A review by bigcandle
The Drift by C.J. Tudor

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was an impulse buy - I went to order a new book from my local, and saw The Drift. Really loved The Chalk Man and I do love me some apocalypse stuff.

This was a very fun read. Tudor is so good at keeping you on your toes by pulling you in and out of different plot points by switching point of view or time period. I read it in a day on my train ride, and I'm glad I did! 

I think it was, at times, a bit overwhelming how many characters were packed into the scenarios, and how similar a lot of their modes of speaking were. This improved with time but, overall, a bit more diversity could have made things more interesting. Having read two of her books, I'm noticing Tudor definitely has a preference for sort of moody, emotionally dysfunctional, often analytical, traumatised characters who don't have much time or sympathy for others around them. They're flawed characters and purposefully so, but it would be good to see a bit more range in personality. Meg and Hannah's characters did develop and become more well rounded as things unfolded.

I really did not buy Carter as his age. Sean behaved much younger, more controlled, more thoughtful and brave, while Carter came off like a disgruntled and awkward teenager most of the time. It was just a bit jarring, and I couldn't help but picture Carter as an early twenty year old


Overall - fucking fun and a good bit of horror sci-fi. It's fucked up, action-packed and very tense. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings