It is a post-apocalyptic world where modern electrical devices stop working, invaders on horseback wielding swords and axes are invading South, the Empire is fighting North, and large corporations have embraced the new world order by selling their workforce as slave labor. Macy and her family find themselves in the middle of this, and end up traveling south on the Mississippi to try and find a new life.

This world was pretty fascinating, but there was a distinct lack of real plot during the first half of the book when the Palmers were traveling on the river. It was interesting but was little more than a montage of all the weird shit that exists in the world now. In Part II, however, I really got sucked into the story and practically read the second half of the book straight through.

Because the story is told from the POV of an ordinary girl, you never really know WHY things are happening, which was mildly frustrating but realistic. DeNiro interjects a short excerpt from a document between each chapter to give more background to the story, which I thought was nicely done (even if the formatting and my Sony Reader did not get along).

I didn't like Macy, the POV character, at the beginning. She felt too passive -- which was symbolized by the river she was traveling on, carrying her wherever. But in Part II, she starts taking actions on her own and having to think for herself and I found myself liking her more. ( )

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate the absurdity of DeNiro's imagined post-apocalyptic United States, and he takes a big risk by refusing to explain any of it. That makes sense as the characters in the novel would have no opportunity to even begin to understand what was happening to their world beyond the visible results.

This is ultimately a story of a family that is being torn apart, and of a teenage girl's attempt to save her brother, despite how he has slighted her. The relationships within the family are well written, and you feel for the protagonist and her family. However, the rest of the characters seem to suffer as a result. I can't put my finger on why, since their motivations are clearly outlined in the text, some of the other characters struck me as plot puppets as opposed to having their own motivations, especially as they begin to align with Macy. This may have less to do with the characters than it does with my own irritation at the ending, which was far too pat given the circumstances.

One other note, there is plenty of dialogue in this novel, but absolutely none of it is enclosed in quotation marks. This was clearly a stylistic choice, and it is extremely distracting, especially as you will often be halfway through a sentence before you realize it is dialogue and then you have to go back and start reading it again. It was irritating in the extreme, and even my fiancé (who was peeking at it over my shoulder) remarked on how confusing that was.

Normally, I would give a book of this quality about three stars, but the quotation mark issue described above made it so frustrating an experience to read that I have to knock it down to two. If you don't think that issue would bother you, then you have a quick three-star read (enjoyable, but not amazing) ahead of you. ( )

This book is not something I would typically read, but it was interesting, well written and had a great cover. Macy's junior year of high school, the world falls apart; technology stops working, ancient invaders come and the world seems to be reshaping itself. Macy's family tries to stay together and work toward some kind of future, but in actuality it is falling apart. The novel chronicles their times with a focus on Macy in particular. Why the world fell apart is never explained, but the struggle that Macy's family faces to keep their inner world together is so interesting that it's not important to know why the world fell apart. ( )

This book is not something I would typically read, but it was interesting, well written and had a great cover. Macy's junior year of high school, the world falls apart; technology stops working, ancient invaders come and the world seems to be reshaping itself. Macy's family tries to stay together and work toward some kind of future, but in actuality it is falling apart. The novel chronicles their times with a focus on Macy in particular. Why the world fell apart is never explained, but the struggle that Macy's family faces to keep their inner world together is so interesting that it's not important to know why the world fell apart. ( )

This book is not something I would typically read, but it was interesting, well written and had a great cover. Macy's junior year of high school, the world falls apart; technology stops working, ancient invaders come and the world seems to be reshaping itself. Macy's family tries to stay together and work toward some kind of future, but in actuality it is falling apart. The novel chronicles their times with a focus on Macy in particular. Why the world fell apart is never explained, but the struggle that Macy's family faces to keep their inner world together is so interesting that it's not important to know why the world fell apart. ( )