Reviews with content warning for Death - Radio Apocalypse

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Radio Apocalypse by Kayleigh Gallagher

10 reviews

breewriteback's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

this was scarier than i expected (i completely missed the horror tag lol), but i still thought it was good.

the writing wasn’t the best at times but the plot had me captivated from the very beginning. i will say the romance was definitely rushed and felt somewhat forced. i would have loved to see more development in rachel and lota’s friendship before they dove into dating.

overall, i still really enjoyed the story!

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clack's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The author has a lot of potential and a tremendous gift for creating a sense of unease and eeriness. I do think this book would be better appreciated by a younger audience than I, but it still had moments that struck me, where anguish and emotional heaviness was written beautifully. Overall, the universe is a delighful curio and I long for more answers.

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lolajh's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

First off, the author was like fucking eighteen or younger when she wrote this???? And that is so fucking amazing. I could never think of being capable of writing a book of this length at that age. It’s truly something admirable and I am so incredibly impressed.

As a book itself, it did fall short slightly in my opinion, mainly because of the ending; it just felt a bit unfinished. What I did like is that I did not at all expect the plot to develop as it did.

I knew Rachel and Lauren were going to eventually meet and fall in love, but I didn’t expect Lauren’s whole mindfuck situation going on. I definitely felt like even just one extra chapter could have been provided to see how Lauren’s mind really was after the cave, but oh well. That plot point was definitely quite confusing to read, and I’m still not sure I understand what even happened to her. She got hit with weird monster light and started having visions and turning into light??? Why was Rachel wanting to tear Lauren’s eyes out never revisited???

The monsters were kind of underdeveloped in their whole history and existence

and why they have weird angel halos and shootable light beams and weapons and stuff?

but that’s okay, they were still very intriguing, and I loved that some of them were nice. Jeremy kinda freaks me out, but Victor is awesome.

poor baby

And the setting was sick!!! Post apocalypse, being one of the only humans left alive (maybe???), and having to develop all these skills was so cool. Like all the engineering, building a camera and computer from scratch, the radio stuff, all of it was really cool to read.

I’m only slightly iffy about Rachel getting Lauren’s coordinates, that wasn’t really explained much.

Characters were lovely too. Just funny, dorky lesbians in their twenties trying to survive on their own. Overall a fun read!!! Liked it a lot

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greyys_libraryy's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Radio Apocalypse exceeded my expectations. I picked up the book because I thought it was a cool concept and because the cover looked cool. I hadn't even read the full synopsis before buying it. But as soon as I started reading it, it was hard to stop. I would become so involved in the story that I couldn't feel time passing around me.

The plot and formatting were so well written. I liked being able to read what was happening from Rachel's point of view and being able to hear her inner thoughts. And then being able to hear Lauren’s point of view through her broadcast as Lota. it was a good perspective because through each it was an uncensored thought process, while with Lots it was a tad more censored only because she was broadcasting on the radio.

The plot of the two slowly learning about each other was something that I welcomed, but hadn't expected. For some reason I had gone into the book expecting them to both still think they're the last person alive by the end of it. Maybe it was because I had recently finished The Picture of Dorian Gray and was still stuck in the mindset of a semi-morbid ending.

The world-building was amazing, as were the monsters described throughout. I would have LOVED to see some sketches of the monsters on the pages.

I rate this a 5/5 and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in sci-fi, horror, queer romance read.

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smartie_chan's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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delvainy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I read this after getting the ebook for free in celebration of the author’s birthday, and I think I might just go ahead and buy a physical copy. I really enjoyed reading this! It filled me with genuine dread at times which was actually a novel experience for me personally while reading. I loved our main characters and found the world intriguing and horrifying in an interesting way. I’ll have to read the end again because I’m not sure I fully understood it in the way I’d like to, but that’s a me problem. Anyway, I’m really glad I stumbled upon this book!

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mothie_girlie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maggiekwinters's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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sssssoup's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sweetwritng's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Radio Apocalypse is a novel about two girls living across the world from one another in the aftermath of an apocalypse. Lota hosts a radio show where she speaks her minds to anyone who’s still alive (which, to her knowledge, is nobody else). But Rachel hears Lota’s broadcast across the ocean, and realizes she isn’t alone either. The two girls forge a strong relationship while braving a terrifying post-apocalyptic world.

There are some really interesting components of Radio Apocalypse that make it a unique read. The take on the apocalypse, which has its origins left relatively vague, leads to a bunch of cool and fearsome creatures and environments that really enhance the worldbuilding and setting. The use of perspective is also something that stands out: Rachel mostly communicates her perspective through the typical 1st-person prose, but the reader can only hear Lota’s point-of-view through her radio broadcast, which still manages to get a lot out of her personality in terms of what she says (and what she doesn’t say). This book also has good diversity (about as much as you can have when there’s not a lot of human characters left) and a WLW relationship.

So, now that the general idea of the story is covered, here are my thoughts on it:

Firstly, I want to commend Gallagher on her use of these two different perspectives. I never found myself mixing up the characters, and they had distinct voices and personalities that complemented each other. However, I think the relationship featured in the novel, while having good chemistry, went a little too fast for my liking. This might just be a personal thing, but I wished the relationship was a slower burn and included more personal setbacks or complications that blocked the characters from just instantly falling in love.

I found the setting to be really well written and the descriptions were short but moving. The entire story, actually, is very well-written and impressive. If there was one thing I’d alter, though, it would be to better clarify some of the mystical beings and their purpose/role. It’s kind of implied that some of them are angels or demons or something else divine, but they don’t really have any logic or consistency in a lot of the story. I think their concept is very strong but a little bit more fleshing out would go a long way.

This story is certainly a character-based story, not a plot-based story. This is mostly a good thing, as it strengthens the characters and makes them more well-rounded and interesting. However, it sometimes leads to troubles with pacing, especially around the middle. At the end, however, the plot rocketed ahead and it was thrilling up until the end, which—I won’t spoil—but it left me with more questions than answers. I think there could definitely be a sequel to this story, but at the same time, if it was left as a standalone, that would definitely work too.

Some other thoughts that are more personal and not really a judgment of the story or the writing:

I liked Rachel more than Lota. Sometimes Lota was really funny, but otherwise, she was a bit blander than Rachel. Both characters were still great though.
The saddest part of the story is a spoiler, but all I’ll say is that page 357 broke my heart.
I thought it would end up in a “two characters, one bed” type story—in some ways, I’m glad it didn’t, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t have been mad if it did.
Don’t let the length fool you. 500-something pages seems like a lot, but it goes by fast and also the font is larger for the radio broadcasts.
The cover, title, and design are all excellent

I’d definitely recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of fantastical sci-fi, apocalyptic fiction, or WLW relationships. If you are a fan of slow-burn romance, sci-fi where all the science is explained/detailed, or stories with a large cast, this might not be perfect for you (though I still recommend you give it a shot).

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