Review: Ashes, Ashes

Author: Jo Treggiari
Pages: 341
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Library
Synopsis: A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares. 


Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.


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Ashes, Ashes is the story of a post-apocalyptic world in which a girl named Lucy is trying to survive. I had very high expectations for this book but even though there was potential, the story didn't appeal to me.

Lucy was a survivor. She was temperamental but hardworking. She was very independent and though I usually like these characteristics in a character, I didn't really connect with Lucy. After finishing Ashes Ashes the characters don't seem very fleshed out to me. They remain a bit of a mystery and because I never really found a character I could relate to the story fell flat.

Most of the book was about descriptions and the world. Lucy explained everything early on about how the world became so bad. There were many grim descriptions of her lifestyle and it was a bit scary. However I'm not much into descriptions so that also factored into my enjoyment. Though Ashes Ashes is a decently long book I don't feel like much happened in the story. The good thing was that the mood Jo Treggiari was trying to give the readers was clearly felt.

The plot was interesting in the sense that I had no idea what was going to happen next. Though the ending was a bit predictable, the story had me caring enough to continue until the end. There were parts that were slow and parts that were full of action so I guess that means it was moderately paced. I didn't like the direction the story went in the end though. I was hoping for more to happen, bigger twists.

Other reasons I kept reading was that I was interested to see how the people could survive at such a time. The commune and the dynamics were vastly interesting to me. That part was very realistic.

All in all, Ashes Ashes was a story of survival set in the backdrop of a crumbling post-apocalyptic world. It was a good read. 3 stars,

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