Early Review: 'Til the World Ends by Julia Kagawa, Ann Auirre, Karen Duvall

'Til The World Ends
by Julia Kagawa, Ann Auirre, Karen Duvall
Series: Kagawa; Blood of Eden #0.5
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: January 29, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa- Before The Immortal Rules, there was the Red Lung, a relentless virus determined to take out all in its path. For Kylie, the miracle of her survival is also her burden—as a doctor at one of the clinics for the infected, she is forced to witness endless suffering. What’s worse, strange things are happening to the remains of the dead, and by the time she befriends Ben Archer, she’s beginning to wonder if a global pandemic is the least of her problems...

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre- After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses, self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside—in the Red Zone—is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they’ll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside... for good.

Sun Storm by Karen Duval - Sarah Daggot has been chasing storms since she was a child. But after the biggest solar flares in history nearly destroy the planet, she becomes a Kinetic, endowed by her exposure to extreme radiation with the power to sense coming storms—in the cosmos and beyond. And she’s not the only one. Sarah believes the Kinetics are destined to join forces and halt the final onslaught of the sun. She’ll vow to keep trying to convince the one missing link in their chain of defense, the enigmatic Ian Matthews, up until the world ends.

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa take us to the time before Immortal Rules giving us an amazing look at the beginnings of the world we have come to love.  The Red Lung virus is leaving a path of destruction in its wake. As scientist race to find a cure, doctors like Kylie fight to save those those they can. Kylie and a handful of nurses have been struggling in a make-shift hospital. Ben Archer arrives with his wounded friend and we discover that things are about to get worse. Kagawa has this incredible gift for drawing the reader in and immersing you into the tale. I adored Ben and Kylie and felt their relationship was genuine. The tale that unfolds is both terrifying and breathtakingly beautiful. I abso- freakin-loutely loved this and cannot wait for the next book.

Four and half cups of mocha coffee out of five

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre take us into a world that has been altered by a catastrophic chemical spill. It is a dystopian world that feels eerily real, where the rich live in fortresses and the rest of the world called the Red Zone is ruled by thugs with guns, money and manpower. The mob man rules and those who want to survive pay for his protection. Mari Thistle lives with her two younger siblings in the home that they owned while their parents were alive. She has learned to be a thief to survive and feed her family. Mari is sent on a task to steal a box for the mob boss within the fortress; she fails and narrowly escapes with the help of Throne Goodman. She learns of a terrible plot by the greedy mob boss and joins forces with Throne. The tale was fascinating, and Aguirre brought the world to life. There is no romance but a friendship develops and we see growth from Mari. The characters were fascinating and we got glimpses of their depth but I would have preferred a full length version of this particular tale.

Three and half cups of Colombian coffee out of five 

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall- brings us a post-apocalyptic world where solar flares have destroyed the Earth and people die from exposure. We meet Sarah Daggot who has been chasing storms since she was a kid. When the solar flares hit, she survived and was transformed into a Kinetic. She is able to predict sun storms and gives advanced warning for others to take cover. She meets another Kinetic the smexy, mysterious Ian Matthews and things heat up. Conspiracies, an evil Federal Agent gone rogue and a prediction of an apocalyptic sun flare kept me turning the pages. The romance was sweet and while I had a strong enough sense of the world and plot, I wish it had been a full length novel.  Sarah and Matthew together were kiss-ass and the ended felt rush as a novella. I would pick up another book by this author. 

Four cups of cinnamon coffee out of five

I am so glad that I had a chance to read 'Til the World Ends and recommend it to fans of dystopian and post-apocalyptic worlds. I want to thank Harlequin Teen for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.