A review by novel_nora
Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer

3.0

This book did a great job with the ~angst~ and the writing was actually pretty good in parts. However, there were SO MANY MISTAKES!! Honestly I'm concerned how the editor didn't catch part of the book literally changing narration style to third person? (this is otherwise a 1st person dual-pov) And then there were several continuity errors, like wounds switching places or disappearing, and hairstyles changing suddenly. Other than that, my other main problem was the pacing; it was very strange, and there were high stakes without being grounded. For example, there's a misunderstanding that happens off screen, and we're supposed to believe that it could lead to several hundred people turning against the mcs. But... we literally never interact with those people & it's difficult to believe that they would just believe the misunderstanding above their own common sense. Essentially this book happens in a tiny bubble, which really lessens the otherwise well written stakes & tension. Plus, the actual world and dynamics of the zombie-lore (?!?!) could've been explored more in my opinion. This book does have bonus points for having friends-to-lovers-to-strangers-to-friends-lovers, because that is a crazy timeline to experience.