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A review by raforall
The Raven by Jonathan Janz
4.0
Full disclosure before this review: My name appears in the acknowledgments. I was going to review this for Booklist but did not feel like that was 100% Kosher; in fact, I didn't know this until after I had written a review and turned it in. But here is a version of what my honest review would have been.
Three Words That Describe This Book: original, character focused, strong world building
Dez has survived for two years in a world decimated by a biological weapon attack, engineered by terrorists to reactivate the long buried genes of monsters humanity thought only existed in fiction. Turns out, monsters were real; their genes may have been suppressed, but their markers still lurked in human DNA. A world where werewolves, vampires, satyrs, and more jumped out of the myths of the past and into a very real present meant most “Latents,” people with no special powers like Dez, didn’t have much of a chance to survive. As the reader encounters him, Dez is desperately trying to find his girlfriend, stolen from him six months before, encountering many monsters along his route.
This original take on the post-apocalyptic trope is surprising and fun because of the unique threat, and its dogged focus on world building and character development. Janz takes time making this impossible world feel totally believable, peppering it with exciting fight sequences throughout. While the pacing here is never fast, it is extremely compelling; readers want to root for Dez’s success and learn more about the fascinating human-monsters they meet along the way. This is a perfect choice for fans of horror-science fiction hybrids such as Rebecca Roanhorse’s Sixth World series or Josh Malerman’s Bird Box novels.
On a side note: I loved that there were no zombies for once in a post-apocalyptic horror novel.
Longer version on blog here: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-im-reading-raven-by-jonathan-janz.html
Shorter version in Library Journal here: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=the-raven
Three Words That Describe This Book: original, character focused, strong world building
Dez has survived for two years in a world decimated by a biological weapon attack, engineered by terrorists to reactivate the long buried genes of monsters humanity thought only existed in fiction. Turns out, monsters were real; their genes may have been suppressed, but their markers still lurked in human DNA. A world where werewolves, vampires, satyrs, and more jumped out of the myths of the past and into a very real present meant most “Latents,” people with no special powers like Dez, didn’t have much of a chance to survive. As the reader encounters him, Dez is desperately trying to find his girlfriend, stolen from him six months before, encountering many monsters along his route.
This original take on the post-apocalyptic trope is surprising and fun because of the unique threat, and its dogged focus on world building and character development. Janz takes time making this impossible world feel totally believable, peppering it with exciting fight sequences throughout. While the pacing here is never fast, it is extremely compelling; readers want to root for Dez’s success and learn more about the fascinating human-monsters they meet along the way. This is a perfect choice for fans of horror-science fiction hybrids such as Rebecca Roanhorse’s Sixth World series or Josh Malerman’s Bird Box novels.
On a side note: I loved that there were no zombies for once in a post-apocalyptic horror novel.
Longer version on blog here: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2020/06/what-im-reading-raven-by-jonathan-janz.html
Shorter version in Library Journal here: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=the-raven