A review by theladygonzalez
First Days (as the World Dies, Book One) by Rhiannon Frater
5.0
How do I even begin to describe The First Days? Well, I guess I could start with fabulous, stunning and completely kickass. How’s that?
In all seriousness, The First Days is quite possibly the best zombie book I’ve ever read. It’s got everything you could ever ask for; two complex and interesting heroines, an exciting yet terrifying plotline and a healthy (or should I say unhealthy) dose of killer zombies.
What really makes The First Days stand out from other zombie books is definitely the characters. While Frater is great at the action parts of the story, she is phenomenal at the character development. Truthfully, most zombie books have great action. And The First Days does too – which is outstanding. But you can really tell that Frater put into a ton of effort in creating her characters. They are likable, dynamic, intelligent and just plain interesting. The story doesn’t simply rely on the zombies to sell the book; the characters do that on their own.
Like I said before, there are two main heroines – Katie and Jenni. While they both are marvelous, I must say Jenni takes the cake for me. Jenni is understandably a little damaged by the zombie apocalypse and it sets her a bit off kilter. She develops an incredibly aggressive side and takes up zombie killing as an official hobby. Honestly, she is just a hoot. Let’s be honest, the zombie apocalypse is not exactly a cheery topic and she adds a touch of humor to the book. At the same time though, Jenni is incredible fragile. The woman witnesses her family turn into zombies. As much as I loved her warrior woman side, I also loved seeing her breakdown. I also loved the relationship between Katie and Jenni. They think of themselves as “War-buddies” and are incredibly protective of each other.
As the book progresses, the two meet a few different groups of people, most notably Juan and Travis. Juan and Travis are two construction workers who sort of unofficially run survival group that is holed up in a small town. The two men befriend Katie and Jenni and the four of them together are just magic. My favorite of the guys was easily Juan. Like Jenni, he has a humorous streak and a rather sharp tongue.
The only aspect of the story that I did not like was the abrupt change in Katie’s sexual orientation. Katie is introduced as one thing and then switched midway through the book. It felt like the author changed her mind halfway through in order to fit a romance in for Katie. The way it was done was incredibly abrupt; it felt like the author was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I was told one thing and then was handed a great big old “gotcha” later on.
However, all in all, I LOVED The First Days. It was intense, interesting and undeniably entertaining. I just could not put this one down. In fact, I’ve already read the second one and now am just itching to get my hands on the third. If you are a fan of zombie books you simply must read this one!
In all seriousness, The First Days is quite possibly the best zombie book I’ve ever read. It’s got everything you could ever ask for; two complex and interesting heroines, an exciting yet terrifying plotline and a healthy (or should I say unhealthy) dose of killer zombies.
What really makes The First Days stand out from other zombie books is definitely the characters. While Frater is great at the action parts of the story, she is phenomenal at the character development. Truthfully, most zombie books have great action. And The First Days does too – which is outstanding. But you can really tell that Frater put into a ton of effort in creating her characters. They are likable, dynamic, intelligent and just plain interesting. The story doesn’t simply rely on the zombies to sell the book; the characters do that on their own.
Like I said before, there are two main heroines – Katie and Jenni. While they both are marvelous, I must say Jenni takes the cake for me. Jenni is understandably a little damaged by the zombie apocalypse and it sets her a bit off kilter. She develops an incredibly aggressive side and takes up zombie killing as an official hobby. Honestly, she is just a hoot. Let’s be honest, the zombie apocalypse is not exactly a cheery topic and she adds a touch of humor to the book. At the same time though, Jenni is incredible fragile. The woman witnesses her family turn into zombies. As much as I loved her warrior woman side, I also loved seeing her breakdown. I also loved the relationship between Katie and Jenni. They think of themselves as “War-buddies” and are incredibly protective of each other.
As the book progresses, the two meet a few different groups of people, most notably Juan and Travis. Juan and Travis are two construction workers who sort of unofficially run survival group that is holed up in a small town. The two men befriend Katie and Jenni and the four of them together are just magic. My favorite of the guys was easily Juan. Like Jenni, he has a humorous streak and a rather sharp tongue.
The only aspect of the story that I did not like was the abrupt change in Katie’s sexual orientation. Katie is introduced as one thing and then switched midway through the book. It felt like the author changed her mind halfway through in order to fit a romance in for Katie. The way it was done was incredibly abrupt; it felt like the author was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I was told one thing and then was handed a great big old “gotcha” later on.
However, all in all, I LOVED The First Days. It was intense, interesting and undeniably entertaining. I just could not put this one down. In fact, I’ve already read the second one and now am just itching to get my hands on the third. If you are a fan of zombie books you simply must read this one!