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scottpm's review
3.0
It was good and enjoyable, but I had to suspend my disbelief a little too much even for a zombie book.
dianacarmel's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I didn’t enjoy this. It’s partially my fault for skipping around in the series, but I don’t find this storyline as engaging as those in the graphic novels or AMC series.
cassidylynnereads's review
2.0
I'm pretty ticked now because I was in the middle of writing a very thorough review of this book when I accidentally clicked away from the page and the whole thing got deleted. If Goodreads allowed half-star ratings, I would've given this book a 2.5 out of 5. Let me just say that this book was my least favorite in the series. The pacing felt off from beginning to end, the continuity was completely nonexistent, and there really wasn't much of a significant plot. Everything just felt so forced and there were so many loose ends at the end of the book that weren't tied up. So many scenes happened that were essentially pointless. The characters could have been completely different people from the other books, if only their names and basic descriptions were changed. Don't get me wrong, I adore every installment in The Walking Dead series, from the show and it's spinoff, to the comics, and even to the video games, but this book could have remained unpublished and nothing major about the series would have changed, besides a few meaningless deaths. I wasn't a huge fan of the Jeremiah Garlitz storyline because it felt dragged out, but at least I was satisfied with how that part of the series wrapped up, unlike the storyline of this book. With all of that said, I will now be moving into my thoughts on this book that include spoilers.
Spoiler
Let's start off with my issues on the pacing of the book. I know that the whole beginning of the book was devoted to padding the one year time skip between this book and the previous one, and developing the reconstruction of the railroad tracks, but it just felt super slow and boring. Even once Lilly and her group got on the train to pursue Bryce's men the book still dragged for me. The nonstop action didn't hold my attention because there was so much disaster that it just felt redundant. Even once we get into the major action scenes the plot goes from exciting, rapidfire action, to slow and boring. Moving on from that, I felt that so many things that happened in this book were needless. The entire boring beginning developing the work they were doing on the train tracks was only there to allow Lilly's group to chase after Bryce using the rails, but once the tracks collapsed and the train was left behind it was never revisited and had no impact on the plot at all. The way Miles was described also bothered me. The book just keeps lingering on his actions before the apocalypse and continually reduces him to a simple car thief instead of focusing on his contributions to the group or his relationship with Norma. I know Lilly's group couldn't have known that Bryce and his men were waiting to whisk them out of danger, but Miles's death was so unnecessary, and even Jinx's death felt more emotional. They could have at least waited the horde out a little while longer, but instead he just let himself get consumed. Speaking of Jinx's death, she was my favorite character in the whole book, so losing her so soon was a bit upsetting. Another major thing that bothered me about this book was how the characters were suddenly completely different. I understand that it's normal to make a few mistakes between books, but as early as page seven there is a major mistake when Lilly mentions the baby she almost had with Josh, when in fact the baby was Austin's. The author can remember the small detail that Lilly's uncle was once mentioned as having a heart attack, but he can't remember who the father of Lilly's child was. Tommy was another character that completely changed. The brutal little survivor who killed his own father to save Lilly suddenly became a moral elitist wimp. He is so distraught about killing a complete stranger who nearly strangled Lilly to death that he could barely speak, but he killed his own father in previous books to save Lilly and didn't seem nearly as bothered. I also wanted to note that the wiki says he previously told Barbara that he was an atheist, but in this book he is aghast that Lilly doesn't believe in God. Norma also seemed completely different. Her sassy spark doesn't show until the very end of the book, she barely flinches after Miles dies, even though she mentions in previous books that he was the person who completely rekindled her faith in men, and she's described as being a lot older than I imagined her in previous books. The wiki also says she's in her twenties, but perhaps that was just a misconception on the part of us readers. I also had so many issues with the plot. I know Nalls is later revealed to be criminally insane, but I would expect that at least one of Bryce's men would realize that trading Lilly for all of the children who had the purest samples wasn't a very smart move. In fact, Nalls's whole operation is extremely vague and had me lost as to what he was trying to accomplish. I know this was written off by the fact that he was insane, but I feel like everyone risking their lives for him would ask more questions about what he was doing. I was also confused as to why Bryce shot Cooper at the end, but maybe that was my own fault for not being able to follow the plot well enough. I felt like it was kind of a cop out to have Lilly passed out for six months while Nalls does whatever he was doing to her. The hospital was so promising, and I feel like it could have added so much to the plot, but instead it just ended up overrun after six months of missed action. I also find it really convenient that Tommy knew to look up Megan in the phone book when I don't think he was even in Woodbury when she was still around. It also made me really mad that nobody cares about David and they're all fine with leaving him behind. I feel like even Tommy would argue against this since he had such a problem with leaving Norma behind. It'd also be nice to know what the heck happened to the other communities around Woodbury. I didn't despise this book, but I feel like it lacked any direction and it made me upset that so many mistakes about the characters were made. I feel like this series could have been left where it was and it would have been fine.leahmonroe's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Yes, I'm rating it higher that Invasion! Though, a fun fact, in the middle of this very book I was sure I would give it 2 stars? So... what happened?
Well, the story happened. Even though Search and Destroy was uneven, which I'll get to later, I have WAY more to say about it than about Invasion, which means that it caused more emotions in me, which means that in the end I'm rating it higher, cause it made me more invested, both in a praising manner and a not so jolly one.
Let's start, shall we? Since the very first pages of this book I had fun nitpicking the smallest contradictions, confusions and inconsistencies. I enjoyed myself so much, questioning the plot, the narrative, the various tricks and ploys that Bonansinga tried to pull, and though most of the time it was me just putting every little thing into question, it made me super into the story. Wondering about all the possibilities, the off-screen development, how probable it was.
Firstly, I was really happy to see some actual focus on how the apocalypse shaped the world. This really interests me, actually - the changes in the ecosystem, how people are adapting to the sinking supplies of fuel etc. Because, it's been four years (?!somehow, according to my calculations it should be 3 years, but eh) and, surprise surprise, it's not like there's anyone manufacturing stuff or working in factories and shit, right? Though at first sudden and a bit ridiculous, these changes were applied nicely enough by Bonansinga, some ideas (like the carriages) were funny to me, and how Woodbury acquired a full-on stable of fine horses dazzled me, but hey, we did skip a year in narrative. Throughout this time, five other communities emerged out of the blue, which was also quite... convenient? Immediate? Both. You'd think we'd stumble upon them before.
The introduction of secondary characters was not as smoothly done, I'd say. Some of them (cough cough Jinx cough cough) were hyperbolised cardboard cutouts of people, who we didn't even get to care about before their role in the story was finished, which made me think: why? What for? Either way, they weren't annoying, so, I'll let them pass.
Oh, the characters. The poor character. Jay, you madman. I counted, what, six character deaths?? And I mean characters who were actually important to the story?? Jesus H. Christ, you'd think that he was going through an episode or something. Some of them had affected me, I'll admit. Just like one particular death in Invasion, which even made my eyes well-up.
The major fault to this book is the 80 pages between very specific scenes that I remember vividly. The problem was... they weren't engaging. I was going through those with a low interest, and I remember how one particular line spiked my heart rate and I gasped, and then, from about page 167, I was hooked, and, well, if a book can make you read continuously until finish at 4.30 AM, then it's something, isn't it?
That's mainly why I think I prefer it to Invasion in the end. Cause apart from those weak 80 pages, I felt things and I have a shit ton to say, and most of it I said already in my notes. Invasion I liked, but we encountered so many new and fun things here, like other communities, horses, a big city, a v-word that I won't say cause no spoilers!, and so many others.. And the relationship between Tommy and Lilly has developed so beautifully, I actually got emotional.
Because of that I can forgive some plot inconsistencies and logical fallacies. Overall, it's a zombie book. It's entertaining. It's an adventure. I felt cool reading it and smoking. What more do you want?
Well, the story happened. Even though Search and Destroy was uneven, which I'll get to later, I have WAY more to say about it than about Invasion, which means that it caused more emotions in me, which means that in the end I'm rating it higher, cause it made me more invested, both in a praising manner and a not so jolly one.
Let's start, shall we? Since the very first pages of this book I had fun nitpicking the smallest contradictions, confusions and inconsistencies. I enjoyed myself so much, questioning the plot, the narrative, the various tricks and ploys that Bonansinga tried to pull, and though most of the time it was me just putting every little thing into question, it made me super into the story. Wondering about all the possibilities, the off-screen development, how probable it was.
Firstly, I was really happy to see some actual focus on how the apocalypse shaped the world. This really interests me, actually - the changes in the ecosystem, how people are adapting to the sinking supplies of fuel etc. Because, it's been four years (?!somehow, according to my calculations it should be 3 years, but eh) and, surprise surprise, it's not like there's anyone manufacturing stuff or working in factories and shit, right? Though at first sudden and a bit ridiculous, these changes were applied nicely enough by Bonansinga, some ideas (like the carriages) were funny to me, and how Woodbury acquired a full-on stable of fine horses dazzled me, but hey, we did skip a year in narrative. Throughout this time, five other communities emerged out of the blue, which was also quite... convenient? Immediate? Both. You'd think we'd stumble upon them before.
The introduction of secondary characters was not as smoothly done, I'd say. Some of them (cough cough Jinx cough cough) were hyperbolised cardboard cutouts of people, who we didn't even get to care about before their role in the story was finished, which made me think: why? What for? Either way, they weren't annoying, so, I'll let them pass.
Oh, the characters. The poor character. Jay, you madman. I counted, what, six character deaths?? And I mean characters who were actually important to the story?? Jesus H. Christ, you'd think that he was going through an episode or something. Some of them had affected me, I'll admit. Just like one particular death in Invasion, which even made my eyes well-up.
The major fault to this book is the 80 pages between very specific scenes that I remember vividly. The problem was... they weren't engaging. I was going through those with a low interest, and I remember how one particular line spiked my heart rate and I gasped, and then, from about page 167, I was hooked, and, well, if a book can make you read continuously until finish at 4.30 AM, then it's something, isn't it?
That's mainly why I think I prefer it to Invasion in the end. Cause apart from those weak 80 pages, I felt things and I have a shit ton to say, and most of it I said already in my notes. Invasion I liked, but we encountered so many new and fun things here, like other communities, horses, a big city, a v-word that I won't say cause no spoilers!, and so many others.. And the relationship between Tommy and Lilly has developed so beautifully, I actually got emotional.
Because of that I can forgive some plot inconsistencies and logical fallacies. Overall, it's a zombie book. It's entertaining. It's an adventure. I felt cool reading it and smoking. What more do you want?
variablestar's review
3.0
This is really more of a 2.5. I have read this entire series. I really liked the Road to Woodbury and the Rise and Fall of the Governor books (first 4), but since then, something has been missing and they seem more like product. Oh well!! I finished the book, but it took some effort.
mftaylor's review
3.0
I have read all the books from this set and I have to say the last couple has had me losing my interest and focus. They are still good but not as great as the first few. I found this one started out a little slow and found it somewhat boring. It did get better by the second half though. Lots of zombies, death, bad guys, and action; but the "how will they get out of this predicament?" is getting a little old.
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