Monument 14 (Monument 14 #1) by Emmy Laybourne

Summary:

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not – you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One Superstore. A million things that could go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world – as they know it – apart.

My Thoughts:

You may not remember but I reviewed This is Not a Test a few months ago (my review) and to make a long story short I was very disappointed. It was about a bunch of kids stuck in a building during a zombie apocalypse. I was frustrated because nothing really happened. That is thankfully not the case with Monument 14.

Monument 14 is about a group of kids stuck in a mall and having to survive during what could be called an apocalypse and that’s where the similarities end. Monument 14 has all of the things I was expecting from This is Not a Test. The story progresses, characters grow, and it was hands down written better making for a MUCH more satisfying read. I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy reading about natural (and unnatural) disasters and post-apocalypse events.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Monument 14 on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

Emmy Laybourne’s website