***Originally posted to: Bookish Blog as a part of the MEN in YA event. 
 I first heard about Ashfall around the time when my hubby and I were planning our Trans-America trip and we've been spending hours after hours searching through the depths of Uncle Google for interesting places, landmarks and other must-see things along the way. I remember my husband showing me pictures of Yellowstone National Park, and how out-of-this-world beautiful it looked like, with all its unique vegetation, geysers and hot springs. I wanted to go there so bad! And that's when I saw someone's Waiting on Wednesday post, spotlighting Mike Mullin's Ashfall... And the book sounded so fascinating: a Yellowstone Volcano eruption covers a great portion of North America in a blanket of ash? How cool does that sound?! I knew that I had to get my hands on it! I read it the same day I got it in the mail. I couldn't bring myself to put it down. I loved it. I then re-read it - which is not something that I usually do, as I simply don't have enough time! Yes, it was that good! Compelling, disturbing, touching, thought-provoking - Ashfall is all that and more! Its power lays in it's realistic grounding, after all The Yellowstone Caldera is known for the most violent eruptions, ones that had previously released vast amounts of ash into the atmosphere, leading to extinction of many species. The most scary part? It could happen again. Anytime. 
 "I was home alone on Friday evening. Those who survived know exactly which Friday I mean. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing, in the same way my parents remembered 9/11, but more so. Together we lost the old world, slipping from that cocoon of mechanized comfort into the hellish land we inhabit now. The pre-Friday world of school, cell phones, and refrigerators dissolved into this post-Friday world of ash, darkness, and hunger." 
 With these words starts the story of Alex, a teenage boy from Iowa. He's home alone when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, covering the sky with a thick layer of volcano ash. A chunk of rock blasted off the eruption hits Alex's house, collapsing a part of it and nearly killing him. He then spends a couple of days with the neighbors, hoping for his parents to return from their weekend trip. It isn't until a group of armed man breaks into their house in search of food, that Alex realizes that there will be no waiting it out. The ash-covered world is no longer the world he once knew. It's not safe anymore, and no one is coming to help him. There is no electricity, the phones and cells no longer work and the food supplies are running low. Desperate to find his family, Alex puts on his skies and sets off on an impossible journey. A journey that will change the way he sees the world forever. 
 "Hunger of choice is a painful luxury; hunger of necessity is terrifying torture." 
 Mike Mullin is a phenomenal writer. He doesn't need vampires, werewolves, demons or any other supernatural stuff to keep you at the edge of your chair. With his painfully realistic depiction of a disaster-stricken world, Mullin not only scares the living @#$% out of you, but also makes you feel for his characters to the point that you hurt, cry and laugh along with them. This is an extremely well-written novel that (at times) reminded me of The Stand by Stephen King (in a way). Of course, there are probably more differences than similarities, but the overall feeling of despair, hopelessness and uncertainty, mixed with hope and a sense of adventure, adds up to an equally fascinating and mesmerizing read. A frightening portrait of a world that could be our own soon. 
 "For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn't taken our humanity. No, we'd given that up on our own." 
 The civilization (as we know it) crumbles into pieces in a shockingly short period of time. The catastrophe brings out the worst of human nature. People turn into ruthless and merciless savages. They will stop at nothing to satisfy their basic needs of food and shelter. With amazing accurateness, Mullin paints the grim, ugly reality of the ash-covered wastelands and the travails of the survivors. The atmosphere is heavy, gray and extremely depressing. All of a sudden the world turned into a dark, treacherous place, in which everyone you meet could be a potential threat. Mullin certainly does not hold back and Asfhall is disquieting and very graphic at times. There are parts of this book that will make you cringe in disgust, but there are also other parts that will make you tear up, or even laugh! 
 "But even more than I wanted to check out and give my emotional wounds time to scab over, I wanted to live." 
 Despite the masterful storytelling and the utmost fascinating setting of this book, I found the main character slightly unbelievable - at least for the first half of the book. It didn't stop me from enjoying the story, though, as the issue I had with him was really not that big of a deal. It's just that.. After the gang attack on his neighbor's place, Alex seemed to be deeply shocked and terrified, repelled by the sight of blood and disgusted with the violence. That's one of the reasons he left that house, running through the door without ever looking back. That's, of course, totally understandable, considering he's just a teenage boy, who has never been exposed to anything like that. But then.. a few chapters later we see him fighting ferociously, killing people. All tough and brave... It was, like I said, just a bit too thinly stretched for my taste. He seemed so vulnerable and sensitive at first, so lost and scared, and then all of a sudden we see him turn all macho and bad-ass. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the change, as it indicates the character's growth, I just think it was rushed a bit. The contrast between these few chapters was too strong not to notice. 
 But that's basically the only issue I had with this book. Everything else was beyond fantastic. Ashfall is no doubt one of the books I will be coming back to. It's worth reading, so don't hesitate to pick it up!