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The Urchin

by Adrianne Ambrose (Goodreads Author)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 11 ratings · 10 reviews

Since the End came, leaving the United States a confused and desolate wasteland, what is left of society has been trying to pick up the pieces and put itself back together. Nick Miller is willing to do whatever it takes, and is flying a top-secret mission over the devastation when he is forced to make a crash landing. Luckily, he is rescued by the brooding, enigmatic Vance...more

Kindle Edition, 285 pages

Published August 31st 2012 by BookBaby

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Oct 07, 2012 Raina {The LUV'NV} rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, young-adult, vampires, would-read-again, self-published

You know those books you finish and can't stop thinking about for days afterward? Yeah, The Urchin is one of them. With the story's shocking—yet somewhat-expected-but-I-quickly-brushed-aside-the-thought—ending, I had to sit and stew, to let my spinning mind calm before I could write a review. And my mind is still reeling.

The story is basic in terms of the Post-Apocalyptic genre: The country, maybe even the world, is riddled with known and unknown pandemics; people are stranded and suffering, ju...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Darcysmom rated it 5 of 5 stars

Adrianne Ambrose gave me a copy of The Urchin which thrilled me to no end because she is one of my favorite up and coming authors! I adore that she creates characters that are smart and relatable, regardless of their age, sex, or circumstance.

The Urchin is a departure from her previous books - the darkness is palpable. I love the spare, dystopian world that the residents of The Urchin inhabit.

Within the first few sentences of The Urchin, the reader learns that there has been cataclysmic change...more Adrianne Ambrose gave me a copy of The Urchin which thrilled me to no end because she is one of my favorite up and coming authors! I adore that she creates characters that are smart and relatable, regardless of their age, sex, or circumstance.

The Urchin is a departure from her previous books - the darkness is palpable. I love the spare, dystopian world that the residents of The Urchin inhabit.

Within the first few sentences of The Urchin, the reader learns that there has been cataclysmic change - the world as we know it no longer exists. Nick, a pilot, is on his way to New Washington when he is forced to make an emergency landing in a barren, hostile wasteland that appears to be empty of human existence.

The tell-tale sound of squeaky bicycles alerts Nick that he is not alone. The rag-tag bunch of boys who find him take him back to The Urchin. The Urchin is one of the last standing builidings in the area. It is a school turned fortress, by necessity the last line of defense between the boys who survived The End and the enemies who lurk in darkness.

Once Nick is inside The Urchin we meet Vance, the defacto leader of the surviving boys of the Stanton Military Academy. Vance is the heart of the novel. He is The Urchin - it is his guidance and leadership that keeps the boys alive. It is his story that tugs at your heart. It is his strategy and decisions that keep you surprised.

If Vance is the heart of the story, Johnny is its soul. Johnny is charismatic, thoughtful, funny, and is able to lift everyone's spirits. Vance and Johnny are best friends. Together, they lead the survivors of The End. Unfortunately, Johnny was attacked on a scouting mission and became a vampire. While "vamping out" should have marked the end of their friendship, Vance and Johnny not only remain friends but continue to work together to keep the kids alive.
Vance and Johnny are compelling characters in the present. They gain depth and humanity in the generous flashbacks that occur throughout the story. Honestly, it is through the flashbacks that you fall a little in love with them and become invested in their continued survival.

It is the strength of their friendship that gives the story its most signifcant twist.

I loved this book! I read it in a single sitting - I was completely engaged from the first page to the last. This is definitely a book that I will come back to and read again.(less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: r2r

R2R review: The Urchin

Lord of the Flies meets vampire. When everything is at a loss, there are still pockets of humanity and in this case, it falls within an all boy military school. Fighting for their lives, they rescue another young man, from a crashing airplane. But whether this was a wise choice is not something they can comment on, until later.
Vance is left, to try and help the community within The Urchin and lead them to some sense of normalcy. But when this involves shifts of watching for...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Suneeta Misra rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Urchin, by Adrienne Ambrose, is a very unusual and interesting book. At first, I thought it was going to be one type of book: about teenagers surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and while this was true, it took a completely different and (pleasantly) surprising direction! I liked the way that the supernatural elements were introduced into the story. It was a sudden shift, but not at all jarring. I felt like the pace of the story was kicked up a notch at this point.

Also, I really enjoy...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Leslie Lewis rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book. I'm not sure when I fell in love with it. The first couple of chapters I was interested, but then suddenly found myself gulping down every word. I just got so caught up in the characters.

When the book starts, you think Nick, a pilot, is the protagonist, but by the third chapter you realize the story is actually about Vance, the leader of a place called The Urchin, which was formerly a boys' school, that somehow survived the apocalypse. The guys have covered the school in woode...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Ty Patterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Yet another novel where the world has ended, I thought before reading the book. Wow, was my reaction after reading the book.The cover of the book sets the scene for a grim, dark, foreboding story that holds you throughout.

You have seen those sudden gusts of wind that scatter the leaves on the sidewalk, rearranging them and what was previous is no more. That is the gist of the book. Nick, a pilot, is rescued from a crash in barren wasteland by teenagers and his arrival at the Urchin, the last bui...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, r2r, given-by-author

Excellent story and characters, very solid writing, but needs good editing

An opening note: I received a copy of this book from Ms. Ambrose as part of the Goodreads Lovers of Paranormal Group's Read2Review program. Through this program, authors offer free copies of their book in exchange for *honest* reviews from those who agree to read the book. This is my honest review of The Urchin.

I was very intrigued by this book just from reading the synopsis, and when I looked at some comments from the LoP...more Excellent story and characters, very solid writing, but needs good editing

An opening note: I received a copy of this book from Ms. Ambrose as part of the Goodreads Lovers of Paranormal Group's Read2Review program. Through this program, authors offer free copies of their book in exchange for *honest* reviews from those who agree to read the book. This is my honest review of The Urchin.

I was very intrigued by this book just from reading the synopsis, and when I looked at some comments from the LoP group members who'd read the book before, I knew I wanted to give it a shot. I love dystopian reads, and although I'm a bit weary of vampires, I got the impression from others' comments that these were not "sparkly" vampires (and they're not). I was pretty sure I would like this read, and, for the most part, I was not disappointed.

I think that Ms. Ambrose's writing is pretty tight, and it didn't feel at all like I was reading something that was thrown together without much thought (as unfortunately some indie/self-pubbed books are). It seems clear to me that the author has either studied writing, practiced it a lot, or has a natural talent for it. I very much enjoyed the world, a dystopian version of the US after "the Event," and the setting of a former military academy for boys in Virginia. We don't know what the Event in question was, but it really doesn't matter much, as strange as that sounds. You have to just go with being thrown into this world post-event and not worry too much about why it happened.

Nick (age 20) is a pilot who is flying over this part of VA when he hits something with his plane and is grounded, stranded in what seems like the middle of nowhere because the landscape has been decimated by the Event. He is approached by a group of boys ranging in age from about 12-17. These are some of the boys who survived the Event and are holed up in the former military school, which is the Urchin of the title. They take him back there and from there we are along for the ride.

As another reviewer noted, I originally assumed that Nick was our protagonist, which I thought was unfortunate because I fairly quickly came to dislike him. However, I eventually realized that the true protagonist of this tale was Vance, a 17-year-old former student of the school and now the de facto leader of the surviving boys. It is tantalizingly hinted that there is some awful issue in Vance's past, having to do with his brother, that has shaped him into the leader he is when we meet him. I think Ms. Ambrose did an amazing job with creating her characters, imbuing each boy with his own personality and distinctive voice. She did such a good job speaking as teenage boys that I was kind of in awe! I really loved Vance, Johnny, and Martin, didn't trust Dave, and pretty much despised Nick.

We learn fairly early on, I think in chapter 2, that the boys are beset by vampires, who attack every night, and who are their former teachers, administrators, and friends. We are not told how the vampires started, as the boys don't know themselves (though there is a hint that we may find out in a future book, if there is one). We learn of all the ingenious things the boys have done to protect themselves and the Urchin, largely thanks to Vance's strategic thinking. These boys are in such a terrible situation that it was horrifying to think about, and I just marveled that they continued carrying on each day. At first I made note that certain comments or actions seemed too mature, especially for Vance, but upon reflection I realized they pretty much had to grow up quickly and be mature beyond their years in order to survive. Especially Vance!

The story is told in alternating sections of present-day narrative and flashbacks. I loved this idea, and I think it worked brilliantly for slowly revealing secrets and plot elements to us. However, I would often be confused when I first started in a flashback sequence because there wasn't any indication that we were moving to a flashback. There were those symbols that denote a break and new section, but those also occurred between present-day bits, so it was confusing. I felt like some guide for the reader would have helped, whether it's some note of dates (e.g., "6 months prior") before the flashback section, italicized font for flashbacks, or some other thing to make it more clear.

The author did a great job of teasing us with hints of important pieces of the puzzle, both in the present and the past, e.g., what events and forces led Vance to become who he is, what Nick is even doing flying solo over a wasteland, what Nick brought into the Urchin with him, the dynamics between the boys in past and present that may signal future problems, etc. It really was a brilliant way of telling the story, and frustrating (in a good way!) because you were so eager to see where these hints would lead.

However, while I loved the characters and the story the author gave us, as well as her writing style and the methods she used to tell the story, I can only give it three stars. The ONLY thing keeping me from giving this a 4-star rating is the number of errors I encountered. It pains me to say it, and actually pained me even more to read it, because I truly believe this is an *absolute winner* but for the grammatical, formatting, and spelling errors!! (And perhaps some light editing to tighten up the story some, to cut a bit of the length.) I know that's not as important to some people, but it is very important to me. I can almost blow it off with a book that I feel is clearly an amateur attempt at writing, one that doesn't have a plot or with flat characters, etc. But with a book like this, by an author who can REALLY write, it just frustrates me. It was by no means the worst I've seen in this respect, but it really did bother me; the errors were jarring and, honestly, continued throughout the book. Hence, my 3-star rating.

That said, I would still highly recommend this book, especially if you're not as troubled by errors as I am! Also, I would ABSOLUTELY read a book 2 (and beyond) if the author chooses to write more! The book works very well as a stand-alone, despite leaving some open questions; there are tons of books that don't tie up every thread but instead leave that to your own imagination. However, there were also hints throughout that the author may have contemplated a sequel, such as the inclusion of Vance's past relationship, the top-level mission Nick wants/needs to complete, and, well, THAT ENDING!! I would actually encourage Ms. Ambrose to write a sequel, if she's got the story in her! I would, in all honesty, love to read more about these characters and their new reality! Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy; I have a bit of a crush on Vance and would love to see him again.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Solace Winter rated it 5 of 5 stars

The end of the world. Vampires. These are things that have almost become synonymous with eye rolling. Especially the overly-romanticized version of vampires. These vampires are not romance novel vampires. In fact they are a means to an end to support the story.

Nick, a pilot, crashes down and is luckily saved by a few teenagers before he is eaten by the vampires. He finds himself within Stanton Military Academy, which is now referred to as The Urchin. It is the last standing building for miles an...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Monica Gallagher rated it 4 of 5 stars

With Urchin, Adrianne Ambrose spins a suspenseful story full of nail-biting action. A refreshing new spin on the post-apocalyptic future genre, Ambrose focuses all the drama on an isolated private boys' school and their fight for daily survival against the creatures lurking outside the school walls. I was never quite sure who to root for or who to trust, but I couldn't put this book down until I found out what happened next!

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Oct 11, 2012 Serge rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: shelved, fiction

Don't bother, if you care about literature.

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May 15, 2013 Natasha marked it as to-read

May 11, 2013 Sadie Forsythe marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy, kindle-lendable, vampires

May 09, 2013 Love-Lost Believer marked it as to-read

May 05, 2013 Hannah (Jaedia) marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebook, freebies, fiction, post-apocalyptic, vampires, horror

Apr 26, 2013 Jenice S marked it as to-read

Jan 30, 2013 Kathy marked it as to-read

Jan 27, 2013 ChaiTime rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 27, 2013 Alexandra Creatza added it

Jan 21, 2013 Shannon (Giraffe Days) marked it as to-read

Recommended to Shannon (Giraffe Days) by: Leslie Lewis

Shelves: apocalyptic-or-post-apocalyptic, e-book, horror

Jan 19, 2013 Lynelle Clark marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2013 Kenneth Kwame Welsh marked it as to-read

Jan 02, 2013 Gabby marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2012-new-releases, on-kindle

Dec 05, 2012 Lindsay Hunter marked it as to-read

Nov 24, 2012 Vanessa marked it as to-read

Nov 06, 2012 Kali marked it as to-read

Oct 25, 2012 Nikki marked it as to-read

Oct 25, 2012 Charli Denae marked it as to-read

Shelves: ya-na-fiction, r2r

Oct 24, 2012 Mallory Anne-Marie Forbes marked it as to-read

Shelves: pick4me-potentials

Oct 16, 2012 Viviana marked it as to-read

Oct 09, 2012 Melissa marked it as to-read

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