Ashfall (Ashfall #1) by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.

My Review ❈❈❈❈

I wasn't really sure how to categorize this book, it definitely has that depressing-yet-hopeful feel of a dystopian. But the scary part is that they are actually living through the disaster as it happens. The eruption of this supervolcano turns their world upside-down as neighbors turn against one another, food & water are destroyed, and death lurks around each corner. This book was so hard to put down because there was so much going on. Every time things would calm down a little and start to get peaceful then BAM! Another catastrophe! I really like Alex because he was quick to accept his situation and push himself hard to do what needed to be done. Darla is an extraordinarily strong & able girl who helps give Alex back his strength any time he is ready to give up. This book definitely wakes you up to the fact that horrible things can happen any day to bring the world to it's knees. The complete chaos and cruelty of a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world could be just around the corner.