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kkellz19's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
I am not the target audience at all, so it is a testament to Blake Crouch’s writing that I enjoyed this as much as I did. Stories about surviving while running from zombies or people make me uncomfortably anxious. I am not the person you want to draft for your apocalypse team, despite having a few essential survival skills, I don’t have the constitution for running. Run is perfectly titled as I was in a state of mild panic for the entire book as the literally characters ran for their lives. Some of the story felt tired, a community akin to Woodbury lead by the Governor in Walking Dead as one example, but I think it would have felt fresh when Run was originally released in 2011. There is a lot of violence and gore (which I usually don’t care for- again not the target audience) but the violence didn’t feel gratuitous, given the circumstances.
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I am glad I stepped outside my comfort zone and read this, but it is back to contemporary fiction with a sprinkle of fantasy, romance, and sci-fi for the sake of my nerves.
jenniferrandphd's review against another edition
This one veered more into the horror genre than I care to read
glauren4556's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
sade's review
4.0
OMG!!!!!! This book was so freaking nerve racking. I lost it a couple of times.. The only thing that stops me from giving it 5 stars is just the explanation for the carnage was just not believable, I mean c'mon, was that really the best explanation the writer could come up with? Aside that little pesky detail it was a great and I mean a GREAT book!!!
shellyb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Jack and Dee are suddenly on the run with their two children, fourteen year old Naomi and seven year old Cole, after a celestial event affects a large portion of the United States. They hear that there is refuge to be found across the Canadian border, if only they can make it there safely from their home in New Mexico.
This was a heart-pounding thriller with peril on every page. For as fast paced as this book was, the characters had a surprising amount of depth. It was a fun read and it definitely entertained.
All that said, I do have some complaints about plot holes, some of which contain spoilers so skip if you’d like.
This was a celestial even that was likened to an aurora borealis, which would have been more likely to affect Canada and the upper portion of the US, but this instead affected the lower 48 - why? This was never explained.
They started out from New Mexico, why not head south instead of the north? Maybe I missed if they said Mexico was affected but they just mentioned “the lower 48” several times. Also none of the rest of the world was affected but no one else came to the US’s aid?
What actually happened to the affected? Did it alter their brain chemistry? Why did it last 30 days? These questions were never answered.
Why were radio stations reading names? How did they know they were unaffected? Why the university professors? This was never brought up again.
This was a heart-pounding thriller with peril on every page. For as fast paced as this book was, the characters had a surprising amount of depth. It was a fun read and it definitely entertained.
All that said, I do have some complaints about plot holes, some of which contain spoilers so skip if you’d like.
They started out from New Mexico, why not head south instead of the north? Maybe I missed if they said Mexico was affected but they just mentioned “the lower 48” several times. Also none of the rest of the world was affected but no one else came to the US’s aid?
What actually happened to the affected? Did it alter their brain chemistry? Why did it last 30 days? These questions were never answered.
Why were radio stations reading names? How did they know they were unaffected? Why the university professors? This was never brought up again.
okayletsread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
I'm a big Blake Crouch fan, but the writing in this book wasn't my favorite. It felt forced and overly choppy, especially in the beginning 30%. I appreciated the somewhat fast-paced plot, but the ending wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped.
I recently requested this title as an e-ARC but noticed this book was written over a decade ago. It shows how much Blake's writing has grown since then.
I recently requested this title as an e-ARC but noticed this book was written over a decade ago. It shows how much Blake's writing has grown since then.
holdenwunders_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Blake Crouch is one of my all time favourite writers and the king of balancing timing, story, genre while maintaining his unique point of view with a whole lot of technical skill.
The only book of his I had never read was Run and when I saw it was being rereleased and an ARC, I jumped at the excuse to finally read this story. As always, Crouch has a unique perspective on something that’s been done a myriad of ways. This was like reading The Walking Dead (there are no zombies) from Rick’s perspective if he was still with his family and it just go, go, GOES. Run is a fast paced, honed in view of a family who has no room to breathe while trying to survive an apocalyptic situation while being hunted around every turn
But I do have to say my favourite part of reading this book was seeing just how far Crouch has come as an authour and the growth when it comes to his skill. Crouch is known for dropping you right into the meat of the story and it just never stops and Run does this but not nearly as tightly as Recursion. Dark Matter, etc. I can see where he has fine tuned the lines of train of thought and keeping you in the action while still pacing in a way to give you reprieves. Run doesn’t quite nail the nuisances in technique that I’m so used to! And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he started as an innovative voice but it definitely felt like reading a first book by someone who could one day be the best.
I love that he rereleased this and it was a unique experience seeing how far he’s come but I would be so fascinated to see him rewrite this story with all the things he’s learned throughout the years. It’s a solid thriller but it doesn’t quite capture the genius of Blake Crouch I know and love today.
The only book of his I had never read was Run and when I saw it was being rereleased and an ARC, I jumped at the excuse to finally read this story. As always, Crouch has a unique perspective on something that’s been done a myriad of ways. This was like reading The Walking Dead (there are no zombies) from Rick’s perspective if he was still with his family and it just go, go, GOES. Run is a fast paced, honed in view of a family who has no room to breathe while trying to survive an apocalyptic situation while being hunted around every turn
But I do have to say my favourite part of reading this book was seeing just how far Crouch has come as an authour and the growth when it comes to his skill. Crouch is known for dropping you right into the meat of the story and it just never stops and Run does this but not nearly as tightly as Recursion. Dark Matter, etc. I can see where he has fine tuned the lines of train of thought and keeping you in the action while still pacing in a way to give you reprieves. Run doesn’t quite nail the nuisances in technique that I’m so used to! And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he started as an innovative voice but it definitely felt like reading a first book by someone who could one day be the best.
I love that he rereleased this and it was a unique experience seeing how far he’s come but I would be so fascinated to see him rewrite this story with all the things he’s learned throughout the years. It’s a solid thriller but it doesn’t quite capture the genius of Blake Crouch I know and love today.
kellyykatt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
librarydoc's review
3.0
Huh. I read this immediately after finishing The Pines trilogy. I just didn't like this one as much. It was much darker, almost extravagantly so. Did he really need that much gore to make his point? And not to be a prude, but the overuse of the "F" word was distracting!
dreamer626's review against another edition
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first book by this author and I was excited to read it. The beginning was the most engaging part. You could feel the tension in the beginning and towards the middle, it started to lose my interest. There were events that caused the plot to move forward but I couldn't engage in the story or its characters and that's the biggest factor for me to like a book. The writing was really easy to read and this will not be the last book I pick up from this author. It's probably because this specific novel was a miss for me.
This is my first book by this author and I was excited to read it. The beginning was the most engaging part. You could feel the tension in the beginning and towards the middle, it started to lose my interest. There were events that caused the plot to move forward but I couldn't engage in the story or its characters and that's the biggest factor for me to like a book. The writing was really easy to read and this will not be the last book I pick up from this author. It's probably because this specific novel was a miss for me.