Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

by Mrs. Stanley's Bookshelf

Posted on January 25, 2013

I normally love post apocalyptic/dystopian novels.  I loved The Hunger Games, Ashes, This is Not a Test, and Divergent, as well as many other similar novels, but this book still has been wavering.  There are parts of Monument 14 that I loved.  It is very fast paced and action packed.  So much happens in the first couple of chapters, that the reader flies through them without a second thought.  However, there are also parts of the novel that I could have done without.  While the book is almost too realistic and graphic in parts, it is overly unrealistic in other areas.  I would like to say that this book is definitely for more mature young adult readers. 

The story is told from Dean's point of view.  On his way to school one morning, his bus is disabled by a sudden, violent hail storm.  In the process, the bus turns over, killing the driver and some of the passengers.  Luckily, the elementary bus driver thinks fast and crashes her bus into a superstore to save her passengers, before using the bus to rescue the high school students.  In total, there are 15 survivors of the accident, but the 14 students are left to survive on their own when the bus driver leaves to retrieve help.  Shortly after she leaves, the students are locked in when the riot gates seal the store. They soon learn that the hail storm is only part of the chaos that has erupted outside.  A massive volcano erupted, which caused a mega-tsunami that wiped out the entire Eastern Coast of the United States.  All of these events cause an earthquake, which releases a chemical agent from a military research facility in Dean's area.  The chemical compound affects people differently based on their blood types.  Type A breaks out in horrible blisters that eventually result in death, while type AB becomes extremely paranoid and terrified. The compound seems to have little effect on Type B, but the kids learn from a news report, that these people  will have reproductive failure and sterility.  The worst side effect results for those with Type O blood.  These people become extremely violent and dangerous, and begin killing those around them.  The kids learn that they have a mixture of the blood types.  They seal off the store from the outside world and decide to wait for help.  Of course, there are more issues to deal with than they ever thought possible.

I enjoyed this book, but I think it had some issues that the author should have worked out.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel though, Sky on Fire, which is due out in June.