Abomination is the first book in the Pathfinders series. The two main characters teenagers Carla and Tully, are trying to cope with the challenges and uncertainties of a shocking post-apocalyptic world in which only the strongest and fittest will survive. Abomination demonstrates Jane Dougherty's talent for writing powerful descriptive passages combined with believable dialogue. There are a whole bunch of characters to keep the reader entertained. But be prepared for some hard hitting scenes as this YA novel packs some less than tender punches. The novel draws to a gripping close and revelation. In truth, I am a bit of a novice in terms of post-apocalyptic novels so it was interesting to challenge myself to try something new. Abomination will appeal to both male and female YA readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic narratives, and to readers like myself who sometimes like to step out of their usual genre comfort zone to broaden their reading experience.
It is perhaps more suitable for the upper age limit of the YA market rather than the lower end due to some upsetting scenes. ( )

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.
( )