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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
SLJ review:
Gr 8 Up—In Jonathan Maberry's sequel (2011) to Rot & Ruin (2010, both S & S), teens Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong set out on a quest to find the jet spotted at the conclusion of the first book. Benny's brother, Tom, a closure specialist, guides them out into the Rot & Ruin (the land populated by zombies east of Mountainside, their home in California), in search of that jet and, hopefully, civilization. But the zombies aren't the only—or the worst—things in the Rot & Ruin. Preacher Jack and White Bear are at the heart of a subculture of zombie pit fighting that has become a cruel entertainment. Maberry writes with an incredible visual style, multiple points of view, and greater character depth in this sequel to make for a more nuanced and expanded universe. Excerpts from Nix's journal are intercut with the narrative, giving listeners brief respites from the almost non-stop action. With his quick-paced style and unique setting, Maberry makes you care about the characters and their quest. A very open ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel. Brian Hutchison does a fine job of voicing the large cast of characters. In an ever-growing field of zombie books, teens will be drawn to this series—Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Gr 8 Up—In Jonathan Maberry's sequel (2011) to Rot & Ruin (2010, both S & S), teens Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong set out on a quest to find the jet spotted at the conclusion of the first book. Benny's brother, Tom, a closure specialist, guides them out into the Rot & Ruin (the land populated by zombies east of Mountainside, their home in California), in search of that jet and, hopefully, civilization. But the zombies aren't the only—or the worst—things in the Rot & Ruin. Preacher Jack and White Bear are at the heart of a subculture of zombie pit fighting that has become a cruel entertainment. Maberry writes with an incredible visual style, multiple points of view, and greater character depth in this sequel to make for a more nuanced and expanded universe. Excerpts from Nix's journal are intercut with the narrative, giving listeners brief respites from the almost non-stop action. With his quick-paced style and unique setting, Maberry makes you care about the characters and their quest. A very open ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel. Brian Hutchison does a fine job of voicing the large cast of characters. In an ever-growing field of zombie books, teens will be drawn to this series—Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
A fantastic sequel to Rot & Ruin. Meet new characters and revisit the old. Unexpected characters reappear (reanimate). Creepy. And I've got to hand it to Maberry - out in the Rot & Ruin, no one is safe.
What I loved about [b:Rot and Ruin|7157310|Rot and Ruin (Benny Imura, #1)|Jonathan Maberry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1264898635s/7157310.jpg|7443037] was the emotional complexity of the zombies and the way in which the characters treated them. Happily, Dust and Decay does this even better. While Rot and Ruin introduced us to the new world after the zombie apocalypse, or First Night, as everyone in the book calls it, Dust and Decay gets into the heads of its characters and pushes them to their emotional limits. Tom, Benny, and his friends Nix, Lilah and Chong, decide to leave the walled town of Mountainside and attempt to find the jet they glimpsed at the end of Rot and Ruin. But Mountainside and the Rot and Ruin are not quite ready to let them go. Maberry does an excellent job in allowing you to see into the heads of each of the main characters, much more so than in Rot and Ruin which was primarily in Benny's POV. The growth of the characters was compelling and the tension was so well done that I never wanted to put the book down. And the villains! They were believable, nuanced and awesome! No cardboard figures here, thank God. As much as I enjoyed Rot and Ruin, Dust and Decay delivered on its promise and made me hungry for more. The language is still at times overdramatic, but less so and as heartbreaking (it's definitely one you see coming) as this part of the story is, I can't wait to see where Maberry takes them next!
This book was just an AMAZING read. It completely exceeded my expectations and lived up to Rot & Ruin. It is well-written with relatable characters that you will just fall in love with. My favorite character dies and this has probably been the most affected I have ever been by a death in a book. Can't wait for the next book!
Oh. My. Goodness. I absolutely adored Rot & Ruin, even though it took me a bit to get emotionally invested. I loved the entire cast of characters. The villains were truly evil, Benny and Nix's relationship was adorable, Chong was funny, Lilah was mysterious, and Tom Imura was amazing.
In this book, we've got the same cast with a few new additions, including the crazy Preacher Jack, White Bear, and a few new goons. None of the characters change in a bad way (besides maturing, which is expected when you're running around in the forest being chased by the living dead). The plot is fantastic and I could hardly put it down. I also loved how Tom and Benny's relationship changed throughout the two books.
Of course, I quite nearly cried at the end - you'll see what I mean when you read it. *sniff sniff* Oh, well. All good things have to come to an end, I suppose.
Now the only question is whether or not there will be a third. It didn't sound like it from the end, but who knows, I'm sure there's more Mr. Maberry could write about.
In this book, we've got the same cast with a few new additions, including the crazy Preacher Jack, White Bear, and a few new goons. None of the characters change in a bad way (besides maturing, which is expected when you're running around in the forest being chased by the living dead). The plot is fantastic and I could hardly put it down. I also loved how Tom and Benny's relationship changed throughout the two books.
Of course, I quite nearly cried at the end - you'll see what I mean when you read it. *sniff sniff* Oh, well. All good things have to come to an end, I suppose.
Now the only question is whether or not there will be a third. It didn't sound like it from the end, but who knows, I'm sure there's more Mr. Maberry could write about.
"Warrior smart."
I did not expect this one to be so good. But it is 'edge of your seat' adventure from page 1 on. And even though there was some back and forth confusion about feelings....it didn't overwhelm the story or even get distracting.
The characters are just amazing. Benny, Tom, Lilah, Nix & Chong...I feel like we get to know them so much more in this one. There is some soul searching, some philosophy - which I think is pretty understandable when talking about zombies and the rebuilding of the world.
I also like that the good guys made mistakes. They didn't get it right and sometimes that really cost them. I think that's more true than your perfect 'happily ever after" stories. This is a zombie apocalypse, not everyone can hack it all the time.
I am excited about where book 3 will take this story.
I did not expect this one to be so good. But it is 'edge of your seat' adventure from page 1 on. And even though there was some back and forth confusion about feelings....it didn't overwhelm the story or even get distracting.
The characters are just amazing. Benny, Tom, Lilah, Nix & Chong...I feel like we get to know them so much more in this one. There is some soul searching, some philosophy - which I think is pretty understandable when talking about zombies and the rebuilding of the world.
I also like that the good guys made mistakes. They didn't get it right and sometimes that really cost them. I think that's more true than your perfect 'happily ever after" stories. This is a zombie apocalypse, not everyone can hack it all the time.
I am excited about where book 3 will take this story.
I wasn't quite as interested in this installment as I was the first. The plot was very similar to the first, I wish there was more included about the overarching mystery of what the zombies are and where they came from. It's an OK action/zombie book, although it could have been distilled a little more.
Wonderful storytelling again. End of the world, civilization in decay, zombies, strong youth characters ... What's not to love?