Monday, September 16, 2024

B.R. Spangler: When the Sky Falls

In the first in a new series, B.R. Spangler show what happens when humans mess with the environment:

The machines were supposed to help, they were supposed to save the world from Climate change, reverse the damage that humans had caused to Earth. When the machines are turned on, the unthinkable happens, the Machines do the opposite of what they were supposed to do and release a toxic fog that not only burns those who touch it but it has the ability to tear apart anything that was made from organic material. Emily has one job given to her by her parents is to take her sister Sammi to the mall, where they will be safe. Her father is trying to fix the machines make the fog go away and he would meet them there. But you can never see anything Fog and something the Fog is the safer than humanity.

As the first in a new series, I think that the premise that Spangler has presented here is one that had me instantly sold. I will say I did not realize that it was a YA book, so that took me a bit by surprised and I had to readjust my expectations for the book and this did take me a bit. The majority of the book also takes place in about few days after the Fog emerges and a lot happens in that time, frame very fast paced as everything is going to shit, which i feel is very realistic, but then when get a huge time jump.

I'm on the fence with the 15-year jump in time that occurs, part of me wishes that we got to see how Emily and Peter were able to survive but at the same time, I'm happy for the time jump to see how far the colony has come. However, there are some Significant events that happened in those 15 years that are not addressed. Also the time jump occurs around the 75% mark of the book, so it was almost like a teaser for the next book especially with the cliffhanger at the end.

I liked the idea of the Fog coming from a man mad machine that was supposed to help but the opposite happens. I feel like this is the premise of many dystopia books, so not that original but I appreciate that Spangler took the route of Fog causing the earth to be uninhabitable outside and trying to find places that the Fog could not eat through.

As with any end of the world type book there are tragedies in this book, and most of them I did not see coming. Spangler did a great job of showing that no one is safe and heartbreak can happen to anyone.

I liked the characters and felt the heartbreak with them but never really knew the characters as the reader is with each of them for only a short amount of time between the two timelines. This is more of a plot driven book than i thought it would be.

There are A LOT of unanswered questions by the end of this book, from the Outsiders to the Machines, there are many things that need to be resolved or explained further. I have so many questions and I don’t really like that Spangler left so much unresolved/unexplained.

This book was okay. I think if you like plot driven books, end of days and YA book then you will enjoy this book. I am unsure if I will continue on with the series, I mean the cliffhanger is pretty big but I don’t like all the unanswered questions in this one and if Spangler continues this, I know I would not enjoy the second book.

Cheers!!!!

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