Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Drift

This is a very fast-paced horror/thriller set in an apocalyptic world ravaged by a virus. The multiple POVs kept the story moving very quickly and every chapter ends in a way that makes you want to keep reading. The wrap-up is very smart and you do have to pay attention to the details, but I didn’t see the end twists coming at all. There are some scenes in here that are extremely graphic and difficult to read. You could skim over the gore and death scenes and still get it. I would say I enjoyed the wrap up of this one more than The Burning Girls, and I’ll read her next one, too.

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tabby2920's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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ralbert89's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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dogearedbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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hailsbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

TW: Death, Gore, Body horror, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Animal death, Rape, Adult/minor relationship
4.25 stars
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I picked this up blindly and assumed it was a story about being isolated/trapped during a winter storm. Although this book touches on that aspect, it is a story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world, I love how the plot still focuses on human survival rather than being a story focusing more on the Whistlers and escaping from them.

In each chapter, we focus on a different tale of survival; Hannah (who is on a coach bus that has crashed), Meg (Trapped in a cable car with a suspicious group), and Carter (who lives in an abandoned chalet and seems to have the most resources, but not everyone can be trusted). At first, it seems as if there are a lot of characters as each setting has multiple people trapped, but since each pov is mainly set in the same area and always told via the same person it starts to clear up as you read.

As the book went on I was a little on the fence as part of me wondered if all of these POVs were connected. The main factor in each situation is a place called The Retreat and it's the goal for our characters to get there. At one point I gave up thinking they were connected and just assumed the book was three short stories combined into one! Once I found out how all POVs were linked together I was shocked, the author did a great job at tying it all together and had my head spinning with theories!

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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Hannah is being evacuated from her secluded boarding school due to a virulent infection, called Choler, which is sweeping its way through the campus. The coach crashes during a snowstorm however, & when Hannah awakens, only a handful of students remain alive. Hannah along with Lucas, Cassie, Ben, Josh, Peggy, & Daniel are the only ones left & they need to stay alive until they are rescued. The emergency door is broken & won't open, whilst the hammers to smash open the windows are all conveniently missing. Stuck onboard, the survivors search for a way out. Then Hannah notices that one of the dead students has the red eyes of a person infected with Choler, & as the daughter of leading scientist at the school, Professor Grant, she knows that he would never allow an infected person to leave the campus. When Ben also starts to show symptoms & is then found murdered, Hannah realises that none of this is coincidence, they are all meant to die, & the killer could be onboard with them.

Meg wakes up to find herself & five strangers are stranded in a cable car, high above the mountains. Karl, Max, Sean, & Sarah soon start to wake up, but none of them can remember what happened & they realise that they have been drugged. The sixth member of the group seems to still be asleep, but when Meg goes over the wake them up, she notices that they are dead. She also recognises them as Paul, a ex-cop whom she once dated. Realising that this gives her a motive, she pretends not to know Paul, & the group decide to dispose of his body through the floor hatch in the cable car. As time moves on they start to register that no-one is coming to their rescue & without food & water, they won't survive for long. When a second member of the group is killed, Meg realises that she is stuck in a confined space with four strangers & a killer is in their midst.

Carter lives in an isolated ski chalet with Nate, Julia, Caren, Miles, Welland, & Dexter the dog. The ski resort shut down years ago & they are the only ones there. A generator runs their compound & keeps it secure from the dangers lurking in the woods, but it has been on the blink lately, & a new one needs to be found. First, Carter is sent down to the village below for supplies but when he returns he knows there is something badly wrong. He finds Julia dead in the swimming pool,. & Nate is mortally injured. The compound has been keeping something deadly in the basement but the generator problems have meant that it is no longer secure, & it looks like something has escaped.

Wow what a great read! Three stories which start off as separate but gradually the reader begins to work out why & how they are connected. They are all set in a post-apocalyptic future when an infection known as Choler has wreaked havoc on civilisation leaving many people dead, the uninfected living in seclusion, & the infected who survive either become outcasts known as Whistlers (due to the noise from the damage to their lungs) or are herded onto 'farms' to contain them. The three main characters are all well chosen to allow the reader to become invested in their stories & what happens. It's fast-paced with twists & turns & unexpected deaths. I worked out the long term twist but some of the others came out of left field. It's extremely well plotted & well written. It's the type of book I will reread at some point & probably notice things that I missed before. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

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