Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Epic Wins:

• I am not a huge fan of dystopian. I mean I’ve read Hunger games and Divergent but in reality I usually gravitate to more modern books. For whatever reason this book really worked for me.
• Dean- Dean was the voice that the author chose to use for the story, which was smart on the authors part. She chose a voice that was light hearted and funny to tell a sad story. If it hadn’t been for Dean I might not have gotten through this book.
• Alex- Dean’s little brother. He was a genius times ten. He was always tinkering and he seemed far more mature then an average kid.
• Niko- Eagle Scout, organizer, plan maker. He was the leader with the safety of all the kids in mind. I found him to be sweet and dedicated.
• Josie- To describe Josie one has to think of a mother duck with all the little ducklings following right behind her. She was the mother of the ‘family’ and seemed to have things together.
• The twists you don’t see coming- This happens like seven times through the story. You never know exactly what will happen.
• The Humor- The things that happened in the apocalypse were intense and scary yet I laughed so much during the whole book. It seemed to give balance to the story, a balance you don’t really get with other dystopian books.
• The little kids- I thought the little kids personalities were right on target. 
• They were essentially stuck in a Wal-Mart during the apocalypse. They had pretty much every thing they needed and more. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in a store.
• Some of the things that happen could, in theory, happen to us. What happens when an abnormally large earthquake strikes? What if the Internet goes out everywhere? (We’d all dies of boredom that’s for sure.) Monument 14 addresses one way to go about this.
• This mid-apocalyptic story was so very close to our own society now that I found it an easy thing to believe. This fiction could easily be our reality.
• Hung on a cliff- Seriously I need the next one soon, so many unanswered questions.

Epic Fail:

• There are some scenes that are slightly inappropriate, i.e. sex, drugs, creeper adults, and things other teenagers fill their time with.

Overall: I would totally recommend this to any dystopian weary folks. It’s so funny that half the time you forget the whole end of the world drama. 

Adieu, 
Kare