Ashen winter

“And look, if we repay brutality with more brutality, how does it end? We do something just a little bit worse every day, and soon enough we're just like him.”“We'll never be like him.”“Maybe not, but we need to cooperate, to rebuild. Someone's got to start.”This is basically the crux of the problem in the sequel to [b:Ashfall 9644151 Ashfall (Ashfall, #1) Mike Mullin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1301592315l/9644151.SY75.jpg 14531613]: Alex has Chronic Hero Syndrome, and while it is incredibly sweet and endearing, it gets him (and his loved ones) into a lot of trouble. And I mean a lot of trouble, because this is quite the long book, and could easily be re-titled Alex's Series of Unfortunate Decisions that Lead to a Series of Unfortunate Events but probably that isn't as catchy. The story starts not too long after the end of the first book: Alex and Darla are on his uncle's farm, life is not good by any stretch but they are surviving, and Alex decides it's time to find his parents after an encounter with some bandits leads him to believe something has happened to them. Darla, being the queen and wonderful girlfriend she is, is of course coming with him. This begins their journey which includes: corrupt government agencies, cannibals, hypothermia, infected gunshot wounds, starvation, an endless winter, scurvy, prostitution, and more. You know, for kids! I didn't like this one quite as well as the first, and that's down to one main reason: I missed my darling Darla for the portion of the story when she was missing. Not that I don't like Alex - I do, he's a good dude - but Darla makes the story sparkle for me. Still, this was captivating, and I'll be reading the next one as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on it. 3.5/5 rounded up because of Rita Mae, one of my favorite fictional librarians of all time.