A YA book review...
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| Advance Readers Copy...not the same look when you purchase it yourself |
Instructions for the End of the World
by Jamie Kain was not like anything I was expecting. Of course when you
read a title like Instructions For The End of The World you think of
some killer virus or zombies even..it's only natural in these times
because it is such a popular topic but this book was anything but. So
now once I have read and have been mistaken I feel pretty good about
what I just read and what Instructions For The End Of The World really
stands for.
The story breaks up into chapters, and then subheading in-between, each one with the name of the character that is going to be doing the narrative...and it switches quite often between the characters. These main people that we fumble back and forth into the lives of are Nicole Reed, Isabel (Izzy..Nicole's younger sister who is so much different from Nicole), and Wolf (a hunky nature loving and Nicole lusting teenager). So Nicole's father, James Reed..a retired Lieutenant Colonel and the author of a self published book called The End Of The World As We Know It, has decided to spontaneously swoop up his family (2 teen daughters and wife) and relocate them miles and miles away from the life that they knew and were accustomed to and move them into the family inherited dilapidated but very large Victorian home complete with 20 acres of forested land in the Sierra foothills. Mr. Reed is not your typical father...he is a nutcase (at least according to his daughter Izzy and his wife he is), a Survivalist that is always trying to prepare his family for the end of the world. The only one that takes him to heart is Nicole but even she at times questions his sanity or why all the moving and learning is so important. Still, she is loyal to her dad and has picked up many of his traits and abilities...such as being able to shoot a gun for the use of obtaining food out in the wild. Which brings us to Wolf and the first chance encounter he has with Nicole. Sitting up high on a Madrone tree Wolf comes into sight of Nicole and he finds her intriguing from the start...until she decides to aim her rifle at a rabbit, to which case he becomes perplexed and annoyed with her...still intrigued but now not sure of what he thinks of this act of cruelty(or so he views it as). Let me go back...Wolf is from the Sadhana Village and Spiritual Retreat Center, a commune of nature loving and respecting people that do Yoga on the daily (and mediation I'm sure). He has a love of building tree houses, forts, little huts of solitude around the village and one in particular that he is currently building is right inside the property line of Nicole's family home. Nicole comes across the place and that is where Wolf and her meet face to face...she is intrigued and weary of him (and knows right off that her father would not like what he refers to as "Hippies"). From the start there is something budding between the two but the book must be read to to know just how far that goes if it goes. There are far greater issues throughout. Nicole and Izzy's mother, fed up with her mentally unstable Survivalist husband has run off...abandoned the family. Their father has run off in search of his wife...leaving the girls to fend for themselves in a world they do not know, miles and miles away from civilization, no running water, and no form of communication to the outside world. Their only source of relief and help has come from Wolf (who is battling his own obstacles with his mother, a former addict, Founder of the Sadhana Village and runaway of sorts) and several other teens their age from the commune nearby. There is so much family dysfunction it's a wonder the girls have survived with their parents as long as they did....and now they are left to survive without them.
I have to say at my age (to which I will not share) I somewhat enjoyed this YA read. It's something that I can see my teens enjoying and as a matter of fact I intend on sharing this book with them. I don't have any serious complaints for the book only that I wish there was more intensity from the start...getting to know Nicole, Izzy and Wolf was a great part of the read but by the time that was all said and done the book was coming to an end and I would have liked to have read more interaction with Wolf...a little more drama with the day to day stuff as the girls were left alone to their own devices. It kinda all started happening in the end, but still it was a fairly good read, a quick read with about 214 pages you can get through this in one sitting or over about 2 days. I recommend this book to anyone just getting into the YA scene...it's a lovely transition that covers just enough YA issues but not to the point where it is overwhelming.
Thankful, I received my free ARC of the book via request in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly gave!!
The story breaks up into chapters, and then subheading in-between, each one with the name of the character that is going to be doing the narrative...and it switches quite often between the characters. These main people that we fumble back and forth into the lives of are Nicole Reed, Isabel (Izzy..Nicole's younger sister who is so much different from Nicole), and Wolf (a hunky nature loving and Nicole lusting teenager). So Nicole's father, James Reed..a retired Lieutenant Colonel and the author of a self published book called The End Of The World As We Know It, has decided to spontaneously swoop up his family (2 teen daughters and wife) and relocate them miles and miles away from the life that they knew and were accustomed to and move them into the family inherited dilapidated but very large Victorian home complete with 20 acres of forested land in the Sierra foothills. Mr. Reed is not your typical father...he is a nutcase (at least according to his daughter Izzy and his wife he is), a Survivalist that is always trying to prepare his family for the end of the world. The only one that takes him to heart is Nicole but even she at times questions his sanity or why all the moving and learning is so important. Still, she is loyal to her dad and has picked up many of his traits and abilities...such as being able to shoot a gun for the use of obtaining food out in the wild. Which brings us to Wolf and the first chance encounter he has with Nicole. Sitting up high on a Madrone tree Wolf comes into sight of Nicole and he finds her intriguing from the start...until she decides to aim her rifle at a rabbit, to which case he becomes perplexed and annoyed with her...still intrigued but now not sure of what he thinks of this act of cruelty(or so he views it as). Let me go back...Wolf is from the Sadhana Village and Spiritual Retreat Center, a commune of nature loving and respecting people that do Yoga on the daily (and mediation I'm sure). He has a love of building tree houses, forts, little huts of solitude around the village and one in particular that he is currently building is right inside the property line of Nicole's family home. Nicole comes across the place and that is where Wolf and her meet face to face...she is intrigued and weary of him (and knows right off that her father would not like what he refers to as "Hippies"). From the start there is something budding between the two but the book must be read to to know just how far that goes if it goes. There are far greater issues throughout. Nicole and Izzy's mother, fed up with her mentally unstable Survivalist husband has run off...abandoned the family. Their father has run off in search of his wife...leaving the girls to fend for themselves in a world they do not know, miles and miles away from civilization, no running water, and no form of communication to the outside world. Their only source of relief and help has come from Wolf (who is battling his own obstacles with his mother, a former addict, Founder of the Sadhana Village and runaway of sorts) and several other teens their age from the commune nearby. There is so much family dysfunction it's a wonder the girls have survived with their parents as long as they did....and now they are left to survive without them.
I have to say at my age (to which I will not share) I somewhat enjoyed this YA read. It's something that I can see my teens enjoying and as a matter of fact I intend on sharing this book with them. I don't have any serious complaints for the book only that I wish there was more intensity from the start...getting to know Nicole, Izzy and Wolf was a great part of the read but by the time that was all said and done the book was coming to an end and I would have liked to have read more interaction with Wolf...a little more drama with the day to day stuff as the girls were left alone to their own devices. It kinda all started happening in the end, but still it was a fairly good read, a quick read with about 214 pages you can get through this in one sitting or over about 2 days. I recommend this book to anyone just getting into the YA scene...it's a lovely transition that covers just enough YA issues but not to the point where it is overwhelming.
Thankful, I received my free ARC of the book via request in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly gave!!
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