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charthegoose's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
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
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
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
jjjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
spttsn'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
2.75
I liked the premise and I read through it in a few hours, but the execution left a little to be desired. The beginning was confusingly written, the plot in the middle was interesting, and the end was messy and disappointing.
Overall - it kept me interested enough in where the plot was going to not put down, but not invested enough to pickup the second book despite the many questions the ending leaves.
The map was cool though.
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent
erzywerzy'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, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Trafficking and Death of parent
ethen_rey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
jupiterlee'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? It's complicated
5.0
Now while this is a zombie/undead apocalypse book, it does touch on slavery: exploiting ones that are different to do the work for another, in fear of being killed or found out. There is also a hint of implied sexual assault, but that it is if you squint at the page and if your like me and that's where your mind goes when someone says "they'll be made to do more than just work for them".
Such an easy quick read, and ill be picking up the sequel as soon as I can!
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking