Ashfall is not a fast read. At 300 pages (ebook) it took me longer to read than a typical YA book, but it's not a bad thing. It's also not a happy read. It's not full on depressing, but there aren't any rainbows either. After all there was a huge volcanic eruption. 
 There are a lot of details in Ashfall, most of which I liked. The ones I could of used less of were the ones revolving around certain ways of handling food. It made perfect sense and fit with the book but I don't really have the stomach for those kinds of things. I'm a wuss like that. 
 I think Mullin did an excellent job creating the post apocalyptic environment. It was dirty and miserable and scary and freaky. I loved it. It was everything I imagine a post apocalyptic event would be. 
 Obviously a major event like this makes some people go crazy and/or they freak out because they don't have food/shelter/whatever and do things they wouldn't do under normal circumstances. There were some seriously messed up incidents. Even when I expected certain events I wasn't prepared for quite how messed up some of them were. 
 Alex was a fairly good narrator. There were a quite a few funny thoughts running through his head in addition to his worries about his family and society. He also grew a lot as the book progressed, from a fairly whiny teenager to a stronger one. 
 Darla was awesome! She was the strength in their relationship (not to say Alex was weak or whiny). She had her falling apart moment (completely justified) and then pretty much kicked ass the rest of the way through the book.