I love horror books with lots of gore. I love zombie books. I love romance books. I love dystopian books. If you can put all my love into one book, Im a really, really happy girl.

Im a happy girl.

This book had it all and the author managed to put it all together quite effectively. The story starts simple enough. Cass wakes up and goes on a search for her daughter. There are zombies everywhere and something really big has happened to the world around Cass. Right from the beginning of the story, I was wondering:

Why did Casss back look like it was used as a cutting board?
Why is the world so screwed up? Terrorism, aliens, natural disaster, wtf happened?
What happened to Casss daughter?
Why arent the Zombies going after Cass?
Whats with the blue veggies?

We gain more information (and all my questions were answered) as Cass begins her journey to find her daughter.

What I loved-

The gore is very gory. The description of the zombies eating the flesh of the other zombies is perfect (along with all the graphic, gory details about the zombies throughout the book). Ok, Im not a sadist but if Im going to read a zombie book, I want my zombies to act like zombies. In this book, they definitely do.

I also enjoyed how the author slowly made the readers aware of what was going on. You had to pay attention. If you missed a paragraph or two, you missed important clues to why the world was so messed up.

What I did not like-

I did not like how Smoke was dropped into the story. He just seemed so unbelievable that frankly, in the world of zombies eating zombies, he was more unbelievable. He did grow on me and later on you do learn more about him. However, I think my real problem is Cass succumbing to him so quickly. She didnt seem the type.

Pacing-
The pacing was all over the place especially at the beginning.

Overall-

I really enjoyed the book. I think this book will appeal to so many readers because it crosses over so many genres.

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First of all, this book had too much graphic sex for me. I'm prudish in my reading and had to skip over a couple of scenes.

That being said, I liked the rest of the story. The zombies were an interesting take on the classic genre, and I thought the author did an excellent job discussing Cass's addictions (in her previous life) and the desolation that goes along with said addictions.

I won't be reading any further in the series because of the sex, but if you don't mind that, I would recommend it.

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Fabulous book! Takes place in the future in California after a world war bombing that destroyed all vegetation and ruined lives. Our heroine is trying to find her missing 3 year old daughter. Very intriguing...can't wait to read the 2nd one (Rebirth)!

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Cassandra 'Cass' Dollar lost her daughter Ruthie because she couldn't care for her properly. She was an alcoholic who sank into depression, bringing strange men home. Losing Ruthie seemed to wake Cass up and she joined AA as well as got a job at a local gas station. She was determined to get her daughter back.

When a government experiment goes wrong, the world changes. A blue leafed plant, when ingested, caused many people to acquire a fever and then turn into a Beater- a flesh-eater. Cass waits until the Beaters are out of control and she knows she will be able to get Ruthie back without a quarrel. She does and takes her to a safe shelter. But one day later, the Beaters attack, and Cass is taken by the Beaters, even though Ruthie is saved.

Cass wakes up and doesn't realize where she is or what happened. Her body is filthy and her skin is missing in patches. She, who had been a Beater, has returned. She has another chance. But coming back from the disease is unheard of. Cass finds help with an outlaw called Smoke. He says he believes her, that she is not a zombie now and that she is not infected. He will go with her to find and retrieve Ruthie.

Their journey takes them to the Rebuilders, those that use heavy artillery to see civilization restored to their liking. It takes them to the Convent, a place that only females are allowed. It takes them to face death and back again. It this desolate world Sophie Littlefield has built, there is death, life, love, compassion and abuse. Well written and thought-provoking, this is a zombie dystopian novel like no other.

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I LOVE dystopian/end of the world fiction but did not love this book. Like someone else mentioned the pacing was all over the place, as was the storytelling, which was sometimes confusing, and world building. There was a lot of backstory thrown in that was unimportant/unnecessary -- when, again more attention could have been paid to world building which is KEY in a book like this. At times it was almost like walking into a movie you've missed the first 20 minutes of and trying to play catch up.

Bottom Line: I liked it but I didn't love it. There's better books out there. But I'd still read the second book.

I've also read her YA books and had similar issues.

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This felt like a delicious mashup of World War Z and the Handmaid's Tale. I am definitely going to read the next book to see what happens. I really enjoyed the specificity of her writing. There weren't just "toys strewn about" but instead an upside down Cozy Coupe. The foragers realize middle class households are more likely to have granola bars than fancy estates. It was a fun escape, though I agree with another reviewer that the sex seemed sudden and intenese given where we were in the story.

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