Reviews

The First Five Minutes of the Apocalypse by Brandon Applegate

aaronlindsey's review

5.0

What is a fun collection! The theme here is 'the start of the end', and features normal people (much like you and me) and even a dog. As with most anthologies, I loved some stories and liked others. But unlike other anthologies, I didn't dislike ANY of these stories! All of these were worth reading.

What do you think of when you think of the Apocalypse? Chances are you'll find that in this book. Zombies? Check. Intergalactic Aliens? Bingo. Not to mention the asteroids, pandemics, or war, etc.

There's 24 stories here, so if you read one per evening (as I did) you're in for a few weeks of fears.

stitching_ghost's review

5.0

Do you enjoy stories that do not end well for anyone involved? Do you want to inflict emotional pain and small existential crises on yourself? Yes? Excellent, read this collection.

In this book you will find a collection of well written and engaging stories that confront mortality with different scenarios and protagonists (not all of them human), this is all about the end on the most personal level and it is brilliantly executed. It made me think of the movie Melancholia where the apocalypse is a background character to the characters inner lives and to how they face their own finality, it's emotionally heavy and there's a lot of potentially triggering material (do check the trigger warnings). There were a few stories I would have wanted more from but that's just me being greedy for a good story. While I had my favorites, I can honestly say that every entry in this collection was strong, and it took me a day or two to process before I could review.

There's a wide array of apocalypses and the characters are about as diverse as you can hope for which kept the collection from getting stale. Applegate really has a knack for putting together anthologies that keep their topic fresh.

I received an eARC of this book through Booksirens and this is my honest review.

kate_reads's review

3.0

I'm giving this 3 stars because that's what the average rating of all the stories was, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Way too many weak stories.

bobmetal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

drakaina16's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Thank you to BookSirens for providing a review copy. 

I love a themed anthology and apocalyptic horror is my jam, so this book delivered on multiple levels. I liked every story, which is rare in an anthology of this size. It also introduced me to some new authors to check out. 4.25 stars

Coming Earthside by Taryn Martinez ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Eulogy for the Fifth World by Carson Winter ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Estrangements by D. Matthew Urban ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Viridescent Dark by Sara Tantlinger ⭐⭐⭐.75
The Hunt by Alex Fox ⭐⭐⭐.5
Red Rover, Red Rover by Tiffany Michelle Brown ⭐⭐⭐
No More Meatloaf Monday by Angela Sylvaine ⭐⭐⭐
Bonnie's Ablution by M. Lopez de Silva ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Scream by Andrew Cull ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Door in the Basement by Ruth Anna Evans ⭐⭐⭐.5
Silver Alert by Wendy N. Wagner ⭐⭐⭐
A Sweet Soiree on the Last Night of the World by Gwendolyn Kiste ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The Boy Who Prayed for the End of the World by Olen Crowe ⭐⭐⭐
Tuesday by Brittany Johnston ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dirt and Blood and Silence by Elou Carroll ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Ten Totally Free Places to Watch the End of the World by Nick Bouchard ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Anymore by L. Marie Wood ⭐⭐⭐
The End of the World is Very Fucking Nigh by W. Dale Jordan ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
When the Horizon Burns by Elford Alley ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Alice by Chris Mason ⭐⭐⭐.5
Smash Hit by Matthew M. Bartlett ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
I Am the Vanity Mirror Shaped Like A Skull by Madison McSweeney ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Eyes Open, Knees Apart for the End of the World by Rae Knowles ⭐⭐⭐.5
Endless Possibilities by RJ Joseph ⭐⭐⭐.25
The Smell of Summer by Emma E. Murray ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Muerte Luna by V. Castro ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lost Time by Eóin Murphy ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
All the Dead Astronauts by J.A.W. McCarthy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

lee_readsbooks's review

dark tense

4.0

dancpharmd's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

dinoreader84's review

fast-paced

4.0

What a great short story collection! Widely varied in content, cause, and scope. Lots of interesting takes. And they all felt "complete" which is a feat to do considering you're describing a very short period of time!

unicornsbookshelf's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense

4.25

I tend to drop short story collections in the middle. I tend to be very picky and the moment I feel like something is a chore to read, I put it down and DNF. I have DNFed some very anticipated short story collections like this and tend to avoid them. 

This one I finished in one day.

I was mostly lured in by the cover and the premise. It was pretty cheap as well so me and my friend got it without very high expectations but I was curious. I started reading it and got hooked. 

Sure, there are stories that are a miss but the hits hit HARD. What I love about apocalypse stories is how they can fill you with both dread and sadness. The first story in this collection is in the first category but I also found many that belong to the second. The variety of perspectives and reactions to the end of the world the authors presented was truly refreshing and I highly anticipated what awaits me on the next page. I also loved to see all the different ideas on how the world ends and what causes it. 
My favorite stories were Dirt and Blood and Silence as well as The Viridescent Dark. They both broke my heart.

If you want to feel a delightful mixture of dread, sadness, and anxiety, you absolutely should check this book out. Make sure to check the trigger warnings though, because some of the content can be upsetting.

chuckstafer's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thanks so much to BookSirens for the ARC of this title, it was fantastic! The stories in this collection were short, sweet, scary, and such good reads! Most of them left me wanting entire novel-length stories to elaborate on the story more because they were so intriguing.