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abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
definite page turner, almost couldnt put it down. this is the prequel to The Enemy, set just a few weeks after the disease that turned everyone born 16 years ago and earlier into hungry zombies, always hunting the kids who werent affected by the disease. Kids meet, team up, and organize to fit off the enemy, always desperately scrambling to keep one step ahead of them, and find some kind of safe place to hide.
cececole's review against another edition
5.0
A new group of characters from book 1 but some of the old ones pop in and makes the plot bigger. Hope it stays that way as it'll be interesting to see how much of the story connects
shhchar's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not for the weak of heart. It's gory, and heart-wrenching. It took away your favorite character when you were least expecting. But still, the writing was perfect and full of action.
There were SO many characters though. That was my only big issue. Because there were so many, when you were thinking about one specifically it wouldn't be mentioned at all in the writing. So I'd be like 'Where's Fred?' and I wouldn't find out until 2 or 3 chapters later. The chapters were short, I'll give that.
There was an underlying hint of religion. The Lamb and the Goat. It wasn't annoying though, as some religion in fiction books can turn out to be. (n/o) I really like how at the end it sort of wrapped in with The Enemy.
Characters-10/10
Ending-8.5/10
Writing-9.5/10
Plotline-8/10
^There wasn't much of a plot. Just a means for survival that took them places.
There were SO many characters though. That was my only big issue. Because there were so many, when you were thinking about one specifically it wouldn't be mentioned at all in the writing. So I'd be like 'Where's Fred?' and I wouldn't find out until 2 or 3 chapters later. The chapters were short, I'll give that.
There was an underlying hint of religion. The Lamb and the Goat. It wasn't annoying though, as some religion in fiction books can turn out to be. (n/o) I really like how at the end it sort of wrapped in with The Enemy.
Characters-10/10
Ending-8.5/10
Writing-9.5/10
Plotline-8/10
^There wasn't much of a plot. Just a means for survival that took them places.
steph01924's review against another edition
5.0
Another great book in this series.
You will get so stressed out while reading this, and if you don't then you're probably a sicko yourself. If I were in these books, I would definitely be one of the kids who gets eaten right away, probably while I was huddled in a dark corner drenched in my own pee. These kids have 'nads of steel, even when they're terrified.
WARNING, do not read:
- While eating, because that food may end up going to waste after some particularly stomach-turning details about the sickos
- When you are alone in your house
- Right before bedtime, especially when you are alone in your house
- If you are in public places and don't want to be looked at oddly when you're making horrified faces and mutter-screaming 'GET OUT OF THERE!!' to your Nook
- At work during your lunch break (see above re: eating) because you are NOT going want to go back to work when you're in the middle of an extremely tense and stressful scene and you have to know if your favorite character makes it (because, with these books, who the hell knows).
You will get so stressed out while reading this, and if you don't then you're probably a sicko yourself. If I were in these books, I would definitely be one of the kids who gets eaten right away, probably while I was huddled in a dark corner drenched in my own pee. These kids have 'nads of steel, even when they're terrified.
WARNING, do not read:
- While eating, because that food may end up going to waste after some particularly stomach-turning details about the sickos
- When you are alone in your house
- Right before bedtime, especially when you are alone in your house
- If you are in public places and don't want to be looked at oddly when you're making horrified faces and mutter-screaming 'GET OUT OF THERE!!' to your Nook
- At work during your lunch break (see above re: eating) because you are NOT going want to go back to work when you're in the middle of an extremely tense and stressful scene and you have to know if your favorite character makes it (because, with these books, who the hell knows).
rpych2's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the cast of characters in the first novel, and upon finding out that this follows an entirely new set I was skeptical. However, I should have trusted in Higson's ability to write a good set of a characters because he did it again. I can only assume that there's going to be some sort of huge meet up because there can't be that many people alive in a world like this, and while that might be difficult to keep track of given how many characters there are in this series, it should make for interesting reading.
bmanley1101's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
heathbc's review against another edition
4.0
“What use was all that love when the person wasn’t there no more? It just went bad.”
Wow, Higson did an awesome job following a new cast’s journey while having the reader make inferences about connections to the first novel’s characters.
Liked:
-Time period of just a few weeks after the disaster started
-Friendship that felt genuine between the two main boys
-The immune adult and POV of his thoughts
-A sicko that had the imagery of a Pez dispenser
-Gory imagery that surprised even this well-versed horror fan
-Building up the zombies to be more than they appear
-Parallels between Frederique and the cat
Disliked:
-Making an obvious stereotype of a character that came across as prejudiced and then killing him off without subverting the stereotype at all
-The 3 girls’ friendship and the way they put each other down
Wow, Higson did an awesome job following a new cast’s journey while having the reader make inferences about connections to the first novel’s characters.
Liked:
-Time period of just a few weeks after the disaster started
-Friendship that felt genuine between the two main boys
-The immune adult and POV of his thoughts
-A sicko that had the imagery of a Pez dispenser
-Gory imagery that surprised even this well-versed horror fan
-Building up the zombies to be more than they appear
-Parallels between Frederique and the cat
Disliked:
-Making an obvious stereotype of a character that came across as prejudiced and then killing him off without subverting the stereotype at all
-The 3 girls’ friendship and the way they put each other down
jpk48's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
pezzo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0