A review by bookedbymadeline
With Regrets by Lee Kelly

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Funny enough, I didn’t realize at the time that this is the same author I read earlier in the year (that book she was a co-author). I enjoyed this book from Kelly much more than the one she co-authored (The Antiquity Affair with Jennifer Thorne).

I loved the premise! It was a mix of Birdbox and The Mist by Stephen King vibes. Also the cover is the main reason I picked it up, it’s gorgeous 😅 The story is told through switching POVs between 4 different characters, (who I won’t name because minor spoilers?) each character has their own voice and was well developed!

The characters are complicated and mostly unlikeable in that their personality is being rich and “important.” Liz and Padma are the only ones I liked for the most part. Britta is like a train wreck where you can’t stand her but don’t want to look away either 😅 
Britta is the typical influencer/wellness life coach that tries to create a perfect image where everything is not always what you see on social media. I feel sorry for her kids being used for her brand, especially the oldest daughter who is being parentified. 

Mabel had ups and downs, I didn’t have strong feelings about her one way or the other. Gwen was kind of entertaining with all her gossip, she reminded me of Laura Dern’s character in Big Little Lies. And all the men were just awful most of the time, with the exception of Romer 🙈

Overall, all the characters try to present a perfect image but over the course of 24 hours are forced to acknowledge their issues and the cracks begin to show. With that, there was a lot of character development throughout the book which I think was really well done!

The premise was unique and I didn’t want to put this down! The pacing was well done and the ending was good. I don’t read a lot of science fiction, especially apocalyptic stories, but I loved this! I definitely want to check out more from Lee Kelly in the future.

Highly recommend for any sci fi or horror fans, especially if you enjoy dystopian/apocalyptic stories. 
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