bookishbrunette

Okay... so I'll admit that by the title ALONE- I kind of just assumed that this was a zombie book. Yeah, that'll teach to actually read the synopsis first right? Any-non-zombiebook... I figured out this was a dystopian straight away. Which totally isn't a problem, because I LOVE dystopian! I'm going to try to give as clear a review as I possibly can about this book, because I'm not even sure WHAT just happened!Apparently some years back there was a "ubiquitous" terrorist attack that plunged the city into darkness for two weeks and since then everything has been very grim and hopeless. (So if you're like me and don't know what "ubiquitous" is- don't bother opening a new tab for dictionary.com- it means: omnimous; or existing everywhere at once) DUDE. So say omnibus, I KNOW what that means!Those That Wake is told in the alternating POV's of Mal and Laura. Mal has obviously had a hard life. Scars cover his face and body from fights he participates in voluntarily and he's in foster care because his father passed away after taking HIM but not his brother away from his abusive mother.Laura on the other hand is a completely different story, she's grown up with nothing but unconditional love and support from her parents... which is why her life is turned upside down when NO ONE, not her perpetually over bearing parents, not her teachers, not even her best friends can seem to remember her.On page 99 we are introduced to two entirely NEW main characters, Mike and Remak. Now to me it seems rather odd to introduce MAIN characters in the middle of a book... but that's me and I've been wrong before.Suddenly Part 2 begins and I'm thinking, "WOW! This is TOTALLY starting to get good!" Mal, Brath, Isabel (a chick that Mal & Brath met earlier) Laura, Mike and Remak are all attacked in different ways, in different places at the same time and wake up in a forest that is actually some sort of 5th dimension.WHAT? It's surprisingly EASY to get out of this 5th dimension, and they arrive back to the real world basically unscathed but minus Isabel. No one remembers ANY of them now, so it seems that Laura's problem has now spread to everyone.Seriously, this book was like watching a train wreck. The four of them then figure out that what has taken over the minds of people around them is "hopelessness". They try to fight it, because in THIS case it is a physical being and all. No really.The ONLY good thing about this book was Mal. He is SUCH an intriguing character, I liked him from the start... all scarred, macho and muscles... heroic and chivalrous too.I really contemplated giving this one 2 stars... but I just couldn't. I really DID love Mal, but one well written character in a book that was this bad, just isn't enough to compensate!