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100pagesaday's review
4.0
Ellen Hale is a graduate student in library science when the zombie apocalypse begins. Things get even worse when a band of marauders kills her brother and captures Ellen. Ellen is then subjected to torture and rape by the marauders, who are keeping girls as a commodity. Ellen and her roommate, Mellissa are eventually freed by a group from a nearby compound. Ellen’s scars from her capture run deep, though and she has a difficult time recovering even within the relative safety of the compound. When a few guys from a nearby halfway house show up, Ellen begins to pull out of her funk and gets to know one of the men, Quinn. However, just as her trust in men is returning, a zombie attack takes it all away.
This was an interesting and quick zombie read, perfect for Halloween time. While the zombie threat is even present, the focus is more on the human threat and how people choose to act in times of crisis. Ellen is an interesting character who goes through a lot of trauma in a very short time. She deals with it all in a very realistic way, going through all the stages despite the zombies surrounding her. Quinn seems like just the right person to pull her out of her downward spiral. Watching their relationship grow is great. Ellen will definitely be a character that is able to grow and transform over time. What I liked best of all is that this book focused on the human aspect and not just the zombies, showing that other people can be the greatest monsters or your best allies.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
This was an interesting and quick zombie read, perfect for Halloween time. While the zombie threat is even present, the focus is more on the human threat and how people choose to act in times of crisis. Ellen is an interesting character who goes through a lot of trauma in a very short time. She deals with it all in a very realistic way, going through all the stages despite the zombies surrounding her. Quinn seems like just the right person to pull her out of her downward spiral. Watching their relationship grow is great. Ellen will definitely be a character that is able to grow and transform over time. What I liked best of all is that this book focused on the human aspect and not just the zombies, showing that other people can be the greatest monsters or your best allies.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
tmedwards's review
4.0
I was gifted a copy of the book for an honest review. So with that being said, I'll start by saying that I enjoyed this book. It kept me reading for sure, and I finished in just a few short hours. When I started the book I wasn't aware that it was a novella, so I was disappointed with the lack of characterization, storytelling, and zombies. I figured there would be more action involved, and more dialogue, but the story is mainly told from the main character, Ellen's thought processes. I felt like I didn't really get a chance to grow a connection to any of the characters, which made me not really care what happened to them which isn't good for a story of this nature. Lori has an interesting writing style that I liked, but sometimes I wished she would go more into depth in certain scenes. Overall I'd give the book 3/5 stars, but I was also very impressed by the lack of editorial errors so I gave it a 4/5 overall. I'm hoping that when I read the next story I will establish a better connection between the characters since it is a novel. I feel like this story didn't reach its full potential since it was meant as a novella.
bookwormlala's review against another edition
3.0
That ending killed me
Plot: D
The low rating for the plot is because of the ending. That ending killed me, and was disappointing. Additionally, I thought this was going to be a romance, but it wasn't. There was a hint, but no HEA here. This book was more realistic than other stories complete with how things would probably turn out in most situations. Also, a little warning about this being a series would've been great. Otherwise, this was a well written story. Things happened like one would expect out of a zombie outbreak. I'm interested to see what happens next despite the ending.
Characters: A
Ellen is a good character. She has been through so much, but is still pretty strong. She is learning to adapt to life after zombies and the horrendous things that happened to her. Quinn was a good character too. Sweet, helpful, and understanding.
Heat: n/a
Plot: D
The low rating for the plot is because of the ending. That ending killed me, and was disappointing. Additionally, I thought this was going to be a romance, but it wasn't. There was a hint, but no HEA here. This book was more realistic than other stories complete with how things would probably turn out in most situations. Also, a little warning about this being a series would've been great. Otherwise, this was a well written story. Things happened like one would expect out of a zombie outbreak. I'm interested to see what happens next despite the ending.
Characters: A
Ellen is a good character. She has been through so much, but is still pretty strong. She is learning to adapt to life after zombies and the horrendous things that happened to her. Quinn was a good character too. Sweet, helpful, and understanding.
Heat: n/a
staceyn84's review against another edition
2.0
It started off really good but then just slowly deteriorated from there for me. Felt more like a prequel explaining how the MC became the way she is. It wasn't bad but definitely not one I will remember.
nexusgoblin's review
4.0
3.5 Stars
The Dead Survive is a quick little snippet of a story about a girl named Ellen, who goes from being a quiet librarian in training to being a prisoner at the mercy of men striving to be on top in the world now filled with zombies.
The plot itself moves quickly and has several rather large time jumps, and while I really did enjoy the overall story and quickly it moved. I do wish that some instances were slowed down some so that we could get to know all the players a bit more. I like Ellen though. She goes through some pretty awful crap and struggles to pull through it on her own, and I liked that she eventually found strength in herself thanks to the help of others.
I really like the writing style as well, and the way the way each character was fleshed out. It definitely makes me want to get the second one at some point and see how Ellen’s life is going after the the events of the last chapter. I will say that the beginning is definitely on the graphic side, though none of the actual rape is documented but it is alluded to and for some that might be enough to avoid it.
Overall it’s a great quick story that really left me wanting more.
The Dead Survive is a quick little snippet of a story about a girl named Ellen, who goes from being a quiet librarian in training to being a prisoner at the mercy of men striving to be on top in the world now filled with zombies.
The plot itself moves quickly and has several rather large time jumps, and while I really did enjoy the overall story and quickly it moved. I do wish that some instances were slowed down some so that we could get to know all the players a bit more. I like Ellen though. She goes through some pretty awful crap and struggles to pull through it on her own, and I liked that she eventually found strength in herself thanks to the help of others.
I really like the writing style as well, and the way the way each character was fleshed out. It definitely makes me want to get the second one at some point and see how Ellen’s life is going after the the events of the last chapter. I will say that the beginning is definitely on the graphic side, though none of the actual rape is documented but it is alluded to and for some that might be enough to avoid it.
Overall it’s a great quick story that really left me wanting more.
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