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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book destroyed me, would absolutely recommend
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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
DNF @ 60%. Skipped to the last few pages to see if I wanted to put it on hold again and nah.
Miiight pick this back up sometime since so many people say the slow burn is great. It just really didn't grab me. Neither main character feels like a real person, Saff's background doesn't add up, the writing needed a round or three of heavy editing (this could EASILY be halved in length) not to mention the typos... I wanted to like it for the disability rep but Maddie's blindness is handled so poorly. Someone who's blind from birth wouldn't communicate so much with subtle facial expressions. There were other examples I'm forgetting because I started this book months ago, that one is just the most constantly egregious. Both women acted like teens rather than competent adults.
Also the non-romance parts of the plot are often nonsensical. The timeline since the zombie outbreak felt wrong for how much food was left. How did Maddie's family survive in their gated vacation community? Saff was a hospital doctor but doesn't seem to have a specialty, and her training sounded closer to nursing. Even if she's a genius who started college early, the flashbacks to time with her dad don't sound like she had been set up for success in an academic environment. And there's no mention of a residency, just "shifts at the hospital" alongside lectures. Has the author at least watched Grey's Anatomy? Or gone camping? Hiking even? At one point Saff complains about being up before 6am, after weeks of pre-dawn hunting and telling Maddie she's never been able to sleep in. It was either boring, or skipping ahead without setting up the new scene, or making me want to throw the book across the room because nothing works like that. Details don't add anything when they're stupid or wrong.
The skipping ahead omitting useful details was also a lot. Like the dining hall in the village. We're on a Maddie chapter when they first go there so no description of the layout, and then every time they go back it's more confusing. Hundreds of people crammed in around small tables... Why aren't meals in shifts? We had multiple lunch periods from middle school on to keep the cafeteria manageable. And what is the building? They're supposedly in a residential neighborhood -- the clinic is in a house -- so is it a community center with full kitchens? A repurposed church? Pretty sure it's described as a house they're using as a dining hall during their tour with Maddie's dad.
Another dumb detail was early on: how quickly they walked from the city center to open country. My city is well outside the top 20 in the US for metro area population, and it's 15-30+ miles to get from downtown past the suburbs depending which direction you go. That is not half a day's walk. If it was described as a small-mediun city the timing makes enough sense, but they have a conversation while walking through the suburbs. AND one of them is injured.
Finally, I was basically 2/3 through and not a hint of romantic tension. I love a slow burn but this was a slog.
Miiight pick this back up sometime since so many people say the slow burn is great. It just really didn't grab me. Neither main character feels like a real person, Saff's background doesn't add up, the writing needed a round or three of heavy editing (this could EASILY be halved in length) not to mention the typos... I wanted to like it for the disability rep but Maddie's blindness is handled so poorly. Someone who's blind from birth wouldn't communicate so much with subtle facial expressions. There were other examples I'm forgetting because I started this book months ago, that one is just the most constantly egregious. Both women acted like teens rather than competent adults.
Also the non-romance parts of the plot are often nonsensical. The timeline since the zombie outbreak felt wrong for how much food was left. How did Maddie's family survive in their gated vacation community? Saff was a hospital doctor but doesn't seem to have a specialty, and her training sounded closer to nursing. Even if she's a genius who started college early, the flashbacks to time with her dad don't sound like she had been set up for success in an academic environment. And there's no mention of a residency, just "shifts at the hospital" alongside lectures. Has the author at least watched Grey's Anatomy? Or gone camping? Hiking even? At one point Saff complains about being up before 6am, after weeks of pre-dawn hunting and telling Maddie she's never been able to sleep in. It was either boring, or skipping ahead without setting up the new scene, or making me want to throw the book across the room because nothing works like that. Details don't add anything when they're stupid or wrong.
The skipping ahead omitting useful details was also a lot. Like the dining hall in the village. We're on a Maddie chapter when they first go there so no description of the layout, and then every time they go back it's more confusing. Hundreds of people crammed in around small tables... Why aren't meals in shifts? We had multiple lunch periods from middle school on to keep the cafeteria manageable. And what is the building? They're supposedly in a residential neighborhood -- the clinic is in a house -- so is it a community center with full kitchens? A repurposed church? Pretty sure it's described as a house they're using as a dining hall during their tour with Maddie's dad.
Another dumb detail was early on: how quickly they walked from the city center to open country. My city is well outside the top 20 in the US for metro area population, and it's 15-30+ miles to get from downtown past the suburbs depending which direction you go. That is not half a day's walk. If it was described as a small-mediun city the timing makes enough sense, but they have a conversation while walking through the suburbs. AND one of them is injured.
Finally, I was basically 2/3 through and not a hint of romantic tension. I love a slow burn but this was a slog.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
No
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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:
Yes