Book Title: Ashes, Ashes
Author: Jo Treggiari
Date Started: August 5th 2013
Date Completed: August 6th 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Action, Thriller, Romance, Adventure
Rating: Four stars
Review:
I really enjoyed Ashes, Ashes. It's a good-old dystopian, with your typical storyline, but there's also some new concepts and ideas thrown in there to make it a bit different and new.
Ashes, Ashes is set in a dystopian New York, after floods and a plague have sunk a lot of the major cities and has wiped out the majority of the population. Lucy has been living on her own in the wild for a year, but when she gets chased by a pack of dogs, and saved by a mysterious boy, she starts to question whether lonely isolation is really the best choice she has. Nevertheless, she falls back into her usual routine, until she's forced to flee her hidden home by a natural disaster. But seeking refuge in Aidan's camp might present more threats than staying in the bush, since there are a team of fearless scientists willing to do anything to get their hands on Lucy.
The writing was very easy, but that's not to say it wasn't good. There wasn't that much detail, but the description was still stimulating enough, and the action was presented really well - although I did have a bit of trouble picturing it all the time (on the other hands, the moves the characters performed were a lot more believable than those in other Young Adults books I've read - I could actually imagine someone reacting the way these teenagers did if they were attacked in certain situations).
I liked the way the narration was through third person (I generally like it this way) because when I felt for the characters I knew I was doing it through my own judgement of their actions and personalities, rather than because a narrator's perspective would have influenced me one way or another.
The story was quite predictable, but Treggiari still managed to keep my attention for the whole book. Even though things you would expect in a dystopian happened, there were twists on the way they happened, or the people involved. For example, the idea of the S'ans (especially Sammy - and his position as Aidan's brother) made the reader stop and think about our prejudice to propaganda we're given (as you might expect), but then we were also given the idea that actually a lot of people thought that way, but had another nagging feeling at the back of their minds. This might be quite typical, but some books leave out the deeper meanings, that you definitely get through this book.
I was relieved to find that there were clear-cut climaxes in this novel, since I've been reading a lot of books recently that haven't really excited me at the desired points. Although I saw them coming from a mile off, it was still effective enough at the end of the book (and I think the twists made it a lot easier to get into than other stories).
The characters in Ashes, Ashes are you average, run-of-the-mill personalities you'd expect to find in such a book, but there's also some smaller twists and contrasts that make them a little different.
Lucy is one of the few female protagonist that I actually believe is what she says she is: independent. You get a lot of female characters these days, saying they're kick-ass and self-capable, when it turns out that it seems they just say that so as to stand out from the stereotype. But Lucy is constantly proving herself as intelligent and resourceful throughout the book - and it doesn't feel like she's forced to to prove her worth. She simply is a very clever girl. Her story also fascinated me, and her actions and behaviour were what I expected, but still realistic.
Aidan wasn't that real to me, but I really liked the way he was featured as not completely head-over-heels for Lucy, but liked her just enough to cause a bit of tension between the character. This made it a good element of the story, but not a dominating feature. The reason I found it hard to believe Aidan as a character was that when he was featured, he seemed a little too fragile - that's completely fine, but we're back to the issue of characters being presented by other people in one way, but actually acting in a very different style.
I really liked Henry (and this is where I see potential for a further story), but I don't think he was featured enough. There also needed to be more inclusion of his feelings: he obviously liked Lucy, but he didn't seem the least bit fazed when she leaned in Aidan's direction - which we all know isn't likely to happen in real life, because we all feel hurt sometimes, even when we think the reason is stupid.
Del was a good character, but she just annoyed me a bit. I liked characters like this, which create a sort-of love triangle, but I would have liked it more if there were reasons I could like Del - this would make me more conflicted about who I think Aidan should be with. The way it was actually written, there was no doubt in my mind who deserved the boy.
Sammy was a great character - but again, I don't think he was included enough (or rather parts of his story wasn't featured enough). First of all, I think he's a really good person, and a very interesting character. But the fact that he was a S'ans (damaged survivor of the plague) gave so much potential for ambivalent feelings towards him - that wasn't used! There's a tiny bit at the beginning where Lucy is a little afraid of him, but after that it seems to just completely disappear. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for no prejudice against anyone or anything - but in a fictional story we want drama and conflict - which was lost in this part.)
The pace was well-set out. Although it might not have been constantly action-packed or plot line essential, it was evenly distributed around the novel. There were intervals of downtime, and then thrilling happenings. I think this can sometimes be really hard to do - especially so when keeping the reader interested - so I admire Treggiari for pulling it off.
I would recommend Ashes, Ashes to anyone who likes a good dystopian. It's very enjoyable, and easy-reading if you want a break from some harder books. It's got action, romance and thrills in there too, so I think a wide audience could enjoy it. The novel may not be absolutely excellent, but there's nothing wrong with it either.
Image Source: http://25.media.tumblr.com/cc60f3ca5e75484c45951cd771bd1899/
tumblr_mjlb75SB061rv94h7o1_500.png
I really enjoyed Ashes, Ashes. It's a good-old dystopian, with your typical storyline, but there's also some new concepts and ideas thrown in there to make it a bit different and new.
Ashes, Ashes is set in a dystopian New York, after floods and a plague have sunk a lot of the major cities and has wiped out the majority of the population. Lucy has been living on her own in the wild for a year, but when she gets chased by a pack of dogs, and saved by a mysterious boy, she starts to question whether lonely isolation is really the best choice she has. Nevertheless, she falls back into her usual routine, until she's forced to flee her hidden home by a natural disaster. But seeking refuge in Aidan's camp might present more threats than staying in the bush, since there are a team of fearless scientists willing to do anything to get their hands on Lucy.
The writing was very easy, but that's not to say it wasn't good. There wasn't that much detail, but the description was still stimulating enough, and the action was presented really well - although I did have a bit of trouble picturing it all the time (on the other hands, the moves the characters performed were a lot more believable than those in other Young Adults books I've read - I could actually imagine someone reacting the way these teenagers did if they were attacked in certain situations).
I liked the way the narration was through third person (I generally like it this way) because when I felt for the characters I knew I was doing it through my own judgement of their actions and personalities, rather than because a narrator's perspective would have influenced me one way or another.
The story was quite predictable, but Treggiari still managed to keep my attention for the whole book. Even though things you would expect in a dystopian happened, there were twists on the way they happened, or the people involved. For example, the idea of the S'ans (especially Sammy - and his position as Aidan's brother) made the reader stop and think about our prejudice to propaganda we're given (as you might expect), but then we were also given the idea that actually a lot of people thought that way, but had another nagging feeling at the back of their minds. This might be quite typical, but some books leave out the deeper meanings, that you definitely get through this book.
I was relieved to find that there were clear-cut climaxes in this novel, since I've been reading a lot of books recently that haven't really excited me at the desired points. Although I saw them coming from a mile off, it was still effective enough at the end of the book (and I think the twists made it a lot easier to get into than other stories).
The characters in Ashes, Ashes are you average, run-of-the-mill personalities you'd expect to find in such a book, but there's also some smaller twists and contrasts that make them a little different.
Lucy is one of the few female protagonist that I actually believe is what she says she is: independent. You get a lot of female characters these days, saying they're kick-ass and self-capable, when it turns out that it seems they just say that so as to stand out from the stereotype. But Lucy is constantly proving herself as intelligent and resourceful throughout the book - and it doesn't feel like she's forced to to prove her worth. She simply is a very clever girl. Her story also fascinated me, and her actions and behaviour were what I expected, but still realistic.
Aidan wasn't that real to me, but I really liked the way he was featured as not completely head-over-heels for Lucy, but liked her just enough to cause a bit of tension between the character. This made it a good element of the story, but not a dominating feature. The reason I found it hard to believe Aidan as a character was that when he was featured, he seemed a little too fragile - that's completely fine, but we're back to the issue of characters being presented by other people in one way, but actually acting in a very different style.
I really liked Henry (and this is where I see potential for a further story), but I don't think he was featured enough. There also needed to be more inclusion of his feelings: he obviously liked Lucy, but he didn't seem the least bit fazed when she leaned in Aidan's direction - which we all know isn't likely to happen in real life, because we all feel hurt sometimes, even when we think the reason is stupid.
Del was a good character, but she just annoyed me a bit. I liked characters like this, which create a sort-of love triangle, but I would have liked it more if there were reasons I could like Del - this would make me more conflicted about who I think Aidan should be with. The way it was actually written, there was no doubt in my mind who deserved the boy.
Sammy was a great character - but again, I don't think he was included enough (or rather parts of his story wasn't featured enough). First of all, I think he's a really good person, and a very interesting character. But the fact that he was a S'ans (damaged survivor of the plague) gave so much potential for ambivalent feelings towards him - that wasn't used! There's a tiny bit at the beginning where Lucy is a little afraid of him, but after that it seems to just completely disappear. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for no prejudice against anyone or anything - but in a fictional story we want drama and conflict - which was lost in this part.)
The pace was well-set out. Although it might not have been constantly action-packed or plot line essential, it was evenly distributed around the novel. There were intervals of downtime, and then thrilling happenings. I think this can sometimes be really hard to do - especially so when keeping the reader interested - so I admire Treggiari for pulling it off.
I would recommend Ashes, Ashes to anyone who likes a good dystopian. It's very enjoyable, and easy-reading if you want a break from some harder books. It's got action, romance and thrills in there too, so I think a wide audience could enjoy it. The novel may not be absolutely excellent, but there's nothing wrong with it either.
Image Source: http://25.media.tumblr.com/cc60f3ca5e75484c45951cd771bd1899/
tumblr_mjlb75SB061rv94h7o1_500.png
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