Bunny's Reviews: Cut From Stone Review Spotlight

Welcome to the book tour for Cut from Stone, a gritty YA dystopian by Brendan O'Meara.

Are you ready for Cut from Stone? Ready or not...here we go!

Cut from Stone is the first book that I have read by Brendan O'Meara and it is the first book in his Crafting Humanity series. Yes, people! There will be more! Get excited!

The author introduces you to a freshly turned 17-year-old boy. James is living in a post-apocalypse world where everything has changed. He's experienced some hardships as a child, but things got better. Now, the world that he experiences is one that most of us would be able to relate to. Good food supply, technology, "easy" life, mostly only dealing with the mundane everyday day to day. Right? Well, things are about to change...not just for him...but for everyone.

When I started reading this book, I initially wanted to complain about the lack of a prologue. I'm a sucker for a good prologue and crave them like I crave strawberry-filled donuts. LOL! However, while there isn't a prologue that lays out EXACTLY what transpired to "break" the world in half, the author does give you some filler. The reason for the "breaking" of the world? What else? War. War caused the division of the world and the creation of two different places.

You have the Federation, the combing of the two Americas, and then there is the BlankZone. I know you're thinking the same thing I was as I dove into this book - what caused this? What caused the "BlankZone" to become exactly that? Well, before you get any answers to that question, you have to dig deeper into this book.

Don't worry. The acquiring of answers will be fun! You get to discover a lot about James, and his family as he goes from "just being a 17-year-old kid" to becoming a future recruit of the military. He gets put through a lot and boy does he see a lot.

The drama is on point in this book. From the beginning, you're going to be engaged in this book. Yeah, you get some of the mundane life, but it works and keeps you engaged. So that is always a plus. Page by page this book will pull you deeper and keep you coming back for more. You get to see advancements in technology that, science fiction lovers, will happily applaud. Be prepared for some twists, surprises, and much more.

I know that by the end of this book, you're going to be eager for book two in this series.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, Brendan O’Meara, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book! I look forward to what comes next!

Cut from Stone (Crafting Humanity #1)

Genre: YA Dystopian

The world is fresh from humanity splitting in half – the BlankZone in the East and the Federation in the West. As an inevitable attack from the BlankZone looms, the Federation makes swift, mysterious, and unexpected moves to prepare.

James, a 17-year-old living in the Federation, is drafted by the military. He learns that he has been selected to join a group of skilled teens who will be transformed into elite human weapons. Follow James and his friends as they mature from teenagers to lethal warriors. Together, they will face life altering events navigating a new existence dedicated to protecting their friends, families, and humanity at all costs.

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Excerpt

One of the motherships from the BlankZone sat offshore. Its size alone was enough to cause concern from any angle, but it surprised him how calm he was looking at one of the largest warships ever created moored miles away from his current location.

“Jesus, man, how the hell did you survive?” James heard Clint say before he was embraced in his vicelike grip, the shorter mechanic’s biceps constricting James’s body until he thought he heard a crunch.

“Let him go. You’re gonna strangle him,” Stacie said, tapping Clint’s arm.

“I shouldn’t have let you go home,” Clint said, letting him go and standing back, shaking his head.“

You didn’t know what was gonna happen. Relax man. We’ve got a battle to plan.” James said, putting a reassuring hand on Clint’s shoulder.

“Jon, Stacie, I need updates. What’s happening out there?” James asked, turning to face the floating screens forming one of the Nest’s walls.

“Looks like they’re taking a break. Haven’t seen any other missiles coming into the city for a few minutes,” Jon said from behind him while the images changed to various scenes of damage spread all over the city.

There must be thousands dead, James thought.

“Do we know what they were using to bomb us?” James asked, zooming in on one of the blast sites and focusing on the melted metal pooling in superheated ponds.

“Nothing we’ve seen before, but none of this is. They’ve managed to decimate the city in an hour,” Stacie said, her voice crisp, clear, and analytical. “In our best estimate this was, frankly, the worst-case scenario.” James heard the break in her demeanor at the end of the sentence before he flipped his view to the ship off the coast.

Ten miles offshore, according to the HOLO’s distance finder, a ship the size of a skyscraper hung in the air elevated just slightly off the water. He couldn’t tell what part of the ship he was looking at, but his mind was stuck trying to piece together the mini nuclear station they would need to move the behemoth to the shore let alone across the ocean.

He took a breath, realizing they were up against an enemy no one understood before turning around to address the team when he heard a rumble from the HOLO emitters’ speakers. The ship opened, its armor plate covering the top pulled back, revealing a row of cannons stretching the length of the ship.

The front armor retracted until it disappeared under the ship’s bow. Meanwhile, the cannons lowered themselves, revealing another row of cannons behind them lining the length of the ship. The two rows of weaponry lowered themselves until they were parallel to the water.

What the hell is happening? James thought, hoping he was wrong about what was coming next.

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About the Author

Raised in White Plains, New York, Brendan O’Meara formed a love of stories and books from a young age. He has spent his free time over the last decade crafting his debut novel, Cut From Stone, book one in the Crafting Humanity series.

It began in Philadelphia where he attended college daydreaming about a dystopian reality. With a vivid imagination (as described by his middle school teachers) and a passion for adventure, Brendan’s novels will transport you to a different life and capture you from cover to cover.

Brendan lives in Washington, DC with his daughter, wife, and two dogs. You will find him on the weekends drinking a beer watching the Packers and Notre Dame football games. He is an avid reader with a specific interest in sci-fi, anything dystopian, fantasy, history, and all levels of fiction.

Follow him on, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, and BookBub.