}

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Review: End Times by Anna Schumacher


Title: End Times
Author: Anna Schumacher
Series: End Times, Book 1
Genre: Young Adult (Post-)Apocalyptic
Release Date: 20 May 2014

Carbon County, Wyoming is like a current running through Daphne’s heart.

When life gets too tough to bear in Detroit, Daphne flees to her Uncle Floyd’s home, where she believes she’ll find solace in the silent hills of her childhood summers. But Daphne’s Greyhound bus pulls over in downtown Carbon County and it’s not silence that welcomes her. It’s trumpets.

Daphne’s desire to start again in simple country comfort is instantly dashed as the townsfolk declare that the End Times are here. And incredible occurrences soon support their belief. Daphne does all she can to keep her head down and ignore the signs. She works a job at the local oil rig, helps around the house, hangs out with her pregnant cousin Janie and gets to know Owen, a mysterious motocross racer and fellow roustabout at the rig. But soon a startling discovery shatters her resolve and calls into question all her doubts and fears.

Daphne landed in Carbon County for a reason. She only has to read the signs—and believe.

Bored. I can sum up my entire reading experience in one word. I gave this book more than enough time, and I just - finally - couldn't take it anymore.

You probably want some more though. Okay. This book is told in alternating third-person POV with three main characters (so far): Daphne, her cousin Janie, and Owen. Owen's the only one that's remotely interesting to me, and that's not saying much because I'm not real interested in him either. Daphne has potential, but she's so busy trying to fade into the background that I'm bored with her. Janie's ... pregnant. Apparently that's the sum of her personality. That and she "loves" her boyfriend who's an obvious asshole.

42% I read, and I didn't even get to the part of the blurb where the "townsfolk declare that the End Times are here." Trumpets are sounding when Daphne gets into town, but after they stop (later that night) they're pretty much forgotten. Life goes on. I get to read about boring day to day life stuff. Then Daphne is apparently Jed Clampett and black gold comes bubbling up out of the ground. More boring day to day stuff. More boring. More. More. More.

The writing feels pretty simplistic, too. That's not always a bad thing, but here there was nothing that made me want to do anything other than skim. The dialogue also felt really forced and not at all like how people actually talk.

Finally, there's shaping up to be some sort of confrontation between the (Christian) God-loving folk of Carbon County (which despite its name is actually a town) and the Earth Children - children of the Earth God apparently. Honestly, I'm just not interested. The Christians in this book felt like caricatures, and then there was the free-loving "hippie" vibe of the main "Earth Child" that we've met so far. Meh. Stereotypes aren't awesome.

The one good thing I can say is that - despite being bored - the book reads fairly quickly. It took me a couple of hour to read nearly half of it, and I kept pausing to do other things.

Grade: DNF

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