Monument 14

Book Title: Monument 14
Author: Emmy Laybourne
Number of Pages: 294
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Adventure, Sci-fi
Books like it: Struck, The Lost Code
My favorite quote:

“Night came and fell hard.
Not like God drawing a blanket over our land
But like someone snuffing a candle.
Sudden and total.
Out—just like that.
Now we are waiting.
Waiting in the dark
To see if someone
Will switch on the light.
We can cower,
We can fear,
We can get lost together or
Get lost alone.
But the truth is:
I am the light. You are the light.
We are lit up together.
We are silhouettes of sunlight
cast against the night.
Shining now, let us
Shining, hold the light,
Shining, so that our families
Can find us.
Shining.”          

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
 Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.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.

My Summary:
Just finished Monument 14, an action packed sci-fi book about fourteen kids trapped in a supermarket. I heard about this book from Jack at The Book Stop, so check out his website. It's awesome! Anyway, when I first picked up this book, I was like....whoa. I mean, my number one wish is to own a fully stocked Walmart and live in it for the rest of my life. I mean, you would have junk food, books, movies, electronics, toys, BEAN BAG chairs, music and cd players... it would be heaven.
And they have no adult supervision. Party time, right?
 In this book, not so much. It's the end of the world. Literally. An eruption from a volcano causes a mega tsunami that wipes out half of the U.S. Also, in their small town in Colorado, a nuclear plant has been knocked over and now chemical gases are in the air. The chemicals are affecting each blood type in a different way. For Dean, type O, it isn't good. He turns in to a crazed monster that wants to hurt people.
Blocked from the outside world with no way to know what's going on, these fourteen kids and teenagers learn that sometimes, being trapped in a fun place is no longer fun.
This book by Emmy Laybourne was action packed and brilliant. My only problem was some character development with Jack and Astrid. (I will get to that later.) Here are the fourteen kids trapped in the superstore:

Sahalia, a thirteen year old girl who dresses and acts like she is seventeen and just wants to be treated like an adult. She definitely wants a boyfriend. Niko, who is the leader of the group and wants everything to be perfect and structured. He's also a former boy scout. Batiste, who is one of those characters that cracks you up. He is a little religious kid who goes around preaching to everyone and insisting everything they do is a sin. Then you have Ulysses, a Spanish speaking kid that no one can understand but who can make some delicious food.
Also in the group is cute little twins Caroline and Henry, who have grown up living next door to Dean and adore him. The funniest character was probably Max, a little boy who has lived a messed up life with his terrible parents, but thinks everything that he has experienced is perfectly normal. Then you have Alex, Dean's little brother and a mathematical genius. Chloe didn't have too much character development, so I will just say she is sweet and loves dogs. Josie is a sixteen year old girl who acts like the mother to all the little kids and takes charge of the living quarters. Both Brayden and Niko are fighting over her.

Off to the more main characters. Brayden, someone who might seem like a complete loser and jerk, is actually pretty nice if he isn't drunk. Jake is a jock who believes there is no hope left and is losing his sanity. Astrid, who I believe is supposed to be the main female character in this story, is actually pretty minor and I really don't like her. She thinks she is a monster because she has O type blood and keeps herself locked up until the end of the book when BAM she is suddenly Wonder Woman. Yes, not the best character. Dean, the main character of this book, (a really unpopular guy who can cook and is really nice) has a huge crush on Astrid. Who doesn't notice him much unless she needs his help.
Welcome to my world.
Just kidding.
This was a thrilling book and I personally enjoyed it. I was celebrating that it was clean of language! Whoopee! It does have one kind of mildly inappropriate scene, which I skipped and just kept reading. I know. I'm weird.


Pros: This was a really great Apocalyptic book (whenever I say Apocalyptic, I just get the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons in my head. Serious.)

Cons: One kind of inappropriate scene, and a h*** or a d*** here and there.
Cautions for Parents: (Refer to cons section)

Review: 4

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