I received an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward scared me more than possibly any other book I've ever read.
Lea's just your average teenager, with a secret girlfriend and a best friend and a pretty tight-knit group of friends, when the world starts to bleed. The blood comes out of the ground, and it doesn't stop. Then hair starts to appear and then bones. And no one knows when it will stop.
I don't read many books that can be classified as horror novels. I love horror movies, but books tend not to impress me. Also there aren't many books in YA that I would consider horror books. Usually they are ghost stories or mysteries or fantasy books with a horror element. But this one, even though some people might consider a fantasy novel is more of a horror novel than I've read.
While I was really freaked out, and I had a couple hard times waiting in the very crowded train station or reading on the very crowded trains where I thought I was going to freak out, I actually enjoyed reading this a lot. Lea's a lesbian, but the book doesn't necessarily focus on her sexuality. She has a girlfriend who she wants to see a lot, but her girlfriend isn't out yet, so they have to keep it a secret. Also the apocalypse starts and then she basically becomes a prisoner in her own house. And most people seem to find her actions whiny at this point, but she's a teenager and the world is ending. Some of her actions might seem bizarre, but most of them are understandable.
I didn't find the ending satisfying. I think it leaves a lot open to personal interpretation and with the rest of the story, I didn't appreciate that in the way others might.
Overall, I would recommend it to fans of horror books and those intrigued by apocalyptic scenarios.
Favorite quotes: You adapt or you don't survive.
Or maybe this is just us. This is human beings, stripped of our pretenses. This is what we are at our cores.
Comments
Post a Comment