Monument 14 (Monument 14 #1) by Emmy Laybourne
Series: Monument 14 #1
Published On: June 5, 2012
Genres: Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic, Young Adult
Source: Purchased

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The Short, Sweet, and Spoiler-Free Blurb:

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong. In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside.

At the beginning, there wasn’t much going on.  The book starts off with some very graphic and disturbing disasters and I was worried that it was going to be overly realistic and not at all entertaining.  That was thankfully not true.  The point when I got to know all the characters was when I really started to fall in love with this book. There was such a colorful cast of characters that clashed together in fun ways. It made me laugh out loud even though there were truly terrifying things going on. Seriously. Like, the world is ending and I’m laughing me head off.  I even read a few passages to my husband between laughs because he wanted to know what was so dang funny.  But don’t get me wrong – even though there are some very funny moments, there were also some very touching moments that really got to me, especially the ones with the little kids.

The plot took some turns and surprises that I really enjoyed. The realism was one of the very best parts of the book.  Her attention to the details had me so invested in the story and made it hard for me to stop thinking about the book when I was done.  She did an amazing job of balancing humor, fear, and empathy while making all of the characters amazingly realistic.  I’m absolutely convinced that Max is in existence somewhere on this earth.  The writing was so enjoyable. It was succinct, visual, fast-paced and a lot of fun to read. Grab this book. I flew right through it in a day. I absolutely couldn’t put it down.

Content Rating: Medium, for a suggestive scene with some nudity detailed briefly, some violence, mentions of drug use and some language.