The Doomsday Kids series: Amy's Gift (Book 4)

Once again, that special light that belongs to youth shines through as Karyn Langhorne Folan takes us back to the deadly post-apocalyptic world of the Dooms Day Kids. If I could imagine the world after such a disaster, this would be it.

Unspeakable tragedies have befallen these kids, but they stay strong, thanks to the support they show each other. Not everyone will survive, but heroes are made and will be remembered by this group in some surprising ways.

Amy has walled herself off in her grief over all of her losses. She has always been a warrior, not always well-liked, and has never fully trusted the group, but now is when she needs them most as they begin a trek to a safe haven where other survivors have gone. She has only one wish, to protect the most precious gift she carries. Will the trek prove fruitless at the end or will life finally give these kids a break? What will the security of making it to this compound mean for the group? Is there more heartache ahead? Will they be forced to lose the cohesiveness of their new “family” in a trade for security?

Congratulations to Karyn Langhorne Folan for another completely spellbinding journey about a group of teens who have learned what is truly important in life as they fight to survive. I received an ARC edition from K Squared Books in exchange for my honest review.

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REVIEW: AMY'S GIFT [DOOMSDAY KIDS BOOK 4] by Karyn Langhorne Folan

I totally love this series! No sweetness-and-light, "everything will be fine," here. This series is every bit as gritty as finely-tuned adult apocalyptic literature. No need for adolescent angst: these "kids" are living the unbearable reality: the Apocalypse has come, swept the "world we knew" away, and the small number of survivors must make their own way, a new way. But apocalypse doesn't change human nature; what an opportunity exists now for the application of greed and control.

It's bad enough having to deal with the end of the world but to have to deal with the high school cliques puts the icing on the cake. Amy is a strong courageous young woman and learns to deal with each problem as it comes. I really like her character

Book 4 in the Doomsday Kids series pick up where book 3, Amaranth’s Return, left off only this book is narrated by Amy.

I never really connected with Amy in the previous books as she was very standoffish and bitchy so this book is a good opportunity to find out what makes Amy tick.
The story travels along at a fast pace and there is always something happening, some new danger they must overcome, as the dwindling group of teen survivors continue their trek to find the survivor’s camp.

I just love this series and while I want it to end for these poor kids I also don’t want it to end. I’ve enjoyed it so much. These teens have seen too much, done too much to ever be carefree again.

A story of strength, determination, perseverance, surviving against all odds and helping one another!

Looking forward to reading the fifth book in the series, The Doomsday Kids #5 Survivor’s Stories.
With thanks to Karyn Langhorne Folan via Netgalley for my copy to read and review

The next leg of the Doomsday Kids Journey continued with the suspense and excitement. Amy's experiences added a whole new level of understanding to their experience. The author did a good job of bringing in the cultural background of this character and explaining how it effected her even though her family was gone. While many of their experiences were unexpected, to say the least, they were not so far fetched that they could not be believable. In this type of setting I would think anything is possible. The ending was a little unclear to me as to whether they were with the good guys or the bad guys or if the good guys really might have been the bad guys all along. Many questions remain and I will be eager to read the next installment. I received an early copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amy is scared. Why? She has been traveling with a group of children on their way to the survivor camp. It is far , it seems too far to walk. In the post-apologetic damage of their community, there is no transportation or food. Amy was driven in school to be the best not caring who she hurt. Amy has lost her family and everything she loved. On their trip, they must avoid evil bands of people, find food and hopefully a car that will run. Amy has a secret that she doesn't share with the group until it is too late. What is her secret? Will they get to the survivor's camp? Life will never be the same.

This is a great series. The book shows us that survival depends on strength and trusting one another. The writing is excellent!

Defenitely the best book of the series along with book 1. I really like this series and I cannot wait for the next books.

Amy's Gift The Doomsday Kids Book 4 Karyn Langhorne Folan K Squared Books, April 2015 ISBN 978-0990804352 Trade Paperback

From the author---

Amy Yamamoto was never exactly the "friendly" sort. Driven to be the best-the prettiest, the most popular and the most envied girl in school-Amy has lost everything she loved and believed in since the end of the world she once knew: her family, her friends and her connection to the people who understood her.

And now, after all of those other losses, she faces the end of the Doomsday Kids' life at the Mountain Place as they embark on a journey of nearly a thousand miles in the hopes of reaching a survivors' camp on the Gulf of Mexico. Can they reach it before their supplies run out? Can they avoid the evil bands roaring through deserted towns and cities and reach safety before it's too late? And most of all, can Amy learn to trust the others enough to reveal her deepest secret? Is there room in a world full of death and destruction for hope, a new life and a new love?

I'm usually a stickler for good construction of a book, quality production, meaning I'm ripped right out of the story by an overabundance of errors, whether they be in grammar, spelling, formatting, whatever. I can't say that Amy's Gift is all that pristine but, you know what? I don't care because this is a cracking good story.

This is not a surprise---I've been in love with this saga from the very first book and every one of them has drawn me in deeper and deeper. I don't recommend starting in the middle as you need to know who all these kids are and how they came to be a family of sorts if you want to get the full impact of each one's individual tale. The good news is they all are quick reads because they hold your attention.

Amy is the one character that has been the hardest to connect with in earlier books simply because she's a prickly sort, very standoff-ish, and has kept her feelings in very tight check. Part of this comes from her heritage as Japanese-American and the cultural tendency towards always being the best and always being private. I don't think the Japanese-Americans are quite as much this way as some of the other Asian-American families but there's no doubt these parents do have higher expectations of their children than many other ethnic or cultural families in the US. Please understand I don't mean this in any kind of dismissive or derogatory way; it's just part of who Amy is.

Now, we finally get to know Amy a lot better as her story unfolds and she is a very surprising girl, particularly as she begins to learn more about herself and how emotionally strong she really is. This little band has to face so many hurdles on their journey to what they hope will be a true sanctuary, after surviving the harrowing events following a nuclear attack. Whether Amy and all her ragged companions will make it is questionable and Ms. Folan leaves us with a huge cliffhanger. Thank heavens the next book, The Doomsday Kids #5: Survivors' Stories, will be coming out in just a little over two weeks because I don't think I could stand to wait much longer to see what's coming.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2015.

Don’t be fooled by the Young Adult tag: this series is not easy reading. I’ve read dystopian fiction aimed at over-18s that are less grim and have far fewer deaths. On the other hand, the author has created a very believable post-apocalyptic world in which everyone is trying to survive, and while individuals will cooperate with each other, few of these loose collectives are prepared to compromise with other groups they come into contact with.

Amy was a cheerleader before the bomb went off that wiped out most of the population and infrastructure of the United States. She and Rod were the school’s golden couple and had little contact with the other kids before circumstances forced them all together. Now Rod is dead and Amy has health worries of her own.

The kids have been hiding out at a mountain retreat, but food stocks are running low and they keep hearing rumours of a government camp hundreds of miles away. Amy knows she has to move on soon, but daren’t articulate her full reasons to the others. At last the decision to move is forced on them when their home is invaded by some of Amy’s former friends who want her to join their new world order, but have brutal plans for the male members of her group.

The kids set off, fighting the weather, the terrain, their injuries and other issues, fully aware that other groups out there are even more dangerous than the women they just escaped from.

This is very much a series novel. There’s no happy ending yet, and I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever get one, but the kids’ stories are compelling. Like the two previous instalments in the series (though not as far as I can remember the first one), this could have done with an additional copyediting pass (I bought books 2 and 3 so I can’t even make allowances for having received an advance copy of book 4). If you can cope with that issue, then there’s a lot to be said for giving these kids a chance.