I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

The signs are everywhere. Jory's stepfather, Caleb, says. Red leaves in the springtime. Pages torn from a library book. All the fish in an aquarium facing the same way. A cracked egg with twin yolks. Everywhere and anywhere. And because of them, Jory's life is far from ordinary. He must follow a very specific set of rules: don't trust anyone outside the family, have you rwork boots at the ready just in case, and always, always watch out for the signs. The end is coming, and they must be prepared.
School is Jory's only escape from Caleb's tight grasp, and with the help of new friends, he begins to explore a world beyond his family's desert ranch. As Jory's friendships grow, Caleb notifies Jory's mother and siblings that the time has come for final preparations.
They begin an exhausting schedule, digging a shelter where they will live until the disaster is over. But as the hole gets deeper, so does the family's doubt about whether Caleb's prophecy is true. When the stark reality of what it will mean to live underground becomes clear, Jory must choose between living his own life or following behind Caleb, shutting his eyes to the bright world he's just begun to see.>/i>

Let's start this review with some real positives: the most pleasing part about this book was the writing. Beautifully written with a lot of amazing paragraphs of dazzling prose, this was a pleasure to read just for the writing alone. I also appreciated the level of effort to portray this family for what it is - a broken family with issues beyond the mundane. The other thing that I found well done in this book is the approach to mental health issues among the characters. Although no illness is outright declared (not that I picked up on, anyway), the sensitive approach to those issues was respected greatly.

As for the negatives - well, something a few people have commented on was the very sudden ending. Nothing worse, for me, than investing time (and/or money) into a novel only to get to the end and feel let down. Also, I don't really know what happened to Kit - and I don't know if the younger readers of this book will be able to draw their own conclusions...but they might, I guess...

Overall, a well written novel with so much going for it. Well worth a read!


Paul
ARH