I finished reading Blaze by R. G. Westerman a week or more ago, so this review is a little slow in being written. Life conspired against me. That is all I will say about that. Anyways, Blaze is Book Two in the Rising Ash saga. Ash is making her way in a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world. She runs across a mother and son whom she decides she needs to help. I am not going to say more from here as I do not want to ruin the story for anyone.
There were several aspects of this installment that I enjoyed. I think Westerman did a good job of continuing to develop Ash. It is hard sometimes to remember Ash is fifteen, but growing up fighting zombies to survive would do that to someone. I like that Westerman reveals bits and pieces of Ash’s past and her character like bread crumbs through the story. Westerman also did well with her development of the secondary characters. I want to say more about them, but again I do not want to ruin the surprise.
Another thing I liked is that Westerman did a nice job of continuing the story arc well. This second installment picks up well where the first left off, both in plot and in the tone. Her pacing continues to be swift, but not so fast it left me in the dust, and was consistent with what she did in the first book.
I had only one plot issue with this book. I cannot say too much as I do not want to give anything away. What I will say is that there is a scene at the end of the book that felt a little glossed over and quick to me. I am not sure if Westerman’s intention is to have the issue come up to haunt Ash some later or if this is all we will get. Overall, though, I did not feel that this detracted from the story that much.
My only other issue was quite minor. There was one paragraph at the beginning of the story that repeated. It threw me for a moment until I realized what had happened. Very minor when looking at a fun, fast paced, gory adventure.
Take a look folks. Westerman is creating a fun post zombie apocalypse here.
Part author, part artist, all dreamer 