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A review by nicolemhewitt
Broken World by Kate L. Mary
5.0
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This book was really amazing, and not at all what I was expecting. It took me a while to feel like I was in the mood for this one – I think I just wasn’t feeling in a zombie apocalypse mood or something. But when I finished the book, I had to immediately contact the author and ask for the next one (and then read it immediately). Obviously, I shouldn’t have waited so long!
What I LOVED:
The story.
The first half of this book doesn’t focus on zombies (not a big problem for me, but see my negatives below). Instead it’s more of a story about what happens to people when the world is ending and you don’t know if you will survive. For the first half of the book, the characters don’t actually see a zombie. They just think that a deadly virus is killing most of the people in the world. These people are just hoping to survive – and get to their loved ones to find out if they’re still alive. Chances are, they’re not. Oh, and of course, since this is a zombie novel, not everyone makes it out alive – and the results are pretty devastating!
The characters.
These characters are not your typical heroes. Vivian, the main character, grew up in a trailer park with an abusive father after her mother left them. She then got pregnant and gave the child up for adoption (which was probably the smartest thing she could do) and then left home and became a stripper. Yep, the main heroine is a stripper. The two main guys she ends up with, Angus and Axl, are pretty much trailer trash (in her words – just like her father) – at least you think so at first. Turns out that all of these characters have layers, and learning about them was definitely my favorite part of the book. Then there are the more secondary characters, who are actually more “average” people – college students, a mom and her daughter, a piano teacher, a millionaire, etc. Many of these people, who we would consider as having more value to society under normal circumstances, are actually less useful in a zombie apocalypse. Not that they were useless, but Angus and Axl actually come out as leaders in these circumstances, and the dynamic is really interesting. Instead of trying to stuff all of my thoughts about these main characters into this bullet point, read on …
Vivian.
Vivian is an interesting character because she’s very strong in some ways – she’s had to be to live through the events of her life – but at the same time, she’s got these flaws that make her weak. Her inability to trust, to love, the fact that she’s always depended only on herself. These things can be huge drawbacks for her. Vivian just wants to see her daughter one time before the world falls apart. But I loved that finding her daughter doesn’t end up all rainbows and unicorns – that just wouldn’t fit with these characters or this story. It’s hard. It’s messy. She doesn’t instantly love the girl the way she did when she was an infant. Add all of those complex emotions to a zombie apocalypse and you have a very interesting story. Plus, Vivian’s daughter manages to both bring her closer to Axl (the love interest in the story) and sometimes pulling her away from him. Like I said, it’s complicated.
Axl and Angus.
When the book starts out, Angus is definitely in charge. And he’s not a good guy – he’s often nasty and racist and overbearing and, well, just a hick. But his unique skills (like stealing things and hot-wiring cars) actually come in pretty handy, and Vivian finds herself forced to stay with the guys, whether she likes it or not. And, at the beginning, Axl pretty much does anything that Angus says. But through the book, we learn more about Axl and we see that he is not just a bully like his brother. And he gains his own sense of self-confidence and manages to break away from his brother somewhat. By the end of the book, Axl is not just the more tolerable of the two brothers, he’s actually someone to be admired. And I loved that Vivian even sees hints of redemption in Angus – but he never turns into a truly good guy.
The negatives:
Zombies take a long time to show up.
This actually wasn’t a huge problem for me because I was really enjoying the story of what happens to these people when just a regular, plain-old deadly virus hits the world (which, like I said, is what they thought for the first half of the book). But true zombie aficionados might get irritated with the fact that you don’t even see an actual zombie until halfway through the book (and it takes them even a bit longer to figure out that that’s what they’re dealing with).
Cliffhanger.
This book ends with one of those “right in the middle of a scene” cliffhangers. I actually don’t mind cliffhangers, but I’m not crazy about this type. Luckily, book #2 is out tomorrow, so there’s an easy solution to this problem – keep reading!
So, if you like a good zombie novel with complex characters, definitely pick this one up. You won’t want to put it down! 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
This book was really amazing, and not at all what I was expecting. It took me a while to feel like I was in the mood for this one – I think I just wasn’t feeling in a zombie apocalypse mood or something. But when I finished the book, I had to immediately contact the author and ask for the next one (and then read it immediately). Obviously, I shouldn’t have waited so long!
What I LOVED:
The story.
The first half of this book doesn’t focus on zombies (not a big problem for me, but see my negatives below). Instead it’s more of a story about what happens to people when the world is ending and you don’t know if you will survive. For the first half of the book, the characters don’t actually see a zombie. They just think that a deadly virus is killing most of the people in the world. These people are just hoping to survive – and get to their loved ones to find out if they’re still alive. Chances are, they’re not. Oh, and of course, since this is a zombie novel, not everyone makes it out alive – and the results are pretty devastating!
The characters.
These characters are not your typical heroes. Vivian, the main character, grew up in a trailer park with an abusive father after her mother left them. She then got pregnant and gave the child up for adoption (which was probably the smartest thing she could do) and then left home and became a stripper. Yep, the main heroine is a stripper. The two main guys she ends up with, Angus and Axl, are pretty much trailer trash (in her words – just like her father) – at least you think so at first. Turns out that all of these characters have layers, and learning about them was definitely my favorite part of the book. Then there are the more secondary characters, who are actually more “average” people – college students, a mom and her daughter, a piano teacher, a millionaire, etc. Many of these people, who we would consider as having more value to society under normal circumstances, are actually less useful in a zombie apocalypse. Not that they were useless, but Angus and Axl actually come out as leaders in these circumstances, and the dynamic is really interesting. Instead of trying to stuff all of my thoughts about these main characters into this bullet point, read on …
Vivian.
Vivian is an interesting character because she’s very strong in some ways – she’s had to be to live through the events of her life – but at the same time, she’s got these flaws that make her weak. Her inability to trust, to love, the fact that she’s always depended only on herself. These things can be huge drawbacks for her. Vivian just wants to see her daughter one time before the world falls apart. But I loved that finding her daughter doesn’t end up all rainbows and unicorns – that just wouldn’t fit with these characters or this story. It’s hard. It’s messy. She doesn’t instantly love the girl the way she did when she was an infant. Add all of those complex emotions to a zombie apocalypse and you have a very interesting story. Plus, Vivian’s daughter manages to both bring her closer to Axl (the love interest in the story) and sometimes pulling her away from him. Like I said, it’s complicated.
Axl and Angus.
When the book starts out, Angus is definitely in charge. And he’s not a good guy – he’s often nasty and racist and overbearing and, well, just a hick. But his unique skills (like stealing things and hot-wiring cars) actually come in pretty handy, and Vivian finds herself forced to stay with the guys, whether she likes it or not. And, at the beginning, Axl pretty much does anything that Angus says. But through the book, we learn more about Axl and we see that he is not just a bully like his brother. And he gains his own sense of self-confidence and manages to break away from his brother somewhat. By the end of the book, Axl is not just the more tolerable of the two brothers, he’s actually someone to be admired. And I loved that Vivian even sees hints of redemption in Angus – but he never turns into a truly good guy.
The negatives:
Zombies take a long time to show up.
This actually wasn’t a huge problem for me because I was really enjoying the story of what happens to these people when just a regular, plain-old deadly virus hits the world (which, like I said, is what they thought for the first half of the book). But true zombie aficionados might get irritated with the fact that you don’t even see an actual zombie until halfway through the book (and it takes them even a bit longer to figure out that that’s what they’re dealing with).
Cliffhanger.
This book ends with one of those “right in the middle of a scene” cliffhangers. I actually don’t mind cliffhangers, but I’m not crazy about this type. Luckily, book #2 is out tomorrow, so there’s an easy solution to this problem – keep reading!
So, if you like a good zombie novel with complex characters, definitely pick this one up. You won’t want to put it down! 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***