SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick Book Review
Series: Ashes, #2
Publication Date: September 25th 2012 by EgmontUSA
Rating: 
– Poor | 
Book Summary: The Apocalypse does not end.
The Changed will grow in numbers.
The Spared may not survive.Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she thought Rule was a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.
Now she’s in the fight of her life against the adults who would use her, the survivors who don’t trust her, and the Changed who would eat her alive.
Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.
Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick Book Review Overview:
- A little confusing, must be read right after Ashes
- Ilsa J. Bick is a talented writer who can write awesome and really gruesome scenes
- Unfortunately, this failed to match up to my expectations and I’m not compelled to finish the series
Unfortunately, SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick is not a book that you can just pick up on a whim. Ashes, the first book in the trilogy, cannot be a book you read in the distant past. SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick does pick up where Ashes finished, but the book needs to be fresh in your memory, or you’ll be completely lost like I was. Bick does very little to aid readers in remembering what exactly happened in the first book. For the first 100 pages, I wasn’t sure what was going on and I needed a dire refresher on who’s who.
I’m surprised that I managed to read this whopping monster of over 500 pages because I did not feel like I was ever hooked into one of the many meandering plots. My determination to read through SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick had more to do with the fact that I wanted to remember what happened in the first book. The problem with SHADOWS is the multi-narrative approach. In the end, there were just too many things going on, but not enough things that made me care about what was happening.
Despite my qualms, I do have to admit that Bick is still one talented writer. Once or twice, I’ve had to stop to admire her vividly gruesome descriptions. Furthermore, Bick’s world is a little different from zombie novels out there because of the fact that they are not exactly dead, but Changed. Changed people who have an appetite for human flesh. It takes a little bit of readjusting to get used to this thought, but this detail sets the Ashes trilogy apart from others.
The ending failed to leave me satisfied, which is such a bummer. I remember finishing Ashes with the thought, OMG BOOK TWO NOW PLEASE, only to be disappointed to hear that the next one would not be out for an entire year. Finishing up SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick, my final thoughts were more along the lines of, Wow, I’m glad that’s over and done with.
Unfortunately, SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick just fell under the category of sequels that didn’t live up to the first. While SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick is not the worst book ever, it didn’t make me excited about the series anymore. This might just call for a series break-up.
Why I’m Biased: I was such a big fan of Ashes. SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick was one of the few ARCs that I really wanted my hands on at BEA.
About the Author
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Find the Author
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Among other things, Ilsa J. Bick was an English major in college and so she knows that she is supposed to write things like, “Ilsa J. Bick is <fill in the blank>.” Except she hates writing about herself in the third person like she is not in the room. Helloooo, I’m right here . . . So let’s just say that she’s a child psychiatrist (yeah, you read that right)as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe (meaning she did an internship in surgery and LOVED it and maybe shoulda stuck), former Air Force major—and an award-winning, best-selling author of short stories, e-books, and novels. Believe me, no one is more shocked about this than she . . . unless you talk to her mother.
Nooo!! I thought Ashes was quite excellent so I was really looking forward to this. I’m sad to hear it was such a disappointment for you. I’m already iffy on the multiple POVs, but hopefully something else will grab my attention.
Just finished it
The new cover of ashes is quite disturbing
Though I have a brownish cover.
!(spoiler question?!)
Is Alex dead at the end of this?