YA Book Review-- Tomorrow Land

ebook
Source: Net Galley
Release Date: March 8, 2012
Publisher: NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC
Author: Mari Mancusi


Can true love survive the end of the world?

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. And now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones of a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgrimage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all the while attempting to save what's left of the human race?


I love a good YA dystopian novel. That seems to be there current 'theme' since The Hunger Games exploded onto the scene, like vampires were the theme when Twilight hooked millions of teens and twi-moms.
And I'm much more okay with dystopian than I was with sparkly vampires!
So when I see a cool cover like the one above, and read a cool blurb like this book has, I try to snag it as quickly as I can.

Unfortunately, this is NOT a good YA dystopian novel. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. And I tried so hard. But it just fell flat for me.

Peyton is an interesting character and she's supposed to be the 'strong female' type that's so popular now. But she's just not. I found her mopey and gloomy and depressing most of the time.

And Chris? Ugh. There are NO 19 year old boys like Chris. Nowhere. Not even after the world ends will there be boys as cheesy and love-struck and whipped as he is. I mean, come on. He calls Peyton his Goddess. Constantly. Even in his own head. Ugh.

The book has such potential. I loved the idea of what happens to some of the human race after the apocalypse, and some of the fight scenes are wicked-cool, but the rest is just.....cheesy and lame. And not a good, funny cheesy. Just a bad teenage-romance, on-again-off-again, 'I love you', 'Now I'm pushing you away', 'Now I love you again', 'Kiss me in the middle of the apocalypse', bad kind of cheesy.

Although I can see that this book has gotten some great reviews on both Goodreads and Amazon, sadly, mine can't be one of them.

It's possible that teens who don't read a ton might like this book, and it IS an inexpensive long-ish ebook if that entices you a bit...but if you're looking for a good, strong, engaging YA dystopian novel, skip this one and grab Starters.
You'll thank me for it.