Alive by Scott SiglerMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Summary: A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief—she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people…and no answers.
She knows only one thing about herself—her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin—yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they’re to have any chance, she must get them to trust one another.
Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there's a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.
The author's asked for reviews to be spoiler free, so I'll keep this short and sweet. It's not a long read and won lots of points from me for keeping me on tenterhooks about what was going on & what would next occur. The back 25% is really action packed and moves at a very good clip. The first 30% felt a bit slow, but as our characters are discovering along with the reader, what's happened to them & what's happening now, that's understandable. This feels very much like it needs a sequel to explain more of the backstory and the "how" of this world and I have to say, I'm kinda up for that. I could love a story about what came before we meet these characters. I finished reading and felt that there had to be more to know. That said, I didn't really get much of a feel for the characters and I can only recall the names of a handful. I don't have strong feelings for or against any of them and even Em was just okay. I needed her to be the window into this world but I didn't find anything remarkable or over-whelmingly rootable about her as a main character. I know it's difficult to convey depth in this case because as were in First Person Present and confined to Em's head, we can't know what her senses can't pick up so there's a lot left out. I'd recommend this just based on the fact that it's not like any YA book I've read of late and I liked the sheer novelty of that and I didn't need to fall down on the floor with love for it. 3.5 stars. Coming soon in July 2015.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.
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