You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
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:
No
If I could give this more than five stars I would.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This food is so good Lois
I absolutely loved this apocalyptic, dystopian, thriller, LGBTQ love story. Talk about trauma and horror and true love.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
What’s better than a YA zombie apocalypse novel? How about a YA zombie apocalypse novel with a sapphic love story! I was so excited to read an early copy of Hearts Still Beating by debut author, Brooke Archer, and trust me, this is a story you don’t want to miss.
First off, the novel gives off major Warm Bodies vibes in the best way possible. I’d imagine that this story could take place several years after Warm Bodies, and I loved that aspect. In the novel, the world is a few years into the zombie apocalypse, and there is a cure…well, sort of. Some of the undead can be given a medication that allows them to regain their free will if taken regularly. I really enjoyed how Archer developed the world, both in the features that reflected the deterioration of society and those that showed an attempt to rebuild it.
Additionally, one of my favorite things about the story was the themes Archer explored. Not only does she explore humanity (which any author writing about the apocalypse should), she also explores themes of grief and blame in a unique and refreshing way. Many of the characters misplace blame and cope with immense grief, and I appreciated the way Archer showed how that changed the characters on a deeper level.
Furthermore, family was another wonderful theme in the story. I loved the way both Rory’s and Mara’s families are broken, and both characters deal with that in different ways. Mara’s past greatly impacts her relationship with her sister. Similarly, both Mara and Rory grieve for their parents, Mara in a more traditional sense, and Rory in a metaphorical one.
On a side note, I liked that Rory had adopted siblings. I adored the fact that she could see her mother in her adoptive brother’s mannerisms, and I often forgot that she wasn’t related to her brother and sister by blood. It was a nice twist on the found family trope, which ironically juxtaposed a theme of losing family too.
I loved both Rory’s and Mara’s characters. I thought Rory insisting on being called “Rory” instead of “Aurora” was a nice way to be more direct in showing how the zombie apocalypse changed her. And, the fact that Mara called her “Aurora” was symbolically pleasing.
Related to that, Mara is an Altered (a former zombie who takes medication to maintain her humanity). I thought her perspective was compelling, and I loved the way her character was contrasted with her sister, Carter, who in many ways lost more of her humanity than Mara did.
Finally, the love story was everything I could’ve asked for. At times, it was heartbreaking, but mostly it was a feel-good touch to an otherwise somber yet interesting story. The way Rory’s and Mara’s personalities clashed was perfect, and I enjoyed the flashbacks to their younger, more awkward selves.
As a whole, this novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys YA zombie apocalypse stories, and even if you don’t like stories about the zombie apocalypse, I still think there is a lot to love about it!
I had such a good time with this book! This book is the perfect blend of post-apocalyptic, dystopian, thriller, sapphic, YA story. This book follows Mara, who has been bitten and has a tick inside of her (think zombie behavior), and Rory, her childhood crush who now hates her guts. Rory’s parents look after Mara once she is released from a treatment center. They’re stuck on an island, and are faced with many adventures. There’s lots of death, a bit of body horror, a ton of blood, some truly psychotic behavior.
Rory obviously warms up to Mara, and I’ll be honest, I did not like Rory at the beginning. I thought she was extremely childish and just annoying. But with this being a dual POV story, I absolutely loved reading Rory’s internal thoughts and reasoning for her actions. Her character arc really was amazing, and I ended up loving her by the end of the story. Also, Rory is hilarious. Mara is so selfless, and I loved her character throughout the book.
The ending had me tearing up, and I thought it was the perfect ending. I’ve never read a book quite so unique. I really loved this book and highly recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book
Rory obviously warms up to Mara, and I’ll be honest, I did not like Rory at the beginning. I thought she was extremely childish and just annoying. But with this being a dual POV story, I absolutely loved reading Rory’s internal thoughts and reasoning for her actions. Her character arc really was amazing, and I ended up loving her by the end of the story. Also, Rory is hilarious. Mara is so selfless, and I loved her character throughout the book.
The ending had me tearing up, and I thought it was the perfect ending. I’ve never read a book quite so unique. I really loved this book and highly recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-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
Hearts Still Beating was a bloody good read! Gory, satisfying, and gripping! It gave Warm Bodies and Maggie (Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie) vibes, with a splash of The Last of Us, a unique plot twist, and a heartfelt story line. It was unputdownable and gave all the feels.
This one fit perfectly within the new "horromance" genre that's been emerging in the YA book community. There's something entrancing about romance brewing between humans and "monsters", especially while learning that some humans can be more monstrous than anything you could imagine. And, I loved Rory and Mara so much. I loved the family dynamic felt within Rory's family, and I loved the messages found within the story boasting the importance of not losing kindness and humanity amidst tragedy (and an apocalypse).
Loveable characters (for the most part). Splashes of humor. Gory bits galore. A powerful story, and fantastic nostalgia and nods to other great works. What's not to love?
Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This one fit perfectly within the new "horromance" genre that's been emerging in the YA book community. There's something entrancing about romance brewing between humans and "monsters", especially while learning that some humans can be more monstrous than anything you could imagine. And, I loved Rory and Mara so much. I loved the family dynamic felt within Rory's family, and I loved the messages found within the story boasting the importance of not losing kindness and humanity amidst tragedy (and an apocalypse).
Loveable characters (for the most part). Splashes of humor. Gory bits galore. A powerful story, and fantastic nostalgia and nods to other great works. What's not to love?
Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had a hard time connecting with the characters in this. Rory's hatred and anger at Mara did not ring true to me. I can see how someone could develop resentment or fear of the ex-ticks that turns to hatred. It's a little victim-blamey, a little self-centered, but it's the post-apocalypse, all these people are traumatized and grieving; they don't need to be rational or examine their reactions to their emotions. But Rory's (and Carter's, Mara's sister's) hatred felt forced. Maybe their characters just needed more development in general for me to get why they were the way they were. I could probably say the same for the villain, Mal, but he's not much of a character really, bit of a stock villain, and this story is more about the romance so it matters less.
So, the characters' behaviors were 'off' and I couldn't connect with them. Then, the non-romance plot-line and the world were very standard zombie apocalypse fare, not done any better than I've seen before. There were also a lot of bits and pieces, not usually major to the plot, that took me out of the world and annoyed me. A lot of it was packed into the end, so I won't spoil anything, but the way certain things were written made the minor characters look dumb or inconsistent or made me have to put in more work than I'd like to justify how something could fit the world of the story.
So, the characters' behaviors were 'off' and I couldn't connect with them. Then, the non-romance plot-line and the world were very standard zombie apocalypse fare, not done any better than I've seen before. There were also a lot of bits and pieces, not usually major to the plot, that took me out of the world and annoyed me. A lot of it was packed into the end, so I won't spoil anything, but the way certain things were written made the minor characters look dumb or inconsistent or made me have to put in more work than I'd like to justify how something could fit the world of the story.
I feel a bit bad giving this 2 stars because there were definitely some aspects that were good, but the world building and character motivations just felt so flat to me. It felt like watching a movie of cardboard cut outs. Like yeah, that movie could have some interesting plot points or scenes, but it’s all cardboard and paper sets and characters, so you don’t feel all that connected to it. The relationship was good though.
!!! Spoilers ahead !!!
First off, Rory. I get that Rory may have been a bit horrified when Mara showed up, but to literally be on the verge of killing her? A literal victim who is miraculously alive? Your best friend/love interest? Come on. It felt like a forced enemies to lovers plot. Like they were not enemies.
Second, Carter. This made me wonder if the author was an only child. Another example of it being obvious that Mara was a victim and someone who loves/loved her deeply trying to kill her. Like what? I have a little sister, and I could accept if the author tried to say that after Mara killed their parents she couldn’t bring herself to love her again, but to say that she looked her in the eyes and acted like she didn’t see anyone staring back at her is just totally not how it would happen. I know it’s fiction but that’s just not how sibling bonds work. Oh, and Carter saying “I forgive you” just made me upset. Like forgive her for what? None of that was her fault. How could it have been? To forgive is to assign blame, and Mara did not deserve that.
Third, Mal. Okay just a little thing here, but shouldn’t he have been campaigning for the Altered since he seemed to hope for his daughter to be cured one day? He was a villain just to be a villain, and Rory was no better that he was when she freed Mara. In fact, what she did was arguably much worse.
Fourth, world building. The world just felt kind of disconnected and I couldn’t feel immersed. Not terrible, just very meh.
The thing that made me the most upset was the continual belief that Mara is a “monster.” Like no? She wasn’t physically in control so what do you mean?
Positives! I did really like Mara and Rory’s relationship, and there was significant character growth throughout for various characters (even if some of it felt a bit forced). I liked the relationship enough that this book got 2 stars instead of 1 with all the problems listed above.
I think this book will find people who’ll like it, but it just wasn’t for me.
Not all that I expected it to be. :(
When I saw that I won this book, I was super excited. And then I had to wait weeks for it to come, in which my excitement only grew. Unfortunately, I feel like I over-hyped this book in my head, causing me to be disappointed when the book was just, eh, rather than say, phenomenal.
This story features a dead girl named Mara and her childhood best friend/crush, Rory. Mara is a sweet and quiet girl who loves music and wishes that she didn't commit the sins that she did when she was infected and became a Tick, a mindless killing machine. Luckily, the government has found a treatment that is helping her stay sane. Almost two years after the world ended and the apocalypse started, Mara is sent back home to live with her godparents, who happen to be Rory's parents. Rory is a strong willed woman who is unafraid to stab first and ask questions later. But when Mara returns home. . . she isn't sure how she should act.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book, but it ended up being very similar to Rory Power's "Wilder Girls," which I also didn't love. It features a lesbian romance, a mysterious disease (that actually ended up coming from the same source), body horror, and the element of being trapped on an island away from the rest of the world in a post-apocalyptic world. I wish I could have loved this one more, because these are all things I usually enjoy in a story, but it just fell flat to me.
I think one of my biggest roadblocks with this story is the fact that I couldn't get myself to connect to Rory. Mara kept presenting me with things, such as her love for music and her sense of humor, but Rory never gave me anything to latch onto. I felt as though I kept waiting for Rory to present her case of why I should like her, yet she never did. This frustrated me, but I still think they work great together as a couple.
But here's my biggest critique: I feel that close to all of the action in this book happened in the past, making me question why the author didn't start this story by writing about these two going through the apocalypse and then continued the story with "Hearts Still Beating" as book two. I kind of understood Archer's decision not to risk that on her debut book, but I feel like it would have forced me to like the characters more and then ripped out my heart when their worlds fell apart, rather than hearing about it passively in the past tense.
Overall, I didn't hate "Hearts Still Beating," but I feel it could have been greatly improved with some slight revisions and reworking of the structure of the book. I enjoyed the concept of the Ticks, the lesbian romance, and Noah (the five year old little brother) was just so cute!!! I think that many people will fall in love with this book, and I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it. Sadly, I just don't think it was the book for me. :(
When I saw that I won this book, I was super excited. And then I had to wait weeks for it to come, in which my excitement only grew. Unfortunately, I feel like I over-hyped this book in my head, causing me to be disappointed when the book was just, eh, rather than say, phenomenal.
This story features a dead girl named Mara and her childhood best friend/crush, Rory. Mara is a sweet and quiet girl who loves music and wishes that she didn't commit the sins that she did when she was infected and became a Tick, a mindless killing machine. Luckily, the government has found a treatment that is helping her stay sane. Almost two years after the world ended and the apocalypse started, Mara is sent back home to live with her godparents, who happen to be Rory's parents. Rory is a strong willed woman who is unafraid to stab first and ask questions later. But when Mara returns home. . . she isn't sure how she should act.
I really enjoyed the premise of the book, but it ended up being very similar to Rory Power's "Wilder Girls," which I also didn't love. It features a lesbian romance, a mysterious disease (that actually ended up coming from the same source), body horror, and the element of being trapped on an island away from the rest of the world in a post-apocalyptic world. I wish I could have loved this one more, because these are all things I usually enjoy in a story, but it just fell flat to me.
I think one of my biggest roadblocks with this story is the fact that I couldn't get myself to connect to Rory. Mara kept presenting me with things, such as her love for music and her sense of humor, but Rory never gave me anything to latch onto. I felt as though I kept waiting for Rory to present her case of why I should like her, yet she never did. This frustrated me, but I still think they work great together as a couple.
But here's my biggest critique: I feel that close to all of the action in this book happened in the past, making me question why the author didn't start this story by writing about these two going through the apocalypse and then continued the story with "Hearts Still Beating" as book two. I kind of understood Archer's decision not to risk that on her debut book, but I feel like it would have forced me to like the characters more and then ripped out my heart when their worlds fell apart, rather than hearing about it passively in the past tense.
Overall, I didn't hate "Hearts Still Beating," but I feel it could have been greatly improved with some slight revisions and reworking of the structure of the book. I enjoyed the concept of the Ticks, the lesbian romance, and Noah (the five year old little brother) was just so cute!!! I think that many people will fall in love with this book, and I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it. Sadly, I just don't think it was the book for me. :(