Review: Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

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Source: eARC via NetGalley
Published: October 16, 2012
Tanglewood Press
Photo: NetGalley promotions pack

Synopsis: "It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive." (Source: Goodreads)

Quick Review (for when I don't have a lot to say):
Blast. Here's another one that started out SO strong and then faltered. I was completely stoked for Ashen Winter, because I LOVED Ashfall. I'd go as far as to say that it was one of my favorite books last year.
Sadly, Ashen Winter just didn't deliver for me. It's not that it wasn't exciting...it was. It was almost TOO exciting. I felt like I had a bad case of whiplash by the end, with all the AND THEN moments going on. It felt like every. single. chapter ended on a cliffhanger. It was exhausting.
I almost feel like the story got sacrificed for the action, if that makes sense. There was so much to put in and it felt like it ALL got put in. A book that carries you at breakneck speed just ends up being a pleasure to finally put down. It's not one that you want to go back to because it's so exhausting. 
In the end, I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. Or a really fast runner:

I had a little less trouble with Alex being able to work his way out of all the situations, because in a survival situation, you find a way. I feel like that's what he was doing. I didn't like Darla as much here, but I didn't dislike her either.
This probably sounds like I hate Mike's writing style and hated the book. Neither is the case. I thought his style was absolutely fantastic in Ashfall, and I'm hoping to go back to that in the third book (because I'm totally continuing the series). I didn't *hate* Ashen Winter, I just didn't like the nonstop action. It's definitely a second book, and I feel like it's setting the stage for a finale that will be fantastic. So forgive it its sins and keep reading. I have a feeling it's going to be worth it.
2 Eiffel Towers.

Content Advisory: Language: Moderate Violence: Extreme Sexuality: Moderate

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