New Release Review & Giveaway:
Age of Blood by Shauna Granger
BookCrushin is excited to be a part of the blog tour for Age of Blood by Shauna Granger. I love post apocalyptic stories & I have been anxiously awaiting the conclusion to the Ash & Ruin series by Shauna Granger! You will find all the series information below, links to my previous reviews as well as a spoiler-free review for the final book in the series! There is also an awesome giveaway so be sure to enter and add this series to your TBR!
Series:
World of Ash (Ash and Ruin #1) by Shauna Granger
Release Date: 12/02/13
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, iBooks
Kelly’s Review
There are two inherent truths in the world: life as we know it is over, and monsters are real.
The Pestas came in the night, spreading their pox, a deadly plague that decimated the population. Kat, one of the unlucky few who survived, is determined to get to her last living relative and find shelter from the pox that continues to devastate the world. When it mutates and becomes airborne, Kat is desperate to avoid people because staying alone might be her only chance to stay alive.
That is, until she meets Dylan. Dylan, with his easy smile and dark, curly hair, has nowhere to go and no one to live for. He convinces Kat there can be safety in numbers, that they can watch out for each other. So the unlikely couple set off together through the barren wasteland to find a new life – if they can survive the roaming Pestas, bands of wild, gun-toting children, and piles of burning, pox-ridden bodies.
Time of Ruin (Ash and Ruin #2) by Shauna Granger
Release Date: 07/22/14
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, iTunes
Kelly’s Review
The world has ended, and hope is the most dangerous thing left.
Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.
But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.
And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.
The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.
Age of Blood (Ash and Ruin #3) by Shauna Granger
Release Date: 05/05/15
Purchase: Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks
Hope is a dangerous thing, but powerful. Hope keeps you going. Hope can keep you alive.
But hope can shatter your world.
Kat and Dylan have found a home, but the monsters are still out there. The pox and plague still ravage the world. They have hope of finding a vaccine, but their encampment isn’t equipped to develop it.
Dylan is still too weak from the pox to leave the encampment, so Kat must decide between staying by his side and protecting her last remaining family member as he leaves to find supplies. Separated for the first time since they came together, Kat and Dylan will have to fight their own battles to save what is left of their bloody world.
Kat will have to hold on to hope that she has anything left to save and someone to come home to. If she can survive.
Spoiler-Free Review:
[book rating=5.0/5.0]
The Ash and Ruin series by Shauna Granger has been a solid, suspenseful, post-apocalyptic series. Age of Blood is a fantastic ending to this scary and horrific story. I devoured the other two books in the series and the final book did not disappoint. I want to keep this as spoiler-free as possible so just know that the plot thickens, the series grows darker and darker and then you are faced with the trial of survival during this sick and diseased world whilst fighting monsters both of the human and non-human nature.
The character development from start to finish in this series is deep and perfect. You can become so believably immersed into this world due to the realistic character interactions. I eventually fell hard for Kat, Dylan and Blue! At the beginning of the series, I was annoyed by Kat, but that was because she was such a different person from start to finish in this series, but that was exactly why I fell for her! She grew and adapted to her new life and surroundings. She didn’t break when she so easily could have. I personally think I may have broke if I survived what she has in this world. Kat and Dylan made perfect road & survival companions who in turn fell in love with each other during these awful months of survival. They also have their issues that stem from the circumstances they encounter. Blue is the amazing, intelligent dog and sometimes the much needed comic relief. I wish I didn’t own small dogs, so I could imagine having a dog along in the end of times to help protect me, like Blue.
My only issues with the final book in this series is a minor spoiler, so I won’t go into details, but I just wanted the tired and trusted crew to be with each other and survive this plague as a team. This book is raw and real, people die, no one is safe, and in the end it is the strength to do whatever you have to survive that is the real lesson. Kat is strong; so strong. How she doesn’t break is a real testament to her ability to adapt and keep moving.
“This world changes people. It’s inevitable.”
Overall, the Ash and Ruin series is a scary story about adaption and survival. A sad but realistic picture of what becomes of people when faced with such horrors as society comes to a sudden demise.Age of Blood gives us drama and hope. If you like post-apocalyptic stories then this series is not to be missed. 5 stars for the final book in this exciting, fast-paced, action packed trilogy.
Author Bio: Shauna Granger
Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.
Author Links:
Website│Twitter│Goodreads│Facebook
Giveaway:
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