Shadows (book two of the Ashes Trilogy)

by Ilsa J. Bick
Scott County Library paperback 518 pages
genre: YA dystopian fiction

Ugh! I "had" to read this book to see where the story arc goes / what happens to the characters. We still don't know what happened to Ellie (though there's a hint at the very end!), but we get to follow Alex's and Tom's paths. We also follow Chris, Nathan, Lena, and a LOT of other characters . . . to the point of confusion. I'd come to a new chapter and scan ahead to see which person's story we were following. And yet . . . I'll go get book three so I can get to the trilogy's resolution.

I'm not sure why so many authors feel a need to express their perspective on Christianity when that is not a theme of the book at all. On page 506, the absolutely crazy Finn says, "Every man breaks, eventually . . . even Jesus cracked at the end. But that wasn't because of what was being done to him. His pressure was doubt and came from within, but he always had a choice." As Finn is trying to find Peter's breaking point and torturing him, he makes a parallel with Jesus on the cross and says that doubt is what Jesus struggled with and made him "crack"? Really?!  Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of Scripture, but why even make a statement like this? Okay, probably just my pet peeve because I love Jesus and I believe in God's Word.

The other insane thing about my reading this series is that it is not just dark (hello - dystopian fiction) but downright gory and gruesome. The "Changed" are teenagers and young adults who have become cannibalistic zombie-like monsters . . . except now they're "evolving" into attackers who use weapons and strategy. The gross factor in this book was sky-high. It's worse than some of the zombie books I've read. So that made it especially strange when the author included this gem about Cindi on page 516 after Tom talks about the nightmare of what he experienced in combat: "She tried to imagine what that was like, to watch a little girl just blow apart. Her mother had never let her watch movies or play computer games like that. What made people think that killing, even when it was pretend, was something you should do for fun?" Is this author trying to be funny? Or add some kind of moral lesson in an extremely violent, bloody story?


And yet . . . I will read book three to find out what happens to the main characters. (I am curious about Ellie and I am a compulsive reader!)