Reviewed by rakesandrogues on
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.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 23 July, 2012: Finished reading
- 23 July, 2012: Reviewed