Book Review: Candle in the Wind by Kim Baccellia

Candle in the Wind by Kim Baccellia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Riveting tale of a cloistered dystopian cult and The Others who live outside their compound.

Candle is the Wind by Kim Baccellia is the riveting story of Esperanza "Espie" Hernandez, a teenager growing up in the secluded compound of the Branch of Thomas, and her sudden discovery that everything she believed about her life and about those outside the compound's walls was a lie. A climate crisis and a violent schism of beliefs have devastated what was once the United States of America. But Reverent Father and his followers "saved" God's chosen ones and created a society based on the spiritual leader's teaching and interpretations of messages he receives directly from God. The evil Others who would destroy their new life are kept at bay outside the boundaries of the Branch of Thomas by vigilance and force. But as the years pass, the Reverent Father's missives begin to relegate the women of their community to the sidelines and into submissive, subservient roles only, and the women don't go quietly. When Espie's sister, Xochi, and her best friend, Luz, join in questioning the latest of Reverent Father's scriptures, everyone's life takes a shocking turn, and soon Espie finds herself on her own, outside the compound, searching for her sister and a rumored cache of chemical weapons Reverent Father wants for his own.

Espie is a great young character, trapped between her past upbringing and the actions she witnesses unfolding before her. She's initially timid, afraid, and obedient, but she follows along with Xochi, her more rebellious, sassy, free-spirited sister, who boldly asks questions no matter the consequences.

The plot had me on the edge of my seat from the very start. Shocking confrontational scenes show the true nature of both the Branch of Thomas leaders and the survivors known as The Others. While both sides claim to corner the market on the truth, reality really lies somewhere in the middle. There are good and bad people on both sides of the conflict, acting with incomplete knowledge. The surprises kept coming and coming!

While the story maintains a breakneck pace and engaging main characters, the advance review copy I was reading contained numerous errors in grammar, spelling, and continuity, which I assumed will be corrected before publication. I recommend CANDLE IN THE WIND to readers of young adult dystopian fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

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Book Review: The Patsy by D.J. Hupp

The Patsy by D.J. Hupp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An imaginative, fantastical, and totally absorbing alternate vision of the "truth" behind the JFK assassination.

The Patsy is author D.J. Hupp's debut novel, and in it he tackles one of the most well-known and much speculated about events in American history: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The story launches via an alternate timeline that blends historical detail and creative fiction to build an imaginative, exciting account of the events behind Kennedy's tragic death that day.

In The Patsy, JFK was not the target of an assassin on 11/22/63, but rather went on to successfully fulfill his first four years in office and even won a second term. However, his policies set the US on a disastrous collision course with the USSR, which culminated in worldwide nuclear obliteration, except for a handful of government employees, scientists, and their families who made it into secret underground bunkers where they've survived for the past 19 years. During this time, research on time travel advanced to the point that the bunker leaders developed a plan to send an agent back in time to kill Kennedy before his actions could lead to the eventual destruction of civilization on the planet's surface.

The main character is 41-year-old Wayne Bronson, a young West Point graduate, when he entered the bunker. An expert marksman, trained on the same bolt-action rifle Oswald owned, he is tapped by the bunker commander to be sent back in time, inhabiting both Oswald's mind and body, in order to implement their plan to kill the president as his motorcade passes through Dealey Plaza past the Texas Book Depository: an event which never occurred in their timeline. The author makes the setting and time period come alive through strategically placed references to books, music, movies, television shows, and iconic Dallas landmarks and institutions. As a contemporary of the time period and a local to boot, the story was a magical trip to the past. I was fascinated by how Wayne's exciting fictional mission was so cleverly woven into the historical record of the actual events, including the known movements of the major figures involved on the days before, during, and beyond the assassination itself, as well as the imagined aftermath of the changes the manipulation of events had on the new present and especially Wayne's life.

With its clever mix of fact and fiction and the very human reactions of the formerly bunkered characters to their sudden freedom, I recommend THE PATSY to readers of speculative or historical fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

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Book Review: You're a F***ing Skeleton, Jimmy! (Totally Random Stories about Apocalypses, #1) by Devon Van De Zandt

You're a F***ing Skeleton, Jimmy!: Totally Random Stories about Apocalypses - Book One by Devon Van De Zandt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This clever mix of magic and mechanisms makes this end-of-the-world action adventure a real winner.

You’re a F***ing Skeleton, Jimmy! is the first book in author Devon Van De Zandt’s new series, Totally Random Stories about Apocalypses, and is a clever mix of magic and mechanisms in a post-apocalyptic action adventure. With its serious murderbot-gone-rogue protagonist and his whimsical and magically reanimated skeletal sidekick named Jimmy, preventing the end of time has never been so delightful or satisfying.

Jimmy, the bouncy, eternally optimistic character of the title, is irresistibly engaging, always pointing out the bright side of any situation, but ready to step up to help defend his companions or offer himself as a distraction to allow his fellows to escape or further their mission to stop the greedy Marc Obvious and his necromancer and infernal army from draining all the power from another dimension and causing the implosion of the universe they know. Jimmy sings, hums, and repurposes his phalanges as way markers, all the while providing witty banter and a running commentary on any and all topics that pop into his, literally, empty skull. But underlying his lightweighted personality is bottomless kindness and compassion for others.

As Jimmy aimlessly wanders the devastated desert-life landscape, he meets and teams up with the murderbot, Unit Johnny Circuit, an older model mechanical warrior deemed obsolete and a thorn in the side of the AI overlord, CHAD (Command & Hierarchy Administrative Director), that controls the last surviving city, Gigacity One (and the target of Marc Obvious and his cult’s schemes to take over the world.) Johnny is a world-weary spirit who has experienced so much that he has developed emotions and sensibilities beyond his original design and purpose. The story unfolds from his clear-eyed, highly capable, and snarky perspective. His narrative and observations are clever and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.

The novel is short and concise, yet it packs a lot of action into its compact length. Regrettably, very little backstory is provided to explain how this world came to its current situation or even how a walking, talking bag of bones, dressed in khakis and a blue button-down, exists (and without much comment from onlookers). I accepted it and moved on. He was fun, charming, and one of the good guys, but I still have questions. I loved that Jimmy and Johnny are later joined by the wonderfully deadly, half-human cyborg hybrid Sergeant Chen Marina, a former soldier in the service of the Obvious Cult. The story is punctuated with exciting scenes of pursuit and combat, and although the action unfolds quickly, it is so well choreographed by the author that all are easy to follow and visualize in an almost cinematic fashion. I can’t wait for more!

I recommend YOU’RE A F***ING SKELETON, JIMMY! to readers of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction or military action-adventure.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

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Review Tour & Giveaway: Above the Clouds by Tim Vee

ABOVE THE CLOUDS

by

Tim Vee

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by
GoddessFish Promotions.
Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Post-apocalypse / Dystopian / Sci-fi / Horror

Publication Date: February 14, 2025

Page count: 169 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

In a ruined, distant future of our world, filled with rain, gloom, and danger, Squirt and her sister Dara fight to survive as part of the underground clan, hunting meat to survive and clinging to the edges of existence.

 

When Squirt encounters a mysterious figure above ground, her life is upended. Taken to a gleaming paradise above the clouds, she finds herself trapped in an idyllic prison, where everything seems perfect—but is danger hiding in plain sight? Does Charlotte, her enigmatic and gentle companion, hide secrets behind her perfect smile? Does Mrs Wallis, the tower's cold matriarch, watch Squirt with a predator's patience?

 

Below, Dara hunts alone, trying to find meaning in her life and haunted by her sister's disappearance while whispers of betrayal within the clan force her to choose between being a victim or fighting for her survival.

 

As the sisters' paths converge, truths are exposed: immortality comes at a terrible price, and the ones they've trusted most may be their greatest enemies. Above the Clouds is a haunting tale of the fight for survival and identity, asking the question: What does it truly mean to be human?

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

She made it to the side of the ruins, ducked under a concrete slab, and crouched silently, listening and watching the darkness. She allowed her ears and eyes to acclimate to the noises and darkness of the ruins, the dripping water, the scurrying of a rat, the rattle of a falling piece of rock, and the sounds men made.

She sniffed and smelled something. Something cooking.

 

Rat! she thought.

Moving slowly and cautiously, she crept out from her hiding place, not making a sound. She climbed onto a slab of concrete laying diagonally and crawled upward until she was looking down at where Chagga sat on a rock, roasting a pair of skinned rats above a fire. Adam was standing, shaking and banging the water off his furs. Chagga was speaking.

“...Tomorra, when the hunters head out, make sure our men are on guard at the big tube that comes in by the butcher…”

Hidden in the shadows above, Dara silently slipped her quiver from her shoulder.

“...That is where we attack…Once we have taken control, all those who have no faith will be butchered, and we will call Major Tom, and he will pick up, and he will send the riders, and we leave for Marbro Country!”

She rolled onto her back and slid two arrows from the quiver.

“Can you trust this bandit, Barg, father?” said Adam.

Gently, she laid one of the arrows on the concrete, and the other she notched.

“No,” said Chagga firmly. “But I need them to do in the guards while you kill the chief.”

She rolled, holding the bow with her left hand, pulling the bowstring back.

Kill Adam, and the others won’t know the plan? she thought. Or kill Chagga, and there is no plan?

She closed her left eye, pulling the string tighter.

Kill them both!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tim works in digital marketing in Toronto and is well-traveled, having visited over 80 countries. When he is not working or writing, he likes to spend time with his family and German Shepherd and go cycling.

| Website | Amazon | Goodreads | X (Twitter) |

REVIEW:

5 stars!

An excellent tale of life in a post-apocalyptic world. 

Above the Clouds by Tim Vee is a captivating tale of life in a future, post-apocalyptic world of crumbling ruins and a simple, desperate, day-to-day existence. Three sisters, Zell, Squirt, and Dara, are part of the Clan, an organized community of survivors of some civilization-ending event, who live in a world of darkness, damp, and scrabbling insects in underground tunnels left from BEFORE. Their way of life is brutal and primitive, yet each member of the Clan works to pull their own weight to sustain the community. The sisters do their part by hunting for meat on the surface above, and one by one, they unexpectedly come to find their future outside the Clan, leaving the others behind to grieve. 

This story was so addictive that I didn’t want to put it down, and I absolutely wasn’t ready for it to end when it did. The plot’s tension starts high and continues to build as the sisters encounter heart-pounding challenges to their way of life. Each girl is unique but shares a drive to do their job as a hunter the best they can, and their persistence serves them well when they end up outside of the Clan’s protected tunnels. 

The author’s descriptions of the settings and action are cinematic in quality, and I could easily see this story serving as the launching point for a film or television series. I got vibes of Jean M. Auel’s world in CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR and that of the city dwellers in Suzanne Collins’s THE HUNGER GAMES but used in a completely different manner. As there are questions left available to further exploration, I would love to see this story continued in additional books. 

With its compelling plot and engaging characters, I recommend ABOVE THE CLOUDS to fans of post-apocalyptic fiction.

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Book Review: Snowglobe (Snowglobe, #1) by Soyoung Park

Snowglobe by Soyoung Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mesmerizing!

Snowglobe is a young adult dystopian tale by Korean author Soyoung Park, recently translated into English by Joungmin Lee Comfort. It is the first book of a duology, so readers need to be prepared to hold on when all their questions are not answered in this volume. But, with its intriguing premise, engagingly relatable main characters, and nimble execution, Snowglobe is pure entertainment.

The main character is Jeon Chobahm, a sixteen-year-old twin living in the frigid “open” world with her mother, twin brother, Ongi, and grandmother, who is firmly within the grasp of dementia. Since graduating from school ten months earlier, she and Ongi have been working 10-hour days at the power plant with their mother.

Chobahm’s dream is to become a director of reality show-styled programming in the domed city of Snowglobe, where it is all created and filmed. She is conflicted when her idol, director Cha Seol, offers her the opportunity to “help” her on her most famous show, Goh Around, by secretly replacing the star, an amazing lookalike named Haeri. With this harsh background and difficult bleakness looming, Chobahm is amazingly hopeful for her future, and it is easy to understand why she agreed to Director Cha’s scheme. Her innocent beliefs are quickly challenged.

While Chobahm struggles with the ethics of the impersonation, the unsettling dynamics in the Goh family, and the actions and agenda of the intimidating and dangerous Cha Seol, she sinks into her role as Haeri more easily than I would have expected. Her long attention to the show prepares her well. But what happens off-camera is tense and stressful, and Chobahm has no one she can trust. As her masquerade continues, she uncovers startling revelations that the viewers at home are completely unaware of.

The setting of the domed city of Snowglobe is one of the things that drew me to this story, but with Chobahm’s hectic, supervised life, we only get a narrow glimpse of what it’s like. She’s in a very restricted niche, and her life stays pretty much in that lane except for a couple of wrong moves on her part. We have a much more robust vision of the open world than the physical nature of Snowglobe proper.

The story is well-told and nicely paced, with some eye-opening twists and turns to keep me glued to its pages. I read almost the entirety of the book in one reading session without even a thought of a break.

I recommend SNOWGLOBE to readers of young adult fiction and dystopian stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.


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Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway: Misguided Trust by Lauren Wagner

MISGUIDED TRUST

by

Lauren Wagner

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by

Goddess Fish Promotions.

Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Eco Thriller

Publisher: Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC

Publication Date: June 3, 2025

Page count: 218 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

Following a catastrophic nuclear war, Sara lives in a town where the government controls every drop of water. Strict rationing tightly regulates residents’ lives, and to fall sick is to be executed. Sara’s life becomes more dangerous and complicated when she first hides and cares for a small boy who has fallen sick, then takes him in when his parents are taken by the authorities.

 

Determined to care for the helpless child while struggling to keep alive the memory of her long-dead best friend, Sara leans on her friend’s older brother, Josh, an employee of the domineering water company that controls the water rationing. But Josh is under suspicion, and the city’s enforcement unit begins to observe their daily activities. Despite knowing that she’d be executed if her actions were known, Sara finds herself deeply and distressingly attracted to the lead investigator, navigating a complicated romance and finding a glimmer of hope in a world long dominated by fear and control.

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

United Region Water Laws: Established May 2167

Water restoration and conservation laws formed with the intent to restore and maintain the physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters are our nation’s highest priority. Any ill citizens will be removed from government-proclaimed safety zones for the public’s well-being.

 

Black SUVs line the street, their dark tinted windows and their sparkling silver rims reflecting impending doom. But the windows cannot keep out the screams. Not the cries, nor the banging from inside the vehicles. It’s random health inspection day, and dozens of citizens have already failed, by the count of SUVs. 

Josh stands to greet me with a kiss on the cheek, his silence speaking louder than words. I smile back and try to ignore the ominous SUVs and to ignore what is happening. 

“Sit down. Don’t draw any more attention to yourself than necessary,” Josh says. 

My pulse is pounding, and my chest rises and falls quicker than I can control. Sweat drips from my brow. My stomach is tied in knots. I assess my body for early signs of illness. No sore throat. No muscle aches. No nausea. All I can do is wait in silence. Our words would be lost anyway, so I sit down at the table.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lauren Wagner’s love for reading started as a young adult after discovering her town’s public library.  After carrying out piles of books at a time, and re-reading them over and over again, she discovered her love for writing. She writes fantasy and science fiction as well as post-it notes about her future stories.

 

She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago where she presently resides with her husband and two children. She currently teaches upper elementary students to love and obsess over written works of art.

| Lauren Wagner's Author Page | Amazon | X (Twitter) |

REVIEW:

5 stars!

Exciting dystopian tale where water is the most precious resource and any illness is a death sentence. 

Misguided Trust by Lauren Wagner is a new dystopian tale in which a future U.S. is divided into Clean Zones, and water is provided, protected, and restricted by the government. Illness of any kind will result in a resident being taken away, removed from their home, and never to be seen or heard from again. The fully realized world and its sympathetic main character are introduced with minimal embellishment, so the tale relies on her actions and interactions with those in her life. 

Sara Carson is the likable main character, living in relatively good circumstances compared to others. She’s kind and secretly helps those in need by lifting extra rations and medications and getting them to Maddox, who runs an illegal underground distribution network existing on the very edge of the Clean Zone society. Sara has a tragic history, losing everything important to her early in life, including a past love named Tommy. Tommy’s brother, Josh, has maintained contact with her, keeping an eye out for her continued safety while attracting the attention of the government enforcement officers himself. Her budding romance with Kye, a high-ranking enforcement officer, throws everything in her world out of whack. It was her determination and resilience in the face of it all that made this book impossible to put down until the final page was turned. 

I recommend MISGUIDED TRUST to fans of dystopian fiction.

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Book Review: Joy: A Novel of the New Frontier by B.R.M. Evett

JOY: A Novel of the New Frontier by B.R.M. Evett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Exciting and imaginative post-apocalyptic story of a near-future United States.

Joy: A Novel of the New Frontier by author B.R.M. Evett is a new science fiction adventure set in a near-future post-apocalyptic United States, where much of the country’s population has been wiped out by a series of climate and medical disasters. Over the ensuing years of chaos, an exclusive medical treatment facility in Boston known as The Elysium Spa had lost contact with the outside world and its sister facilities around the country but had continued to function, caring for its registered clients under an all-encompassing protocol that maintained their renowned program of Joy. In the Joy program, clients’ unconscious bodies, safely ensconced in a warm, protective bath, are constantly monitored and regulated to continually experience their maximum pleasure and well-being while moving through a pre-set life cycle that includes reproduction of the next generation of clients and eventually aging out at 75 years and undergoing The Apotheosis and returning to the ultimate essence of the Universe.

Throughout their stay at The Elysium, the clients are cared for by an android, carefully created to resemble a human being. Tender Number 7 cares for a Guest Group of 10 clients: five males and five females, each one in a different life stage. As the story begins, a category six hurricane is raging outside the Boston facility. Still, that day’s procedures continue as scheduled and include a treatment for one of the females, Virgo, on an upper floor of the building. As the procedure is concluding, the storm knocks out the facility’s power and mainframe computer and floods the lower floors; Virgo and Tender Number 7 are the sole survivors. Even though Elysium had been out of touch with the outside world for decades, Tender decides to move the helpless, dreaming Virgo to the nearest sister facility in New York City, and when the storm recedes, begins the long journey afoot with her in his arms, not realizing how the world has changed in the decades since he went into the facility.

Tender is a goal-oriented and pure personality tasked with safeguarding and optimizing his clients’ Joy experience. As an android, he operates under human programming and, while aware that the best choice for Virgo, at times, may be to harm another human, it is not the optimum response. So, as he and Virgo encounter the harsh realities of a changed world, he must sometimes be very creative in how he pursues his plans. Virgo, although physically a 15-year-old girl, has only known the solitude and sublime satisfaction of Joy in her warm, jellied bath pod, experiencing only ecstasy in her every living moment. When she awakens outside of the pod in Tender’s arms, she experiences physical need and discomfort for the very first time, much like a newborn after birth. For her, everything is about regaining Joy and fulfilling her needs. Leaving the bewildering and difficult reality far behind. It was interesting to watch as she reacted and adjusted to simple physical urges and slowly became a part of her surrounding environment.

The author has created a wonderful contrast between the small, isolated world of the spa and the world at large. As the danger of the hurricane passes, they encounter few humans, but those they do all serve to disrupt or delay their journey, some for many weeks at a time. The pair represents possible new resources to almost everyone they come in contact with, a tool to be used and discarded. However, Tender proves to be a resourceful protector as they escape from one harrowing situation after another.

The author’s descriptions were vivid and immersive, making the cinematic story so compelling it flew by. While Tender is non-human, he displays the highest and most honorable characteristics of any human hero, and even the innocent, emotionally toddler-like Virgo is engaging and someone you’ll want to root for. Along the way, the survivors they meet are the catalysts for some of the most unexpected plot twists ever, guaranteeing I did not want to put this book down until the final page was turned.

I recommend JOY: A NOVEL OF THE NEW FRONTIER to readers of science fiction, dystopias, and post-apocalyptic tales.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

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Book Review: The Fortress (The Fortress, #1) by T.A. Styles

The Fortress by T.A. Styles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To atone for the past, he vowed to keep children safe and save their lives.

The Fortress is the first book in author T.A. Styles's post-apocalyptic series featuring a former teacher and the children left behind after a deadly virus ravages the world. With its large cast of child characters trying to eke out an existence in the chaotic, lawless remnants of society and the evil adults who want to take everything from them, I was completely drawn into this exciting and horrifying survival story.

Sim is the only one left of his small family, but his survivor's guilt has a twist: he killed his daughter and near-death wife so they could all die together. However, his resolve failed when he turned the gun on himself, and he was left to cope on his own with the knowledge of what he had done. His self-imposed penance was to collect any children left behind and care for them in his large, fortified, and now well-supplied home on the hill. Saving the children from the streets was a two-edged sword, though. He was saving a life, but each one reminded him of the daughter that should have been at his side. A growing troop of lost or orphaned children of all ages eventually surrounds him. I enjoyed their backstories and how they had come to "The Fortress," their name changes, and their preparations to ensure their continued safety.

Sim leads The Fortress with a firm grip, and while he takes input from the kids, he mostly discards it. As the young survivors age, they form a formidable team. But will it be enough to fight off those who want what they've built with Sim?

I really enjoy post-apocalyptic tales, and this was one of the best; I was delighted to see that there are two more books available in the series. The children have a wide range of personalities, even the youngest ones who are still forming theirs. The story gets started quickly, taking just a little time for bare bones, upfront exposition. The danger presented by wandering adult survivors is immediately established, and the kids' fight for survival becomes critical early on. The suspense mounted as the little group inside The Fortress waited for the next assault on their safety. I didn't want to put this book down!

I recommend THE FORTRESS to readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic tales that prominently feature children.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.

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Book Review: The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

YA dystopian tale with a twist!

The Last Bookstore on Earth is a new YA dystopian/speculative fiction novel from Lily Braun-Arnold, and it offers a fresh twist on the plethora of end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it tales. While Liz, the main character, has suffered the loss of her family, friends, and the life she knew (like everyone else in the story), she retreats to the only place of safety she knows left standing (the local bookstore where she had an afterschool part-time job). She creates a little beacon of “normal” for others as she continues to open the store daily, offering book recommendations and a place to leave messages. However, as a repeat of The Storm looms on the horizon, the bookstore faces a much more imminent threat. A small group of organized survivors are out for revenge against her new partner, and they’ve tracked their prey to the bookstore’s doorstep.

Liz Flannery is the unusual protagonist of the story. She and her twin, Thea, were only a few weeks away from heading off for their first year of college when The Storm arrived, changing everything. Liz was the only one in her small family to live through it and suffered the burden of survivor’s guilt and more. When circumstances allowed, she fled to the familiar safety of her workplace and the comfort and companionship of another coworker who apparently had the same idea.

Liz, escaping her grief and guilt, is content with the setup and begins to feel a responsibility to maintain the facsimile of normal operations for the occasional survivor who happens upon the open store. Eva, though, chafes to escape the claustrophobia of the routine and her feelings of responsibility for Liz, and she abruptly abandons her. Locals and transients alike express their gratitude and appreciation for the continued existence of the story and their ability to leave messages there for friends and loved ones and trade supplies for what they need, which keeps Liz from ever having to forage through the rubble and death of her New Jersey hometown. Their generous offerings, though, isolate her further and keep her from understanding just how much the world outside the bookstore has changed for the desperate.

The plot just gets established when rumors that another storm is headed their way. Customers leave messages for those coming behind them and urge Liz to evacuate; the store was greatly damaged in the first storm and is unlikely to withstand another. But Liz sees a solution to leaving her safe place in the appearance of Maeve, a drifter about her age, who breaks in one night looking for shelter and salvage and claiming to be able to make the necessary repairs to the building. Maeve, having started her journey in New York City, knows how much life has devolved and has had her run-ins with some of the more organized survivors. She’s tougher and more aggressive than the passive, polite Liz, but they eventually form an attachment and help each other work through the past year of trauma and scramble to prepare for the coming storm.

The author can certainly tell a mesmerizing tale! I read this in one enjoyable evening with no regrets after staying up way past what was prudent in order to reach the finish. The story’s pacing kept me engaged, and I needed to see what happened next. The vivid descriptions of the settings created strong visuals, placing me in the scenes firsthand. Characters are well-developed, and I felt sympathy for even those I didn’t particularly care for or agreed with their actions. I was delighted by the premise, a bookstore all to oneself, but in a Twilight Zone twist, staying open for business as usual as the society around it collapses, creating a little island of “normal” and a haven of familiarity, comfort, and even, safety for those left behind. Liz’s collecting the stories of the survivors willing to share them with her was an absolute bonus.

I recommend THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH to readers of young adult post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, especially those who enjoy a positive LGBT, however low-key, representation.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.

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Book Review: After the Darkness by Justin Richman

After The Darkness by Justin Richman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An action-packed post-apocalyptic tale where danger comes from every direction!

After the Darkness is a riveting new post-apocalyptic tale featuring terrifying, seemingly indestructible aliens and the desperate human survivors of a city. Society quickly collapsed with the coming of The Drifters, aliens that feasted on the human inhabitants of the planet. The handfuls of survivors huddled together in small groups to maximize their resources while they scrounged the remnants of their broken city for critical leftovers from the past and avoid detection by the predatory invaders. Izzy and her dog Shadow work together as a team, locating and retrieving useful and necessary supplies for their camp situated on the town’s outskirts. But when a roving band of lawless scavengers arrives, making the abandoned local prison their base of operations and claiming the entirety of the city as their territory, Izzy discovers the real threat to their survival may not be The Drifters but her fellow human beings.

Wow! This story is one exciting sequence of events after another from start to finish. The action kicks off on page one with Izzy’s capture by the evil leader of The Reavers, followed by an attack from the alien Drifters, and things never let up from there. The plot is tense as one threat after another presents itself, and Izzy, Shadow, her friend Matt, and a surprise benefactor work to overcome insurmountable odds. The author makes their successes believable and their losses shocking and heartbreaking. A horrifying twist is that victims of The Drifters can be infected, resurrected, and used to lead the aliens back to their former compatriots’ hiding places, where they help exterminate all those they encounter.

Izzy, the heroine of the story, is initially relegated to less vital roles in her hidden community when the head of their camp dismisses her skills and potential value. Still, she perseveres and proves herself more than capable over and over. As if the day-to-day, hand-to-mouth existence of the camp isn’t dire enough, the kidnapping of one of their members sparks a chain of events that pits them against the evil Reavers entrenched behind sturdy prison walls. Not only does this amp up the suspense, but it forces Izzy to face all the fears Hawk embodies.

This author’s writing just keeps getting better and better. The plot is well-paced, and the storylines are tight and focused. The settings are vivid and easy to visualize, putting the readers right in the scene with the characters. I highly recommend AFTER THE DARKNESS to readers who enjoy thrilling post-apocalyptic tales of action, adventure, and suspense.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

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Blurb Blitz & Giveaway: If the Sun Spares Us (Braving the Light, #3) by Brenda Marie Smith

 

IF THE SUN SPARES US

The Braving the Light series

by

Brenda Marie Smith

Post-apocalyptic thriller

Independently Published
Publication Date: August 28, 2023
Print page count: 364 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

Two years ago, a solar pulse destroyed modern life. Bea Crenshaw organized her starving, suburban neighbors into a farming community. But now Bea’s gone, and her grandchildren must carry her legacy forward.

In the post-apocalyptic pressure cooker of Austin, Texas, 19-year-old Keno and his younger cousins struggle to ensure their community’s survival even as they’re forced to relocate to safer grounds. Northern Lights that don’t belong this far south grow increasingly intense, making Keno fear what harm the sun will cause next.

Even worse, a marauding militia called the Raiders is closing in, led by a deranged woman who preys on teenage boys. Despite Keno’s debilitating flashbacks from a firefight, he and his wife have a new baby to protect. Though Bea is dead, her spirit desperately searches for ways to shield her grandkids. When Raiders target two neighborhood members, the only hope lies in the community’s strength, Keno’s ingenuity, and the family’s fierce love for one another.

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PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE BRAVING THE LIGHT SERIES

 

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READ AN EXCERPT:

I’m half-starved, about to drop in my tracks, and emotional pain is clawing me up inside. Living through this apocalypse, I don’t know if it’s the deprivation or the heartache that will kill me first.

I think I’ve been scouting South Central Austin for a place to move my family and neighbors for about two weeks, but I’ve lost track of time, and I’m not finding a freaking thing. We have to move; we just have to. I was hoping to find a place with walls and water, but no such luck.

It’s dusk when I come upon a row of warehouses, looking for a spot to sleep. Most warehouse doors are bent, with the jambs and locks broken. All looted inside, messes that don’t look like they have anything worth scavenging. One door has a big hasp and a bigger lock intact. Maybe I’ll break it in the morning to see if I can find some food.

A few doors down, there’s a stairwell leading to a basement door. A good place to hide where I have an escape route. I duck down into it.

“We’re so screwed,” I grumble to myself as I lean my rifle on the stairwell and slide off my backpack.

“You got that right.”

F***. Who said that? I whip my face around, my hand on the pistol behind my back.

“I wouldn’t fire that if I were you.”

A face looms above me… behind a crossbow that’s aimed at my head. I throw up my hands.

“Don’t shoot!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

BRENDA MARIE SMITH is attracted to stories where everyday characters transcend their limitations to find their inner heroism. She lived off the grid for years in a farming collective where her sons were delivered by midwives. A lifelong community activist, Brenda has managed student co-op housing, produced concerts, and raised a small herd of boys. She and her husband live in Kyle, Texas. They have more grown kids and grandkids than they can count.

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Book Tour: Escape Velocity by Victoria Romanski

A Dystopian Time Travel Sci-Fi Thriller

Sci-Fi

Date Published: April 25, 2023

Publisher: Elite Online Publishing

 

When esteemed scientist James Blackwell finds himself behind bars at StormRidge Correctional Facility, his singular goal is escaping, not back into society through the prison gates, but into another world through a wormhole.

With help from other inmates on the inside, and powerful political allies on the outside, James locates the wormhole beneath the prison campus. When four other inmates discover the horrible injustices inside the American prison system, they join James in the escape.

Once on the other side, James and his friends find themselves one hundred years in the future. Amid a dystopian world with dangers lurking around every corner, this new world reveals the treacherous impact of environmental destruction and political greed.

After briefly experiencing freedom and discovering the world is not what it used to be, James and his friends are captured and imprisoned once again. Four of them escape, leaving one behind, along with James’ most prized possession: the notebook containing his scientific research.

Traveling back to the past they know requires finding the coordinates of the wormhole. But with James’ notebook out of hand, the future of his friends, and society itself, hang in the balance.

 

Review

5 stars!

Time travel and “Zombies!”

Escape Velocity is a new science fiction/dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel by debut author Victoria Romanski. It has so much story and excitement happening that I didn’t want to put it down. The book features an ensemble cast of characters, so while Dr. James Blackwell is the main character, readers are treated to viewpoints from several more interesting and compelling personalities. I may even have liked some of these secondary characters more than Dr. Blackwell.

The story begins in a prison setting, already a tense situation, but heads directly to a destroyed American city 100 years in the future. The author’s descriptions of the locations are vivid, so I could ‘see’ and ‘hear’ and ‘smell’ the destruction the characters encountered. I found the dystopian society and post-apocalyptic world-building robust, with fresh takes on the popular trope that made this vision of the future unique. The exposition is nicely worked into the fast-paced action, so no ‘information dump’ slows this down. The author peels the story away like the layers of an onion with little reveals that surprised me from start to finish. I kept reading this one way past a sensible bedtime.

With engaging characters, non-stop action, and easy-to-read writing that gives a fresh perspective on this genre, I recommend ESCAPE VELOCITY to readers who enjoy stories of time travel, dystopian societies, and post-apocalyptic worlds.

About the Author

Victoria Romanski’s passion for writing science fiction evolved from early interests in time travel and social justice, resulting in a novel vision of what the future could hold for us all.

A diligent spectator of political discourse and current societal issues, she crafts stories with themes that explore familiar topics, but with a dystopian twist. Victoria considers these subjects valuable to engage with while expressing her craft in fresh and inventive ways.

A storyteller at heart, Victoria enjoys learning about other cultures through global travel. She uses her role as an observer of human behavior to explore avenues to make the world a better place.

 

Contact Link

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Purchase Link

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New Dragon City by Mari Mancusi

New Dragon City by Mari Mancusi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A unique and imaginative post-apocalyptic and dystopian story for middle-grade readers.

When the apocalypse came, the cause turned out to be nothing like anyone ever imagined: DRAGONS. Where they came from, no one knew, but the results were unthinkable. Humans, used to being the apex predator, became prey. People died, and governments fell.

During the fall and winter seasons, the dragon herds returned from where they came to hibernate. The 100 or so survivors in New York City clung together, living in a former hotel in midtown, pooling their meager resources, scavenging what they could from the vacant businesses, stores, and apartments, always with an eye on the sky for when the dragons again awoke.

Each spring, the dragons returned, and once sighted, the humans hurriedly packed up their possessions to evacuate the vulnerable hotel structure. They retreated belowground into the subway system, where the tunnels had been blocked off and reinforced against the dragons. The main entrance was then sealed by a thick door, reclaimed from an old bank vault equipped with a timer set to open on November 1st when the dragons were sure to be gone.

Noah, his mother, and his father had survived the first three years of the dragon invasion on their own, holed up in a private underground bunker of his dad's design. They'd only returned to the city when their supplies finally ran out. Now two more years down the road, his mother had gone missing, and although everyone at the hotel had searched for her, no trace had ever been found.

Almost a month earlier than usual, the first dragon was sighted over the city. Noah and his best friend, Maya, were the ones to raise the alarm. They had been surprised while scavenging and had barely escaped being eaten or burned alive. But as the hotel group hastened to get their things together for the evacuation to the subways, Noah's father told him that he was staying on the surface to continue the search for his mother. His father had entrusted Noah to Maya's family for the summer underground.

When his father refused to allow him to remain behind as well, Noah and Maya hatched a plan to distract the adults during the evacuation to let Noah slip away from the group and hide until after the main entrance door timer was activated. But their plan was unnecessary, for just as the group was making its way down the subway stairs, a dragon disrupted the orderly operation, attempting to snatch Noah from the back of the line. Chaos ensued, and Noah was genuinely left outside when the big vault door slammed into place. Alone in the large city, Noah must track down his father and evade the notice of the dragons hunting for their dinner.

New Dragon City is one of the most unique and imaginative post-apocalyptic and dystopian stories I've read. While destruction by war, zombies, pestilence, and extreme climate change have all been done to death, an infestation of dragons feels like a fresh take on this theme.

I enjoyed immensely that the story is told from two points of view, that of the boy Noah and Asha, the young dragon. The parallels in their situations made the story much more interesting, entertaining, and emotion-filled. Both are still so young and are thrust into situations that would be tough on those older and more experienced. Noah is being tugged in different directions by his disagreeing parents. Asha, as the daughter of the dragon herd's queen, has restrictions on her actions and a heavy burden of responsibility for the herd. I liked that during their brief encounters with one another that they could eventually relax and relate and just be "kids."

The ruins of New York City are described in compelling detail, with familiar sights and locations sprinkled throughout. I had a clear picture of where everyone was and what it looked like. Unlike other books in this genre, I liked how organized these survivors had gotten and how well they seemed to get along and help each other. The survivors Noah meets away from the safety of the organized groups were scary and surprisingly creepy to me. I can't get that couple he encountered in the restaurant out of my mind.

Young readers will easily relate to the two very likable main characters. Their budding friendship and ability to get along despite the years of terror of the other's species will delight. They will soon be rooting for Noah and Asha to overcome their friends' and families' objections and anxieties.

I recommend NEW DRAGON CITY to middle-grade readers that enjoy novels with fantasy elements such as dragons and won't be disturbed by the post-apocalyptic setting, dragons hunting and trying to eat people, or people hunting and killing dragons.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author or publisher through NetGalley and TBR and Beyond Book Tours.


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