Ashes, Ashes

BookWhisperer Review: Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

Ashes, Ashes is a terrifyingly realistic view at the world's end. BookWhisperer is not known for books such as this one; after several struggles this is usually a book that I would have avoided. Much to my surprise Ashes, Ashes will be the first of this type of book on my favorites list. Lucy is the strong and courageous sixteen year old that will follow throughout this novel. Being the soul survivor of her entire family she has set out to living in the wild alone. It is remarkable to follow this young girl as she struggles to survive in a world where the population has been wiped out down to a mere third. After the natural disasters that reeked havoc over the entire world the survivors then battled the plague that swarmed the remaining population. This was a terrifying look at the apocalypse that would leave every reader pondering their future. The romantic twist for Lucy and Aidan was a sweet hopeful addition that give readers moments of happiness to grasp through this story. This simple addition gives readers future hope the story that they will follow, and possibility for a dramatic happily ever after. As far as I can tell this is only this authors second novel, but I am utterly impressed by her ability to present such an intriguing story. If this is a glimpse at the works possible from this author I look for many more great books.

17 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

Live To Read

This book is a very intriguing read. The main character, Lucy, has survived a virus that killed off 99% of the Earth's population-including her family. Lucy is a very industrious girl; she lives on her own and survives by herself. The action begins right away in this novel; the reader will not be bored. Lucy meets Aidan after he helps her evade a pack of wild dogs. She joins him and the other survivors; the reader will enjoy meeting the various different personalities.
Of course, there is always the danger aspect. Lucy is not entirely safe; there are "sweepers" on the loose. Sweepers work for the government to round up survivors like Lucy to study them and attempt to discover why they survived the virus. It is not long before Lucy catches on that she is an integral part in discovering a cure.
The book is not written entirely in the present tense, there are flashbacks to the past. The reader will experience, alongside Lucy, how life was before the virus. Lucy and her family were happy and "normal."
There are a few different qualities to this story: action, romance, mystery, drama, etc... Lucy is a strong female character; readers will appreciate this since strong females leads are not common in survivalist novels. Lucy and Aidan have a bit of a budding romance; however, this is not the forefront of the story.
The author allows the reader into this post-apocalyptic world; the environment is tangible to the reader. There is a lack of dialogue in the beginning of the novel as Lucy is alone for the first portion, but there is dialogue throughout the rest of the novel. The story is very fast-paced and new developments occur to hold the reader's interest. This novel is highly recommended for young adult/teen readers, specifically those who enjoy science fiction and action-filled novels.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Not Divergent or Insurgent

This book was "o.k.". It was not what I was looking for after reading the Hunger Games Trilogy, Divergent & Insurgent, & Legend (great). I rarely want to leave a book unfinished; however, this was one of those books. I'm sure the Author has better to offer the reader. Read Legend or Divergent if you're looking for some "end of the world" action.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ashes, Ashes is a novel about a girl trying to survive a post apocalyptic world. As she attempts to survive in a futureistic and devestated Central Park in the flooded, collapsed wasteland of what once was the mega-city of New York, she meets someone like her, just trying to survive, Aiden. I thought it was a great book although i did think the villain was a complete psycopath...even if she was trying to find a cure for the disese.highly recommended!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

good plot, great story but the book came to an abrupt end and it

good plot, great story but the book came to an abrupt end and it took away from the awesome adventure I was on as an egar reader. GREAT READ though.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Best book in the universe

Love this book soooo much this is a must buy!!!!!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awsome

A vary inrsting book filled with romance and suspence. Read the other reviews for mor on this great book.

Horrible

I couldnt stand reading it. At first it was good but then it became horribly boring and very poorly written. I felt as if i were reading something that a 13 yearold wrote. All good books transport the reader into another world, this book failed to do so. All in all, it was a horrible waste of money.

Kate

I liked it at first buy nothing really happened untill the end and that was rushed and short. Not my avorite but i do not hate the book either. :)

Ashes, Ashes

This was a good book, didn't want to put it down. I was a little dissapointed, I wanted more at the end. The author could have kept it going, dug deeper into the charactors. I wanted to know what happens to Lucy and Aidan. But it was still a good read. I would recommend it to a friend.

Everything that I feared about the end of the world was coming t

Everything that I feared about the end of the world was coming to life right before my eyes as I was reading Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari.  Disastrous floods, erupting volcanos, devastating earth quakes.  Add on top of that a plague that wipes out almost all of earth’s population, and you have Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari.

Imagine that the end of the world is upon you.  Imagine your home gone, friends gone, your favorite places gone…all the comforts of home including showers, changes of clothing, food, shelter…all gone.  Now imagine that you’re all alone… This is exactly what happened to main character, Lucy Holloway.  Having already survived on her own in the wild for a year, food is now getting even more scarce than it already is.  Not only does Lucy need to worry about scavengers (people who have survived who are scavenging everything they can to survive), S’ans (people who were affected by the plague, but didn’t die.  Instead they are rumored to be vicious, violent creatures), or Sweepers (people dressed in white HazMat type suits who seem to be rounding up any survivors and shipping them off to some location doing God knows what), but now there seems to be a slew of Sweeper’s tracking dogs hot on her trail, for reasons unknown to her.

On a regular day of checking animal snares for food and getting more water, Lucy runs right into the path of these dogs which ultimately leads her to Aidan.  Aidan is also a survivor who is living with a group of scavengers, and when the only home that Lucy has known for the past year is gone, she finds herself amongst these people.  But life with Aidan and the scavengers is one of constant worry.  Sweepers keep coming back to their little commune, and taking any survivor they get their hands on, regardless of age.

And it seems that where the Sweepers take these innocent people, nothing good ever happens…  It also looks as though these Sweepers are looking for one particular person and general, and Lucy seems to be the intended target.

When a group of kids and friends of Lucy and Aiden’s are kidnapped, they venture to the very place that they have been wanting to avoid in order to rescue these people.  But things are not always as they seem, and Lucy must face a whole new challenge, or die trying.

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari was a book that sent chills up and down my spine.  The description of what happens when the world ends seems so real that it could actually happen at any moment.  Every natural disaster that could happen, pretty much does, and the city’s as we know it are drowning in flood waters, or the buildings are nothing more than rubble on the road.  The images easily jumped off the pages for me, and the need for survival is such a strong element in this story, that my heart raced with all the characters.

The characters created by Jo Treggiari are ones that many readers will find themselves able to relate to.  Each with their own personalities, it isn’t hard to get swept up in their lives and with the various different situations that happen.  There were times where I feared for this clan of survivors.  I could hear the little noises that they would hear, wondering if its Sweepers coming to collect.  I could picture the devastation that they can see, I can feel the waning hope of safety and of surviving.

I did find Lucy somewhat annoying at times.  I understand that she’s clumsy, but there were times where she was so clumsy it was stupid.  And really, if you need to vacate ASAP because the people who are hunting survivors is in your camp, do it.  Don’t go back for anything.  Come back later for it, gawd!  And why is she constantly pressing her nails into her palm…?  Okay, okay … enough about that…

The different twists and turns found in Ashes, Ashes easily kept me glued to the pages, and on the edge of my seats.  I was angry when I needed to be angry, apprehensive when I had to be, and sad when the moment called for it.   Although the main plot line was pretty predictable to me, the way in which the story unfolded still captured my attention.  And of course, don’t forget those plot twists I mentioned.

Fans of apocalyptical reads will devour Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari.  If you’re curious about how the world may end due to natural disasters, don’t hesitate in grabbing a copy and witness the devastation for yourself.

Lol

I FARTED

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I heard abot it...

I heard about it in a book catalogue. I'm going for something along the Divergent books and the Hunger Games trilogy books. Any suggestions...?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Boring

The book is boring get ashes with the emp

I thought he book was great. I mean at some points in the story

I thought he book was great. I mean at some points in the story I asked myself "omg where is this going can something just happen already!" The author though gave a lot of vivid descriptions about Lucy the whole end of the world and how everything went down. I could really see a little movie in my head. The ending came out of nowhere I was expecting to read more about Aidan and Lucy together. The thing that I really loved was the romance that Aidan had with Lucy. (SPOILER) For example when Sammy told Lucy that Aidan would go out and watch her from his tree and that he admired her or the way he held an kissed her, it was so romantic. I really liked it!

Nook 123

:p

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

KINDLES SUCK NOOKS ROCK

KINDLES SUCK NOOKS ROCK

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

K

K soooooo to the person sayin it should have the same names as narnia one the silver chairs in there to and two its the last battle

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Diffrent things like it

This book is just like the hunger games. Well maby not JUST like it but close. Lucy is like katniss and adien is like peeta. You know how theres lucy and susen then rob? Well it should be lycy susen and (edman) so it would be like narnia in THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WORDROB, PRINCE CASPIEN, AND THE LAST ONE. Thay have all but 1name. Any way i really like this book its kinda life changing i mean like we dont have the plagu anymore so by the way she put how she was in the woods and how bad it was u can kinda amagen it in ur head wat it looked like and could amagin how hard it proble is to catch food out thire.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Did they

I think aiden and lucy did it

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.