Review: The Fireman

The Fireman by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a great book and right up there with Stephen King. The writing is so similar to King's and it drew me in from the start.
This book introduces a plague that has swept the world and is spreading like wildfire. This plague is called Dragonscale and it transmitted through contact with a spore. When someone contracts Dragonscale, they start to get black and gold lines and stripes all over their body. The illness is fatal ending in the person spontaneously combusting into flames. At the beginning of the book, the world is already in chaos with the government attempting to round up the sick and killing them is mass genocides.
The main character we follow is Harper who is a nurse working in a hospital and attending to the mass crowds of sick people including those with Dragonscale. Harper is compassionate, empathetic, and really cares for her patients. Harper soon learns she is pregnant and soon after, she contracts Dragonscale. She is determined to survive on the run and live until her baby is born.
As the book goes on, we get introduces to many more characters coping with this new world and seeing if survival with this illness is possible. There are many pop culture references that I really enjoyed. For example, Harper is a huge fan of Mary Poppins and Julie Andrews. She often uses the phrases or sings the songs from the movie. Overall, this book was just so much fun. I highly recommend it for fans of weird fiction or if you like Stephen King.

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Review: Only Human

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great conclusion to a terrific Sci-fi series! Only Human is the third and final installment in the Themis Files Series. Once again, it follows Dr. Rose Franklin, Vincent and Eva.
*There may be some spoilers for the first two books in the series.*

This book definitely surprised me in a good way. I really didn’t have any idea how everything was going to wrap up. We knew at the end of Waking Gods, that Themis was forced back to her planet and that the main characters were aboard.
When the book begins we learn that they spent 10 years on the planet Esat Esk before escaping back to Earth. So the book goes back and forth detailing their time on the other planet and what is happening in present time on Earth. Rose, Vincent and Eva learn that that the world is now in chaos and there is deep mistrust among countries. This is all a result of what happened in the first two books where we also learn that all humans have a percentage of alien DNA. At the opening of the third book, the government is now arresting and killing those with high percentages.
On another note, with the return of Themis, the Russian government now has a way to combat the U.S. who we learn has been taking over countries by using their own robot who they found called Lepetus.

I really enjoyed this conclusion. There wasn’t as much action as the first two books but it was still amazing. I really loved the details of Esat Esk. The author did a phenomenal job describing this other planet, especially the politics and the culture. I loved seeing the characters interactions with the aliens. If you liked the first two books, this third one will not disappoint.


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