Reviews

Manna City: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Geoffrey Pierce

tstreet's review

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5.0

Typical Review about the book:
Wow! Great beginning. This book had me captivated at the very first chapter. I think that it is cool how Nista can forsee the future and can tell what is going to happen. I like how Halvist agrees to take Nista and Dane to Manna. I'm glad that Halvist decides to return to Nista and Dane and not leave them to fend on their own. I hate how Nista dies in the end, but I love how Halvist stayes with her and takes the baby when she dies.

Author Review/Feedback
I loved the beginning of the book. It was very captivating, and I loved how the author jumped into the story immediately. I loved how the author kept the story alive and how he didn't lose the audiences attention. I think that this author did an amazing job writing this book.

vinjii's review

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4.0

Thank you to Geoffrey Pierce for offering me a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I almost never read the synopsis, even when authors ask me for a review I only briefly glance at it, because I like to enjoy a book knowing nothing about it. Occasionally, I'm very pleasantly surprised. Occasionally, it goes wrong.

I was pleased with this read.

We follow three characters: Nista, Dane, and Halvist. Nista is pregnant, married to Dane and together they're trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The day they meet Halvist things change...

Manna City itself is a mythical place. A place where things are good, and where water and food aren't scarce. But is it real?

I love post-apocalyptic novels. I enjoy the grim tone, the desperate characters, and the odds stacked against their success. Pierce does a good job at describing the world he created. His style is easy to read, and his visuals are vivid and clear. I read the book almost in one sitting; it's pretty short, but also pretty tense with good pacing.

The characters are well fleshed out, but I couldn't connect the three. In fact, I disliked all of them, and maybe that's realistic, because I doubt someone fighting to survive every single day against all odds is going to remain what we'd call a "nice person." Sadly, barely caring whether these people lived or died, made me feel somewhat detached from the book.

I recommend Manna City to people looking for a short post-apocalyptic read with a supernatural touch.

shh_reading85's review

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

3.0

 This might have been one of the more different dystopian novels that I have read, for sure. There were similar topics of cannibals, running out of resources, fighting to survive, starvation that is common in this genre, but a pregnant woman's full-out determination to get to a place she's only seen in dreams and heard about in rumours definitely made it different. The common tropes made the risk of getting Nista there unscathed even more prominent, considering she was ready to give birth at any time.

Sometimes the plot did seem like it was driving towards figuring out how to kill Nista's husband Dane. I kind of felt bad for the guy the entire time I was reading the book, especially as he was just trying to provide for his pregnant wife. The loss of their first child also made me sad for Dane as well.

I actually almost yeeted the entire book in the beginning because it is one thing to kill to survive or in defence, but it is entirely another to lead innocent lambs and dogs to senseless slaughter. I survived and prevailed into the read but still!

I received a free copy of this book from the author and I am leaving a review voluntarily. 

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thebibliotaph's review

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2.0

Manna city is the story of three people escaping from horrible circumstances, forced to work together and survive a horrendous trip through desert terrain. They need to get to some utopia city that may or may not exist, because an unborn psychic baby told them to.

So… That’s not even a spoiler the whole story starts out like a savage fever dream with the baby and everything. I admit I nearly put the book down after the first chapter. But I’m curious and wanted to know where the hell all this was going.

Now, if you like a dusty dystopian, think Mad Max and Conan the Barbarian, then this is a pretty good representation – I think?

The characters go through a very unpleasant test of human endurance. There is a lot of disturbing and harrowing things happening and it keeps piling up.

But I finished the book and that is saying something. What kept me going was the question of the city’s existence and the characters stubbornness to give up. Their dogged determination made me hope for a happy ending.

The book feels if it is part of a bigger story, like a prequel. It’s building its own mythology for this world, but I think I would have rather read that next chapter first and have this story explained later. But that’s just a personal opinion and doesn’t really help this review.

Summing up: The writing isn’t bad, but it’s defiantly not a masterpiece and it is in no way a feel-good read.
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