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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I loved the premise of this. I used to think about what I’d do to protect my kids when deep into my Walking Dead watch phase.
However it just doesn’t hold up.
The pieces of advice from the book are great. The set ip tot he story isn’t bad but everything else kind of falls apart. The characters are flat and unlikable and nothing they do makes any sense.
I just really ended up not caring if any of these people survived or found each other again. Dnf’ed at 71%.
However it just doesn’t hold up.
The pieces of advice from the book are great. The set ip tot he story isn’t bad but everything else kind of falls apart. The characters are flat and unlikable and nothing they do makes any sense.
I just really ended up not caring if any of these people survived or found each other again. Dnf’ed at 71%.
mysterious
reflective
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
So first, this wasn’t a dystopia. It was more like a drama, a family one. Sure, it’s set in a post-apocalypic world, but thats about it. So to label it this way does seem misleading.
I did like the story and how everyone had its own characteristics. It was really easily predictable though.
I liked the bouts of random knowledge here and there.
I loved the narration with the different accents.
3.5!
I did like the story and how everyone had its own characteristics. It was really easily predictable though.
I liked the bouts of random knowledge here and there.
I loved the narration with the different accents.
3.5!
DNFing at 58% after reading the reviews and seeing people rate this so highly. Biggest issue is that the author is using the one black woman in this story as a scapegoat for all that is bad even though the husband participated in cheating and alienating his wife by pretending like her anxiety is just her being a wackadoodle???
If we choose to separate ourselves from the discomfort by that, there is the biggest glaring plot hole whereSam makes out with Mel the moment he sees her?? If she is this evil woman that ruined your marriage why do you still have a soft spot for her?
Overall this first half of this book at least was just all over the place with too many storylines that were not well thought out and hard to follow. I didn’t like any of the characters and the plot itself was not executed well.
As far as the production of the audiobook, the narrator had perfect tone and pacing to listen to this at 1.25x speed and not have the sound be warped and I appreciated her diction. The amount of accents she attempted was unnecessary and distracted from the story as she didn’t get them all quite right. Would have appreciated her to just use her own accent or the production team hire additional voice actors.
I am not big on DNFing so I might come back to this to see if it is brought back around, but it is rather frustrating to see people skip over some very important points to give this high ratings. 2 stars for the idea behind the story just wish it was executed better.
**finished it because again my mind could not believe this was where the book was going but it was. I believe the author struggled with writing nuanced characters. I didn’t end up liking anyone in this book because even the “good guys” had their head so far up their own behind it was insufferable. They couldn’t admit to any of their own faults and I’m still shocked people are rating this any higher than a 3
If we choose to separate ourselves from the discomfort by that, there is the biggest glaring plot hole where
Overall this first half of this book at least was just all over the place with too many storylines that were not well thought out and hard to follow. I didn’t like any of the characters and the plot itself was not executed well.
As far as the production of the audiobook, the narrator had perfect tone and pacing to listen to this at 1.25x speed and not have the sound be warped and I appreciated her diction. The amount of accents she attempted was unnecessary and distracted from the story as she didn’t get them all quite right. Would have appreciated her to just use her own accent or the production team hire additional voice actors.
I am not big on DNFing so I might come back to this to see if it is brought back around, but it is rather frustrating to see people skip over some very important points to give this high ratings. 2 stars for the idea behind the story just wish it was executed better.
**finished it because again my mind could not believe this was where the book was going but it was. I believe the author struggled with writing nuanced characters. I didn’t end up liking anyone in this book because even the “good guys” had their head so far up their own behind it was insufferable. They couldn’t admit to any of their own faults and I’m still shocked people are rating this any higher than a 3
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was completely unexpected. I mean I read the blurb about the book, but I never could have imagined this. This was so well done. I LOVED it, and I was hooked from the very beginning. Honestly I don’t want to give away too much here, but the characters were well done and the mystery just kept unfolding in ways I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you Hollie Overton for this masterpiece i didn’t know I needed in my life. I will be ordering this for my shelf ASAP.
PS. The narration was soooo good! I could listen to this again and again.
Thank you Hollie Overton, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this opportunity. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
PS. The narration was soooo good! I could listen to this again and again.
Thank you Hollie Overton, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this opportunity. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Mother’s Guide to the Apocalypse is a story of a family trying to figure out and in search of the truth of what exactly happen to their mother. A flash flood swept her away and now 20 years later they are in search of the truth. Told in the third person our triplet sisters go into the world. During the entire book we get snippets of Reddit posts and parts of a journal that their mother, who also doomsday prepped. These continued to tell more and more of the story of who their mother was and the mindset she was in.
For me some of my favorite parts were the Reddit posts and the journal entries telling us all the information we could need to know from our water supplies and so on. I thought that these entries were well needed in between the chapters and kept me really interested in the book.
Now I did listen to this in audio book format. I thought that the performance given by Eleanor Caudill kept the book very entertaining. The delivery was fun and i liked the variety of voices and different tones of voice she used to articulate the characters. I found that it kept me engaged in the book and didn’t have my mind straying away from it. I liked her pacing and found that it was very digestiable at various speeds. I would definetly reccomend consuming this as an audio!
Thank you to Hachette Auido for the complementary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
For me some of my favorite parts were the Reddit posts and the journal entries telling us all the information we could need to know from our water supplies and so on. I thought that these entries were well needed in between the chapters and kept me really interested in the book.
Now I did listen to this in audio book format. I thought that the performance given by Eleanor Caudill kept the book very entertaining. The delivery was fun and i liked the variety of voices and different tones of voice she used to articulate the characters. I found that it kept me engaged in the book and didn’t have my mind straying away from it. I liked her pacing and found that it was very digestiable at various speeds. I would definetly reccomend consuming this as an audio!
Thank you to Hachette Auido for the complementary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5/5 stars
Huge thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for a chance to read this early!
The only thing I knew about this book going in was Olivia was a prepper and this was her guide to her daughters on how to stay alive when the world collapsed. And that’s what this is. We get to see this new modern day world from Cassie, Rosie, and Bettie’s pov. This world takes place after many natural disasters and the detrimental affects A.I. have on the United States and elsewhere.
It was crazy to see that a world like this could quite possibly become our reality. With A.I. on the rise we are already seeing how it impacts out environment and how it impacts people.
I really enjoyed the voice Hollie gave each of these girls. They were unique and distinct and you could definitely tell which girls pov you were in. They each had their strengths and weaknesses and really knew how to support and uplift each other. It was nice to see such a good sibling dynamic.
Overall I found so plot holes but I still had such a fun time reading this even if it was a little too close to today’s reality
Huge thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for a chance to read this early!
The only thing I knew about this book going in was Olivia was a prepper and this was her guide to her daughters on how to stay alive when the world collapsed. And that’s what this is. We get to see this new modern day world from Cassie, Rosie, and Bettie’s pov. This world takes place after many natural disasters and the detrimental affects A.I. have on the United States and elsewhere.
It was crazy to see that a world like this could quite possibly become our reality. With A.I. on the rise we are already seeing how it impacts out environment and how it impacts people.
I really enjoyed the voice Hollie gave each of these girls. They were unique and distinct and you could definitely tell which girls pov you were in. They each had their strengths and weaknesses and really knew how to support and uplift each other. It was nice to see such a good sibling dynamic.
Overall I found so plot holes but I still had such a fun time reading this even if it was a little too close to today’s reality
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A Mother's Guide to the Apocalypse
by Hollie Overton
General Fiction Post Apocalyptic
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Aug 19, 2025
Orbit Books
Ages: 16+
Rosie, Bettie, and Cassie, identical triplets, were told their mother died during a flash flood that destroyed L.A. back in 2024. Their mother, Olivia, had left a notebook with instructions on how to survive during an Apocalypse, something she suddenly became interested in after a young woman broke into their home when the triplets were just babies.
Their father, fearing the political upheaval and natural disasters that were ravaging the U.S., took the kids across the Atlantic to his home country. But after finding the notebook, when they contacted one of their mother's friends, the stories of the events leading up to their mother's disappearance began to differ.
Wanting to find out the truth, the sisters and their father venture back to the States, not knowing about the severity of the unrest and dangers.
This book was kind of creepy because there are quite a few similarities as to what is going on with our current 'ruler'.... And made me wonder if I should start collecting...
Ignoring that, this book started off slow because there was a lot of telling due to the excerpts of Olivia's notebook, texts, and other nonverbal communications with others, but these also contributed to the mystery of her disappearance, whether it was actually the flood or if someone had a hand in it. The events were complicated by the fact that the triplets' father, Olivia's husband, was suffering from dementia, so he wasn't a reliable source. Also, this was told through multiple POVs; each triplet, the father, and the mother in various ways.
For me, one thing that was missing was more detail about what happened to the entire U.S.. All that is talked about is California, so I don't remember anything about the rest of the country. Is it destroyed, separate, wars, etc? To make this apocalypse more real, there needs to be a record of what happened to the world. I think it was mostly the US, but to make me feel more a part of this story, and relate to me, giving examples of what happened to the other states would have impacted me as the reader.
As for the story as a whole, it's a simple general fiction consisting of a missing person after a mild apocalypse. I say mild because it seems as if the U.S. was the only country majorly affected.
It wasn't a bad story, but because of the 'telling', I got bored during those parts. But I do like the title and the cover, both matching the contents and adding a visual for the notebook.
2 Stars
by Hollie Overton
General Fiction Post Apocalyptic
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Aug 19, 2025
Orbit Books
Ages: 16+
Rosie, Bettie, and Cassie, identical triplets, were told their mother died during a flash flood that destroyed L.A. back in 2024. Their mother, Olivia, had left a notebook with instructions on how to survive during an Apocalypse, something she suddenly became interested in after a young woman broke into their home when the triplets were just babies.
Their father, fearing the political upheaval and natural disasters that were ravaging the U.S., took the kids across the Atlantic to his home country. But after finding the notebook, when they contacted one of their mother's friends, the stories of the events leading up to their mother's disappearance began to differ.
Wanting to find out the truth, the sisters and their father venture back to the States, not knowing about the severity of the unrest and dangers.
This book was kind of creepy because there are quite a few similarities as to what is going on with our current 'ruler'.... And made me wonder if I should start collecting...
Ignoring that, this book started off slow because there was a lot of telling due to the excerpts of Olivia's notebook, texts, and other nonverbal communications with others, but these also contributed to the mystery of her disappearance, whether it was actually the flood or if someone had a hand in it. The events were complicated by the fact that the triplets' father, Olivia's husband, was suffering from dementia, so he wasn't a reliable source. Also, this was told through multiple POVs; each triplet, the father, and the mother in various ways.
For me, one thing that was missing was more detail about what happened to the entire U.S.. All that is talked about is California, so I don't remember anything about the rest of the country. Is it destroyed, separate, wars, etc? To make this apocalypse more real, there needs to be a record of what happened to the world. I think it was mostly the US, but to make me feel more a part of this story, and relate to me, giving examples of what happened to the other states would have impacted me as the reader.
As for the story as a whole, it's a simple general fiction consisting of a missing person after a mild apocalypse. I say mild because it seems as if the U.S. was the only country majorly affected.
It wasn't a bad story, but because of the 'telling', I got bored during those parts. But I do like the title and the cover, both matching the contents and adding a visual for the notebook.
2 Stars
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The title may seem a little bit trite, but this was a great dystopia/post apocalyptic read. The apocalypse happened in the past tense for most of the book, but there are reddit thread excerpts from a prepper oriented subthread and various conversations between its leader and the absent mother of the triplets who, after twenty years thinking she was killed in a flash flood, decide to go back to America with their father. There, they get caught up in all the old secrets of their parents, which range from a difficult relationship with their ex best friend all the way up to a local shitty paramilitary that takes interest in the triplets when they come back (one of whom is pregnant). This is a tense little book as these girls try to figure out what was going on with their mother, figure out how much their father has been lying to them, and navigate all that and their relationship with each other. Definitely pick this up this fall.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
If I could only say one word to describe this book is would be CHILLS. Because I was getting every single f***ing page.
If you want my full review, it’ll be below, it if you just want a quick why you should read this, it’s this:
1. Post-Apocalyptic Setting;
2. Road Pirates;
3. Pro-Natalist Baby-Nappers;
4. Doomsday Prepping Cults;
5. 70 Year Old Lesbian Couple where one is a British spy;
6. Mysterious Deaths.
FULL REVIEW: 4.5 Stars Rounded up to 5
This book was so, so tense and so beautifully plotted and paced that it was nearly impossible to put down. The characters were unique, the drama sky high, and the secrets were abundant.
How many times do you get to read a book where the core POVs are from a woman who may or may not be dead, identical TRIPLETS, and a middle-aged father with dementia? And, we get multiple POVs for past and present, online subreddits, and portions from the Guide to the Apocalypse.
The book opens with a POV from Olivia, a new mother in her 20s. She has identical triplets, Rosie (the adventurous one), Cassie (the highly opinionated one, and Bettie (the sweet tie-breaker). Olivia becomes obsessed with doomsday prepping (and holy hell the author had me obsessed with these sections). Tornados basically take out Nebraska. Flooding is taking out coastal states. Earthquakes take out California. And Olivia disappears, leaving behind Sam, their triplets, and her “Survival Guide to the Apocalypse.”
From there, we jump 21 years to the future and the triplets discover the guide at their home in the UK and are convinced their mother is still alive. The world is slowing getting put back together post-apocalypse, but with major changes. They set out on an adventure from the UK to “New Pacific,” (California seceded during the apocalypse) and along the way, they meet their mom and dad’s mysterious friend who may have a secret agenda, road pirates shooting at them, a crazy doomsday cult their mom maybe kinda participated in decades earlier, and SO. MUCH. MORE.
Read this book!!!!!
If you want my full review, it’ll be below, it if you just want a quick why you should read this, it’s this:
1. Post-Apocalyptic Setting;
2. Road Pirates;
3. Pro-Natalist Baby-Nappers;
4. Doomsday Prepping Cults;
5. 70 Year Old Lesbian Couple where one is a British spy;
6. Mysterious Deaths.
FULL REVIEW: 4.5 Stars Rounded up to 5
This book was so, so tense and so beautifully plotted and paced that it was nearly impossible to put down. The characters were unique, the drama sky high, and the secrets were abundant.
How many times do you get to read a book where the core POVs are from a woman who may or may not be dead, identical TRIPLETS, and a middle-aged father with dementia? And, we get multiple POVs for past and present, online subreddits, and portions from the Guide to the Apocalypse.
The book opens with a POV from Olivia, a new mother in her 20s. She has identical triplets, Rosie (the adventurous one), Cassie (the highly opinionated one, and Bettie (the sweet tie-breaker). Olivia becomes obsessed with doomsday prepping (and holy hell the author had me obsessed with these sections). Tornados basically take out Nebraska. Flooding is taking out coastal states. Earthquakes take out California. And Olivia disappears, leaving behind Sam, their triplets, and her “Survival Guide to the Apocalypse.”
From there, we jump 21 years to the future and the triplets discover the guide at their home in the UK and are convinced their mother is still alive. The world is slowing getting put back together post-apocalypse, but with major changes. They set out on an adventure from the UK to “New Pacific,” (California seceded during the apocalypse) and along the way, they meet their mom and dad’s mysterious friend who may have a secret agenda, road pirates shooting at them, a crazy doomsday cult their mom maybe kinda participated in decades earlier, and SO. MUCH. MORE.
Read this book!!!!!