All These Monsters by Amy Tintera

Lynnie

young adult, science fiction

All These Monsters was a quick and easy read by Amy Tintera. I've enjoyed several of her books in the past so I was eager to read more of her work. I particularly enjoyed her first duology Reboot and Rebel and included them in my Best of 2014 list.

The publisher's description of the book says, "Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she’s ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance."
 
Tintera likes to write about the fight; her characters usually belong to some sort of misfit army and All These Monsters carries that tradition forward. In an Earth that's been invaded by violent creatures called "scrabs," both private and government groups are forming to fight the invaders and keep people safe. This book focuses on the private enterprise of monster fighting and yes, it is kind of as silly as it sounds, but it's also a lot of fun to watch. Tintera's fight scenes are always full of action and I could picture the events as I read along.

I really enjoyed the characters and particularly those in American team 7 that we spend the most time with. They were a diverse group of kids who all had one thing in common- they wanted to get away and save the world. I appreciated Tintera's light hand with the storylines concerning emotionally abusive (and  physically abusive) relationships. I think it's a message that a lot of young people need and while it was pretty easy for this older reader to see what was coming down the pike, I suspect that some younger readers may not see themselves in these types of relationships until they see it written down and can truly relate to it.

I don't know when the sequel will come out, but I'm already looking forward to it.  I'm eager to see what Clara, Edan, Madison, Patrick, Noah, and the rest if the team do next.