Guest Review of: The Urchin by Adrienne Ambrose

Currently reading a book, in the meantime, please enjoy a guest review of a new book:

The Urchin, by Adrienne Ambrose, is a very unusual and interesting book. At first, I thought it was  going to be one type of book: about teenagers surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and while this was true, it took a completely different and (pleasantly) surprising direction! I liked the way that the supernatural elements were introduced into the story. It was a sudden shift, but not at all jarring. I felt like the pace of the story was kicked up a notch at this point.

Also, I really enjoyed reading about how the boys living at the Urchin were able to survive. A lot of the strategies they used were very smart, but at the same time, not so brilliant as to be unrealistic for a group of teenagers to have come up with. Additionally, the characters were well developed. The multiple flashbacks into Vance's past, for example, helped me grow to love a character, who I had not really liked upon his initial introduction into the story. I really felt for him and the other boys as they experienced tragedy after tragedy in their struggle to survive. The characters spoke and acted in a consistently realistic manner, throughout the novel. They spoke like teenage boys, and their reactions to events struck just the right balance between vulnerable teenage and battle-hardened warrior (especially Vance). I will, however, say that Nick did not grow on me. This was interesting, because I had initially thought him to be the protagonist. Irregardless of my reaction to his character, he was well-developed and realistic.

In technical terms, the story was well-written, with only some minor editing needed (very few typos). The descriptive language really drew me in, and made me feel like I was living in the Urchin, and experiencing the fear and despair that the characters felt. As stated earlier, the language was very realistic as well. The author perfectly captured the way a teenage boy would talk and react in the situations described in the book.At the end of the novel, the story took another unexpected, but enjoyable turn, and ended on a more hopeful note. I wouldn't have thought to take the story in this direction, yet when all was said and done, it made a lot of sense, and was well-done.

All in all, I really liked this book. I think that it can appeal to a variety of readers. As a female, I didn't expect to enjoy reading this post-apocalyptic story with teenage boys as much as I did! The Urchin is definitely worth checking out, and I am glad I did. Looking forward to reading more books by this author!

My Rating: 4 stars

Link to author's amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/The-Urchin-ebook/dp/B009AF8RXS/ref=la_B0031H0GA8_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1358273257&sr=1-9