Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne Format ~ ARC
Publisher ~ Feiwel and Friends
Source ~ Around the World ARC Tours
Purchase: The Book Depository
Summary: Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.The best way to describe Monument 14 is... different. It's not like the other books I normally read. It was enjoyable but out of my comfort zone for a novel... I keep trailing off for some reason... so let's just get to the review...
A huge store isn’t the worst place to be stranded. There’s food and water, bedding and books. But what if it’s not safe to leave? Emmy Laybourne had us from the get-go with her utterly fresh and fast-paced debut.
Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Together they build a refuge for themselves inside, while outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapon spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.
The main character, Dean, was always in the background. Even in a group of 14, 7 of them being little kids, he still keeps to himself and doesn't go out of his way to be noticed. Even though his major crush, Astrid, is getting noticed by the jocks. And that sorta ticked me off. But he did have an interesting background and a very engrossing point of view!
The setting in this book played a huge part. In a apocalypse a Walmart-type super-store would be the best place to be. With food to last a long while and endless hours of entertainment. The store became another character, because at every moment in the book, they were at it's mercy. I made a lot of connections to it and the infamous arenas of The Hunger Games.
This book was overall a very entertaining read, with suspenseful scenes, a wide cast of characters, and a pretty awesome plot, I demand more.
Cover Comments: I really love the massive tornado going up in with the kids below it!
This book counts in the following reading challenges:
Dystopian Reading Challenge: 8
Debut Author Reading Challenge: 8
ARC Reading Challenge: 12
I think I'm gonna really enjoy the setting. A Wal-Mart apocalypse! haha. I'll be reading this soon I've heard mixed opinions but it sounds pretty good!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really, really interesting and I'm glad that you've liked it for the most part, Benji! It definitely sounds like something that I have to pick up! Fantastic review :)
ReplyDeleteStephanie
My latest post: From the Review Pile (1)
This one definitely sounds unusual!
ReplyDeleteWow..wally world taking on a character of its own...i am intrigued! I love dystopians..so this might be one i enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really different idea for a book! I can see how living at wallmart would be cool for a while - I love shopping :)
ReplyDeleteThe premise and setting sound awesome!
ReplyDeleteHopefully Dean grows by the end.
This sounds like a good book. I had seen it on several other blogs so I am interested to check it out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love the sounds of this book. Too bad you didn't like the main character though. That sucks. But at least it seems like the other characters are good. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read this one/ I think it wiil be next on my TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting read to say the least. Wonderful review! I'm not sure about this one though. I'm not really a Walmart person to begin with. Let alone read a book about one. I'll have to think about it.
ReplyDeleteDeAnna Schultz
I've been waiting for this ever since I first heard about it. I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read this book...it just sounds so good!!! Kind of Lord of the Flies and Stephen Kings The Mist!!! Great review!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly recommend Monument 14 for lovers of Apocalyptic tales (I know the majority of readers and even Publishers Weekly classify this as Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian but I beg to differ). I did not want to put this one down until I reached the conclusion and then I was left eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
ReplyDeleteMariz
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