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bookswithbailee9's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
woody1881's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book through a book-loving family member and read it before they could.
First the good: I could not finish this fast enough. I was captured by the story alone and just needed to see how it turned out. The pace and tension were well handled. I am very glad I read this.
Now the not-so-good: This book is in need of a professional editor. It is not just the grammar and a few spelling mistakes either, though those are very distracting at times. The first part of the book does far too much telling and not enough showing. The main character has a lot of very profound thoughts and internal dialogs that reveal much about the backstory while putting away groceries and cooking. It could have been handled far better. The scenes, and the places, were okay but not fully developed. I had a difficult time viewing the scenes in my mind's eye. There were very few details available to transport the reader into the place of the book.
I am no author, and I am certainly not saying I could do better. As a reader though, I must insist that authors do a better job. I loved this story. It made the entire book worth suffering through the issues. This was the second book I have read this month that had some of these same problems, and the other was non-fiction, so I get it, it happens. I hope the author gets this to a good editor that can help her fully develop this novel. It is good and it has a lot more potential if it is edited thoroughly.
First the good: I could not finish this fast enough. I was captured by the story alone and just needed to see how it turned out. The pace and tension were well handled. I am very glad I read this.
Now the not-so-good: This book is in need of a professional editor. It is not just the grammar and a few spelling mistakes either, though those are very distracting at times. The first part of the book does far too much telling and not enough showing. The main character has a lot of very profound thoughts and internal dialogs that reveal much about the backstory while putting away groceries and cooking. It could have been handled far better. The scenes, and the places, were okay but not fully developed. I had a difficult time viewing the scenes in my mind's eye. There were very few details available to transport the reader into the place of the book.
I am no author, and I am certainly not saying I could do better. As a reader though, I must insist that authors do a better job. I loved this story. It made the entire book worth suffering through the issues. This was the second book I have read this month that had some of these same problems, and the other was non-fiction, so I get it, it happens. I hope the author gets this to a good editor that can help her fully develop this novel. It is good and it has a lot more potential if it is edited thoroughly.
vikingwolf's review
3.0
Alex grew up in a prepper household with a paranoid father, and the lessons he taught her will prove to be vital when the zombie apocalypse arrives on her doorstep. Her husband Blake returns home from a business trip, bitten and infected, unaware that he will soon turn and try to attack Alex, their kids and their housekeeper. Alex knows her family compound is the only safe place to go but first she has to gather supplies and then try to find a way out of the city which is being guarded by military checkpoints.
My first random thought on lifting this book from the zombie bookshelf is why is there a bit of nuclear war art in the form of a mushroom cloud on the cover, when the disaster in the book is a viral thing causing a zombie apocalypse?
Alex irritates me because she is that typical female character who is slow to react to what is going on. She watches her husband eat the housekeeper and sees the woman rise up with shocking injuries yet she still insists on trying to talk to them rather than get on with the fact that there is a zombie apocalypse happening. It seems to take forever for her to actually deal with the zombies in her house, which is bizarre when she has two children to protect. And this was after her sister told her about the zombie like attacks on the news. She is supposed to be keeping quiet so the zombies outside won't be attracted to the house so she plays DVDs and sings with the kids to pass the time! Alex finally starts to get organised by raiding houses nearby for supplies and finding a suitable vehicle but ruins it by not planning several routes out of the city. Instead she drives to the freeway entrances which are blocked, something her prepper father would have got annoyed about if he was there. She should've been looking at secondary roads in advance instead of wasting fuel driving about aimlessly!
Alex then decides to stop in a car park to get out and kill zombies to try and save a few strangers, putting her children in more danger instead of just getting out of the built up area of the city. She then parks for a few days and decides for some strange reason to take the kids out for a walk as they are getting bored and of course they get chased by a zombie. She really is not thinking at all! It gets worse when she decides to give some of her supplies to a group of strangers who ask her for food, and then she gets upset when they take a chance to rob her and flee when Alex is fending off a zombie attack. I really wish she would stop doing stupid crap and risking her own death, which would leave her kids unprotected! I'm not sure about Marcus though-he is too smug and annoying when they first meet and I'm surprised that she allowed him anywhere near her family with his attitude.
Another thing that bugs me is when we see the flashback to the day that Alex is taken miles away from home by her father and left in the middle of nowhere to see if she has learned his lessons and can find her way home. It was an interesting enough story but I found it weird that it was shoved between events at the climax of the book as it had the effect of bringing the story to a screeching halt and slowing everything down. It would have been better in the middle of the story rather than near the end.
From what I've said about the book, it might sound as if I hated it. Actually it was a decent read. Other than the flaws I mentioned, Alex was at least capable of looking after her family, compared to the whinging dumb females that are so often seen in the apocalypse genre. I liked that she was coming up with the plans to solve the problems instead of waiting around crying for a kind man to do it for her. I liked her interaction with her adopted children who she has taken responsibility for, and the way they learn on the journey. The action scenes with the zombies and the bad people are well written and interesting, and I also liked some of the characters that Alex comes into contact with along the way, especially Margaret.
I've seen that the second book in the series is about her sister Max and the journey that she undertakes to get to the family compound and the third book follows her brother Rafe. I'm interested in what happens to these characters so I am likely to read on with the series when time and money allows.
My first random thought on lifting this book from the zombie bookshelf is why is there a bit of nuclear war art in the form of a mushroom cloud on the cover, when the disaster in the book is a viral thing causing a zombie apocalypse?
Alex irritates me because she is that typical female character who is slow to react to what is going on. She watches her husband eat the housekeeper and sees the woman rise up with shocking injuries yet she still insists on trying to talk to them rather than get on with the fact that there is a zombie apocalypse happening. It seems to take forever for her to actually deal with the zombies in her house, which is bizarre when she has two children to protect. And this was after her sister told her about the zombie like attacks on the news. She is supposed to be keeping quiet so the zombies outside won't be attracted to the house so she plays DVDs and sings with the kids to pass the time! Alex finally starts to get organised by raiding houses nearby for supplies and finding a suitable vehicle but ruins it by not planning several routes out of the city. Instead she drives to the freeway entrances which are blocked, something her prepper father would have got annoyed about if he was there. She should've been looking at secondary roads in advance instead of wasting fuel driving about aimlessly!
Alex then decides to stop in a car park to get out and kill zombies to try and save a few strangers, putting her children in more danger instead of just getting out of the built up area of the city. She then parks for a few days and decides for some strange reason to take the kids out for a walk as they are getting bored and of course they get chased by a zombie. She really is not thinking at all! It gets worse when she decides to give some of her supplies to a group of strangers who ask her for food, and then she gets upset when they take a chance to rob her and flee when Alex is fending off a zombie attack. I really wish she would stop doing stupid crap and risking her own death, which would leave her kids unprotected! I'm not sure about Marcus though-he is too smug and annoying when they first meet and I'm surprised that she allowed him anywhere near her family with his attitude.
Another thing that bugs me is when we see the flashback to the day that Alex is taken miles away from home by her father and left in the middle of nowhere to see if she has learned his lessons and can find her way home. It was an interesting enough story but I found it weird that it was shoved between events at the climax of the book as it had the effect of bringing the story to a screeching halt and slowing everything down. It would have been better in the middle of the story rather than near the end.
From what I've said about the book, it might sound as if I hated it. Actually it was a decent read. Other than the flaws I mentioned, Alex was at least capable of looking after her family, compared to the whinging dumb females that are so often seen in the apocalypse genre. I liked that she was coming up with the plans to solve the problems instead of waiting around crying for a kind man to do it for her. I liked her interaction with her adopted children who she has taken responsibility for, and the way they learn on the journey. The action scenes with the zombies and the bad people are well written and interesting, and I also liked some of the characters that Alex comes into contact with along the way, especially Margaret.
I've seen that the second book in the series is about her sister Max and the journey that she undertakes to get to the family compound and the third book follows her brother Rafe. I'm interested in what happens to these characters so I am likely to read on with the series when time and money allows.
triciamaeve's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
i've only read six books zombie apocalypse books so far and I liked how different Prepared was. the heroine, a mother of two kids, had a destination in mind. she was smart and prepared (like really prepared), which is another aspect of this book i liked, with detailed rundowns on every action.
stella323's review
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
wims's review
4.0
This is a decent book with good characters, and it kept me interested. It could have used better editing, as the author was prone to repeating words (or varieties of words) within a sentence, which is probably more obvious in the audio version of the book.
I like zombie end-of-world books and I read a lot of them. I also give up on a lot of them. Books written by men, in particular, are often lacking any sort of characterization and are overly militaristic for my personal tastes.
I've read the first book in the series and am moving on to the second, so I liked it well enough to continue. There are better zombie series out there (Sarah Lyons Fleming's series come to mind) but this is on par with other decent zombie books that I liked well enough to continue reading the series. If you liked Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies series, Ben Tripp's Rise Again series, or R R Haywood's Undead series, this might be your cup of tea.
I like zombie end-of-world books and I read a lot of them. I also give up on a lot of them. Books written by men, in particular, are often lacking any sort of characterization and are overly militaristic for my personal tastes.
I've read the first book in the series and am moving on to the second, so I liked it well enough to continue. There are better zombie series out there (Sarah Lyons Fleming's series come to mind) but this is on par with other decent zombie books that I liked well enough to continue reading the series. If you liked Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies series, Ben Tripp's Rise Again series, or R R Haywood's Undead series, this might be your cup of tea.
whatcha_listening_to's review
4.0
Holy moly I wasn't expecting that. I loved how strong Alex becomes. Yes she might have been raised with a prepper but doesn't always mean much. I like that when all shit hits the fan she starts to make lists of what needs to get done.
She doesn't break and just does what she needs to.
Kids in the middle of the world ending and zombies everywhere I wasn't sure how that was going to work, I kept thinking but the kids, where are the kids, how are the kids!!
Bahaha but it works and I really just enjoyed this book.
We lose some great side characters but the ones that are left standing make me want to know what is going to happen next.
I really quiet enjoyed the narration too.
She doesn't break and just does what she needs to.
Kids in the middle of the world ending and zombies everywhere I wasn't sure how that was going to work, I kept thinking but the kids, where are the kids, how are the kids!!
Bahaha but it works and I really just enjoyed this book.
We lose some great side characters but the ones that are left standing make me want to know what is going to happen next.
I really quiet enjoyed the narration too.
abibea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
peppes's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0