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A review by karis321
If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I loved this book so much.
I've gone on and on about how much I adore Marie's writing, of its tenderness and the emotional punches that hit hard exactly when they need to, so I won't rattle on too much about it here, but the character work here is still a quality of her writing I am drawn to every time.
Flora is such an incredible antagonist. Someone who she, and everyone around her, thought of as weak until the apocalypse came and she comes to learn she can survive in it. Not for herself but for her brother, a person she would die for while harboring some resentments for. Her grief, OCD, and very possible PTSD hurt her a lot throughout the book, but she still fights like hell for those she loves despite her believing she doesn't deserve to survive, not after all she's been through. She tries to shove any perceived weakness down by acting cold and hardened, especially towards Crisanta, her childhood crush, but she cannot help but love those she's closest with. It eventually leads her to learning she does deserve to survive, to live and be with the people she loves and who love her. It damn nearly made me cry.
I'm also really delighted that Marie's prose regarding the horrors, the gore and death descriptions, are so vividly gruesome and great. She admitted in the acknowledgements that she could never do horror because of how squeamish it made her, but I think her horror prose is amazing, and I loved that she pulled it off.
Another incredible Racquel Marie book to add to my shelf, and I cannot wait to see what she'll do next!
I've gone on and on about how much I adore Marie's writing, of its tenderness and the emotional punches that hit hard exactly when they need to, so I won't rattle on too much about it here, but the character work here is still a quality of her writing I am drawn to every time.
Flora is such an incredible antagonist. Someone who she, and everyone around her, thought of as weak until the apocalypse came and she comes to learn she can survive in it. Not for herself but for her brother, a person she would die for while harboring some resentments for. Her grief, OCD, and very possible PTSD hurt her a lot throughout the book, but she still fights like hell for those she loves despite her believing she doesn't deserve to survive, not after all she's been through. She tries to shove any perceived weakness down by acting cold and hardened, especially towards Crisanta, her childhood crush, but she cannot help but love those she's closest with. It eventually leads her to learning she does deserve to survive, to live and be with the people she loves and who love her. It damn nearly made me cry.
I'm also really delighted that Marie's prose regarding the horrors, the gore and death descriptions, are so vividly gruesome and great. She admitted in the acknowledgements that she could never do horror because of how squeamish it made her, but I think her horror prose is amazing, and I loved that she pulled it off.
Another incredible Racquel Marie book to add to my shelf, and I cannot wait to see what she'll do next!