Monument 14 was absolutely AMAZING! I'm in awe of it's depth and uniqueness! This is probably on my Top 5 list of the post-apocalyptic stories I've read in 2013!
Our story takes place in Monument, Colorado in September 2024. For 17-year-old Dean, the school day begins uneventfully. The world suddenly turns upside-down when suddenly, out of the blue, the school bus Dean is riding is bombarded by huge pieces of hail! In an attempt to save the 14 children in the bus (whose ages range from 4-17 years old), the bus driver fatally crashes into the local Greenway superstore - where the children must put their differences aside if they want to get out alive.
This story takes place during a series of horrible natural disasters. Yet the children were in the store while most of these phenomenons occurred, so we as readers never got to really experience these events. Sure...we experienced, alongside the characters, a few of these disasters such as the hail storm, the releasing of the toxic chemicals, and the aftershocks of an 8.2 magnitude earthquake, but we never experienced anything extraordinarily as horrible as those who lived, for instance, in New York whom experienced mega-tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. I think this is my main concern with the book, but I think it will most likely be solved in the sequel.
The writing was slightly above average - nothing large to critique, yet no bonus points to be awarded either. The pacing of the story was fast, which I really enjoyed, and it definitely caught my attention up until the very last page. The author used the elements of suspense and survival well, which I thought was really interesting. I was constantly wondering how I would react if I was in the same situation!
All in all, this is a beautiful book that I would recommend to everyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic survival stories (and maybe even the movie 2012!) Happy reading!
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.This plot is, for the lack of a better word, EPIC! It's amazingly creative and unique, and it's one of the most original dystopian / post-apocalyptic books I've read in a long time!
Only, if it's the last 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.
Our story takes place in Monument, Colorado in September 2024. For 17-year-old Dean, the school day begins uneventfully. The world suddenly turns upside-down when suddenly, out of the blue, the school bus Dean is riding is bombarded by huge pieces of hail! In an attempt to save the 14 children in the bus (whose ages range from 4-17 years old), the bus driver fatally crashes into the local Greenway superstore - where the children must put their differences aside if they want to get out alive.
Naturally, the Greenway store where the children end up has a multitude of supplies - just like a gigantic Walmart or Target. It's just their luck that the end up there...The characters are very well done as well! It's definitely challenging to have even one well-written, in-depth character in a story. Yet, somehow, Laybourne manages to have 14! Each character in Monument 14 has a surprising level of depth to them - and they are all phoenominal! At first it seemed like these characters were slightly stereotyped, but throughout the course of the story there was so much additional character growth that, by the end, it was impossible to still classify these characters as stereotypical. They were all very relatable, and I enjoyed seeing how they each dealt with the catastrophe in their own unique way.
This story takes place during a series of horrible natural disasters. Yet the children were in the store while most of these phenomenons occurred, so we as readers never got to really experience these events. Sure...we experienced, alongside the characters, a few of these disasters such as the hail storm, the releasing of the toxic chemicals, and the aftershocks of an 8.2 magnitude earthquake, but we never experienced anything extraordinarily as horrible as those who lived, for instance, in New York whom experienced mega-tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. I think this is my main concern with the book, but I think it will most likely be solved in the sequel.
The writing was slightly above average - nothing large to critique, yet no bonus points to be awarded either. The pacing of the story was fast, which I really enjoyed, and it definitely caught my attention up until the very last page. The author used the elements of suspense and survival well, which I thought was really interesting. I was constantly wondering how I would react if I was in the same situation!
All in all, this is a beautiful book that I would recommend to everyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic survival stories (and maybe even the movie 2012!) Happy reading!
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