Ashfall reminded me more than a bit of Life As We Knew It, but there are really only so many ways to write about life immediately following a major natural disaster, and feeling a bit similar to Life As We Knew It isn't a bad thing anyway.There were a few places that made me wince - if I wouldn't want to be a human in a post-apocalyptic world, I really wouldn't want to be a pet or an animal of any other sort - but of course if a book is making an attempt at realism at all, including things like that makes sense.
But anyway, the writing didn't drag and while it took me a while to warm to Darla, I liked both her and Alex well enough to care what was happening to them. I'm looking forward to Ashen Winter - definitely a book that's going on my to-buy list next year.