Review: The Apocalypse Blog Book 1: End of the Old
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2012
It feels kind of funny to say that you "love" a book that talks about the end of the world but I really have enjoyed this series.  It isn't full of humor but the author manages to wrap you up in the life of each of the characters and make you care what is happening to them.  The struggles, the pain, and the little triumphs that they experience.Faith's world ends the day that a bomb explodes, changing the world forever.  She tells her story in a "blog" that she first started in the Blog Book 0, which was the prequel to this book.  The blog is more of a diary - she isn't connected to the internet and doesn't expect to ever be able to share it with anyone else but it is her way of coping with what is happening in the world around her.  And, in some way, she hopes that it will show that they were actually there, people who survived, and how they learned to live.Faith is shopping on Christmas Eve to get her Dad's gift at the local hardware store when a huge light brightens the sky.  Then, the familiar cloud is seen and the shockwave hits.  Building crumble, people are thrown everywhere, and she tries to find cover.  When the noise settles down, she emerges into a world that she no longer recognizes.  The destruction, the bodies, the injured, the cries for help... she starts to dig through the rubble to save people and the story starts from there.Faith is put into a position of leadership which she doesn't understand.  This is not her personality - she doesn't want the responsibility but it keeps happening over and over.  Eventually, her motley crew of survivors tries to head toward the hospital to get help for the injured that are still left after the ambulances run out of gas and the water lines out of water so that the fires are now taking over what is left of the city.The author has an amazing way with her descriptions - you feel the dust choking you, the overwhelming dispair in trying to save one more person, the sense of just automation in moving and trying not to think, just keep going to save one more person.But, of course, we can't just have a bomb.  There is a twist to the story:  There is something wrong with the weather now - the sky is orange and the rain is nothing but acid - literally, acid.  If you are out in it, you will melt, bones and all.Faith and her group have to learn to not only survive but to give themselves hope as they journey to the hospital and beyond - all while avoiding gangs, the rain, the lack of supplies, and the depression.It is a story though of hope too and something lurking behind the scenes that we get some hints about but won't find out more until the next story.  Faith continues to grown as do the other characters as they travel - not just surviving, but trying to live and trying to find each of their families.Last thing that I found interesting from a "survival" type perspective.  This story is written somewhere outside of the US - I am thinking England based on some of the descriptions like "city center" and "tyres" but most importantly, from the lack of guns.  In most of these types of stories, at least in the US, that is the first thing that people go off to find - hit up your local pawn shop, look for your old hunting rifle, etc... Faith and the people that she encounter all are armed with pipes and boards and not a single gun among them.  It levels the playing field for survival in many ways if you are in a group but leaves you so vunerable if you are alone as you wouldn't be able to defend yourself against a group of people with bats.  Just something that made me think and look at the encounters with other survivors from a new perspective - I enjoy "thinking outside of the box" from what I normally would imagine myself doing if it happened to me or my family.  After all, I might not have bought the shotgun but there is one under the bed that I inherited from my Grandfather and a box of shells locked away in the safe.I actually started this series when it first came out in October.  When I saw the third book was out, I went back and re-read the first two to make sure I was all caught up on the characters before I began the third book but wanted to share how great they were so that you can enjoy them too.  I highly recommend this series and have already downloaded the next book so that I can see what happens next to Faith and the rest of the crew... hope to see you over there too!