Life is strangely unpredictable, you never know where a day could bring you, I am aware of it, came to expect it after a while. But to think there will come a day where I would feel gooey over a fictional Neanderthal, would be a far stretch even for me. Yet here we are...

5 stars for originality.
5 stars for execution.
5 stars for the emotional impact.
5 stars for the sheer joy I got from reading it.
5 stars to Yasmine....because of reasons. (she knows them)

Hell I'll toss enough stars in there to light up the sky, this is how I feel at the moment.

Ehd, I just simply call him Eddie, and he is an Eddie, the sweetheart. He is just so lovable, and I thank the author for that. His thoughts were simple, honest, pure, and most of all believable. His loneliness was touching, heartbreaking even in his simple desire to belong to a group of people again. Everybody can relate to that, and I have to admit that I thought of the bravery needed to face ever day alone, not knowing will he ever meet another soul. When he finally did, the sheer fierce determination to never lose her was staggering.

Ok, there weren't any swords, there weren't any massive fires, i might have embellished slightly(a lot), so sue me! There were moments in this book where the sheer TRUE manliness of Eddie would send all the usual 'Alpha Males' running back to their mommas.

The writing was so effortless and gripping, that it took me over 50% of the novel before I've even thought about why Beth was truly there. I was simply that immersed in the story from page one. When I did, though, i had a feeling of such foreboding, thinking this couldn't possibly end well. The story was too sweet and promising, and i just don't know how i would feel if there was some sort of tragedy in the end. It was so easy for me to connect with the characters that I could already see myself sobbing like an infant, snot flying everywhere if one of them died or left unexpectedly.

We are all very happy it didn't happen...trust me. :D

I don't know what i expected, but that ending seemed to be what true love is all about. Their dedication, their family, their time spent together, just left me with a feeling of warmth and contentment.

A lot of authors seem to waste a helluva lot of time, trying to make their characters seem fluent, natural and relaxed. They try so hard it translates to the pages, you can see the effort, that comes from somebody trying to anticipate what people would like to hear, instead of doing what feels right. And this, all of this just felt right.

This novel makes the top five in 2014, and I am glad it's December so there is a full year of reading material behind me, so when i say it's one of the best, it really means something.

It sat on my TBR for ages, and i must admit, I forgot about it. So if you are like me, shift your ass and read this. You won't regret it.

First things first. One thing i know after reading this book is the desperate need to have more ginger heroes.

I mean look at them bumps. LOOK AT THEM!!!

The story was unique, with a hard theme of war and suffering, intertwined with the severity of duty and obligation viewed trough two young minds. The story had enough realism to separate it from being a basic young adult fantasy, yet kept the elements of young romance.

The fantasy was layered with magic and mysticism in a way that didn't overpower the story. I liked it.

Finnikin is a wonderful male hero, strong, kind and caring. And wonderfully ginger. It was refreshing to take a step back from the tall dark and handsome, or the icy blondes we are accustomed to.

I liked the worldbuilding a lot, the descriptions of people of Lumatere, with their characteristics was a good touch.

So where to start? Well, it was interesting, but confusing at first. Futuristic society with major pollution issues. The "haves" live in space with the other peons stuck on earth. Crazy environmentalists are blowing shit up and setting off nuclear bombs in order to "save the earth." The tech was intriguing. Interesting, yes? Just as I was liking what I was reading it went to shit. Go figure.
"Char's body flung itself to the floor, prostrate and trembling like some novice waiting for god.
God?"
then a page later:
"You may call me Asherah. Or goddess. I have chosen you to receive my revelation."
Yep. I finally was starting to "get it" and then the book goes in a completely different direction. One that doesn't make much sense. At all. And it gets worse.
"Asherah. She called the fertile females her chalices......They're just little girls." "Getting the place ready to house breeders for the world's elite families"
Keep in mind the "chalices" are girls 8 to 10 years old. They are excited at being "chosen" cause they get extra long life. All the more to pop more kids out to repopulate the earth! (Never mind what the girls would chose).

I am more then willing to buy into the story even if it doesn't make much sense (the super clean and "wonderful" place they find even though the rest of the planet has been nuked) if I like it.  However, there are things that just are eh, or more appropriately:  what the fuck?

Not reading the other 2 books.  Hell will freeze first.  They've been deleted from my shelf.

(Changed to 1.5 stars from 2)

I gave this book 3 stars when I first read it a couple years ago. After rereading it just now, I have to say it only deserves 2 stars. And I'm not even sure about going that far.

Space Junque is the first part of the Apocalypto series. And I use the word "part" because it's not really a complete story. You're obviously supposed to read the next 2 books if you want to understand what the hell is going on. The only thing you can really take away from it is "not everyone dies"... And that's about it.

Too many things are unexplained. Not in the cliffhanger sense, but in the sense that you have no idea how things happened. People are in this speshul city, but it's never explained how they got there. Or how it's safe in comparison to the rest of the planet that has pretty much been nuked to nothing. I reread a few paragraphs about a dozen times before giving up on understanding what was going on. The author does a poor job of segueing from one scene to another. And by "poor job", I mean "none at all"...

Since I haven't read (nor do I have any plans to) the next 2 books, I can't fully comment on the plot. It floundered for a bit at the beginning and I really couldn't figure out where it was going. About the time I got to the "give up or give in" point, things took a turn for the wacky and suddenly it's a mythological story. Not the space opera it was pretending to be. Then it got even weirder with little 8 and 9 year old girls being breeders. And then it was over.

I wouldn't recommend this. It doesn't really make sense.