Reviews

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Sometimes you pick up a book that just tickles all of the right synapses and reading it is an unspeakable joy. This was one of those times. Don’t get me wrong - the story wasn’t particularly happy all the time and there was a sense of foreboding throughout, but the writing was excellent, the characterisation was absolutely flawless and there were enough believable twists and turns to make - let’s face it - a very well-used plot device feel fresh and new and exciting. I was such a huge fan of this book. I can’t wait to read the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Animal death and Gore

digitalcage's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to love Wranglestone. A young adult, gay, zombie apocalypse novel set in my home state (Montana)--I wanted to embrace every part of that. Unfortunately, Charlton's writing is extremely undeveloped, with no visual sense and a haphazard approach to character revelation. Coincidences are nestled among contradictory descriptions, and emotions appear out of nowhere, stated but not allowed to flourish. While the plot itself is interesting, and the setting full of potential, the actual sentence-by-sentence writing doesn't flow, and the threadbare descriptions fail to give a sense of place. A disappointment that was a struggle to finish.

rosiereviewsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

It’s like The Last of Us. A beautiful world was built even if that world was only a lake. This sat on my bookshelf for far too long 

emalemxo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

What an absolute delight. I devoured Wranglestone in a single rainy Sunday while feeling under the weather and having a sofa day - and I think that’s the best way to read this. It feels like a soothing balm to an aching soul. It’s a warm blanket in front of a fire, it’s being inside while it snows outside, it’s sweet and tentative yet tense and mysterious. This isn’t an adult horror, it’s not a cinematic blockbuster with a huge budget and a plethora of content warnings. It’s a soft, tender, YA exploration of what it means to be alive with a genuinely interesting story about a post-outbreak world filled with zombies. 

katielucys's review against another edition

4.0

This came into the library at work and it sounded ~great~ so decided to give it a go. Really enjoyed it, part of me wished it were longer/feels like it could have been much longer as some parts felt like they needed fleshing out more (lol zombie pun).

Parts of the story and some of the big reveals were brilliant, also loved the general vibe of the book and the way it was written. Also !!! Peter and Cooper forever !!!

Weirdly tho I got a bit bored towards the end despite the bigger revelation and found myself skipping pages, but tbf it is a book meant for younger readers really so could be why. Overall 4 v well deserved stars

multeapod's review against another edition

2.0

Wranglestone had a very interesting concept that had equally great potential, only to have poor execution. The world building was good, however the characters lacked substance - for example: the main characters had very little chemistry in a rushed romance to work with.

There was great LGB+ representation and a gripping intrigue that prevented me from putting the book down.

Although I issued two stars this is definitely a book that could be great for younger readers.

wintergirl94's review against another edition

4.0

I am so glad book 2 comes out in a week because I loved this universe and Cooper is such an interesting character.

A gay love story in the zombie apocalypse is just what we all need and I loved every moment.

writingqueerfic's review against another edition

DNF'd at 136 pages. The pace is all over the place, and I have no clue in which direction the plot is going. I tried, but I can read anymore. Some people would love this, but it's not for me.

courtneysbooks's review against another edition

3.0

This was the perfect book to read while it started snowing. Overall, this was a cute and easy read. I really enjoyed the beginning (zombies make brain go brrr) but I wasn’t a fan of where the plot started to go around the halfway point. This book kind of felt like the Warm Bodies movie? ‘Twas fine but nothing really stuck with me.

I definitely just wanted to stare at the cover the entire time I was reading this

punkcalf's review against another edition

2.0

Actual Rating 1.5/5

I wanted to like this book really bad and seeing as it was sort listed for the Costa awards gave me a lot of hope. [One of my favorite books was also short listed for that award a few years back]

But, sadly. It just doesn't work. I'll start with the things I did like first;
I liked the idea of the world building. We have so many books, movies and tv shows about what the world is like during the end. How people cope with the change and chaos of it all. So little stories are set after the end where people will try again to build communities and live life as best as they can. The thing is though; it doesn't work here because so little time is spend on it and the whole thing feels rushed.

I liked the first half of the book when it was just Cooper and Peter's budding relationship [also that one felt also rushed, I never figured if they had sex in that boathouse or not?] But it was cute and believable.

I also liked the

Spoiler

idea of people not turning but instead being immune. That's really cool but it s not explored enough to be worthy of much praise, sadly.

Now to what I didn't like as much;

The pacing This is really the one thing that made me claw through this book. It's either too fast paced or too slow. Characters are there and then they are not having run off. After they leave the island and go into the woods it becomes a downright mess of pacing issues. Characters do stuff on a whim, they trust one another on a whim and then betray that trust the second after. Characters are introduced only to be killed off. There are implicates of people doing horrid things but that is glossed over or said with a 'use your imagination'. A wish it was a case of show, not tell but they don't do either. Sure, I can fill in the blanks but I shouldn't, should I?


Us vs. Them And I don't mean the zombies. Peter from page one is different than the other men because he's more feminine. And it's clear there is a divide between him, his father, Cooper and the other men in the settlement. In the beginning points are made that people who sew and keep house are just as important in this new world than people who can fight and hunt, but then they throw that out of the window by making Peter prove himself in the wild anyway.

The women There are only a few women in this book and the writing of them in one word is abysmal. In more than one word;

Spoiler

The main woman character turns out to be a traitor, the other woman in the settlement is willing to kill everyone to prove a point. The two girls that came back to life are not so subtly used as sex slaves, the wife of one of the characters doesn't want anything to do with him and the only other teen-girl character makes an appearance in the last twenty pages as some big damned hero but not after killing an innocent man. it's just weird to read.

The characterisation Its just weird. Some characters are set up to be homophobic only not turning out to be a page later. They distrust each other, they do weird stuff without explanation. Characters are killed off within seconds by their supposed allies who show zero remorse. It's a whole mess.

Spoiler

At one point Peter just shoots his father on a baseless suspicion he may be bad? Like? Why? That's stupid. Sorry, it's just stupid. His father gave him zero reason for Peter to doubt him so why?

Finally what really did this book in was the overall writing. There are pages with just dialogue and it's impossible to figure out who is saying what. Some characters have a Southern drawl as an accent but me, as a non-native English speaker, got totally lost what they were saying most of the time. There are weird jumps in time with no warning at all. There are pages spend on describing trees but then they gloss over some important things that the reader should know.

I know this book tries to clean up it's messes by setting up a sequel hook but it just doesn't work. I finished it a few hours ago and I'm still not sure what just happened. I still don't know who betrayed them and who was on their side. I'm not sure who died and who is still alive and how they came to pass. I got no clue where the characters near the end come from and neither does the book.

I'm giving the 1.5 stars to the beginning of the book when it was just two boys falling in love. That was cute and well written but after that it just crumbles into a mess that would have been so much better if it was a series of books that didn't try to cramp everything into one book.

Even the interesting plot twist couldn't save it from being a mess.

I'm sorry.