5 out of 5 stars
On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
How I discovered this book: I've read all the other books in this series, links at bottom of Twisted World review 😀 Genre: Zombie Apocalypse.
The first book in this series takes place 20 years after the group from the Broken World series, Vivian, Axl and co, finally find perceived safety in Atlanta. I liked it very much, but was longing to know what happened in those intervening 20 years. This is the book I was waiting for!
Best of all is the character of Angus James, the Merle Dixon of Kate L Mary's zombie world, who is imprisoned for experimentation at the CDC after it's discovered that he's one of the few people in the world who are immune from the virus. I felt every tear he cried, I'm sure I did, and his strange relationship with the icy cold Dr Helton kept me completely engrossed. It's one of those books that's so frustrating, because you, as the reader, can see the peril that the cast are in, and you want to scream at them, 'Go back to Colorado! Now! Just go!' Of course, that I felt so strongly shows how good the characterisation and general storytelling is.
I very much liked some elements of the sinister practices going on behind the Atlanta population's back, such as the orchestration of an uprising, leading to a couple of deaths, so that the evil Star's government could put new, restrictive laws in place under the guise of keeping the people safe. Something that *many* think happens in the real world....
The pain of the characters I've grown to know so well was heartrending, and some of this book was the very best stuff I've read by this author. She has a real knack of choosing exactly the right POV for each part of the story, and really seems to understand that sometimes a not fully informed, third party account of another character's situation can tell the reader so much more than the actual words.
This is an excellent book; my only slight complaint is that it seemed a bit rushed at times, with some areas needing more detail; I thought it might have been better stretched over two books, as I didn't get a feeling of time passing. But I still loved it, and the fact that I would have liked it to be two books instead of one says it all, really. 😌
4.5 out of 5 stars
Post Apocalypse/Zombies
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE
I was so looking forward to this after reading the eight Broken World books. This takes place twenty years later, when Megan, the daughter of the heroes of the previous series (Vivian and Axl) is struggling through her days in the dark and sinister New Atlanta. Her father is missing, her mother has lapsed into a strange twilight zone, and so many questions are going unanswered as she begins to realise how corrupt and dangerous the government of the new settlement truly is.
The story is in some ways the opposite from those currently in vogue, with unforeseen twists (not least of all those written by me....!); I liked the way Kate Mary has done this, so that the reader knows more than the two narrators, Megan, and haunted convict and fighter, Donaghy. It really works, as gradually they begin to piece together what we can already see, and Megan finds out some of the stuff we read about in the previous series. There's plenty of new intrigue to keep those pages turning, too!
I guessed the identity of the mysterious gray man immediately, but it didn't spoil it for me at all (and I was wrong about Glitter!). I liked the brief inclusion of one of my favourite characters from Broken World, Jim; he said what I was just thinking, ie, that the survivors' old homes in Colorado had been, on the face of it, more basic and more dangerous, but seem like paradise in retrospect, when compared with the dark and depressing new civilisation. I loved seeing all the old gang together at the end, but I shall say no more for fear of 'spoilers'.
Any negatives? I found some of the dialogue a little unrealistically information heavy at the beginning, but when considering how difficult it must have been to weave in the back story of a whole series, I could deal with that. My only other very slight complaint is that there wasn't much difference between the 'voices' of Megan and Donaghy, who take the helm in alternative chapters, to the extent that once or twice I forgot which point of view I was reading from, which was a little confusing. Generally, Kate Mary's characterisation is excellent, though, and I still loved the book ~ and can't wait to see what happens next. I daresay I am one of the readers to whom Kate referred in her author's note at the back, who badger her for more; I shall unashamedly continue to do so! That's me drumming my fingers on my closed Kindle, waiting for the next one....
Reviews for the first six Broken World books can be found HERE
...and for Silent World and the excellent Broken Stories (short stories related to the series) HERE
4.5 out of 5 stars
Zombie Apocalypse, US
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE
'For all the fans who aren't ready to let go of the Broken World series yet...'
You know a series is working for you when you've read the 8th book in it! I was so pleased to spot this on Amazon, a 'side' story about Jim and new character Amira from Kate Mary's Broken World series ~ I'd wondered what happened to Jim! Good to see a bit more about the sinister, terrifying group called The Watchers, too...
I bought this yesterday afternoon and finished it at 10 this morning, couldn't put it down. I loved Jim in the last book, and Amira is great, too, a deaf girl who was waiting for her father to return from a food run. I would have given it the full five stars because I think the writing in this series is getting better and better, if it wasn't for the slightly overdone sexual tension thing between Amira and Jim; Kate Mary writes it very well, it's realistic, and the growing love between them makes their quest for safety more urgent, but there's just too much of it in this book. I like zombie apocalypse series because I want to read about survival, adventures, extreme circumstances, the worst of humanity and the best pulling through; if I wanted pages of love and desire I'd buy romantic suspense! But it's mostly concentrated in the middle, after which it's back to the story.
The popularity of these books indicates how good they are ~ and I am still not ready to let go of the Broken World series, Kate, so any time you feel like writing a bit more....(especially about The Watchers!) :)
Review of Broken Stories, and links to all other books in the series can be found HERE
5 out of 5 stars
7 short stories/novelettes: out-takes from the Broken World Zombie Apocalypse Series
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE
I just spent a very happy happy two and a half hours reading these, a snip at 99p!
If you've finished the Broken World series and wish there was another book, or haven't read it yet and wonder if you're going to like it, this collection is a terrific introduction to it.
Some of the stories are about characters we have already met or heard of in the series (such as Brady in Colorado, Vivian's father Roger, two of the girls who got out of the catastrophe at the Monte Carlo casino, and the girl down on Key West who was immune to the virus ~ you'll like the ending to that one, if you've already read the series!). Others, though, are about people from different places: a girl in rural Oklahoma whose dad was a survivalist, another couple who had made the wrong decision to stay put in a city centre. Roger was particularly well drawn; shades of Angus, but basically a bad guy, whereas Angus was basically good.
As with the other books in this series, there are a few editing and proofreading errors, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment; Kate Mary is a terrific storyteller. I would have liked seven more, and hope that some day she will write another book in the series ... I want to know what happened to Brady, Jim, the people at Hope Springs, and some of the new people I met in these stories. And I'm not finished with Viv and Axl yet!
Definitely recommended.
Reviews for the 6 books in the BROKEN WORLD series can be found HERE
Review for TWISTED WORLD, the first in the 20-years-later series, is HERE
