Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Black Tide

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Black Tide by K.C. Jones

26 reviews

mimicry's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for sending me the ARC. I really enjoyed most of this book. If it wasn’t for the dog and the kid, I wouldn’t have gone lower than 4 stars.

That kid hid under the dashboard for days but pops up just in time to watch them having sex? Ugh. No thanks.

With the way the dog was written I expected him to die. He was definitely more plot device than character. My problem lies with the way he died. After risking their lives to save him (just to let him suffer in a hot car while bleeding out), they just shrug and leave. Maybe he was eaten, maybe he bled out in the grass, who knows. Not the characters, because they just left without looking back.

Honestly, I’d be less annoyed with the author if they’d just shot the dog when he lost his leg.

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stacyroth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mike and Beth meet on the night of a meteor shower, sharing a bottle of champagne and a need for human connection. When they wake up the next morning, they discover the world has changed as a result of that meteor shower. When they go in search of safety and end up stranded on a deserted Oregon highway, they must face the nightmares firsthand.

This had me hooked from the beginning, and each moment I kept wanting to know what would happen next. I really hope there will be a sequel so we can see what happens next! Jake, Mike’s dog, was hands-down my favorite character. I could see this book being turned into a movie. An excellent debut!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

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girlcalledryan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A dog plays a huge role in this story.

the dog doesn't make it

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mangosunscreen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cathepsut's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beth is a mess, a self-proclaimed „car wreck“. She is a professional house-sitter, sampling other people‘s lives. This time around she also dog-sits Jake, a golden lab, and makes friends with her neighbour Mike. Well, she starts by stalking him with her camera and then…Hello to an alcohol-induced one-night stand! And then the world ends and they end up stuck in a car on a beach, surrounded by something scary…

My recent track record with horror is not great. Psychological horror is lost on me, I usually get bored. And slasher stuff turns me off. Creature features are the most fun. This isn‘t exactly that, but a little. Plus there is plenty of action right from the start. Creepy, scary, sci-fi horror fun. Alien invasion with a twist.

I quite liked the reason for this particular end of the world and wish that it had been explored more.

Unfortunately I did not like Beth. Whiny, sorry for herself and a general failure at life. Bent on making the stupidest choices possible. Mike is self-destructive in another way. Together they make a couple that is potentially quite inept at survival under apocalyptic circumstances.

Don‘t expect deep character development.

The audiobook is told by two narrators, one female and one male, alternating between telling the story from the POVs of Beth or Mike. They do a good job although there is one voice towards the end that doesn‘t really work well for me.

Bottomline, I liked the claustrophobic plot, but disliked Beth quite a bit. Good action, fast plot. Let‘s say 4 of 5 ominous bowling balls for now, I might raise that once I‘ve pondered it a bit longer.

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