Dread Spring

by Elizabeth F. Shearly

After nuclear armageddon, Chloe’s days have fallen into a routine: wake up from the nightmares at four a.m., farm chores with Vishesh, schooling with the kids, fight with Monty, and then an early bedtime. As long as their vegetable patch stays viable, they can avoid a slow and painful death.

But this season their field is contaminated. Short of asking for help from the walking towns—mechanical hulks developed to decontaminate land and water—there’s no recourse. Chloe risks going behind Monty’s back to contact the towns, but the response isn’t at all what she expected. Now that she knows there are bigger problems out there, she can’t just leave well enough alone. But what can a former computer scientist hope to do in a world of seeds and soil?

Dread Spring is a post-apocalyptic adventure about love, loyalty, and building the life you want.

Content notes: Domestic abuse, pregnancy, death of family member, occasional use of obscenities, gunshot wound. See the book's page on Elizabeth F. Shearly's website for detailed content notes.

314 pages, Paperback

Published July 10, 2023

About the author

Elizabeth F. Shearly writes science fiction and fantasy romance, from flash fiction to novels and everything in between. She holds a B.Sc. in physics, and you'll find plenty of science in her science fiction, though the fiction always takes precedence! No matter what she writes about—spaceships or magic, walking cities or medieval castles—romance always finds a way to blossom, whether as the main plot or as a background story.

When she’s not watching characters play-act in her head, you can find her relaxing on the couch with her two cats, playing a video game or knitting a sweater.

Join the monthly newsletter to get the FREE flash fiction collection Keep the Good Parts, at https://join.elizabethshearly.ca

Visit Elizabeth's website for the details on her books: www.elizabethshearly.ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stitchnscri...
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/elizabet...
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eliza...
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ElizabethFShe...

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly this one did not work for me. When we are first introduced to the story/characters i felt hopefull that this could go quite well. The idea of a post apocalyptic world and what this writer may produce got my attention.

Unfortunatly i couldnt gel with any of the characters. The main character Chloe didnt pull me in to the story. She had the drive to save her farm community and potential to carry out what needed to be done in the story but to me it felt flat. Writing style was quite simple and repetative. Thats cool if thats your thing.
The rest of the characters..meh. The character development didnt hit the nail on the head.
Also the random crudeish sex references in the middle of the story just didnt make sence to me. Why were they relevant.
I think this author has done another romance/sci-fi story so maybe that works better?
This isnt for me but that dosent mean it might not be for you. Each to their own❤

Apart from that i loved the cover pic here! Simple yet effective. Nice pastel colours. Great to look at.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher through Booksirens for an ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.


Rev written 28/7/23

[Laura Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A post-apocalyptic adventure about love, loyalty, and building the life you want." Creative and thoughtful characters navigate a world system where somehow cash is still thought to be king. Despite this, the heart of the book is built on the conviction to choose people and connection first, and you feel a part of every decison and event along the way. I can't wait for the next instalment of the Radioactive Rain series!

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book for witch I was really excited for, the synopsis made thought this book was survival and family related, but as soon as I started I realized it wasn't like that, I didn’t really connect with the characters, and even the story was a bit disconnected, let me explain what I mean, something happened that poisoned the world, besides the synopsis that said something about nuclear Armageddon, we don’t get much information about it, that usually is not a problem for me, but Chloe and Vishesh our Main characters are technology savvy, so if we were to know what happened, they weren’t ignorants about it and could explain to us, ok I understand, when things happened they were in the university I guess, but still…

Other thing that made me mad with Chloe was… how can you be tricked that easily… follow a strange man into a a chopper and then just play along… I just rolled my eyes… to make things worse… it develops into Stockholm syndrome… but you want to know, grab a copy and read for yourself. Vishesh, I thought he had feelings for Chloe, but to tell the truth he forgot her as soon as she got out of scene (well in the next day, but that is for me to know and for you to find out)…

I thought I could recommend this book for a younger audience, because until like 50% of book was mostly clean, but things got a bit steamy and descriptive in some parts, and also some bad language… each chapter is told half by what is happening to Chloe and half what is happening with Vishesh, so is like everything is happening at the same time but in different localizations, I also regret to say that I wasn’t the intended reader for this book, so it wasn't that enjoyable for me… uhmm for me this book is a 2,5 stars and I will give it 3 stars for official rating.

Thank you BookSirens for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0-3.5 stars
This was an interesting post-apocalyptic story. It had elements of Mad Max and the Walking Dead (without zombies or crazed maniacs). We are dropped into the story without knowing what originally happened, or how the first group of people came together at the farm. There are many characters, but we only get a peak into a few of them, the others are very 2-dimensional. The main character came across as very naive and pollyanna-ish. The main bad guy isn't nearly evil enough (too many times he knew folks were working against him but he didn't do anything about it). The story wrapped up almost with a pink bow, although there is definitely room for a sequel.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this dystopian adventure! Good mix of messed up society with the cities ruling the small settlements. Typical imbalanced, dictators style hierarchy, with a good selection of characters & ideas! Something a little different so good as it keeps your interest! I will look for more by this writer!