Brainycat's Reviews > The First Days

I bought the trilogy based on recommendations I found on another forum. I made it 64% of the way through before giving up. It really wants to be a great story, but it gets bogged down by over explanations. The character development reminded me of Robert Jordan - give each character Their One Trait, then never pass up a chance to cut'n'paste The One Trait into the narrative, even if it breaks the flow of the story.

The action is thin and predictable, but I kept reading through it expecting the characters to become interesting. Unfortunately, I never felt emotionally invested in the characters, and by a third of the way through I decided I was going to give it another third to become interesting. Not only did it not get interesting, it started reading like a young adult romance. Not my thing, though if the sales figures for Twilight are any indication I must be in the minority.

The writing style is very expository. It felt a little droll; like reading an objective recollection rather than fighting side by side with our heroines while society collapses around them. The author 'tells' more than 'shows', which is fine but I like a more vivid, descriptive style in my horror.

Obviously, a lot of people like this book so please give it a try. I found it VERY reasonably priced at kobo. Readers like me, who enjoy vivid violence, gore and sex and uniquely quirky characterization will be disappointed. However, if you like your romance and horror "PG" I expect you would like this a lot.