Kelly
Written on Apr 8, 2016
In post-apocalyptic America, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura and his friends set out into the great Rot & Ruin hoping to find a better future but are soon pitted against zombies, wild animals, insane murderers, and the horrors of Gameland.
- ISBN10 1442402377
- ISBN13 9781442402379
- Publish Date 30 August 2011 (first published 1 August 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Format eBook
- Pages 352
- Language English
Reviews
Angie
Written on Jun 6, 2014
Dust & Decay is full of all kinds of excitement and tension and thought provoking bits. It was just dragged down a bit by some irritating stuff, but first the good. Of course, there are zoms galore as our team heads to Yosemite. But not all of the zoms are the slow shambling things normally seen out in the Ruin. There's also the matter of them flocking into groups of thousands and heading in a common direction. What in the world is going on?! And there's more talk of the Children of Lazurus which I continue to find fascinating, if not a little disturbing. Preacher Jack was a great addition to the cast, even if I hated him. I loved to hate him. He's creepy and possibly insane.
I also liked the entries from Nix's journal that were included. They're only in the first half or so of the book, since she kind of gets too busy to take any more notes at that time. But what is there is quite interesting. She talks a lot about what is known about zoms and the questions she and everyone has about them. There's also the recipe for cadaverine! However, as much as I like these tid bits, I don't think they added much to Dust & Decay other than extra pages.
Now for the stuff that annoyed me about Dust & Decay. Mostly it was Chong. He is the cause for all of the problems. If he hadn't come along, or at least if he had simply listened to Tom, they could have made it to their destination earlier. Sure, extra drama and danger is more fun, but not when it's caused by stupidity. Seriously, Chong is an idiot. I did love how Tom and Lilah didn't coddle him and go through the "Oh, it's not your fault! Anything could have gone wrong" spiel, because really, it was all his fault! This was approximately 300 pages that, while interesting, could have been avoided and focused on something that actually drives the plot forward. The ending would still have taken place, but then more could have happened afterward instead.
I did still enjoy Dust & Decay, but the characters end in the same place where they started. There is something awful and sad that I was not expecting, but that doesn't make up for the Chong fiasco. In fact, I really hate Chong and hopes Lilah "quiets" him in the next book, since what happened is entirely his fault. I would have been much more affected by this terrible event if it hadn't been dampened by annoyance.
Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.
inlibrisveritas
Written on Sep 29, 2013
Dust & Decay picks up six months after Benny, Tom, and Nix went through hell out in the Rot & Ruin, and they are ready to pick up and leave. It takes a lot for a person to make the decision to face the wilds instead of staying in the town they have called home for most of their lives (Tom excluded). So that’s just what they aim to do, however it would seem that things are not quite over and their trip takes a hugely unexpected delay where things go from bad to worse. I forgot just how blunt this series is and Maberry is extremely good at pulling in the reality of the situation, giving you the details without pulling any punches. He shows the amount of emotion that goes into dealing with the horrors of zombies and other people who might have shady intentions.
Benny has done some major growing up thanks to the event of the first book, and he’s still growing in Dust & Decay. He’s just getting use to Nix being something more than just a friend, and she’s getting use to the idea that Benny might be what she needs. It’s not perfect and they are not above seeing the flaws. Tom remains a bad ass with a great heart and a ton of smarts, who is more than willing to put his life on the line for anyone he allows into his small circle. We also get to see more of Lilah, who is still kind of creepy in her solid determination but is slowly grasping the humanity that she had lost in her loneliness. I think I enjoyed her story-arc the most because it shows a person dealing with past demons and struggling to move beyond it while growing as a person. There is a lot of pure human emotion within these pages, as well as a lot of action and heart-racing moments.
I’m definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series, especially now that I have a ready buddy for them.
lizarodz
Written on Nov 11, 2011
The book starts seven months after the end of Rot & Ruin and Tom, Benny, Nix and Lila are getting ready to leave Mountainside for good. As always Benny is so funny and endearing to me. I absolutely love these characters (yes, even Chong), Jonathan Maberry is a master storyteller and he knows how to create characters that elicit strong emotions: love, hate, disgust, apathy, etc. The bad guys this time are so awful that I don’t think there is a word strong enough to describe it. We also meet a lot of new characters from Benny’s zombie cards. Happy journey Benny, I hope you find what you are looking for.
The story is told from the third person POV, and we know what is going on with most of the characters all the time, which is a nice change since a lot of YA books are written in the first person. I wish I could tell Mr. Maberry how incredible he is (obviously I am not a gifted writerJ). His writing is so lyrical, so personal, that the words strung together in a sentence have such a deep meaning that I can’t help but to wonder how he does it. It reminds me a little of Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. The plot is so good, the zombies are more and more gruesome, and the bad guys are SO bad it is kind of incomprehensible.
Cannot wait for the sequel!
On a final note, I apologize to all the people that saw me driving while I was listening to this book. I must have looked like a lunatic, what with all the frowns, mouth hanging open in surprise, and even openly crying so hard I was sobbing (why ,oh why, did that happened? [Sorry, trying not to spoil it for you])
About the cover: Isn’t it just a combination of beautiful and creepy / disturbing all at once? That is what the book is like. Love it!