Reviews

Reads like a girl power book. Keeps reinforcing the narrator is a grown woman but sounds like a 16 year old. Maybe have been the intent, but not my cup of tea.

Makes no sense that the dad had the cure for the flu but never told anybody or wrote it down for them or anything???

nancyadelman's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

I guess I had higher expectations for this novel, a stand-alone postapocalyptic book set in the not-too-distant future. It features a world ravaged by nuclear war and then a flu virus that decimates the population. Lynne is the hero of this story, a redheaded girl living in the wilds of the Yukon with her mother, brother, uncle, and cousin and a penchant for bows and arrows. If your mind conjures up Katniss Everdeen, well, that was on purpose. The other major character is the mysterious Jax who comes out of nowhere and has an interesting history that he doesn't tell just anyone about. There are blurbs on the book comparing Jax to Jason Bourne; I guess there are some similarities.

This book just felt so bland. The characters really did feel like they were ripped out of other authors' series. The lesser characters were very vanilla and so under-developed that we aren't sure what to make of it when something happens to one of them. Are we supposed to feel sad or mad? You don't really feel anything because they aren't really developed enough. Some of the scenes felt like they were ripped out of other books too; it gives you a weird sense of deja vu like you've read this before. There's one scene where Jax has to save Lynne by getting naked with her and keeping her warm by body heat in an igloo while her uncle watches. It doesn't feel unique, I guess you could say. You're left wondering when they're going to bring in the Taun-Taun to keep her warm even though you know good and well that it's not set in the Star Wars universe.

This book may be good for someone who hasn't already met Katniss Everdeen, or Jason Bourne or been forced to get naked to keep someone warm.

godofwar's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

(1.5) how is a book about the end of the world featuring superhumans going to be so boring?? anyway, there's an unnecessarily graphic assault in chapter one, the main character admits to trying to force herself onto a 17-year-old boy (who's described as having cried when it happened) while in her 20s, and the virus that ended the world is literally called the "asian flu" (this was published in 2018.) everything is just a really badly-utilized tropes that a dozen different films and books have done infinitely better. comparisons to "the hunger games" and even "station eleven" are just insulting.

liakeller's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I love post-apocalyptic fiction. This was a great story with a strong female lead and interesting story line. I can't believe that isn't a movie yet.

ruth24's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

kelbylakelin's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

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

2.0

charnett89's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Interesting set-up and first act but quickly fell apart.

More...