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butteredtoastinbed's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
The main reason that I decided to read this book is because it was said to be a good read if you enjoyed Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden (one of my all time favourite reads), and it did live up to that claim in some ways. Thematically they were quite similar, but this novel was distinct enough for me to easily separate the two and see them as completely different stories.
Additionally, I found myself excited to read more throughout the entire book, and I really enjoyed getting to know & root for some of the characters. The voice in which the book was written was easy to read, gave the main character a lot of personality, and it also made the story seem a lot more real.
Some of the actions from some of the characters hit me as very unrealistic considering their situation, which did pull me out of the story a little (but not significantly by any means). I also didn’t enjoy the love triangle as much as most other aspects of the novel, but this is heavily a personal preference and I think it was written well from an objective point of view. I also somewhat feel like the first two thirds of the book is setup (maybe for the other books in the series) and establishing the environment, and I found that section a bit slow. I understand this is important (and I did appreciate the worldbuilding!), but it seemed to leave the action squeezed into the end of the story. At the time of reading, this didn’t bother me too much however, and didn’t make me slow down or stop enjoying the story.
I haven’t decided if I will read the next books in the series, but I am glad that I read this one and I would definitely recommend it if you like survival/YA novels!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lotte5322's review
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
amelia6685's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I wish I had loved this book.
The concept is great, and I love what the author could have done with the plot. But I found the main character so dry it was impossible for me to get into this book. Beyond the fact that the MC has little to no personality, the love triangle is forced and badly executed. I did not believe that Jess (MC) was interested in either love interest beyond their interest in her. The relationships felt forced for the plot and really did nothing to help connect the reader with the characters.
The side characters could have been interesting, but they had little to no depth to them beyond surface level plot development. I think trying to balance roughly 10 characters alongside the MC was too much for this story and perhaps with fewer characters the author may have been able to create a more compelling story.
Plot alone, it is a great idea for a novel, but I and little interest in the characters and it was not executed very well.
The concept is great, and I love what the author could have done with the plot. But I found the main character so dry it was impossible for me to get into this book. Beyond the fact that the MC has little to no personality, the love triangle is forced and badly executed. I did not believe that Jess (MC) was interested in either love interest beyond their interest in her. The relationships felt forced for the plot and really did nothing to help connect the reader with the characters.
The side characters could have been interesting, but they had little to no depth to them beyond surface level plot development. I think trying to balance roughly 10 characters alongside the MC was too much for this story and perhaps with fewer characters the author may have been able to create a more compelling story.
Plot alone, it is a great idea for a novel, but I and little interest in the characters and it was not executed very well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Rape