The Uninvited, Liz Jensen

In Jensen's new novel, The Uninvited, children across the world are committing horrifying murders of adults, while somehow sharing dreams and knowledge across continents. At the same time, protagonist Heskith, a pattern-spotting genius on the autistic spectrum, is tracking bizarre events of corporate sabotage.
Jensen's fantastic writing elevates her books- this was a chilling, thrilling, horrifying look at how the planet could try to shake off our civilization, and it left me reeling and looking into some of the ideas in her book. Her last book, The Rapture is still my favorite of hers, but each of her books stands strong and her unusual protagonists add so much depth to what could, in lesser hands, be a standard eco-disaster thriller/horror story.

Reached, Allie Condie

Last one in the Matched series. good wrap up.

Ashen Winter, Mike Mullin

Post apocalyptic survival story- Yellowstone.

Quarantine, Lex Thomas

Teens trapped in an X, with diseases.

The Whisper, Emma Clayton

Post-apocalyptic scifi with psi-powers.

The Dog Stars, Peter Heller

Hauntingly beautiful post-apocalyptic adult fiction. Hig is a pilot who survived the flu that killed off most of the population, and he and his neighbor and his beloved dog Jasper have been fighting for survival for some time. When Hig falls apart, he sets out to find more people, and finds redemption and faith in humanity.

After the Snow, by S.D. Crockett

Post-apocalyptic ice age neo-feudalism in the woods, with a corrupt government dystopia in the cities. Well done. Willo's outsider skills and Mary's city knowlege were nice touches.

Article 5, by Kristen Simmons

This was a weird one. Felt like a cross between Hillary Jordan's When She Woke and Twilight, if you can grok it- near future right-wing religious America continuing to cut away women's rights (and many civil rights), but the main character, Ember, was a bit of a Bella, and despite the book focusing on oppression of women, there was a lot of weird psycho-sexual dynamics

Thumped, by Megan McCafferty

Sequel to last year's Bumped.
This was very much a sequel- I don't know if it would stand alone, but luckily I had read Bumped, so was able to jump right in without getting too lost.
Harmony and Melody, twins raised apart in a near future where a virus has affected human reproduction, and female fertility ends at around 18, are international celebrities for both being pregnant with twins. In Bumped, the girls find each other, but Harmony was raised in a kind of God-fearing commune situation, and Melody on the Outside, is putting her surrogate skills up for sale in a bidding war.
Melody's hired star inseminator Jondoe falls in love with Harmony, and is the father of her twins, instead of Ram, the husband she has inside the commune...
OK, I'm going to stop with the annotating.
While thought provoking and timely in addressing women's reproductive rights, this didn't really stand alone, and the ending was very wrap-it-all-up and happy endings for everyone to feel realistic, even in the surreal world they lived in.

Starters, by Lissa Price

Fast paced and interesting dystopia.
Teen's bodies are rented by Elders, adults who survived the Spore Wars and have utilized advanced medical technologies to the point where "250 is the new 100", and the wealthy Elders have technology that will allow them to enter and control a teen's body (while the teen is put into a medically induced comatose mental state).
There were just too many plot holes here- I really enjoyed it but it had major problems, conceptually, and in many ways it read as a mash-up of other popular dystopian novels.

The Way We Fall, by Megan Crewe

Quick read, but with flaws.
A pandemic on an island, the government shuts it off, and survivors struggle.
I liked it, but it had too many plot holes, and not much of a resolution.

Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver

Follow up to Oliver's Delirium, which I felt was a much stronger book.

In Pandemonium, Lena is in the Wilds, and fighting the system- it's very much a middle book.



Ok read, but nothing spectacular.

Vacation, by Matthew Costello

Ah, a solid, creepy, distressing and properly gory zombie apocalypse novel!!!
After how much Sadie Walker is Stranded, I was almost loath to start this one, but this title did not disappoint.
NYPD cop Jack is badly hurt in a Can Head fighting incident that left his partner dead, and he is off duty to recover. His wife and kids want to get out of their fenced in Staten Island zone, so they set off for a terrifying road trip to the Adirondacks, to Paterville Family Camp, reputed to be safe and secure.
After getting there, though, Jack and Christie find there is a hideous sinister side to the outwardly jolly camp, and their vacation turns into a nightmare.
Well written, well plotted and cinematic, this was pretty awesome.

Masque of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin

With a terrible plague ruining the city, 16 year old Araby and her best friend April run wild in the city's notorious Debauchery Club, where only the wealthy and healthy can use drink and drugs to seek oblivion. Araby's father is the scientist who created the masks that keep citizens who can afford them safe, while the poor of the city have no protection from contagion.
When the Debauchery club doorman, Will, saves Araby from overdose one night, she begins to see that there is more to life than she knew, and soon has to decide for herself what is right and what is wrong, rather than what glamorous tattered gown she should wear to go party every night. Steampunky romantic plague-ridden dystopia- awesome!

Sadie Walker is Stranded, by Madeline Roux

Very middling zombie apocalypse. Frustrating, in that nothing really HAPPENED, and the book ended without any kind of resolution or even any real change.

The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker

Breathtakingly good book.
11 year old Julia lives in Southern California, hanging out with her best friend Hanna and avoiding getting teased on the school bus when the earth starts spinning more slowly.
This was just hauntingly good- brilliant writing, a startlingly original voice, and one of the most moving coming of age stories I have ever read.

Blueprints of the Afterlife, by Ryan Boudinot

Extraordinary post-apocalyptic novel. In the years after the FUS (Fucked Up Shit), residents of the Pacific Northwest are creating New York Alki on Bainbridge Island, using newman (essentially cyborg) labor, people are hooked into Bionet, which can be hacked by DJs who control them, the climate is fucked, polar bears (ACK) are gone, a rogue glacier has hunted down cities...
Overwhelming, epic stew of ideas and words, brilliantly done, but not super focused.
I loved it, it read like Bacigalupi in some ways, but I do wish it was a tiny bit tighter. So good though, and wildly different from Boudinot's first novel, Misconception, which I also thought was insanely good.

Arctic Rising, by Tobias Buckell

Wow! Straight out awesome climate disaster scifi thriller. Not as well written as Bacigalupi, but a hell of a plot, and out-of-the-box refreshing protagonists made this an un-put-down-able read. Futuristic Arctic cities, climate modification schemes, chase scenes, I want this to be a movie.

This Is Not A Test, by Courtney Summers

FANTASTIC zombie apocalypse novel, with an intense protagonist and wonderful writing. This was just so well done, and the ethical conflicts of Sloane, the suicidal heroine of the book, as she is forced into a fight for survival, added an incredible new twist to a well trod road- I really found this to be a special book. Better even than Zone One, which I LOVED. I really liked her mean-girls issue book, Some Girls Are, but this was on a whole new level of awesome.

The Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi

Wildly creative if depressing followup to Bacigalupi's Prinz-winning knockout Ship Breaker. This isn't a sequel- could totallly stand on its own- the only link between the books is the ravaged future America and the half-man called Tool. In this one, clearly set in and near a ruined Washington DC, war refugees Mahlia and Mouse are separated when he is kidnapped to become part of a troop of child soldiers, and Mahlia must choose whether to try to run or to try to save him. Brutal and very very dark, this was a haunting and brilliant book based on current events (child soldiers in Africa) that was drawn so clearly it seems inevitable.