Review: Monsterland by Michael Phillip Cash

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this in a giveaway.  It was a very quick read, nothing really different from what I expected, basically exactly the type of story you'd expect from the title.  I feel there were some things that were missed that could have definitely added to the story, but it did feel just like a horror movie would be, the way the things were missing was like what might be missing from a movie compared to the book. 

There were parts of the story told from different viewpoints, but in a way, who I felt was the main character was Wyatt Baldwin.  He's a high school student, and he lives in the town where one of the new theme parks called Monsterland is getting ready to open.  The story takes place in a future when a disease has caused some people to become zombies.  It's pretty much contained, the zombies are being kept in detention types of camps.  And  now are being brought to be part of the different theme parks that are being set up all over the world.  But in this future world, they have also found out that vampires are real, and have been just kind of hiding out, on the sidelines of the human world.  And when the creator of the parks is out searching for a Sasquatch or Bigfoot, he finds that werewolves are real.  They capture the werewolves that they find, which is easier because they have really dwindled in numbers.  So this theme park has a section where people can see zombies walk around, from a safe distance/viewing area.  There is a jungle ride where they will be able to see the werewolves, again from a safe area, and the park uses artificial moonlight to get the wolves to change.  And the vampires, because they have been around humans all the time already, they just have caps put on their fangs, and then they have a little town where people can go mingle with the vampires and even watch them as part of a rock band. 

Wyatt and his friends get free VIP passes to the opening night of the park.  And, as you would expect from a story like this, something goes wrong, monsters will get loose, and chaos ensues.  As I mentioned at the beginning, it was really a lot like a movie would be. 

I do feel there could have been some more character development and explanations.  There was one of Wyatt's friends that everyone called by his full name, all the time.  I'm sorry, that's just weird.  It reminded me of the movie 21 and Over where they kept calling the one character by his full name, Jeff Chang, the whole movie.  Only, it could be something I missed as I read, but I'm not sure why they did that?  I do like what happened with his friend Melvin though.  We also had some drama with Wyatt's family, his mom and stepdad - who we also got some of his viewpoint, and then a surprising bit with Wyatt's dad even. 

While I get the point trying to be made about the detention camps, and that the big gate reminded them of the Auschwitz Concentration camp gate that said "Work will set you free", I feel like that may have stretched a little for the actual type of book this is.  To me the cover looked like the Jurassic Park gate, and yes, they did draw comparisons in the book to that, like they should have.  And really that fit the story much better, so they probably could have stuck with that.  Comparing zombies, werewolves, and vampires to real people who were in death camps seems a little bit in poor taste. But that's just me.  I could be overthinking it. 

All in all it was a quick, horror movie style read, interesting even while predictable for the most part.

Review: Flawed (Perfection #2) by J.L. Spelbring

Once again thanks to both Spencer Hill Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  And it was good to read it almost right after I finished the first one, Perfection, which I reviewed HERE.  And I don't know if it was because I had just finished the first one and was getting to read right on, but I think this one was better than the first one.  I mean I liked it better, not that I didn't like the first one though.  So, here's the best summary I can give without too many spoilers for those who haven't read the first book.

Our main character is again Ellyssa.  She was able to save Rein with the help of his brother Woody.  Unfortunately when they get back to the cave in Missouri the rest of their Renegade family called home, they find they have been discovered.  There is a massacre in one of the rooms in the cavern.  The only thing that gives them hope is that there aren't as many bodies as there should be.  While they are trying to get their bearings and figure out where to go looking, one of their family shows up, Trista.  At first they're unsure whether to trust her or not as she is wearing a Gestapo uniform.  Ellyssa is unsure if she has betrayed them or is planning to.  But it turns out Trista was saved by the cop from the last story, Dyllon, the one the crazy Gestapo lady after Ellyssa had almost fallen for.  Rein is immediately ready to kill Dyllon when he sees him, remembering how Dyllon had stood by while Ellyssa's sister Aalexis had tortured him.  But Trista is able to convince them to give him a chance, along with help from Ellyssa who is able to read his mind and see whether he plans to betray them.  They are taken to the house of one of the supporters we met in the last book. They stay there while they try to figure out where the other survivors from their Renegade family have been taken. 

Ellyssa was sure that when they blew up The Center in their escape at the end of the first book, that all of her siblings were dead.  But she is wrong.  Aalexis and Xaver survived.  And the lat thing Dr. Hirch, der Vater as they call him, told Xaver, was to protect Aalexis at all costs.  With her being able to control things with her mind like she can, she is the most important of all the children the doctor created.  Aalexis wants to continue her father's work, but she also wants revenge on Ellyssa for killing him.  But she can't just kill her, because they need her DNA as part of the next set of children, the more perfect children with all of their abilities.  As Xaver and Aalexis mature, they begin to undergo some of the same issues with emotions that Ellyssa had experienced, something that they had always been told was weakness.  But Xaver convinces Aalexis that their father was imperfect, so he must be wrong about this.  He used the example of how far Ellyssa would go to save this imperfect boy she was in love with, Rein.

The survivors are in a concentration camp. Sent there on purpose, and Aalexis is going to use them as bait to try to get Ellyssa where she wants her, and to get her revenge.  There will be betrayal, and lots of hard traveling and planning to try to save their family.  And we will even see her friend Mathew, the Renegades' doctor in the first book, deal with Aalexis and other Nazi's at the concentration camp in his own bid to survive and save his family.  It all ends up at the camp, with a conclusion that doesn't quite end it.  It leaves us open and ready for the next book.

Since other characters from the first book that we got to read from their point of view are dead in this book, we get some new ones besides Ellyssa.  We get to go into the insane mind of Aalexis, and see how she reacts to all of this, and how she schemes to complete her father's plans.  And as I said, we also get into Mathew's mind as he tries to make it in the concentration camp. 

I feel like we got more background and details on the outside world, as well as some of the history between the World War II and the current time, since Hitler won the war.  December 7th is Ellyssa, Aalexis, and Xaver, as well as the other children who are no longer alive's birthday.  In honor of the day of the Pearl Harbor attack.  According to this alternate reality, that is when the war turned in Hitler's favor.  I found that interesting, and hope to hear even more about that in the next book.  Which I will be waiting on impatiently, as well as keeping my eye open for when an e-galley of it might be available.  The title of the first book, Perfection, fit well as we learned about the perfect children like Ellyssa and her siblings, and the doctor's goal to truly create a perfect race, even at destroying many of those who were currently close to the ideal, but not truly there.  And the title of this, Flawed, fit this as well.  Aalexis and her brother becoming "flawed" as they began to feel more and more emotions, which was totally not part of the goal their father had. 

2011 Debut Author Challenge 9: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

This is my first egalley I'm reading from NetGalley, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to blog about it yet, because some of the galleys said something about waiting until 30 days before the book came out, but I'm going to go ahead with this one and try to be better next time, and hope this is okay.

This book was really good. The storyline is a supervolcano at Yellowstone Park erupts and of course, this sends the world into disaster. The beginning you're in major suspense while the main character, Alex, is home alone because his family went to visit other family, and he wanted to stay home as an adult. Of course this is bad, because when his home is destroyed and they begin to have looting and robbing, he knows all he wants is to go find his family. And so we follow him on his journey. The ash from the volcano is like snow, so he finds that skis help him to travel. Along the road he meets helpful people, murderous people, and ends up at the home of a very nice woman and her somewhat grumpy daughter. They take him in when he collapses thanks to the prison escapee he last ran into attacking him. He spends time on their farm where they are able to grind corn and seem to be able to make it. They decide to go into town to see why the rabbits are dying, and when they're gone, disaster strikes back at the farm. Now they must set out to find his family again. Along the way they come across a woman with small children that they help, and then find their way to a government disaster camp. Which turns out to be almost a concentration camp in a way. When they can escape they move on to find his family again.

I like that Alex knows martial arts, it makes it a bit more likely that he is able to survive this situation when it becomes violent. I like that they don't gloss over that he is a teenager who does want to have sex. I saw a review that said these things were annoying, but I feel they fit the story perfectly and will make it very accessible to teens. I also was greatly reminded of Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, and will be able to recommend it to people who enjoyed that. Now, it doesn't come out till October, so I'll be eagerly awaiting to share it!