Monday, January 28, 2013

Review: 'Til The World Ends

'Til The World Ends

Author: Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, Karen Duvall

Publication Date: January 29th 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Luna

Genre: Anthologies / Post-Apocolyptic

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Synopsis:

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa

Before The Immortal Rules, there was the Red Lung, a relentless virus determined to take out all in its path. For Kylie, the miracle of her survival is also her burden-as a doctor at one of the clinics for the infected, she is forced to witness endless suffering. What's worse, strange things are happening to the remains of the dead, and by the time she befriends Ben Archer, she's beginning to wonder if a global pandemic is the least of her problems....

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses, self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside-in the Red Zone-is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they'll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside...for good.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall

Sarah Daggot has been chasing storms since she was a child. But after the biggest solar flares in history nearly destroy the planet, she becomes a Kinetic, endowed by her exposure to extreme radiation with the power to sense coming storms-in the cosmos and beyond. And she's not the only one. Sarah believes the Kinetics are destined to join forces and halt the final onslaught of the sun. She'll vow to keep trying to convince the one missing link in their chain of defense, the enigmatic Ian Matthews, up until the world ends.


My Thoughts: This is my first time reading a set of anthologies and I actually liked it. It's kind of neat to get a bit of a taste of a few different authors. I will admit that I, like everyone else, requested this one from NetGalley because of Julie Kagawa, but I actually really enjoyed the other stories as well.

So the first story, Dawn of Eden, was the one I was most looking forward to because I loved The Immortal Rules. I'm going to start out by saying while I really enjoyed it, it is NOT young adult. There is a very steamy sex scene in it. Extremely descriptive, and while I won't say I hated the scene, it just shocked me immensely because I wasn't expecting it at all. So I was just a bit confused because The Immortal Rules is a YA, so I would only assume that people who enjoy it will want to read everything to do with the series, so it just concerns me that some young teen will read this, I know I wouldn't want my daughter to read this as a teen. I know it is up to the parent to screen these things, but they might not think to do it for all of the books in a series. I don't know, just my thoughts. It was very well written though, makes me kind of hope that Julie will write more adult content for a new series, or something. I liked getting a glimpse of how the Red Fever progressed and how the rabids came to be though. I'm not really going to say much, I don't want to give away much, but it's worth the read!

Thistle & Thorne was also a fairly good read, I was a bit confused when I started it, but quickly caught on and was able to visualize the world. This was my first taste of Ann Aguirre's writing, which is really bad because I've been wanting to read the Razorland series. But I will say that it was really enjoyable. I like that it seems to be a stand alone story because now I'm not sitting here waiting for the next story, I just know it's done (unless there is more I'm not aware of). I think after having read this, I will for sure be checking out more of her work. She does a great job with world building and character building, even with a short story. So that shows me that she has a way with words. I think if you were to pick up this anthology, you should definitely read this story as well! I liked the characters and how they didn't quite trust each other, and it kind of leaves you wondering a bit about them after, but that's good because it means you're still thinking about the story. It's pretty good!

Sun Storm is the third and final story in the anthology and I have to say that I really enjoyed this one. It was very easy to imagine the world because the world building was quite well done. I had a bit of an issue with the insta love thing that happened, but it was somewhat explained by the need the two characters had for each other, they are both Kinetics, so have survived the sun fever, a few of the lucky 16% (I believe it was). They are hated for surviving what kills nearly everyone else and have either very few or no family left. Sarah does what she can to help, and feels guilt for those she can't save. Ian is a janitor (very glamorous I know!) who is hiding something. The sun is sending deadly sun storms down to Earth, a large one is what caused the world to become as it is in the story, and there is always threat of more similar or worse. Sarah luckily has the power to predict the storms and Ian has the power to control the weather, but he's not sure if he can control a sun storm. I also enjoyed that this is a full short story, there is no prequel or sequels that tell more of the story. Since most books are series lately, it's nice to come across a stand alone. I really enjoyed this one!

So that's the anthology, I definitely recommend it if you're a fan of dystopians. Not only are there three great and well written stories, but chances are you will find an new author to check out. I found two! 

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