with Sky on fire and I'm glad to say that's exactly what I received.
Sky on fire is another thrill ride from Emmy Laybourne. Told again from Dean, who's stuck in the Greenway, we also have the added voice of his brother Alex who left on the bus at the end of Monument 14, which adds a whole new dimension to the books. We now get to see two stories unfolding simultaneously and have the voices of two very different characters in our heads. I thought this added a great extra layer and continues the series nicely and I hope the same structure will be kept for book three.
The things I liked about Dean in book one are still there, he's not the perfect hero, in fact sometimes he's not a hero at all, he has bad thoughts and he doesn't always do the right thing because he's scared. This made him a more realistic person to me because sometimes it's hard to be selfless and we do think of ourselves first, even if we won't admit it out loud. And I liked Alex too, he's younger but very clever and they are two very different characters in their own right.
The story had me hooked all the way through and I've found myself very invested in all of these characters and I care a lot about what happens to all of them so right now I'm just praying none of them get killed off in the last book! Lol..

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Monument 14 - Review

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 book one

Available now

www.hodder.co.uk 

What's it about?

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong ...

Fourteen kids stranded inside a superstore. Inside they have everything they could ever need. There's junk food and clothes, computer games and books, drugs and alcohol ... and without adult supervision they can do whatever they want.

Sounds like fun? 

But outside the world is being ripped apart by violent storms and chemicals leaking into the atmosphere that, depending on blood type, leave victims paranoid, violent or dead. 

The kids must remain inside, forced to create their own community, unsure if they'll ever be able to leave. Can they stop the world they've created inside from self-destructing too?

My review

Monument 14 was an interesting and thrilling book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I really like the idea of the kids being locked in a Greenway (a giant supermarket kind of place) they have everything they need to survive so the gang doesn't spend half the book looking for food and water, as is the case in a lot of post apocalyptic type books, instead it was all about how they would survive together, how different personalities might clash and how they respond to emergencies and deciding if they should leave. I really liked these aspects of the book and thought the author did a great job.

It's written really well and I found it to be very realistic. For a change the protagonist, a young boy called Dean, isn't perfect or even particularly heroic or completely likeable, and these were things I actually liked about the book. Dean is telling the story and he's honest about everything even the bad things he does, like lying. Even though it doesn't always make him a great guy, it made the character more believable and relateable and it was another thing that gave this book an edge against so many books like it.
The story itself was exciting and kept a good pace considering the whole book is set in one place, there are lots of characters and little stories to follow but not too many so I didn't get mixed up. I am really looking forward to book two and seeing what happens to everyone next.

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