Shadows Cast by Stars by Catherine Knutsson

Ok, at first glance Shadows Cast by Stars is a post-apocalyptic novel about a half-aboriginal girl who has Plague-immune blood. The government is seeking all fullblood and halfblood aborigines to drain of blood and use to save non-natives. Or wait, is it about Canadian indian magic and folklore intertwined with the modern day? Hmm… or maybe it’s a combination of a YA love story and Indian legends? 

Honestly, I have no clue and I’m pretty sure Knutsson didn’t either. The way the book is described on the jacket insert is WAAAAYYY off from where the story actually sits. Sixteen year old Cassandra moves to a tiny Canadian island with her father and brother after her mother’s Plague-related death. There she struggles to integrate with the existing tribe/townsfolk and has some creepy-ass encounters with the characters of Indian folk legend. Sprinkle in a cute chief’s son and a weirdo sea monster, and there ya go–there’s the story in a nutshell.

It really has NOTHING to do with the post-Plague world and NOTHING to do with the government seeking native blood. I have no idea why this was even mentioned because it was rarely brought up in the plot. So many random things started to happen to Cassandra and then just…didn’t… that I had to flip back a few times to check if I’d missed something. Half the time I was confused and the other half I was bored.

I really liked the monsters/magic/medicine woman aspect of the story, but I felt like Knutsson bit off more than she could chew. Why not just scrap the whole Plague thing and focus on the native folklore?

Too much added up to too little…

2 sea serpent pearls of 5

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Holy fuckballs… Every now and then a book comes along and just punches you in the face.

POW! Right in the kisser! 

(Sorry, I had to). 

The World Without Us is one of those books. I’ve seriously explained this book to about twenty different people to try and convince them to read it. Weisman undertakes the almost unthinkable task of answering the question, “What would happen if all humans just suddenly disappeared *POOF* from the planet?”

Well other than Mother Earth, Father Sky, and all the billions of animals heaving a collective sigh of relief…. A lot actually. And it wouldn’t take as long as you might think.

Weisman illustrates about a bajillion fascinating points in TWWU, and I seriously could not put it down. Did you know that if power cut off in NYC, within TWO WEEKS the subway system would be COMPLETELY filled with water–thus weakening the foundation of all the skyscrapers and causing a relatively imminent collapse? SAY WHAAA??

Or, that it is hypothesized that Africa is the only continent with so many “mega” mammals (elephants, rhinos, etc…) left alive because humans originated there and those species had a chance to grow immune to our disgusting disease-ridden bodies?

Or, that if you cut an 18 inch hole in the roof of your home, it would only take ten years for the building to fall apart!?

Prepare to be amazed, educated, and more than a little depressed. One of my favorite books all year.

Just read the damn thing, ok?

(Oh, and stop using body scrub with little plastic exfoliating beads in it).

5 days after tomorrow of 5

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

After a deadly rabies virus is unleashed on the city of Los Angeles, fifteen year old Sherry and her family have not left their underground bunker in more than three years. Three years, one month, one week, and six days to be exact. Trapped inside with her two younger siblings, her squabbling parents, her ceaselessly knitting grandma, and her dead grandpa–who’s been in the freezer for the last six months.

Kinda puts you off your frozen peas, doesn’t it? 

But Sherry and her dad have to make a hard decision when they run out of food eight months earlier than expected. They have to go outside and face whatever’s left of the outside world. Turns out, the Weepers are what’s left. Ugh.

Imagine zombies, but kind of rotting animals too. There are different kinds of Weepers–so called because of the milky fluid that runs out of their eyes when you kill them. Gross. Some walk upright and look mostly normal, others are down on all fours and look monstrous. All have a taste for human flesh. All of them creeped me out.

Only hours after Sherry and her dad leave their bunker, the Weepers attack. All seems lost until a handsome stranger shows up, guns blazing. Unfortunately, once the dust settles, a large puddle of blood is the only thing left of Sherry’s father. Is he still alive? And even if he is, where could he be?

Can Sherry and her new friend Joshua find him before it’s too late?

And where has the government been this whole time??

Do me a favor with this book and please please please IGNORE the cover. It’s totally ridiculous and off-putting. (I judge books by their covers, so sue me…) The book itself is actually really fast-paced and entertaining. I read it all in one sitting. I understand that the market is being flooded with post-apocalyptic YA zombie novels, but TOL actually holds its own. There’s a big enough twist to the virus for it to be untraditional and for some reason the Weepers reminded me of really creepy raptors or something. It’s that nasty blood-thirsty run they do, I think.

I just can’t imagine living in a world so fraught with peril… (I just said “fraught with peril” *tee hee*). Even the “safe” havens aren’t really that safe. There’s no way I’d be sleeping alone in Zombieland.

From what I understand, TOL’s sequel The Life Beyond is supposed to be released this weekend. I will definitely snag it soon.

5 strips of peeling flesh of 5

The Kill Order by James Dashner

Have you ever wondered what would happen to our planet if it were hit by huge solar flares? (Much like what almost just happened the other day…) What if, on top of that decimation, a deadly virus was released by the government to control the population. But then, instead doing a human “controlled burn” it was the virus that had the control. Rather than burning itself out after killing those targeted, it spread across the globe turning innocent people into crazed lunatic killers.

What would you do? 

Well, if you’re like me and a wuss–you’d curl up in a hysterical ball and wait for the crazy to hit. BUT, if you’re like Marc, Trina, and Alec in The Kill Order–you hit the ground running and never look back. As far as prequels go, I think Dashner hit the nail on the head with this bad boy.

TKO takes place 13 years before The Maze Runner and offers an insight into the who, what, why, when, and how that the three previous books didn’t touch on. A small band of survivors from NYC migrated to the Appalachian mountains and made a lean-to slap-dash settlement. There they lived peacefully until their already shattered lives were re-broken by a horribly unethical betrayal by the government. Holy smokes. Now–with a ton of their friends dead and those remaining slowly losing their minds–Marc, Trina, Alec, and a handful of others must make their way to civilization to see if there is a cure.

But with sanity slipping away, woods full of killer crazies, and a deadly government–will they make it there in time?

Everyone who has read the trilogy kind of knows where it’s all headed, but I enjoyed TKO MUCH more than the three original books. There was so much more action and suspense–nonstop, actually–that I couldn’t put it down. I whined my way through the series, and didn’t really care for them that much. The Kill Order, however, could stand alone in its greatness.

And plus it was so damn creepy.

5 Cranks out of 5