Monday, March 10, 2014

Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Monday, March 10, 2014 with 11 comments


Title: Ashfall
Author: Mike Mullin
Series: Ashfall #1
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Publication Date: October 11th, 2011
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to seach for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.

I have wanted to read Ashfall for ages. Ever since I read the Last Survivors books by Susan Beth Pfeffer, I’ve had this slight obsession with anything revolving around natural disasters. I finally bought Ashfall and Ashen Winter late last year, determined I was going to get to these if it killed me. So when I saw the final book Sunrise pop up on NetGalley, I jumped on it. It was the perfect opportunity. Now I had to squeeze them into my reading list.

I’ll tell you what, I will forever wonder what the hell took me so long, because I loved it just as much as I thought I would. Ashfall is full of win on all fronts. It follows Alex, your average male teen. He’s into playing his video games and hiding out away from his moms constant nagging. He’s typical and very relatable. When his parents and annoying little sister go to visit his uncles farm the unthinkable happens.


Yellowstone blows up! Can you freaking imagine! This was written out perfectly, I sat on my couch scared out of my panties reading this crap. You would think the Ashfall is the worst of the situation, but there are so many other obstacles you wouldn’t think of. It was positively frightening and realistic feeling. The stuff this poor kid goes through, “Oh my heart.”

“Ask someone to lock you in a box with no light, nobody to talk to, and then have them beat on it with a tree limb to make a hideous booming sound. Do that for hours, and if you’re still not bat-shit crazy, you’ll know how we felt.”

He sets out to find his family and runs into all kinds of horrible things on the way. The one good thing he comes across is Darla and she’s bad ass. I loved her, and together they make a great team.


I absolutely loved this book. It’s rough, and not for the faint of heart, because seriously if something like this really happened, we would be in a world of shit. They go through a ton of horrible things. :( I’ve already started Ashen Winter and its’ just as engaging as Ashfall so far. 


How I feel about this book



Mike MullinAbout the author:



Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school.
From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really hoping this writing thing works out.

Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. ASHFALL is his first novel.

Find Mike:

Website | TwitterFacebookGoodreads

11 comments:

  1. Okay okay I definitely want to read this. Not that I have any idea what Yellowstone is (a mountain??) but I still want to read this. Because I LOVE to be freaked out when I'm reading. (Well, my brain doesn't like me if I'm trying to sleep after it, but whatever.) Survival books rock.

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  2. I've had this book forever, but it was one of those that I just never got around to. Well, I'm making time. This sounds awesome. AND you like Captain Jack Harkness. I see only good things ;)

    Jessica @ Rabid Reads

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  3. Ashfall was a really great book with a really solid plot and it definitely sounds like you thought so as well. Now with that being said, I do think the series progressively goes down hill after this book. I'd never not recommend reading the rest but might suggest lowering expectations.... then again you might love them. It will be interesting to see what you think!

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  4. I've had this book for awhile, too. I keep saying I'm going to read it because it really does sound like the sort of story I'd love, but then I chicken out. Because it also sounds like the sort of story that would totally freak me out and invade my nightmares. :P You ever watch that show Preppers? Yeah, me and my hubby sometimes consider doing that, but then we remember we're not complete lunatics. :D

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  5. Well, since you have Cap'n Jack recommending this, I will simply have to put it on the TBR mountain! :D

    Camilla @ http://thegirlwholovedtoread.com

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  6. I have not read this or even heard of it yet, but it is now on my to-read shelf. Yellowstone National Park volcano disaster = YES PLEASE. Great review, and thanks for the heads up on this one. :)

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  7. I am AFRAID of this story. Because mass destruction because of volcanoes is a real thing. It could happen! But I love a good male pov and his story sounds pretty great. I'm glad this book was a complete win for you!

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  8. This was a favorite of mine. I had it for a while and let it sit before picking it up to read. I kicked myself too. And now I haven't pushed forward with Ashen Winter to prove I didn't learn my lesson the first time.

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  9. I LOVED this book. It scared the crap out of me and gave me nightmares and I freaking loved it. Darla is SO bad ass. I'm reading Sunrise right now :)

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  10. I loved this book! I have Sunrise on my ereader just called to me. If I could just get through my tour books, I'd devour it!

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  11. I didn't LOVE this, but it is a series that I have enjoyed and I'm highly anticipating Sunrise. Darla is just such a badass. =)

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