Book Review: Nowhere To Hide by Tracey Lynn Tobin

23/09/201622/09/2016Horror, Tracey Lynn TobinLeave a Comment

Author: Tracey Lynn Tobin
Release Date: October 2, 2014
Series: –
Genre: Apocalyptic Fiction, Horror>Zombies
Edition: e-book (mobi)
Pages: 236
Publisher: Createspace

Rating: ★★★★

Blurb:

The only thing that Nancy King has worried about since her grandmother passed away is figuring out what to do with the rest of her life. That decision is forcibly made for her the day one of the residents of her apartment building dies…and immediately rises to tear open the flesh of anyone within reach of her cold, dead fingers. Now Nancy has found herself in a deadly game of survival against an army of zombies. She may have the will to keep running for a little while…but how long can she push forward when there is simply nowhere to hide?

Review

Nowhere To Hide is a really engaging read. I enjoyed it from the first page right down till the very last page!
It is about a girl who finds herself in the midst of an unforeseen apocalypse and what makes this book different from others is the twist which leaves her with a little baby. Amidst all the chaos, Nancy tries her best to take care of the baby while trying to survive each and every day.

The best part about the book was the pacing of the story. Not even for a single second, I felt that the plot was going weak or uneventful. I enjoyed the exposition as well as the meticulous imagery. The writing was really good and the story flowed beautifully.

There were places though where the situations could have been more intense but I’m happy about the way things were.
I was able to feel a strong connection with the leading lady, Nancy. She had a strong personality and I was able to relate to her on so many different levels. I was able to feel her frustration behind each and every relentless decision she made and felt a wave of happiness and relief whenever situations got better.
The supporting/secondary characters were also very relatable. I loved Greg’s character a lot and was able to feel a connection with him too.

The ending was absolutely gut-wrenching. I felt so sad that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for hours after I finished reading it.

It is a spectacular apocalyptic tale with an interesting twist and I’d recommend it to all the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction readers.

Goodreads

Book Review: The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

03/09/201603/09/2016Dystopian, M.R. Carey, Post Apocalypse3 Comments

Author: M.R. Carey
Release Date: June 19, 2014
Series: –
Genre: Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror > Zombies, Science-Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 460
Publisher: Orbit

Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb:

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

Review

The Girl With All The Gifts is a beautiful, beautiful book.

The plot is really unique and provides a fresh perspective to the entire zombie apocalypse. The packing was absolutely brilliant and the reveals (both minor and major) were literally breathtaking. This book is really hard to put down.

The characterization is so perfect that I felt like going inside the book and pulling out Melaine from that crazy, crazy world and keep her with me. I mean who cares if she’s a Zombie or not, she’s a child and such a sweet one at that.

The character of Melaine is just so heart-warming that I felt like pulling at my hair when I realized how badly they treated her, and then her reactions and innocent comments make it worst. And then there’s the fact that you can’t actually hate these people to behave a certain way because you know they gotta do what they gotta do to survive.

Jeez, this book is simply epic, and in order to understand its epic-ness you’ll have to read it for yourselves. I generally don’t do a lot of rave reviews, but, trust me, if you’re gonna die tomorrow then make sure that you’ve read this book before your time comes.

If you’re a fan of dystopian and apocalyptic/post-apo. genres, then it’d be a shame if you’d roam the face of this Earth without having read this book. Shame!

The ending literally made me teary-eyed. I mean it was the perfect kind of ending in the most absurd way. It’ll make you smile, it’ll make you cry, it’ll make you cringe, it’ll make you frustrated. It’ll change the way you look at zombies forever. Forever!

If you’ve watched Stranger Things then you’ll be able to see a lot of Eleven’s personality in Melaine and vice verse. When I watched Stranger Things I kept on picturing Melaine the entire time.

If you haven’t read it then I’d highly recommend that you do because it is one book you wouldn’t want to miss.

You can also read this review at Goodreads.

Book Review: Those Who Remain (Book #1) by Priscila Santa Rosa

08/05/201608/05/2016Book Reviews (by Genre), Books Reviews (by Author), Horror, Priscila Santa Rosa11 Comments

Author: Priscila Santa Rosa
Release Date: August 2014
Series: Those Who Remain Trilogy
Genre: Apocalyptic | Horror > Zombies |
Edition: E-book (mobi)
Pages: 232
Publisher: Not Specified
Source: Author
Buy it here: Amazon

Followed by:

Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb:

Hide your children, lock your doors, and load your guns because zombies are real and they are coming. Danny Terrence knows this better than anyone. He spent months preparing for the inevitable moment the disease would reach his small town. What he didn’t prepare for is the fact that nobody really believes him.

Luckily for him, an old classmate and bully just happens to be the first one bitten. The bad news is that the family with the biggest arsenal of guns just packed up and left town, leaving them defenseless from an oncoming zombie horde. Being a leader isn’t turning out the way Danny imagined.

Yet four other survivors easily have it worse than him. Between a thirteen-year-old girl on a road trip from hell, a family of paranoid hunters having to deal with their feelings for the first time ever, a stubborn doctor butting heads with a cold-hearted sergeant and an amoral British professor carrying the fate of humanity in his hands, Danny has it easy. Unless, of course, they all end up in his town, messing with his already messed up life.

Follow these five people as their paths cross and their lives and hopes are challenged in this thrilling novel.

Review

I enjoyed this book from start to end. For me, this book is nothing short of a GREAT apocalyptic book!

The characterization is awesome and the alternating POVs kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time! I felt a strong connection with everyone, but my favorites are The Girl, Hunter’s Daughter, and The Last One Out.

The writing is excellent and I literally breezed through the entire book in a single day! I loved it and have already requested (and received) the remaining two parts of this trilogy [can’t wait to read them!] The suspense build-up, the mysterious undertones, the chills and the curiosity, everything that the characters felt, came out beautifully.

I never felt that I was reading a book, I felt like I was in there with each and every character experiencing everything they did, first-hand.

The pacing is excellent and the twists and turns and the interludes at the end of the book were simply a master stroke.

I loved the Zombies as well, and the disease’s spread felt really natural and practical.
I’m really, really excited to know what happens next as the author ended all the POV’s on a great note. It’s literally killing me to read other books before getting to the next parts – This book is so good!

Other Stuff

Opening Line: My only window to the outside world is a thin gap between the closet’s doors.

Highlights: Pacing and story.

Lowlights: None.

Memorable Quotes:

Turns out, deep down, I’m sentimental. Very deep down.

It took me hours to realise that crying wouldn’t change anything. Shoes. I need new shoes.

I let out a sigh, embarrassed for him. A sociopath, but not a smart one.

It’s a rule of every horror story: when someone is too happy, or things are going too well for a character, then the next scene his head is rolling down the floor with the psychotic murderer making a surprise return from the dead.

A crazy disease spreading, riots going on, people running away, the military taking control over everything and I can’t load my rifle. PTSD is a bitch.

Memorable Paragraphs:

I don’t think she went to the drugstore at all. Why else did she take the car? She didn’t leave me behind. She took him away. To save me.

Father puts a hand on my shoulder. We both know leaving her behind meant her death. I’m allowed a minute to grieve for a mother I never truly knew. Then we run.

Between doctors, nurses, staff and patients, Saint Jude Hospital housed almost ten thousand people. Three hundred soldiers were sent to keep them safe. Only five people were leaving alive.

Some kids ask Santa for a toy. I wished for the Zombie Apocalypse. He took his sweet time, but finally my present was here. With luck, unwrapping it wasn’t going to kill me or destroy the town.

Final Thoughts: Best Zombie book I’ve read so far this year!

You can also read this review at Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: Carrion by Jonathan R. Rose

12/04/201612/04/2016adult, Book Reviews (by Genre), Books Reviews (by Author), Jonathan R. Rose, Post ApocalypseLeave a Comment

Author: Jonathan R. Rose
Release Date: November 8, 2015
Series: –
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Edition: E-Book (mobi)
Pages: 114
Publisher: Montag Press
Source: Author
Buy it here: Amazon

Rating: ★ – DNF

Blurb:

Carrion is about a world consumed by chaos. But in this world, you are not a desperate survivor hoping to outlast the bedlam; instead, you are the monster that caused it. Consumed by an insatiable hunger, a malevolent need to feed, you are the one from whom the masses flee. And because of you a group of barbaric men led by a fanatic with a gleaming badge fastened to his chest have banded together with the intention of hunting you and all those like you down. Follow in the footsteps of a fiend. See what he sees. Taste the flesh. Smell the decay. Suffer the anguish. Witness a massive city crumble under the weight of fear and hate and become hell. Whether engulfed in flames, or flooded by lakes of blood, all that remains are monsters and men, and the war that wages not only between them, but within themselves.

Review

I hate saying this but I have to leave this book alone for good as the it’s really failing to keep up with the expectations I had before starting with it.

The writing is really good but the plot seems a little off and the whole monster’s journey is really starting to make me feel sick. I usually have a good appetite for blood and gore but here it’s starting to feel quite forced and unnecessary, I mean yes, the monster is going to rip out the flesh off the bones and suck the bones dry, he is a Zombie after all.

There are a lot of raving reviews for this book, but it’s not what I expected, so it’s a DNF for me. If you are really into zombies and the undead and are totally into blood-spilling and gory writing, then this book is for you. But it would do you good to keep in mind that this book has nothing more to offer.

You can also read this review at Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: What Survives Of Us

16/06/201524/06/2015Reviews By Contributors5 Comments

Author: Kathy Miner 
Release: July 30th 2014
Series: None
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic | Horror > Zombies | Adventure | Fiction
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 303
Publisher: Self-published
Source: Author
Buy it here: Amazon

Continue reading ➞ Book Review: What Survives Of Us

Book Review: Cell by Stephen King

08/07/201415/08/2014Books Reviews (by Author), Stephen King14 Comments

Author: Stephen King
Release Date: January 24, 2006
Genre: Horror-Zombies, Post Apocalyptic, Thriller, Dystopia
Pages: 499
ISBN NO.: 978-0-340-92153-1
Publisher: Hachette India