Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.16k reviews by:
wordsofclover
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
All We Shall Know is based around 33-year-old Melody who has just discovered she is pregnant with her 17-year-old student Martin Toppy's baby. Melody now needs to figure out what she’s going to do, while dealing with the opinions of the entire small Irish town she lives in and ingratiating herself in the traveller community Martin is from.
This is pretty interesting. Donal Ryan is masterful at weaving the stories and personalities of small Irish towns and communities full of opinions and religious observations and that’s certainly true for this one. The story is told week by week of Melody’s pregnancy and we see her face a lot of criticism and hate from the community for having a baby that is not her husbands (it was pretty intriguing to see how no-one believed her when she told some of the scandalous things that the men of the town had been up to but they were, of course, happy to judge her for an affair).
Melody isn’t a particularly nice character. She became mean and bitter in her marriage and it’s clear that she never made Pat’s life easy for him. But then she is also kind towards Martin, and Mary Crothery - another traveler that she helps learn to read - and is often a place for Mary to come to when she needs someone. Mary and Melody are both living similar lives in a way - rejected by their husbands because of baby issues, shunned by the community they live in and it was great to see the friendship they weaved. I also enjoyed the emphasis on the Irish traveling community in this from the expectations of the women to stay at home, have babies and keep house from a young age and what happens when this isn’t an option by choice or not, their views on outsiders and the whole deal with traveler feuds and how they’re sparked and dealt with. But this book had a great way of showing that the traveler community is just a community of normal people with certain values that they deem important and uphold but at the end of the day family is everything.
I definitely was not expecting the ending, it was fantastic and took me completely out of the blue.
All We Shall Know is based around 33-year-old Melody who has just discovered she is pregnant with her 17-year-old student Martin Toppy's baby. Melody now needs to figure out what she’s going to do, while dealing with the opinions of the entire small Irish town she lives in and ingratiating herself in the traveller community Martin is from.
This is pretty interesting. Donal Ryan is masterful at weaving the stories and personalities of small Irish towns and communities full of opinions and religious observations and that’s certainly true for this one. The story is told week by week of Melody’s pregnancy and we see her face a lot of criticism and hate from the community for having a baby that is not her husbands (it was pretty intriguing to see how no-one believed her when she told some of the scandalous things that the men of the town had been up to but they were, of course, happy to judge her for an affair).
Melody isn’t a particularly nice character. She became mean and bitter in her marriage and it’s clear that she never made Pat’s life easy for him. But then she is also kind towards Martin, and Mary Crothery - another traveler that she helps learn to read - and is often a place for Mary to come to when she needs someone. Mary and Melody are both living similar lives in a way - rejected by their husbands because of baby issues, shunned by the community they live in and it was great to see the friendship they weaved. I also enjoyed the emphasis on the Irish traveling community in this from the expectations of the women to stay at home, have babies and keep house from a young age and what happens when this isn’t an option by choice or not, their views on outsiders and the whole deal with traveler feuds and how they’re sparked and dealt with. But this book had a great way of showing that the traveler community is just a community of normal people with certain values that they deem important and uphold but at the end of the day family is everything.
I definitely was not expecting the ending, it was fantastic and took me completely out of the blue.
4.5 stars
The Kevin and Sadie’s series is based around two teenagers living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during a time where there is great tension between the protestants and catholics living in the area, aka ‘The Troubles’. Kevin and Sadie used to be enemies but now at 17 and 18 years old, they meet again and end up falling in love at a time when no-one wants them to be together.
This is a book series I originally read as a child and I was really happy to see it up as an audiobook in my library’s e-services. It was fantastic getting back into the story and remembering the finer details of Kevin and Sadie’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story that I had forgotten. This was narrated by Gerard Murphy who did a great job and I loved that he was also Northern Irish so everyone’s accents were correct, and I also find that accent to be extremely soothing and nice to listen to so bonus points. This is marketed as a series for children aged 10+ which I do find a bit odd as Kevin and Sadie are teenagers and the series does go on to explore their eventual marriage and family life but as a kid this didn’t bother me at all so I guess it was all okay then and all okay now.
This is a book that looks finely at the tensions during The Troubles - a time when a Catholic boy couldn’t walk out with a Protestant girl without getting beat up. Kevin and Sadie have to live with violence every single day and the reader is with them as their tolerance grows less and less with the way they’re forced to live and hide their relationship. Kevin has to work hard to not be forced into doing violent things he doesn’t want to do and not become involved with old schoolfriends being involved with the IRA, or IRA activities. Sadie’s father is in the Orange Order, and her own brother has to constantly explain to others why he himself doesn’t want to join up as he is also sick of violence.
I was sad near the end of the book as I had forgotten one of the things that did happen and it is quite heartbreaking. But I’m definitely going to reread the rest of the series as I had forgotten how much I loved it.
Note: This is technically the second book in the series but I actually think it can be read as the first, as the first is a bit of a prequel from when they were children and you more or less find out what happens in that one in Across the Barricades.
The Kevin and Sadie’s series is based around two teenagers living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during a time where there is great tension between the protestants and catholics living in the area, aka ‘The Troubles’. Kevin and Sadie used to be enemies but now at 17 and 18 years old, they meet again and end up falling in love at a time when no-one wants them to be together.
This is a book series I originally read as a child and I was really happy to see it up as an audiobook in my library’s e-services. It was fantastic getting back into the story and remembering the finer details of Kevin and Sadie’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story that I had forgotten. This was narrated by Gerard Murphy who did a great job and I loved that he was also Northern Irish so everyone’s accents were correct, and I also find that accent to be extremely soothing and nice to listen to so bonus points. This is marketed as a series for children aged 10+ which I do find a bit odd as Kevin and Sadie are teenagers and the series does go on to explore their eventual marriage and family life but as a kid this didn’t bother me at all so I guess it was all okay then and all okay now.
This is a book that looks finely at the tensions during The Troubles - a time when a Catholic boy couldn’t walk out with a Protestant girl without getting beat up. Kevin and Sadie have to live with violence every single day and the reader is with them as their tolerance grows less and less with the way they’re forced to live and hide their relationship. Kevin has to work hard to not be forced into doing violent things he doesn’t want to do and not become involved with old schoolfriends being involved with the IRA, or IRA activities. Sadie’s father is in the Orange Order, and her own brother has to constantly explain to others why he himself doesn’t want to join up as he is also sick of violence.
I was sad near the end of the book as I had forgotten one of the things that did happen and it is quite heartbreaking. But I’m definitely going to reread the rest of the series as I had forgotten how much I loved it.
Note: This is technically the second book in the series but I actually think it can be read as the first, as the first is a bit of a prequel from when they were children and you more or less find out what happens in that one in Across the Barricades.
Josephine ‘Jo’ Montfort is the daughter of a wealthy, prestigious family in New York and is tipped to marry one of the finest men around. However, what Jo really wants is to be a reporter. When her father is found dead, Jo finds the nature of his death suspicious and begins poking around where she meets fellow reporter Eddie Gallagher and a very juicy mystery.
I really enjoyed this and I really love Jo as a main, female character. She is brave and knows exactly what she wants.She’s not afraid to run after the truth, even if it means knocking down some fences along the way and shows a lot of passion and kindness too. The setting was great, who doesn’t love books set in 1800’s New York and I liked how Jo found out how to get around all the restrictions placed around her as a wealthy young lady with prospects who should definitely not be wandering the city at night with strange men.
The relationships in these books developed very naturally and I enjoyed Jo and Fay’s friendship which was so heartwarming. I definitely figured out a few things way before the actual reveal which was a bit annoying but I think it’s just I’ve read, and watched, enough similar things to kind of figure it out.
(The Mad Mary thing reminded me of Sweeney Todd)
I really enjoyed this and I really love Jo as a main, female character. She is brave and knows exactly what she wants.She’s not afraid to run after the truth, even if it means knocking down some fences along the way and shows a lot of passion and kindness too. The setting was great, who doesn’t love books set in 1800’s New York and I liked how Jo found out how to get around all the restrictions placed around her as a wealthy young lady with prospects who should definitely not be wandering the city at night with strange men.
The relationships in these books developed very naturally and I enjoyed Jo and Fay’s friendship which was so heartwarming. I definitely figured out a few things way before the actual reveal which was a bit annoying but I think it’s just I’ve read, and watched, enough similar things to kind of figure it out.
4.5 stars
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jasmine De Los Santos is the All-American girl. She’s cheer captain, a shoe-in for valedictorian and a top-class student who has just won the prestigious National Scholar award but then Jasmine’s world crumbles when she finds out she is undocumented.
“I love my country. I love America. Being American is as much a part of me as breathing.”
This was a really great book and really gave me a look into the struggles and fears of being being an undocumented immigrant in the States, or indeed in any country in the world. Jasmine is perfect - almost too perfect. She is cheer captain, valedictorian, popular, beautiful, really, really clever but she definitely goes through a momentous journey of self-discovery once she finds out she’s an “illegal alien”. Jasmine’s identity crumbles and we are really with her along the way as she has to pick up piece by piece of herself and figure out who she is now.
“'I don’t even know who I am anymore.’I really don’t. I feel like a ghost in my own country. No matter what I do, I feel like I’m fading, like I’m becoming a shadow.”
I liked Jasmine’s strong roots with her Filipino background and family. A lot of her experiences with her family seem very close to what I would expect of families from different cultures. She’s encouraged to be American and strive for the American dream but she still needs to be a good Filipino girl who doesn’t go to parties and kiss boys, etc. She loves the Philippines and misses her family vacations to Manila. But that doesn’t mean she wants to live there. Jasmine is torn in a lot of way, she’s not Filipino, but suddenly she’s not American either. Who is she?
I really loved Jasmine’s relationship with Royce. I liked that it was going all sorts of ways at first because it was a text communication and it felt very real. They were just so super cute and I really enjoyed all of their best moments and when they weren’t at their best, I wanted them to make-up. I like that,because this book spans almost an entire year, we see a lot of the ups and downs of their very real relationships. They fight with each other and almost break up a few times over silly things like everyone has done with their partner but eventually they both come around, meet up and apologise They actually talked a lot of stuff out with each other all the time which was refreshing for a YA romance where we normally see things being bottled up for way too long. Their romance just seemed like the real deal to me - plus, I can totally see them being a power couple when they’re older.
“Most of all, I like how he looks into my eyes like he’s seeing past the image everyone else sees into who I really am beyond all the things that I do. And he thinks I’m beautiful.”
I do think this book got a little bit long-winded at times and there were times I wanted Jasmine to stop waffling on and get to the point of things or let me know what was going on with the stuff that was actually important to the plot of the story. This story does take place over the course of the year so a lot of stuff happens, I just don’t think Jasmine needed to describe every single thing. I also wasn’t mad for the side-plot that was Mason. It was a bit predictive and boring, and there were parts I didn’t think made that much sense about him.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story but I also enjoyed that it was a diverse book that opened my eyes into how some things around undocumented immigrants are handled in the States and how unfair some of the cases can be. i also liked the brief forays in the Filipino traditions and food, etc that Jasmine’s family indulged in.
“I’ve come to think of America as an open window - open to new possibilities, to the new life promised to those who journey from far away to reach its shores."
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jasmine De Los Santos is the All-American girl. She’s cheer captain, a shoe-in for valedictorian and a top-class student who has just won the prestigious National Scholar award but then Jasmine’s world crumbles when she finds out she is undocumented.
“I love my country. I love America. Being American is as much a part of me as breathing.”
This was a really great book and really gave me a look into the struggles and fears of being being an undocumented immigrant in the States, or indeed in any country in the world. Jasmine is perfect - almost too perfect. She is cheer captain, valedictorian, popular, beautiful, really, really clever but she definitely goes through a momentous journey of self-discovery once she finds out she’s an “illegal alien”. Jasmine’s identity crumbles and we are really with her along the way as she has to pick up piece by piece of herself and figure out who she is now.
“'I don’t even know who I am anymore.’I really don’t. I feel like a ghost in my own country. No matter what I do, I feel like I’m fading, like I’m becoming a shadow.”
I liked Jasmine’s strong roots with her Filipino background and family. A lot of her experiences with her family seem very close to what I would expect of families from different cultures. She’s encouraged to be American and strive for the American dream but she still needs to be a good Filipino girl who doesn’t go to parties and kiss boys, etc. She loves the Philippines and misses her family vacations to Manila. But that doesn’t mean she wants to live there. Jasmine is torn in a lot of way, she’s not Filipino, but suddenly she’s not American either. Who is she?
I really loved Jasmine’s relationship with Royce. I liked that it was going all sorts of ways at first because it was a text communication and it felt very real. They were just so super cute and I really enjoyed all of their best moments and when they weren’t at their best, I wanted them to make-up. I like that,because this book spans almost an entire year, we see a lot of the ups and downs of their very real relationships. They fight with each other and almost break up a few times over silly things like everyone has done with their partner but eventually they both come around, meet up and apologise They actually talked a lot of stuff out with each other all the time which was refreshing for a YA romance where we normally see things being bottled up for way too long. Their romance just seemed like the real deal to me - plus, I can totally see them being a power couple when they’re older.
“Most of all, I like how he looks into my eyes like he’s seeing past the image everyone else sees into who I really am beyond all the things that I do. And he thinks I’m beautiful.”
I do think this book got a little bit long-winded at times and there were times I wanted Jasmine to stop waffling on and get to the point of things or let me know what was going on with the stuff that was actually important to the plot of the story. This story does take place over the course of the year so a lot of stuff happens, I just don’t think Jasmine needed to describe every single thing. I also wasn’t mad for the side-plot that was Mason. It was a bit predictive and boring, and there were parts I didn’t think made that much sense about him.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story but I also enjoyed that it was a diverse book that opened my eyes into how some things around undocumented immigrants are handled in the States and how unfair some of the cases can be. i also liked the brief forays in the Filipino traditions and food, etc that Jasmine’s family indulged in.
“I’ve come to think of America as an open window - open to new possibilities, to the new life promised to those who journey from far away to reach its shores."
I received a free copy of this book from Penguin Ireland in exchange for an honest review.
Ant and Mattie are in jail but they’re not criminals. Instead, they are being punished for heritage crime - crimes committed by their parents. These new laws mean an entire new kind of prison system, one when children spend most of their childhood in jail and those serving time for the crimes of their family, nicknamed strutters, have to wear a strap to mark them out. When a prison riot break out, Ant and Mattie have a chance to escape but can they help bring the system down?
This was a really good book, and really different to other YA books I’ve read in my opinion. First off, Ant is a fantastic character - she’s tough ad strong but has a strong sense of ideals and values she upholds to and she’s relatable in how she cares for her foster parents and little brother. It also helps that she just sounds really cool with her shaved head and goose tattoos.
The world building in this was fantastic. I really got a sense of the prison system and how it worked and the flashbacks we got served their purpose really well in the introduction of the heritage crime laws and how they came about and were actually received and carried out.
I love that Ant and Mattie were bi-racial but that we learned about this more from their language rather than constant mentions of their skin colour. I actually found the frequent uses of Haitian-Creole between Ant and Mattie really soothing, and it helped to confirm the lovely bond between the two. There’s isn’t too much of an emphasis on romance in this book - it’s clear a few male characters might have some feelings for Ant but she’s pretty realistic in that there’s way too many things going on for her to actually focus on romance and I loved that.
Some of the decisions by the characters didn’t make that much sense to me near the end but I think it was because i would have logically just tried to get to Germany and safety rather than try and rescue everyone else in what seems like a futile attempt. There was a great sense of tension and urgency throughout the book which made it a fast-paced, exciting read that really kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Ant and Mattie are in jail but they’re not criminals. Instead, they are being punished for heritage crime - crimes committed by their parents. These new laws mean an entire new kind of prison system, one when children spend most of their childhood in jail and those serving time for the crimes of their family, nicknamed strutters, have to wear a strap to mark them out. When a prison riot break out, Ant and Mattie have a chance to escape but can they help bring the system down?
This was a really good book, and really different to other YA books I’ve read in my opinion. First off, Ant is a fantastic character - she’s tough ad strong but has a strong sense of ideals and values she upholds to and she’s relatable in how she cares for her foster parents and little brother. It also helps that she just sounds really cool with her shaved head and goose tattoos.
The world building in this was fantastic. I really got a sense of the prison system and how it worked and the flashbacks we got served their purpose really well in the introduction of the heritage crime laws and how they came about and were actually received and carried out.
I love that Ant and Mattie were bi-racial but that we learned about this more from their language rather than constant mentions of their skin colour. I actually found the frequent uses of Haitian-Creole between Ant and Mattie really soothing, and it helped to confirm the lovely bond between the two. There’s isn’t too much of an emphasis on romance in this book - it’s clear a few male characters might have some feelings for Ant but she’s pretty realistic in that there’s way too many things going on for her to actually focus on romance and I loved that.
Some of the decisions by the characters didn’t make that much sense to me near the end but I think it was because i would have logically just tried to get to Germany and safety rather than try and rescue everyone else in what seems like a futile attempt. There was a great sense of tension and urgency throughout the book which made it a fast-paced, exciting read that really kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
2.75 Narrated by Tim Robbins.
Set in a dystopian world where books are illegal, Montag is a fireman. However, instead of putting out fires, he starts them. When someone is caught with a book, their entire home is burned down. Montag thinks everything is okay with his life but then he meets a young girl who makes him question everything. And suddenly Montag finds himself stealing books to read and on the run.
I've been really curious about this book for a long time and I must confess to being a little bit disappointed with it. I'm not sure if it was because I listened to it rather than read it in physical form, but I just didn't quite get it. It didn't really stand out to me in any way and i didn't have a personal connection to the characters.
I felt like some of the world was a bit confusing - particularly Mildred's TV family. It took me a while to get my head around that - was it a TV show or reality TV or real people? I don't know. And if it was a TV show, why ban the fake stories in books when you're forcing people to watch fake stories on TV?? I would have liked more of Clarisse or a definite answer to what happened to her. And more on the big war that was always threatened. A lot of things were left unanswered.
The audiobook wasn't bad though it definitely wasn't a relaxing listen. There was a lot of shouting and fast-paced narration that really set the scene going and held a lot of suspense and tension and had my heart racing. I didn't like Robbins' voice for Mildred though which was super weird. He didn't have to make her sound like such a vacant airhead - I didn't hear him use that kind of voice for any of the men also brainwashed by the world.
I'm glad I finally got around to this book and maybe some day I will read it in physical form but I won't rush to it.
Set in a dystopian world where books are illegal, Montag is a fireman. However, instead of putting out fires, he starts them. When someone is caught with a book, their entire home is burned down. Montag thinks everything is okay with his life but then he meets a young girl who makes him question everything. And suddenly Montag finds himself stealing books to read and on the run.
I've been really curious about this book for a long time and I must confess to being a little bit disappointed with it. I'm not sure if it was because I listened to it rather than read it in physical form, but I just didn't quite get it. It didn't really stand out to me in any way and i didn't have a personal connection to the characters.
I felt like some of the world was a bit confusing - particularly Mildred's TV family. It took me a while to get my head around that - was it a TV show or reality TV or real people? I don't know. And if it was a TV show, why ban the fake stories in books when you're forcing people to watch fake stories on TV?? I would have liked more of Clarisse or a definite answer to what happened to her. And more on the big war that was always threatened. A lot of things were left unanswered.
The audiobook wasn't bad though it definitely wasn't a relaxing listen. There was a lot of shouting and fast-paced narration that really set the scene going and held a lot of suspense and tension and had my heart racing. I didn't like Robbins' voice for Mildred though which was super weird. He didn't have to make her sound like such a vacant airhead - I didn't hear him use that kind of voice for any of the men also brainwashed by the world.
I'm glad I finally got around to this book and maybe some day I will read it in physical form but I won't rush to it.
2.5 stars.
This is a really cute story about two teenagers who meet on the night of Mardi Gras in New Orleans and spend the rest of the night together, exploring the city and learning about each other but leaving their baggage behind.
This had a lot of potential and I really loved the setting. New Orleans really just drags me in, I love the way in every book it comes alive and almost has a personality of its own. There is always a huge sense of living in the moment and not taking things for granted and i felt it in this book too with a city and its people that had to build it and themselves back up after Hurricane Katrina but didn't let anything keep them down. The book is full of energy and fun and this is pretty much all it was. Julie and 'Miles' were a bit of an insta-love connection, and the chemistry was there but the way they sucked into each other straight away was a bit implausible at times. I kind of just had to accept it to have fun with the rest of the story. I did feel like this must have been the longest night ever as so much stuff seemed to happen, it was a bit unreal at times.
I think this book would actually make a really cute 'chick flick/romance' movie as with the combination of the setting and the adventures and the 'tragic' backstories (which weren't actually that tragic and seemed like it was being blown out of proportion) but as a book it didn't quite do it for me.
This is a really cute story about two teenagers who meet on the night of Mardi Gras in New Orleans and spend the rest of the night together, exploring the city and learning about each other but leaving their baggage behind.
This had a lot of potential and I really loved the setting. New Orleans really just drags me in, I love the way in every book it comes alive and almost has a personality of its own. There is always a huge sense of living in the moment and not taking things for granted and i felt it in this book too with a city and its people that had to build it and themselves back up after Hurricane Katrina but didn't let anything keep them down. The book is full of energy and fun and this is pretty much all it was. Julie and 'Miles' were a bit of an insta-love connection, and the chemistry was there but the way they sucked into each other straight away was a bit implausible at times. I kind of just had to accept it to have fun with the rest of the story. I did feel like this must have been the longest night ever as so much stuff seemed to happen, it was a bit unreal at times.
I think this book would actually make a really cute 'chick flick/romance' movie as with the combination of the setting and the adventures and the 'tragic' backstories (which weren't actually that tragic and seemed like it was being blown out of proportion) but as a book it didn't quite do it for me.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jeanie is all set to go on a holiday of a lifetime in Paris when disaster strikes and the end of the world begins. In one day, Jeanie watches people die in front of her, the city of Paris destroyed and the undead stalk the streets while she also becomes a foster mother and attempts to find a safe place.
This was okay but not great by any means. For a quick, high-intensity read it definitely did the job and if you don’t think too much, you can get by with the story. I did feel like the plot was lacking a lot and I definitely didn’t get the answers I wanted by the end of the book - both about what exactly was going on and how exactly the ‘undying’ came about - like what caused them to change and mutate? Jeanie was a bit of a bland character for me - I didn’t particularly care for the flashbacks about her father. I don’t think they added anything to the story- we could have just been told Jeanie was depressed after her father’s death and left it at that. Also the bit about her randomly expressing milk within a day of adopting the baby was a bit laughable - especially for someone who had never even been pregnant before, plus someone who had had very little water or food for the day and the coming weeks. I also didn’t care for the prologue or epilogue, they probably weren’t needed and they were just there for the drama and the rape of the young girl at the end was unnecessary. This has some survival story tropes I see in all survival stories where people go violent and crazy extremely quickly and I always find it hard to imagine, though I never want to be in a situation where I find out how long it takes for people to become like that.
This did give me a more or less entertaining story and it was good for what it was which was ad adventure/survival story but definitely not one that will stick in my mind as a great book.
Jeanie is all set to go on a holiday of a lifetime in Paris when disaster strikes and the end of the world begins. In one day, Jeanie watches people die in front of her, the city of Paris destroyed and the undead stalk the streets while she also becomes a foster mother and attempts to find a safe place.
This was okay but not great by any means. For a quick, high-intensity read it definitely did the job and if you don’t think too much, you can get by with the story. I did feel like the plot was lacking a lot and I definitely didn’t get the answers I wanted by the end of the book - both about what exactly was going on and how exactly the ‘undying’ came about - like what caused them to change and mutate? Jeanie was a bit of a bland character for me - I didn’t particularly care for the flashbacks about her father. I don’t think they added anything to the story- we could have just been told Jeanie was depressed after her father’s death and left it at that. Also the bit about her randomly expressing milk within a day of adopting the baby was a bit laughable - especially for someone who had never even been pregnant before, plus someone who had had very little water or food for the day and the coming weeks. I also didn’t care for the prologue or epilogue, they probably weren’t needed and they were just there for the drama and the rape of the young girl at the end was unnecessary. This has some survival story tropes I see in all survival stories where people go violent and crazy extremely quickly and I always find it hard to imagine, though I never want to be in a situation where I find out how long it takes for people to become like that.
This did give me a more or less entertaining story and it was good for what it was which was ad adventure/survival story but definitely not one that will stick in my mind as a great book.