Quarantine by James Phelan

Quarantine by James Phelan 2.5 STARS

Synopsis: In a dangerous, devastated New York, one 16-year-old Australian boy finds himself alone…
It's now or maybe never sixteen year old Jesse has spent eighteen days in post-apocalyse New York, waiting for help that never comes. He owes it to his new friends, Rachel and Felicity, to go beyond their temporary refuge to find other survivors who may hold the key to escape. Could the collective at Chelsea Piers have the answers or prove to be just another distraction in his quest? Meanwhile, Jesse is burdened with guilt and sadness at the fate of his other friend, Caleb, who has fallen prey to the virus and become a Chaser. So when it emerges that a cure-all serum may be available, Jesse determines to secure it to save his friend. At any cost perhaps even his own future.
* I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review by netgalley. I dont typically provide a full review for a book rated less than 3 stars, but since this is a netgalley review it will be a bit longer.

Overall- So Ill be honest, I started this book without reading the others. I didnt even realize there were others. However, that said, it wasnt essential that I read the others. The author did a good job of reminding the reader of who everyone was and what had happened previously in the other books, which I found helpful. I was able to follow allow completely. Which I was surprised by. I thought the author did an excellent job of world building and describing everyone and everything. I could actually feel as though I was there watching as Jesse ventured into the city.

There were some things I didnt like though, obviously given the rating I gave. First, the ending was awful, not only a let down but a completely anti climatic moment. UGH! I want to scream at this!!! But even without the awful ending, the book missed the mark for me. While the world building and plot point was excellent, the characters were not, and I felt as though these people were completely unrelate able. Even though the author did a good job of ensuring that not everyone got along and that there were differences in leadership, etc all things that people forget about, the main characters were off the mark. (HOWEVER, in truth, I dont know if Felicity and Rachel are bad characters because I didnt read the prior books, so I will skip them in my review) Overall, it was a pleasant Sunday Afternoon read, but Im not sure Id chose to read it.

Plot- I really liked this plot, and I felt the natural progression of events. The plot point is very interesting too. It was not the strictly zombie like book that I thought it was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised throughout the book UNTIL the ending. The ending was completely off. It was not only a let down, but made absolutely no sense to me, so unless I missed something in the first two books then it just didnt make sense. It didnt even flow with the theme of the book! I was just starting to think wow, this book wasnt so bad, but the ending really ruined the book for me. Seems like this is happening a lot lately.


Characters--
Jesse- I didnt mind Jesse as the main character, I found him for the most part to be interesting, and I was able to follow him with his thoughts and plans fairly well. That is, aside from the Anna/Paige thing. I get that I didnt read about Anna but I understood the connection and could see his concerns and issues. I think for the most part, aside from Paige and the ending, the character made sense, he was quite the survivor, but not without his weaknesses or his defeats, which makes for a well written character.

I really liked Bob and Daniel, I found them to be the most interesting, but I was confused by Audrey, and I didnt like Tom( which is how its supposed to be! so thats okay). My biggest problem with the book, is the Paige and Jesse relationship. It irked me and bothered my A LOT. To the point where I skipped sections with them because it felt weird. Not even awkward just wrong. Their interactions didnt feel normal but contrived, his emotions towards her seemed strange, and her immediate obsession with Jesse made me uncomfortable. That alone hurt the book for me a lot. I was hoping for a slight love story and instead I got awkward teen lust but poorly executed.  (sorry to the author, I know its hard, and unfortunately you cant please everyone!)