YA Dystopian Guest Post, Review & Giveaway "Monsters" by Ilsa J. Bick

Title:  Monsters (Ashes #3)
Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Publisher:  Egmont USA
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Genre: YA Dystopian

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Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now.

When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse-until the doctors found the monster in her head.

She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death.

Now, with no hope of rescue-on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit-she discovers a new and horrifying truth.

The Change isn't over.
The Changed are still evolving.
And...they've had help.

With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply.

A world where, from these ashes, the monsters may rise.

Guest Post by Ilsa J. Bick

What Would You Do?

Presuming I make it through the first 24 hours? I would: grab my bug-out bag,
grab my husband (and whatever stray family members happen to be
around) and get as far away from other people as quickly as I can
because desperate people get ugly in a hurry.

First order of business once we get where we’re going (has to be near a
ready supply of fresh water, too): find/make a shelter; build a fire;
find food; check how much ammo I’ve got for that Glock. Probably
get myself ready to move around a lot, too. An optimal place to hang
would be relatively close to a small town for ready re-supply in
those first chaotic months, but also scope out places to boogie fast
if I have to, with handy supply caches along the way. Ultimately,
I’d like to have about three, four satellite camps that I’d visit
and through which I’d rotate.

I’d also like to say that I’d find a whole ton of books to bring, but
the nitty-gritty about survival is that it takes up quite a bit of
your free time.

My Thoughts on Monsters...

Overall, I loved this series.  I will tell you right up front that this book is a HUGE book, coming in at 800+ pages.  It's no small feat to have read this book in a week while working a full time job! In fact I finished this series in about a week and a half and each of the books is relatively long.

So, this book starts where the 2nd book left off and I am SO glad that I read them all back to back or I would have been lost.  As it was I was a little lost because the opening scenes were with completely new characters.  It took me a gook 200 pages to really get back into the story.  At this point in the story we seem to have lost a lot of what the story seemed to be about in the beginning.  That makes no sense really, but if you have been reading the series you may understand what I am saying.  Alex seems to be lost most of this book.  In the previous books she is a major character, I feel like in this book she gets kind of lost and then when the author attempts to "wrap up" her story line, it's just not as fulfilling as it should be.  

I don't really know how to describe the story and what happens in this book.  The Changed are changing, even more so than in the last book and we get a little more insight into Finn's group and what they are doing to Peter and to the Changed that they have locked up.  There is a lot of action, gory sequences, the story is constantly moving so there is no lapse in action.  But there are times when the story overlaps (like in the 2nd book) when different characters are the main focus.  There are times when I was reading that I had NO idea what was going on!

Even though this is the finale book, it was probably my least favorite of the trilogy.  I think it was just way too long.  The writing is great, what I didn't care for so much in the 2nd book continued on in this one with even more characters to keep track of.  I loved getting the whole story from Alex's POV in the fist book and when it changed in book 2 it wasn't so bad because I was able to keep up with the couple other characters that it switched to and from.  This book added even more characters, NEW characters and honestly it just got confusing. 

Like I said in the beginning, I like the series as a whole, but honestly, this book was just way too long and drawn out.  In the end I do have to say that I wasn't overly thrilled with how it ended, but I didn't hate it.  I would have liked to have had more answers.  Instead I was left with questions that a series that takes over 1800 pages to tell should have answered.  I did enjoy Ms. Bick's writing and would not hesitate to pick up more of her work.  

*Disclaimer:  I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

GIVEAWAY!!
EgmontUSA has been kind enough to allow me to do a giveaway of THE WHOLE SERIES here on the blog!  

So...here are the rules:

• Must be at least 18 to Enter
• You must live in the US for hard copy books.
• You will have 24 hours to contact me once it's confirmed that you are the winner and I have emailed you.
• Failure to contact me in 24 hours will result in my drawing another name as winner. 

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