Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

 
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

 GOODREADS

There were only two parts of this book that I found really exciting -- the beginning and the end.  Don’t get me wrong, the book kept me captivated, but I guess I’m more of an ACTION, ACTION ,  and MORE ACTION type of person.

I love that the author got right to the point. We START with the END of the world! Two buses filled with kids get bombarded by a hailstorm with abnormally large hailstones.  Only 14 kids and one of the bus drivers make it out alive. While the bus driver looks for help, the kids are trapped in a superstore together. Can you imagine being trapped with a bunch of kids in like a Target or worse… a Wal-Mart? How annoyingly horrible!

Also, I liked the whole chemical-spill thing, where the air was tainted with chemicals and depending on the blood type there were different extreme reactions.  (For example, O-type people became extremely violent.)

When I read the book description, I imagined a Lord of the Flies type story! Eh, not so much.  There was too much HIGH-SCHOOL romance crap!  Yeah, I know that was to be expected, since the main characters were in high school. Still, I wanted the focus to change.  I was waiting for the crazy people to start breaking down the gates to the store to try to get in! (Again, ACTION, ACTION, and more ACTION) I don’t care who is “getting” with who!  Anyway, my favorite character was Max, the eight year-old who provided the reader with some comic RELIEF!  

3/5 STARS