Brendan Ritchie

Possibly 3.5 stars

Like another reviewer, I am confused as to why this has been classed as YA. Nox, the narrator, is 22, and the indie music sisters are older than him. Rocky is the only teenager in the book and he isn't a main character. Surely this makes it fiction not YA fiction. I was disappointed with the blurb on the back of the book too. It gave the impression that this was an 'apocolypse' novel with characters trying to survive after being locked in a shopping center. Not just locked in. They couldn't even break out which alluded to something supernatural. It wasn't an apocolypse novel at all. It was about friendship in unlikely circumstances and how we deal with isolation and ignorance of the outside world.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book. It was well written, the characters were totally relatable and while nothing much happened, it gave a good idea of what could happen to a person mentally in such a situation.

There were too many problems with this book to give it more stars despite it being well written. The supernatural elements were never explained and this actually let the story down. Why couldn't they break out? (I have worked in a shopping center and it honestly wouldn't be hard to break out.)
A cleaner manages to enter and leave the center with her swipe card, but it won't work when our 'heroes' are with her? Really??

Not a bad book, but a disappointment.
… (mehr)

Second novel after "Carousel" where Nox, Lizzie and Taylor have finally managed to escape from the shopping center into the suburbs of Perth to see what has happened to the rest of the world. They emerge to discover that nearly everyone has disappeared ( like Gone by Michael Grant) and start walking towards the city centre where they have seen lights from the roof of Carousel. As they travel, the 3 meet a few other people and discover the predominant theory is that all the people who are left in the world are "artists" and they must complete a new work before Sept when they will be released back into the "normal" world. This theory is fine for Lizzie and Taylor who recorded a new album while trapped in Carousel, but Nox has nothing; and to make matters worse, he lied about who he was to the taxi driver who dropped him at Carousel. Does this mean he is not and artists and will be trapped in this alternative reality forever?

The book attempts to explain what is happening to the 3 central characters but it drags on a far bit with side romances and Nox agonizing over the novel he is writing. I liked the introduction of the packs of hungry dogs roaming the streets as the enemy but thought the plane hallucinations was plain stupid,
This book is for mature readers due to the sex scenes, drug use and swearing.
I think it will be very interesting to see if young adults accept the author's attempt to explain the events of Carousel...or whether they will feel cheated (like I was with the "explanation" of Lost! )… (mehr)

Set in W.A., this novel is alot like the "Gone" series by Michael Grant. Nox has pretended he is someone named Stuart and jumped into a pre-booked taxi that pulled up at his bus stop early as he was running late. The taxi only takes him as far as a giant new shopping centre called Carousel in Perth's outer suburbs, where he is told to go through a side staff door. When he walks in, he immediately sees Taylor and Lizzy who are famous rock star sisters. (Think Taylor Swift x 2 -twins).
He is a huge fan and cautiously approaches them noticing at the same time that 1) he and they are the ONLY people in the centre 2) there is no cell phone nor wifi and 3) the doors all appear to be locked from the outside - they can't leave the centre!
After introducing himself, the 3 bad together and this is where it gets very strange...they have the entire shopping center to themselves and all the shops are open and unlocked AND it appears to have backup generators for power, so they have electricity, food, clothes, and staff showers and toilets to use that also have fresh water.
But maybe there IS someone in there with them, as the days go on and they start to notice things changed or missing. Also plaguing them is what has happened in the world outside? Has there been an apocalypse? The sisters are desperate to return to their native North America and try every door in the center to leave. They hear dogs barking outside and a noise like fireworks...what has happened?

Nox is a believable if slightly boring character. He has a lot of flaws and is not your gutsy "save the day" type hero ( like Ellie in the TWTWB series) which makes him very believable at the same time. Taylor and Lizzy are far more interesting and it is worthy to note that Ritchie has made them both gay so it discounts the "forced romance" that so often happens in novels like this. the author concentrates on the effects of social isolation on the central characters as opposed to their material overload and lack of deprivation in a huge shopping complex stocked with everything they could possibly want. SPOILER: The 4th character Rocky is a bit under developed but as he is younger, he provides a child figure for the other 3 Twenty-somethings to nurture.
A book similar to Gone and Monument 14 and the Charlie Higson Fear series although the main characters are older. It is for mature readers as it contains swearing, drugs and violence. First in a series of 2 books.… (mehr)