Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I will read any dystopian YA novel and I thought this one was well done. It was hard for me at times to push through until the end but I did enjoy it.

This wasn't necessarily my cup of tea but it wasn't a bad book. I think the slow beginning truly drew me away from the story but it definitely picked up as the story progressed. The main character was hard to relate too a lot but again, just not my cup of tea.

Had to DNF this one at 35%... it was dragging on and I felt like there was no plot in sight, so I just had to give it up.

DNF'd @ 20%

The premise sounded so intriguing, but the actual execution of it didn't work for me at all. Thanks anyway, NetGalley.

It was a very interesting and engaging story and I really enjoyed it, especially the uniqueness of it. I recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book!

I’m giving this threes stars because that’s what I do with books that I know were not written for me because NetGalley will not let you refrain from rating a book. And this really wasn’t written for me. I love dystopian and post apocalyptic fiction but this was written with a teenage boy in mind, I think. Thematically this is dark and disturbing, somewhat bleak, which is normally my bag, however the characters are a little hollow and don’t carry the plot. Plus, and this is a personal one, the female characters are not done well here. Once you start seeing how often female characters are used as appendages to male ones, it’s hard to ever unsee it. I am naturally more disinclined to continue a book by an unknown author now if the protagonist is male simply because all the books in genres I wanted to read growing up, had male protagonists. (Now there’s more variety, I don’t have to settle.) So, in conclusion, loved the concept, iffy about the execution. The writing was great, the characterisation didn’t work for me. I am not the best person to recommend this book to you because I have managed to fall outside the target audience.

I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

I just wanted more from this story…in a good way. There were questions left unanswered and I am eagerly awaiting a second book. I think this story has so much potential and I can’t wait to see it grow. The characters are fantastically realistic. Likeable, unlikable and all flawed. I had a difficult time putting this down.

I definitely suggest checking Jacob’s Ladder out! It’s fast-paced and really consuming. Great read.

This book should have been edited more: the ideas at the base are very interesting but incredibly underdeveloped, and the plot, the characters, and the worldbuilding are suffering for it. It's a real pity because the prose is great and the premise was very appealing.

Likes: This book definitely brings the apocalyptic sci-fi element it promised. Going in, I knew to expect some things(the broken world and of course the aliens) but I didn’t expect the added horror element with the grotesque descriptions of the worms. The book itself is well written- Pike does know how to make vivid settings in such a vicious world. There was constant action so I never really got the chance to get bored with the plot.

Dislikes: How long has it been since the cities were ruined and the first message was sent? Some of the characters (including Martha who’s supposed to be fairly young) talked as if they were there when the cities all fell and everyone had to evacuate but the True Path has been around for 200 years. I found that timeline confusing and also where they were. I heard Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and then places like New Brazil and America. If they’re in Asia why is America being mentioned? I also had problems with the characters. Some, I feel like I didn’t get to know them long enough to understand why they were written into the book at all and others I questioned their motives? I understood Leon’s transition(not all of the names though), but I didn’t understand Martha/Ulya(Ulra? I just read this and I honestly can’t remember her name) at all. I don’t get why she didn’t just leave Leon to die after all the abuse she went through other than to keep the plot going. Not to mention he kept abusing her after all that she did to save his life. There was also a lot of info dump in the middle of the book when she made the sudden transition from a mute slave to an incredibly talkative caretaker.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cameron Publicity for the opportunity to read and review #Jacob'sLadder.
An utterly unique and dark novel that is label young adult, but feels more new adult once I read it. It has a lot of science fiction aspects and leaves you feeling emotional at the end. It felt overwhelming to read at times due to the heavy nature of the world the author creates. I think it will find an audience with it's dark and unique subject matter. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Reading the description of this book I felt like it would be along the lines of the Testing/Maze Runner/Hunger Games with the dystopian world, I wasn’t too wrong.

It's different to what I have read before and had a promising start for this dark feeling book. The world has been destroyed by pollution and war with the only hope being these messages and the promise of salvation.

Leon is our main protagonist in this story, cult-like indoctrination has him believing everything he has been told and as a True Path warrior he is to face a final test before he can ascend and go with the Thule when Earth is uninhabitable. He has to kill a woman in cold blood as part of a ritual but cannot go through with it, he learns that things aren’t what they seem and going with the Thule isn’t the salvation it is promised.

Failing this test, he has to then travel with his ‘slave’ Martha to find the final message from the Saviours.

Travelling across a dying Earth he beings to notice changes to his body, changes that shouldn’t be happening which puts him in grave danger.

The story is quite creative but sometimes lacking, Charlie Pike has a strong writing style which draws you in.
That being said, the themes throughout are very dark, the treatment of woman is questionable. It’s quite gory at times and I’m not sure if i’d class it as YA or Science Fiction - it reads more like an Adult Horror and has a rather bleak ending.

Overall, it’s not bad, not 100% if it was for me but if you like horror “sci-fi” and gore, give it a go.

Thank you Netgalley & Cameron Publicity for the copy to review

Jacob’s Ladder has been a book that twists and turn. When I began reading the book, I was unsure of the path it was going to take. The storyline peaked my interest. I found that I had to continue on until the end. Jacob’s Ladder sort of leans to a post-apocalyptic fiction. I can honestly say that I haven’t read anything like it. It was Airbender on a mission to find himself after the end of the world.

Although I didn't have high hopes for this one I was hoping it was going to be good. I love science fiction stories and this one caught my eye. Although, the story had promise and the author can totally write well. The story itself fell short of any expectation that I could have had. I think with some more content editing this one could be a major hit with the ya crowd.

Set in 2203 Jacob’s Ladder was a quirky mix of fantasy, post-apocalyptic and science fiction and although it was enjoyable I am unsure if teenagers will engage with it, as at a certain point it meandered and lost its way slightly. It has a great opening but does not really follow through on it. The main character is Leon, who is about to undergo an initiation service (the Rising) into adulthood by murdering, or hunting, a young woman from a different tribe. Leon is a member of the True Path warrior culture who believe they have been sent four messages from an alien race, which at some point are going to save some of the chosen tribe and take them to another planet. Leon believes he will be chosen for this task, as do others from his tribe. When the novel opens they believe the fifth and final message is on its way. Why do they need rescuing is one of the big questions?

The Earth is dying, destroyed by powerful flares from the sun and sandstorms so powerful they can strip the skin from your face. Not to mention wars which nobody really remembers. Leon believes his Rising will be easy but the woman he hunts is much more dangerous than he expects and the novel moves in several unexpected dimensions as their relationship as hunter and prey changes. However, once they were out in the wastelands the novel became repetitive, lots of other characters were introduced and there were jumbled hints of where the story was set. The revelation of what Jacob’s Ladder actually meant was a decent twist and in many ways the majority of the characters had been lied to and the novel had much to say about fundamentalism. Jacob’s Ladder had some clever ideas, but this area of YA fiction is a highly competitive market and I’m not sure it has enough to truly catch the attention of bored teenagers but might still be worth a punt for those aged thirteen plus.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. I liked the author's writing style, however the characters were hard to keep up with at times and follow. Overall I thought this was a good idea and a good time! Will read more from this author in the future.

The book was interesting in terms of its story and the action that followed. The concept was good, but I just got confused with the story. I could vaguely follow the action, but the whole plot didn't flow cleanly for me. I guess the book just wasn't for me.

Interesting premise. I was hoping for more description of what the world is like at this point in time, but what was there was very creative. The "Old Sally" rain was awful sounding (in a good way!). A little hard to follow as there were many different small characters, and I wasn't sure in the end if the premise the main character had been chasing through the entire book was even real (not being more specific because I don't want to spoil anything). Had the potential to be a 5-star, but I won't read it again.