Reviewing The Urchin by Adrianne Ambrose

5/5

The end of the world. Vampires. These are things that have almost become synonymous with eye rolling. Especially the overly-romanticized version of vampires. These vampires are not romance novel vampires. In fact they are a means to an end to support the story.

Nick, a pilot, crashes down and is luckily saved by a few teenagers before he is eaten by the vampires. He finds himself within Stanton Military Academy, which is now referred to as The Urchin. It is the last standing building for miles and the boys of the academy are all that remain, besides the vampires that haunt them nightly.

Now Nick must join together with Vance in an attempt to fix his plane and go to New Washington.

This is a dark look at the way people think and will act in the time of desperation. Ambrose does well to liken the experience to Lord of the Flies while Vance explains what it is he doesn’t want from the boys he’s trying to keep safe. The book explores the before and the during and the after of the apocalypse all interwoven together perfectly to make a complete story.

As with most novels that delve into the darkness, the ending is not particularly happy, but unlike most, it’s not something so desperately awful either. Ambrose ties the strings together she must and completes the story she is trying to tell. There is a world of stories here that Ambrose could embrace and she does well dragging her reader in and keeping them there.

Reasons to Read:

– Well Written

– Great dynamic of characters

– The stories behind the actions all make sense

Reasons Not to Read:

– Basically a horror novel with less horror and more storytelling