I am starting to get the feeling that if you’ve read one post-apoc YA book then you’ve likely read them all. In this one it’s a couple of years after the world’s been ravaged by a rabies-like virus and we see people holed up in bunkers because of infected zombie/cannibal like monsters. Circumstances lead her and her father out of their safe place into a place that barely resembles the place she used to call home.I was expecting something more sinister. But things just progressed too conveniently, too much the way one would expect things to progress. Just imagine: what’s likely to happen when one goes out in search of necessities? Or imagine, what’s likely to happen when you know you’re not supposed go out? And then imagine what happens after the worse had come to pass… Why, hello tall, dark and mysterious. Where did you come from? And you see, even Joshua’s motivations once made clear, read standard (to me at least.) His story was heart ache-y. Yes, it was. But frankly it’s left me feeling a little of seen-it/read-it/heard-it before. So, old hat? Well, I’m sorry, but yes, most definitely. Things are not helped when the one character who showed some promise and mystery (IMO) ends up wiping everything clear in one heartfelt speech moment. Again, that moment felt too convenient and too quick. Is the word formulaic too harsh? It is what I feel though.Perhaps I’m being too picky, but his sudden appearance while much appreciated, seemed too pat. And again, he and his group had me imagining all sorts of sinister scary scenarios. Too bad, what was didn’t live up to what I was thinking. Or perhaps I was being too nitpicky in feeling cheated. They had it easy! Need something? Why don’t worry in safe haven, we have virtually everything you’d need: apple trees, IV’s or what not.Some positives though. Those glimpses of her past for instance. Still, I’ll be honest: I’m divided on what I feel. Yes, those bits emphasized just how different things had become. Her ‘Other Life’ read so vastly different from her current one. Strangely though, instead of me feeling more for her loss of what was, those glimpses did not really add that much to the story. Some times in fact, I felt them a bit too out of place, almost like interruptions in me getting into the groove of her current life was. My favorite part would have to be the Weepers. They read terrifying. Those few instances where they’re made to face off? Good golly, those one or two moments were the stuff of nightmares. Beyond the baddies though… this just has me feeling meh. 2/5
