The book was fast-paced and an interesting read. It seemed a bit off at times, but overall I enjoyed it. The story was original and well thought out. I liked the characters interactions and both their actions, dialogue, and relationships all seemed realistic and not forced especially for the situation they were in.

Omg omg omg .......... this book was amazing I could not put it down I read every word on the edge of my seat I loved the story line, i loved the way the story just kept us guessing all the way threw I loved all the twists and turns and would defiantly recommend this book it was so believable and kept the reader engaged I love it

High school sweethearts Carla and Tully are having a picnic in Paris when the end of the world begins until they are pulled into a wormhole and deposited 5 years in the future where they find that survival is still a struggle in this new apocalyptic world. The new world reminded me a bit of "Lord of the Flies" and the writing seemed a bit choppy at times. Otherwise, the book was interesting enough for me to finish and put the next book in the series on my TBR list.

Finch Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Abomination. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

During a cataclysmic storm one afternoon, Carla and Tully are thrust through a wormhole five years forward in time. They find the apocalypse in full swing and are swiftly taken prisoner by one of the local tribes. Will the pair be able to figure out a way to escape, either back to their own timeline or to one more hospitable? Will an uncertain future be better than the horrors of the present?

Abomination is way over the top, seeming more like the plot of an apocalyptic video game than a book. The author's description of the setting allowed me to get immersed into the world, but the characters were a little flat and two dimensional. If readers do not take the book seriously, they might find it to be fun to read.

My Review:


'Abomination' is the first book in 'The Pathfinders' series by Jane Dougherty. I will start off by saying that I immensely enjoyed this apocalyptic novel. It was dark, gritty, and raw and had me completely pulled into the story. 'Abomination' is a fantastic read which is very well written and the story (even though apocalyptic /post-apocalyptic has been done before), is very original and engrossing.

One of the first things I noticed, was seeing parallel elements from 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding, and I feel has elements in common with 'The Walking Dead' also. As I've mentioned above, it's simply a very dark and brutal book. I would not hesitate to recommend it to young adults, as that is that is also the intended audience. There is strong language throughout the book, so those who are very sensitive, should be forewarned.


The story starts off quite harmlessly, but things go down the drain very quickly for Carla and Tully, as they are hurtled through a wormhole five years into the future just as the end of the world is beginning. Unfortunately, this just takes them out of the frying pan and into the fire. There they must battle against blood-thirsty youngsters, gangs, mutated animals and against other characters which I will only describe here as supernatural or demonic (i.e. the Burnt Man).

It is a story of adapting oneself to a new environment and dire situations while still trying to hold onto one's values and to rise above the despondency and cut-throat ways of the gangs who have had to live through five years of hell and destruction. Just as in 'Lord of the Flies', any semblance of society has fallen apart and the youngsters are not concerned with growing food or following rules (except their own twisted law), but are only interested in fighting and with attaining/holding onto power.


'Abomination', isn't just about the struggle of humans against nature and other humans, but is a struggle against mutated animals and supernatural forces which wish to destroy the world. These elements, due to spoilers, will not be talked about in this review, but needless to say, 'Abomination' is an action-packed supernatural thriller which borders on horror.


What makes this story believable, are the actions of the characters in the book. The characters act in a very believable and natural way, which pulls us in as the reader and makes us feel for these characters. Furthermore, the author's writing style is easy to read and her descriptions pull the reader in and fully immerse them in this experience.


The book ends with a very good cliffhanger which just makes me want to pick up the second book, 'Devastation', in order to continue the journey with Carla and Tully.

'Abomination' is an action-packed apocalyptic novel which borders on horror. Due to its original take on the end of times, and for the superb writing style of Jane Dougherty, I highly recommend this book to others who enjoy supernatural thrillers. I would absolutely love to see this book get a movie deal or even better, a Netflix series, as I believe the story would find a huge fan-base across wide audiences.


At this point, I also wish to take the time to thank the author for having written this book and for all the hours of great entertainment it has given me. I'm sure future readers of 'Abomination' will not regret picking up this gem! Happy reading!

I can say I definitely liked the cover of this book it's very eye catching which I look for in picking books to read. The description sounded unique and very different from most of the other books I read so I thought I would give this syfi a go. However going in a good couple of chapters I could already tell this book just wasn't for me not to say I don't think others wouldn't like no way I bet lots of other people probably would really get into this syfi it just wasn't my cup of tea sadly.

Book one in The Pathfinders series

As the end of the world begins, Carla and Tully hurtle through a wormhole five years forward in time, only to find they haven’t missed the Apocalypse after all.

Carla and Tully are picnicking in the quad of their international high school in central Paris when the end of the world begins. They are sucked into a wormhole that spits them out five years later to find that the world is a freezing desolation but still hanging on, waiting for something even worse to finish it off. The something worse turns out to be the Burnt Man and his horsemen. Taken prisoner by the Flay Tribe to their lair in the ruins of a shopping mall, Tully is forced to become a warrior, while Carla joins the other girls as a kitchen slave and comfort woman.

Tully might like the idea of playing soldiers, but Carla knows what is waiting for the girls when the food runs out, and it isn’t pleasant. The supermarket holy man’s vision of the return of the Burnt Man and his demon friends drags Tully back to reality. When the four fiends are reunited, the Apocalypse will really begin. Carla and Tully don’t plan on being there when that happens.

But in this post-Abomination world where only the young and brutal have survived, where food and fuel are running out and the climate is plunging into another final ice age, there is nowhere to run—except down another wormhole, with no idea of what might be waiting for them at the other end.
Carla and Tully are the main protagonist in this novel and end up going down a wormhole a few years into the future to avoid the end of the world, only to find its post apocalyptic ice age and full of different tribes.
I tried to enjoy this book I am a huge fan of dystopian novels, but this was too "busy" with ideas the author never allowed time to develop and grow. The world building was okay and the dialogue of the characters were strong, but it was difficult to empathise with the characters and it was that in the end that made this not such a good read.

At first I was not sure if I would like this book, it wasn't bad but there were some parts that I didn't really find them good.The plot is pretty good, but you need to understand the whole thing to feel connected to the story.

To start off, this book was sent to me by the publisher on NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. So thank you to both Jane Dougherty and her publisher for the opportunity to read this!

Abomination is the first book in the Pathfinder series. Our main protagonists are Carla and Tully. They are teenagers who are having lunch in the quad of their high school in Paris when all of a sudden all hell breaks loose and the Apocalypse starts. While they are trying to find their way to (relative) safety, they manage to fall through time by being sucked into a wormhole. They end up five years in the future where they find out that the world is destroyed. There they both fall in the hands of the Burnt Man and his horseman. Tully ends up being taken prisoner and having to become a warrior, and Carla is forced to be a slave in the kitchens (and not only in the kitchens). That's all you're gonna get for a synopsis. If you want to find out what happens with these two, you should go and get the book.

So what did I think about this book...? Honestly, I liked it. It was an entertaining and quick read, and I enjoyed myself for the most part. There were some things that had me a bit confused or annoyed me a bit, but that's with most books. My biggest irritant was the pace of the story, especially in the beginning. In the span of 5 pages, we have a complete U-turn. We have the main protagonists sitting in the quad, enjoying the sun and all of a sudden the world is in shambles. While I do understand that this is done on purpose by the author, it had me a bit confused as everything was moving so fast. Those pages reminded me of the movie The Day After Tomorrow. It was a very cinematic experience when we read about the nuclear plants, airplanes, and earthquakes. Kinda wish we had a little more to go on in that department. It was also very confusing, not knowing what had happened in the 5 years that we had skipped. We later find out what happened through the stories of the Abomination, told to Carla by Kat.

The main characters are Tully in Carla. I wasn't able to connect with Tully. I found him to be a little unapproachable, especially later on in the book. He was brutal, which I understood. He had to fight for his survival for the first time in his life. We get to witness the metamorphosis of a present-day teenager when faced with the possibility of a violent death and slavery. It was fascinating. But while Carla is mostly trying to GTFO, Tully seems to be feeding his teenage male ego with warrior wins. I think that this is when I really started being unable to understand him. But perhaps we can attribute his behaviour to his age and need for young men to prove themselves (especially in this type of a situation).

What's interesting is that I actually liked Tully more than Carla in the beginning, but then there was a bit of a reversal, and I was rooting for Carla. Perhaps it was the feminist in me... Reading about her defending the other women, showed her true colors and I liked that.

Then there is also Kat, who is our sole source of information on what has happened in the years that we skipped. We learn more about her than any other secondary character and naturally, her past is not a good one. It's filled with all types of abuse. We see her evolve into a much more hopeful individual when given Carla's company. Having a confidant really made a difference to her character development.

The worldbuilding in Abomination is bomb. I've always had a soft spot for dystopian YA novels, and this one did not disappoint. It was not your typical YA novel, though, as there are plenty of gory scenes and ones that can make you pretty emotional. For that reason, I would not recommend this book to anyone who's not a fan of that or someone too young to understand it. But beyond that, we witness an entirely different society to our own. In some dystopian fiction, there is a different governmental and social organization, but there is always some sort of it. Here, we have gone to the past in the future, reading about complete adherence to gender roles and tribal relationships between the characters. I quite enjoyed how different that was to most books on the topic of the apocalypse. The author dwells even deeper into this uncharted territory, by creating news animal - human hybrids.
The book also deals with series issues, such as slavery. A perspective on it, which I have personally never read before. The world is vibrant and sucks the reader in. I was always left, wanting more. I will surely read the next book as well.

I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Jane Dougherty, and the publisher, Finch Books, for this opportunity.

I saw the words 'wormhole' and 'post-Abomination world' in the synopsis and knew I had to read this book! The plot follows teenage sweethearts, Carla and Tully, who experience the literal end of the world. The pair are expecting nothing other than an average day in their Paris high-school but events quickly and inexplicably accumulate until hail the size of houses is raining down on them, dormant volcanoes are erupting, convulsions are rattling the earth, and all other manner of hell suddenly implode into their world. Whilst trying to flee to somewhere safe, they inadvertently discover a wormhole through time and get sucked five years into the future. The world they know has gone and in its place is an icy wasteland, where only the scavengers and the warriors can survive.

This felt almost like a futuristic Lord of the Flies, which isn't my favourite classic text to start with. But my real problem with this dwelt with the lack of basis for the story. Within the first few pages the Earth we know was obliterated, and the duo this focuses on were dragged into the future. I didn't have time to formulate an understanding about who, what, and why and, without that, I found I couldn't care much about the events that followed.

Of the two protagonists, I found I only remotely liked Carla. Her sense of propriety for the females she meet in the future and the actions she took to defend them and herself makes her charming and engaging. I like a strong woman in my fiction!

Tully, however, was an absolute ass. From the moment the reader is introduced to him, I felt I wasn't going to be able to gather any sort of affinity for him. His forced wit seemed.. well, forced. It just appeared unbelievable to me that anybody would attempt humour during such a dire time and how he could not see that his forced blase would do nothing to cheer up his girlfriend when her entire family had possibly been killed! His attitude was as aggravating to the reader as it was to Carla.

If possible, he went even further down in my estimations when he entered the future world and somehow became some sort of warrior, performing feats never before accomplished. This emerging aggression also heightened the other unlikable aspects of his character and he transformed into the villain of the story, for a time. But all of this happened so fast that I still couldn't really get a feel for who was supposed to be, in relation to the narrative.

Characters aside, the emergence of the hybrid animal races also felt unrealistic and I struggled to see what their presence brought to the story, apart from making the reader feel uncomfortable. Even if they were aggressive, animal abuse is one of my triggers in literature and really struggle to read anything featuring it. I think I knew from that point that this wasn't going to be the book for me.

I think I may have continued reading this with such an intense dislike that I couldn't see past my initial opinions. It may have got better, and the idea behind the plot as well as the conception of it was actually rather good, if a little rushed at the beginning. However, for me, certain aspects of this sadly didn't allow me to formulate any positive opinions.

I'm not really sure what to write. I always feel guilty recommending dystopian literature to other readers: "Read this dark, disturbing book because it's great and it'll make you feel awful!"

But it is a great dystopian story, like a blend of "Lord of the Flies" and something more supernatural. It took me a long time to believe the Holy Man wasn't spouting nonsense just to give himself a position of power or, at the very least, to rationalise the end-of-the-world events. In fact, I only starting believing at around the time Carla and Tully realised something sinister and odd was going on. It's quite a powerful technique to have the reader held at the same point as the characters rather than over-relying on dramatic irony. Many of the YA futuristic novels I consume give the reader too much insight and a significant portion of the tale is simply a case of waiting for the characters to catch up.

I can't say I enjoyed this novel as it isn't pleasant. The themes and the ideas are grim... and we're thrust into the darkness pretty quickly. Any moments of joy are because you find yourself celebrating the violent demise of characters you dislike, which then makes you doubt your moral code, leaving a foul taste in your mouth. There isn't any hope or light... but there shouldn't be, either, as it would be out of place.

No. I didn't *enjoy* the book but it was immensely satisfying and brilliantly written. I couldn't put it down as I needed to know, to see, to continue. Moreover, I have already purchased the sequels - guess I won't be doing much work this week!

Now I've finished it, I need a long walk in the sunshine, a pretty cocktail and a Disney movie to cheer up my brain.