While Mott's debut novel caught me, I felt that he stumbled on his sophomore book and now on his third I think I'm realizing that Mott is just not for me.

I connected pretty quickly with Tommy and Virginia - teenage twins who lost their in a car accident. They grew up in and out of foster care and group homes. Now they are living in a world afflicted by The Disease, which starts out taking the elderly but has slowly progressed to having younger and younger victims. On the run from their current foster Dad, they are trying to make it to Florida to see a space launch to Europa.

The author tells this story in chapters that alternate between the twins journey, letters written by their Dad, and anonymous stories of others and how The Disease has impacted them. I liked the connection between Gina and Tommy. I was very interested in finding out what was so important in making it to the launch. All went well with the story until the ending, which was totally different than what I expected. But the more I thought about it, the more I could see why this ending worked out best. At tale about sibling bonds, determination and hope.


I received this from Harlequin - Park Row Books via Netgalley.

I'm not a big fan of Jason Mott, but after they made The Returned into a tv series, I thought maybe there was more to him. I was wrong. He took an interesting premise, the end of the world due to disease and war, and made it more about the characters thoughts and feelings. If you like this sort of book, you'll probably enjoy this. I wanted something to happen, and only at the end of the book was anything accomplished.

Tommy and Virginia are twins. They depend on each other because they are all that's left. Their parents died when the twins were young, forcing them into the foster system. Then The Disease came, killing first the elderly then progressively trickling down to younger and younger victims. The people go to sleep and just never wake up. As the planet ticked down towards destruction, war broke out. Now young people are being drafted to die in senseless violence. The world is burning it's candle at both ends. Young people bleeding to death on battlefields, while older people sleep themselves to death. How long until nobody is left? And the twins are in the middle....running from the horror of a draft notice. The twins run towards a space probe launch, feeling it's the last hope for mankind. Discovering that there is life on distant moon Europa would mean the death of Earth wouldn't leave the universe totally devoid of life.

When I finished this book, I was unsure how I felt about it. I had to think it over for two days before I was ready to write this review. A few deep breaths, a cup of fresh coffee.....I think I'm ready now.

I found this story very disjointed. Most of the plot is told from the twins' point of view, but portions of chapters jump to other characters they meet on their journey to Cape Canaveral to watch the probe launch. I found the constant jumping around to be a distraction from the main plot, and it slowed down the already too slow progression of the story line. For a dystopian story about a plague and the effects of war....with the main characters running from pursuers.....this book moved too slowly. I almost stopped reading several times. But I kept at it thinking that once they got to Florida, the story would find it's footing and start going somewhere. But it really never did. I think the main problem for me is this: It's hard to enjoy or want to continue reading a story that has absolutely no sense of hope.

Portions of the story are very well written. Introspection from the main characters about The Disease, the loss of their parents, the destruction of the world, human nature, etc. At times, it was very interesting. But, all the introspection and inner thoughts overpowered the plot until there really was no plot action to carry the story. And in the end, the feelings of hopelessness and futility just killed any enjoyment of the story for me.

I'm not going to say this is a bad book....the writing isn't bad, and the idea in itself is interesting. But, overall, the story was not for me. I did not enjoy this book. Others might. For me, in the end, the story just had no purpose. I took nothing away from my reading other than a deep feeling of wasted time and lost hope.

Not for me. Too slow....too dark and depressing.

I would definitely try another novel by this author. His writing style is good. But next time, if it goes along this same path, I'm going to DNF and move along.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Harlequin via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. **

3.5 As I mentioned before in my reviews, that except for the first paragraph I have quit reading the extended summaries of the books I read. I have discovered, however, a slight glitch in even doing this because this book said it was post apocalyptic, and thrinlking, which leads one to believe this was a quick moving book. It wasn't, in fact, it was quite slowly paced. So whle I expected it to be one thing, it turned into another. Book expectations. Took me a while but I fell in to this story of twins, Tommy and Virginia born on 9/11, who lose their parents young and grow up in the foster care system. While disease and war are the two conflicts in this novel, it is more a story of how people handled these dual conflicts.

While it concentrated mostly on Ginny and Tommy, their relationship, there are also short chapters devoted to others who are experiencing these scenario. There are also breaks for letters from the twins father that he had written them both before they were born and before he died. Both twins have a talent that lie on alternate spectrums, not mystical, just something that effects their relationship past and present. This book does a fantastic job with character building, showing the many different ways adversity is faced and how personalities are formed from the past and present. Hence, the slower pace of the book.

Funny thing is I found I liked it more after I finished and put it all together than while I was reading. Happens once in a while, but the more I thought about it the more I could see what Mott accomplished. It may not be fast paced, but I found it to be extremely well written.

ARC from Netgalley.

The Crossing by Jason Mott is a highly recommended tale about twins struggling to survive in a dying world.

When the Disease first started, it hit only the elderly. Once they got it, they just fell asleep and never woke up. Then the age of those who caught the Disease began to go lower and the recrimination over how or who started the Disease began, turning into a world-wide war. Now the world is in the 10th year of the Disease. Those who lead the war efforts are dying from it, while those who are actually drafted, fighting, and dying in the war are the young.

Tommy and Virginia are seventeen-year-old twins who only have each other. Their parents died when they were five and they have been in the foster system ever since. The twins are opposites. Virginia remembers everything, every word, every detail, in complete clarity - calling it the Memory Gospel - while Tommy doesn't recall much at all. Now Tommy has received a draft letter and the two are making a final desperate trip from Oklahoma to Florida to see the shuttle launch to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Their father was obsessed with Europa and Virginia is sure that the shuttle may be humankind’s last chance for survival. Their foster father, a police officer, is following them, determined to bring Tommy back to go to the military.

This is more a story of sibling relationships and rivalry than a dystopian tale. It is set in a dying world, but the important part of the story is the interaction between Tommy and Virginia and how they relate to each other and the world. Virginia's disaffection for people and the Memory Gospel is an oddly creepy combination. She may remember everything and be the intelligent one, but she's also a bit off putting. She recounts in perfect recall the series of letters their father wrote to them, which, among other things, encouraged them to take care of each other.

The Crossing is an interesting viewpoint for a dystopian story, but perhaps not the best choice. I will readily admit to wanting to hear more about the Disease, more about the world wide war, more about the political ramifications and explanations for the plague that strikes the elderly and slowly works its way down the generations. Virginia is not really a likeable character and while it is compelling to see the struggles in the journey to Florida, her flashbacks and recollection of their father's letters takes away from the edginess and desperation of the odyssey.

The quality of the writing is excellent, as I expected. There was the potential for an even greater story here, but, still, I rather liked some of the revealing disclosures at the end which made the story much better for this reader.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books via Netgalley.
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Even though this book is of dystopian genre, I found it to be very poetic. It's dark, and hopeless in feeling, but it's also eloquent at the same time. How is that possible. I feel like only Jason Mott could write a book about a disease infected world so beautifully.

The reason I never give up hope is because everything is so basically hopeless. - Anne Lamott

Well, I need to give up reading literary dystopian novels. They are just not my cup of tea. They are usually full of philosophical discourses and this story fit that mold.

Some people will enjoy that but I prefer the dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels that I read to have people battling for a better life and I want them to have hope of a better future.

In this tale, Virginia and Tommy Matthews are 17 year-old twins born on 9/11. Virginia remembers EVERYTHING that has happened in her life while Tommy tends to forget most things. They were orphaned at a young age, went to many foster homes and group homes and are now living with a foster father who is a deputy.

The world has been hit by a DISEASE that makes the elderly fall asleep - without waking. And in the aftermath of that, wars start all over the world and the military draft is started again.

I would say the story is well written but it was boring and depressing to me.

I received this book from Net Galley and Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

A few thoughts on the end-of-days premise: whether it’s zombies or disease or a natural disaster, authors create these situations to produce an immediate external conflict. One that can divide or unite, one that tests and may change their characters. Authors' purposes for writing in this type of speculative fiction are as varied as the implement, but many times it is to expose man's sins. Granted, I enjoy this genre quite a bit, but sometimes it’s too easy for authors to write in it but not fully explain their complete analogy. This is not the case with Jason Mott in his new novel, The Crossing.

Twins Virginia and Tommy are stuck in a world that is breaking apart. A disease that first struck the elderly is now creeping to consume a younger and younger demographic. Nations have closed their borders and started to fight one another for what power is left. Seventeen and threatened by the military draft, the siblings have decided to flee their foster father and begin a journey to witness the launch of a probe to Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. The launch provides the hope that the people of America and the world need, the possibility of a new planet, one that may have the ability to sustain life. Tommy is almost resigned to enlist, but Virginia believes this road trip is necessary.

I filled my notes for this review with remarkable lines from Mott’s writing. He uses outstanding metaphors that explicate the feelings of the his apocalypse so eloquently, and they do well to counter the helplessness that pervades the characters' lives. He has a knack for creating memorable character, especially the characters the twins meet along their journey. And his play with memory in the two main characters advances a unique series of twists.

The narrative is broken up by the intertwining of two creative threads, short vignettes telling the stories of others plagued by the disease, and letters to the twins from their dead father. This layering creates depth and drives several different story lines at once. I do have to say that at times The Crossing is more of a contemplative read, with current action taking the backseat to the characters' reflections, but it is those questions that create the tension and fuel the impetus for that action to break.

In Jason Mott’s The Crossing tension is created in the reader's desire for Virginia to find something outside herself and her brother, something tangible or intangible, anything that will create a desire to move forward. She has the hope of a young cynic, the love of her brother, and the dream of a better planet. The premise is utilized with skill and the reader will ultimately get the pay off in the end. This is a deserving read and a solid addition to this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row Books, and Jason Mott for the advanced copy for review.

Couldn't finish so it has to get only three stars. Other reviewers have noted it is slow in the beginning but even a third of the way through not much was happening. There is a fixation on the moon Europa which is not explained.

I received this e-book ARC through Net Galley from Harlequin-Park Row Books in exchange for a truthful review.

I enjoyed being immersed in the dystopian world Jason Mott has created where teenaged twin orphans, Ginny and Tommy, are trying to find their way to FL, having segues and interacting with a variety of characters, young and old. The premise of the world they are traversing is that it is controlled on two fronts: a sleeping disease which is decimating the population starting with the old, and a war which is similarly decimating the younger population. This world is depressing, but hasn't yet fallen into "The Road" level of chaos/depravity. Ginny's and Tommy's particular strengths/weaknesses give another level of interest to the story.

A multi-themed book which takes a winding path. Themes such as what is most beneficial over the top smart or average? What does family mean and how do those relationships work? Well -written, if a bit slower than I like at the beginning.

As a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, this was REALLY REALLY a nice change. Wonderful prose, world-building and relatable characters, this will be a handselling treat!