publisher: Feiwel and Friends
date of publication: June 5, 2012
format: ARC
pages: 294
source: from the publisher; Fierce Reads campaign
From Goodreads:
Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.
Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.
Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.
In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.
From the very first page, Monument 14 succeeds in instilling a sense of foreboding. The opening words are the epitome of words left unsaid and, upon reading them, you just know that there is a lot of heartbreak on the way. What ensues is a chain reaction of events that will rock the characters in the story to their very cores and leave you, the reader, shell-shocked beyond belief. From cover to cover, Monument 14 delivers with trials, tribulations, emotions, and enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The cast of characters that make up Monument 14 are as varied in temperament as they are in age. From the 5 year old twins to the 18 year old high school seniors, attitudes differ, emotions run amok, and conflicts arise. Shy, gawky Dean, the narrator and our guide through life in the Greenway in apocalyptic Monument, Colorado, is as flawed as he is endearing. You can't help but feel for the guy but, at the same time, he does mess up. A lot. Unlike characters from other books, however, Dean's mistakes aren't simply a nuisance to the reader. They add an edge to all of the other things going on in the story and make reading about the situation all the more intense. Dean's reactions to the various occurrences are nothing short of fascinating and I my attention was definitely held by both his point of view and the events as shown through his eyes.
I don't know what it is about apocalyptic settings that I find to be so intriguing, but the setting for Monument 14 especially delivered for me. The storyline was captivating and the pace was brisk enough to add a higher level of urgency to the book's atmosphere. It was so easy to get a sense of who everyone was thanks to the dialog and the descriptions of both the kids' surroundings and the events that take place are vivid. It almost felt like I was right there alongside them, trying to figure out how to get the pizza oven to work properly and keep the little kids out of trouble (as if I don't get enough of that in my day-to-day life; ha!).
Monument 14 is one of those books that refuses to let you out of its grasp. I found myself staying awake until the sun started to appear in the horizon because I simply could not stop reading. I expect I could have finished it in 12 hours if I hadn't needed sleep. It was that enthralling. If you're in need of a book with lots of action and the complexities of human reaction, look no further. Emmy Laybourne's debut, simply put, knocked my socks off. I'm going to be anxiously awaiting the next book. I just can't get enough!
Buy Monument 14 at the Following Locations:
Obligatory legal statement: This advance review copy was provided to me free of charge by the publisher. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.
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