Who would expect to be begging a Queen in a bouncy castle for safe passage through post apocalyptic cannibal territory in order to reach a prison likely full of corpses? Not Grace, but here she was standing with God, doing exactly that in Novella #2 in Guy Adams' YA horror/action/scifi/wtf series The Change.

In The Change: New York, the same ultimate premise as the first. Everyone sees something in the sky and their lives end instantly. Those who missed the event but see it on film, they go wonky in the brain. Folks like Grace, kept in a cage by her hyper religious uncle, missed it all until his corpse was bloated on the floor and scooted close enough to grab the keys.

On exiting her uncle's remote cabin, Grace finds the world forever modified. Fire fights in the streets when mythical creatures are not stalking humans for a blood and sinew dinner. She is heading to Rikers Island to see if her incarcerated brother is still alive, her last family she is aware of. It is a long shot, eight months after the change, but she is compelled to try, no matter the danger.

How do you get to Rikers? According to Foogs, a talking Puffer Fish creature guarding the gates to Coney Island: ‘Ah... once upon a time that would have been easy, all you had to do was shoot someone in the head. I hear it’s more complicated now. If she likes you, she’ll help.’

The Queen of Coney Island. Once a homeless woman who seems to share the underlying architecture and a historic psychic bond with Coney. Grudgingly willing to help, but everything has a price.

Book two in The Change series followed the same vein as the original. It is YA but highly adult accessible and entirely enjoyable. This book also proved that these Novellas, while a series, are solid stand alone books. If you want to try one out, pick any in the series and give it a shot.

To be honest, this specific book was not my favorite in the series, but it was by no means a poor showing. Each of the novellas are as different as can be, so anyone who reads them all will find themselves hard pressed to not play favorites.

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Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. As a result, I read it and am providing the above review which may or may not age well in the cellar and get a future generation drunk while looking for home made review juice and not recognizing they grabbed an alcoholic one. Sometimes the review juice is sour. In this case it was sweet, aromatic, and had great mouth feel. ( )

3.5 Stars

Full review to come! ( )