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abi_sarah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I’m really starting to enjoy this type of fantasy. I never thought I’d be a zombie apocalypse kinda girl, but I loved ‘The Last of Us’ TV series, really enjoyed the ‘Fallout’ TV series and now this book!
I thought the premise of the lake acting as the barrier between the living and the dead, made for a really interesting novel. (Although it did remind me a lot of a certain ‘Game of Thrones’ episode 👀) I liked how human the living were in the way they were in complete denial about what was looming, until it actually happened.
I enjoyed the romance element of the story (I know?!? Who even am I?!) and thought it fitted in really well to the story and added an emotional dimension to the whole thing.
The writing of this novel was excellent, I was gripped from beginning to end. The only reason it took me this long to finish it was because I was listening with my partner, and getting him to sit down and listen to an audiobook is a difficult task 😅
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
hawkguyscoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found the story to be really, really lovely and though the main character repelled me at first I soon found his development over the story commendable as although he hardened himself and grew aware of the coldness of the world outside, he didn't lose the kindness that made him himself. As far as the rest of the characters go, I enjoyed them thoroughly and they all felt very different from one another, contrary to the mass of grey death the zees were. As far as writing itself and storytelling goes, I do have my grips with how things were executed and how there were several moments where important details were omitted and it made the series of events slightly confusing. Not everything needs to be explained step by step, but sometimes characters got from situation A to B in ways that didn't make much sense or that were too sudden. Other than that, I could see some of the plot points from a mile away but I was gladly surprised to find that once we got there as expected, the story surprised me by developing in ways I hadn't seen coming. My final note would be that although all of the characters were great, sometimes their actions felt slightly shallow or lacked depth. Other than that, I have nothing else to add other than that I found this to be a lovely, lighthearted (despite everything) and fun read. Gay zombie cowboys in the middle of winter, as convoluted as it might sound at first glance, is actually really, really fun.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Trafficking
Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent
kittykaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
dustialycee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
pkc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death and Gore
markwillnevercry's review against another edition
2.0
Reading notes:
Why did he throw away the alarm? Shouldn't he keep carrying it to attract the dead?
And the community is just okay with Bud basically killing someone, by making them a bait and not fully informing them?
Now Peter is going to take over Mr Schmidt's job? Where is this story going?
Bro, the sex scene, bring out the fans, bois, it be steamin hot.
I have a feeling, that the writer of this book is not too fond of capitalism, seeing how Cooper reacts to the idea of wanting to be born before shit hit the fan. (this is never mentioned again, they never again think about being born at some other time)
Did we really need the scene where they kill Essie? Like, there was a bunch of blood already spilled and it does not really make sense to kill her in such a flashy way.
So we just leave the rest of people and have just Peter, Cooper, Tom and Becky????
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Slavery
axel_p's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Probably wouldn't recommend it, but I don't regret buying it. It's really pretty.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
corin_134340's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
numerous_bees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The first issue I ran into was that the author uses a lot of similes in an attempt to create a voice for the character and I found them be distracting and occasionally inappropriate for the situation.
The second thing - the one that really turned me off - is the sudden slavery/sexual assault plot point that shows up at about the 75% mark, lingers for a couple of chapters, and is dropped and barely brought up again. The sex abuse in particular is completely out of left-field, totally uncalled for, and adds nothing. I'm of the opinion that something that serious needs to justify it's presence in a story, and this didn't.
The racism metaphor that followed the slavery plot point only served to highlight the lack of racial diversity in the cast.
Finally, the climax is emotionally hobbled by how little we see of Peter and Cooper's community - the main(?) villain gets an emotional monologue where they try to justify their decisions, but they'vebarely featured in the story to this point and, despite Peter waxing poetic about how many happy memories they had together, we didn't see those events and Peter hadn't thought about them until that point, and I simply didn't care about this character or their motivations.
It's a shame, because I think that the concept of a queer romance novel set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse has a lot of potential, but this book isn't really that. It starts off as a romance but ends as a survival adventure, and I don't think it did a good job of transitioning between the two genres.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol