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Sanctuary #1
Sanctuary: Seeking Asylum Book 1
I was once an average college student with dreams of the Olympics. A better future had been within my grasp. I was weeks away from graduating from college, and I had just received my invitation to the National Team. Sure, I was still nursing a broken heart and coming to terms with the betrayal delivered to me at the hands of people I once trusted and loved dearly. However, things were finally looking up. Or so I thought. The news began to report disturbing stories about a new virus. This virus was turning people. The infected became violent and attacking anybody and everybody. My plans for a relaxing weekend with my friends and family turned into a nightmare. We were told to evacuate to Sanctuary. On our journey to safety, I run into old friends and find myself becoming attracted to them and their friends. I realized that even in the most harrowing of times, I could find solace and affection. This may be a whole new world and life wasn’t going to return to normal anytime soon, if ever, but at least I had five men at my side to face it with. *** Sanctuary is a contemporary, post-apocalyptic reverse harem, why choose series. This book contains some triggering content that may be sensitive to some readers. ***
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Published February 5, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 433 reviews
June 10, 2025
This is definitely one of the WORST book I’ve ever read in my entire life.
If I could give this one an even lower rating, I would.
I don’t even know where to begin… awful dialogues and characters, every cliche possible about women and men alike. Worst writing ever, messy plot and pacing, unbelievable scenes and behaviors… Just horrendous. This book was just an insult to all women, the “I’m not like this other girl” or “I’m not a girly girl but a tomboy” trope were too much and the emphasis very misogynistic.
Every women in there, except the FMC were despicable and mean-girl like, the guys were all “manwhore”, the FMC could do no wrong, was perfect, smart and beautiful, but “ not like the other girl”… Lord I’m so freaking mad!
I’ve read bad books before, and I know that rating a book is really personal but this one? Worst book to date. Absolutely mediocre. I’ve never hated a book more and it makes me want to vomit. Trash.
I’m not usually this harsh on here, but all these glorious reviews are getting on my last nerve, did I read the same book as everyone? I don’t think so…
If I could give this one an even lower rating, I would.
I don’t even know where to begin… awful dialogues and characters, every cliche possible about women and men alike. Worst writing ever, messy plot and pacing, unbelievable scenes and behaviors… Just horrendous. This book was just an insult to all women, the “I’m not like this other girl” or “I’m not a girly girl but a tomboy” trope were too much and the emphasis very misogynistic.
Every women in there, except the FMC were despicable and mean-girl like, the guys were all “manwhore”, the FMC could do no wrong, was perfect, smart and beautiful, but “ not like the other girl”… Lord I’m so freaking mad!
I’ve read bad books before, and I know that rating a book is really personal but this one? Worst book to date. Absolutely mediocre. I’ve never hated a book more and it makes me want to vomit. Trash.
I’m not usually this harsh on here, but all these glorious reviews are getting on my last nerve, did I read the same book as everyone? I don’t think so…
October 6, 2023
*3.5* Re-reading because book four is now out!
Much more juvenile than I recall. Just go in prepared for the the infantile dialogue and drama.
Despite the immaturity of these characters it’s still a fun zombie post-apocalypse and RH!
Original review
A decent zombie apocalypse story that I read at breakneck speed.
What I liked:
-Avery is on her way to the olympics in Tae Kwon Do, she’s a strong leading character
-She almost graduated as an RN
-Avery is a good friend, sister, girlfriend, and is very empathetic
-Strong family units that love each other
-Excellent bff
-The ideas around farming, animal keeping and gardening to survive an apocalypse
-Avery’s father and uncle being in the military
-Love the camping setting, the place where multi-generational families come to spend summers
-Adopt all the lost doggies and children
-Costco! I’ve always thought Costco would be the go-to place for stocking up for end-of-the-world situations
-Reverse harem
What I didn’t like:
-The interpersonal drama felt very high school even though everyone was older than 20, and many in their 30's
-Wanted a deeper connection between the love interests, which I get is hard to do when there are so many of them
-The men have been sharing multiple women for years, so adding Avery to their conquests felt like a notch in the belt, rather than something unique and special for the group of them
-Tons of side characters, I was confused. Who was that again?
-The few women in the military units had sex with the men. Really? Was this their only purpose?
-Two previous ow the men shared are part of the group
-Avery was perfect at everything she does
-How many drama points can you give one person!? Pick one or two, this was ridiculous
And last but most importantly!!
-Can we please stop treating all other women in a story as slutty or bitchy so it makes our leading female character look better than them?!!!
Much more juvenile than I recall. Just go in prepared for the the infantile dialogue and drama.
Despite the immaturity of these characters it’s still a fun zombie post-apocalypse and RH!
Original review
A decent zombie apocalypse story that I read at breakneck speed.
What I liked:
-Avery is on her way to the olympics in Tae Kwon Do, she’s a strong leading character
-She almost graduated as an RN
-Avery is a good friend, sister, girlfriend, and is very empathetic
-Strong family units that love each other
-Excellent bff
-The ideas around farming, animal keeping and gardening to survive an apocalypse
-Avery’s father and uncle being in the military
-Love the camping setting, the place where multi-generational families come to spend summers
-Adopt all the lost doggies and children
-Costco! I’ve always thought Costco would be the go-to place for stocking up for end-of-the-world situations
-Reverse harem
What I didn’t like:
-The interpersonal drama felt very high school even though everyone was older than 20, and many in their 30's
-Wanted a deeper connection between the love interests, which I get is hard to do when there are so many of them
-The men have been sharing multiple women for years, so adding Avery to their conquests felt like a notch in the belt, rather than something unique and special for the group of them
-Tons of side characters, I was confused. Who was that again?
-The few women in the military units had sex with the men. Really? Was this their only purpose?
-Two previous ow the men shared are part of the group
-Avery was perfect at everything she does
-How many drama points can you give one person!? Pick one or two, this was ridiculous
And last but most importantly!!
-Can we please stop treating all other women in a story as slutty or bitchy so it makes our leading female character look better than them?!!!
August 3, 2021
I started writing my one-handed review and realized it turned into a rant. The thing is, I enjoyed Sanctuary and that's all that really matters in the end.
But in 2020, a few years into the RH genre, I wish authors would stop feeling the need to have women tearing other women down just to have their heroines shine more brightly. That's not how life works after high school, women don't just gang up on another because of jealousy. We gossip, we can dislike and sometimes hate, we can be petty and do things we are not proud of but never have I witnessed a grown woman destroying another for a good lay, let alone military women.
I know humans are selfish and I am certain the apocalypse would prove it all over again. But when the world is ending, I'd like to believe survival instincts kick in and somehow subdue hormones and petty grudges.
> No MM
> No FF
> Who falls first?
Trigger warning:
Zombies, past cheating, evil twin sister, women tearing each other down.
But in 2020, a few years into the RH genre, I wish authors would stop feeling the need to have women tearing other women down just to have their heroines shine more brightly. That's not how life works after high school, women don't just gang up on another because of jealousy. We gossip, we can dislike and sometimes hate, we can be petty and do things we are not proud of but never have I witnessed a grown woman destroying another for a good lay, let alone military women.
I know humans are selfish and I am certain the apocalypse would prove it all over again. But when the world is ending, I'd like to believe survival instincts kick in and somehow subdue hormones and petty grudges.
> No MM
> No FF
> Who falls first?
Trigger warning:
Zombies, past cheating, evil twin sister, women tearing each other down.
May 25, 2020
3.5 but my favourite SM Oliver to date.
It’s hard to beat a good old fashioned Zombie Apocalypse and this has all the stuff you’d expect from a world running from the flesh eating monsters.
The fight for food
People turning on each other
Killing, lots of killing
Stupid people making stupid decisions that put everyone in danger
Trying to survive the night
Luckily for our protagonistPeyton darn nope sorry .. Avery she’s a badass sword wielding Tae Kwon Do champion and has the perfect skill set to survive the apocalypse. Also working in her favour is the team of army specialist, sorry HOT army specialists who are there to protect her and the many stragglers they come across.
It’s a journey to sanctuary - a place owned by their grandparents and perfectly set up to be self sufficient in the event of the world ending.
Lucky for them
All of that was the good stuff, the Alpha team of soldiers were amazing and I even liked the broken hearted angle with the ex boyfriend.
Where it falls is not the plot or storyline... it’s how SM Oliver tells the story. She has a very unique style. And by unique I mean annoying.
Expect the usual, 2 lines of dialogue in between 2 pages of exposition.
Every female to be an absolute bitch (except for the customary bff) and every guy to be a creep who wants the MC.
Unnecessary supporting characters X100, all complete with their own backstories. Long lists of said D list characters- so many names you’ll never remember who is who
” Kingston said as he took the seat on the other side of me. Uncle Mitch, Borris, Axel, Corbin, Wyatt, Kingston, Trevor, BJ, Mike, and I were taking a brief break and decompressing after a harrowing ...”
The language goes beyond flowery and into unrealistic... I refuse to believe normal people use the word “procure” or “utilise”
in everyday life....except maybe if you work in stock control... this books uses both words 8 times. (Okay so I thought it was more than that but 8 times is still 8 times too many).
Normal people just don’t talk like this
” I’d always had a softness for the sometimes overly rambunctious but affectionate child.”
Translation ... “I love that crazy kid”
”If you’re charming and act oblivious, they underestimate you and lower all expectations, never suspecting your calculating nature at all, unless you choose to reveal it to them.”
Translation “you act dumb so they don’t see through you, unless you want them to”
It’s exhausting reading but I enjoyed the story. The zombie parts and action were really well done. I will read on if it doesn’t end up a 600 page sequel like Peytons Path.
It’s hard to beat a good old fashioned Zombie Apocalypse and this has all the stuff you’d expect from a world running from the flesh eating monsters.
The fight for food
People turning on each other
Killing, lots of killing
Stupid people making stupid decisions that put everyone in danger
Trying to survive the night
Luckily for our protagonist
It’s a journey to sanctuary - a place owned by their grandparents and perfectly set up to be self sufficient in the event of the world ending.
Lucky for them
All of that was the good stuff, the Alpha team of soldiers were amazing and I even liked the broken hearted angle with the ex boyfriend.
Where it falls is not the plot or storyline... it’s how SM Oliver tells the story. She has a very unique style. And by unique I mean annoying.
Expect the usual, 2 lines of dialogue in between 2 pages of exposition.
Every female to be an absolute bitch (except for the customary bff) and every guy to be a creep who wants the MC.
Unnecessary supporting characters X100, all complete with their own backstories. Long lists of said D list characters- so many names you’ll never remember who is who
” Kingston said as he took the seat on the other side of me. Uncle Mitch, Borris, Axel, Corbin, Wyatt, Kingston, Trevor, BJ, Mike, and I were taking a brief break and decompressing after a harrowing ...”
The language goes beyond flowery and into unrealistic... I refuse to believe normal people use the word “procure” or “utilise”
in everyday life....except maybe if you work in stock control... this books uses both words 8 times. (Okay so I thought it was more than that but 8 times is still 8 times too many).
Normal people just don’t talk like this
” I’d always had a softness for the sometimes overly rambunctious but affectionate child.”
Translation ... “I love that crazy kid”
”If you’re charming and act oblivious, they underestimate you and lower all expectations, never suspecting your calculating nature at all, unless you choose to reveal it to them.”
Translation “you act dumb so they don’t see through you, unless you want them to”
It’s exhausting reading but I enjoyed the story. The zombie parts and action were really well done. I will read on if it doesn’t end up a 600 page sequel like Peytons Path.
October 20, 2024
3,5.
This kind of reading I like a lot. This book has a potential for my taste but I think the story gets out of hand about the main characters and their drama.
Unfortunately.
This kind of reading I like a lot. This book has a potential for my taste but I think the story gets out of hand about the main characters and their drama.
Unfortunately.
May 13, 2023
DNF 53%
This is an apocalyptic end-of-life as we know it reverse harem zombie romance. I just couldn’t get to grips with it Avery the main character was one of those perfect can do anything better than everyone else females she’s totally accomplished in every way. She’s also been shit on from a big height by her ex and sister so there’s some angst surrounding that.
The chemistry here just felt off and a bit contrived it didn’t flow for me authentically and it all felt extremely instalove. This also had a habit of telling rather than showing which is another big bugbear of mine. There were also far too many characters introduced in one go to easily keep straight and the things they were all worried about here and the way they all acted when they were supposed to be in a fight for their very survival was just plain bizarre. I know if I was experiencing a zombie apocalypse I wouldn’t be bothered over half of the things Avery and the boys seem to consider important that’s for sure. Also, why are all the young women excluding our girl and her bestie complete bitches. Finally considering all of their ages and military training this all just felt extremely juvenile.
This definitely has potential maybe it will improve but I think I’m out. It’s all told from Avery’s POV but I think with why choose stories a multiple POV narrative usually works much better just so we get a better understanding of each character as a separate individual. Unfortunately, this one was a washout for me and I won’t be continuing.!
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com
September 24, 2020
What an awful, awful book. I thought S. M. Olivier was a decent writer. I was wrong. This work is a gathering of all clichés that I hate. There are mean girls that don't have personality and try to resolve problems with sex, there are people that see MC as this perfect angel aka Mary Sue, unnecessary drama, fast burn (or blink burn, I think I missed the burn part between the lines, they started fucking so fast), MC is a pro in martial arts (of course she is), the perfect beauty with gentle heart. There is so much wrong about the book... Why does Avery always screams at everyone and resolves her drama carrying a newborn child? Ugh. Can't believe I put this book on anticipated shelf. Utter disappointment.
August 13, 2021
3.25-3.5 stars
A twin sister who has been betrayed by her ex and her twin (off page) but who are continuing to see each other and have invited her to be a part of their wedding.
A bio weapon virus that is turning people into zombies.
An elite military team who have history for sharing one woman. 2 team members grew up with the h, one who was her ex’s brother. All of whom are interested in the h.
The h’s family have a large piece of land that is set up with large scale accomodation.
Triggers-cheating (off page), loss of pregnancy (off page), incredibly evil twin sister
A twin sister who has been betrayed by her ex and her twin (off page) but who are continuing to see each other and have invited her to be a part of their wedding.
A bio weapon virus that is turning people into zombies.
An elite military team who have history for sharing one woman. 2 team members grew up with the h, one who was her ex’s brother. All of whom are interested in the h.
The h’s family have a large piece of land that is set up with large scale accomodation.
Triggers-cheating (off page), loss of pregnancy (off page), incredibly evil twin sister
June 26, 2020
An unexpected surprise.
I have been in a terrible book hangover lately and have not liked anything I picked up for the past month or two. I honestly picked this book up because it had the least cliched cover out of all my KU suggestions.
I couldn’t put it down! Like seriously I went to sleep at 4 am and only because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. This is the first book I finish in almost 2 months!
It was fast paced and action packed. With well rounded characters that you cared for. The heroine is very likable, she is strong and a badass but in a believable way. She is not over the top, talk a big game but then relies on the Hero more often than not while telling him she doesn’t need him -_-. She is actually strong, has been through a lot and is healing. She is no pushover, she pulls her weight and is extremely capable, even when she experiences crippling fear. But the best part about her is that she is believable.
The heroes need a bit more developing. I feel like we didn’t get to know them as well yet because it is single point of view (hers only), and because they don’t come in for the most part until later in the book. I hope we get to learn more about them in the next book. The sexual relationship was a bit fast, but not terribly so, it is not insta-love by any means.
Besides the heroine the other best thing about this book is the world building. It is extremely realistic, as in I am seriously writing some points down to remember if we ever go through another pandemic. Maybe it is because of the world we live in today, but the series of events that lead to the “end of society as we know it” in this book felt real and totally plausible.
A lot of the side characters are very like-able and you get invested on. I would love to read Mike’s story, and BJ’s, and hope Sylvia has a happy ending, as well as all the aunts and uncles. However I will say the “mean girls” were a bit over the top and even childish.
I can’t wait for the next book (really hoping there is a second book). Finally a new series I am into!
I have been in a terrible book hangover lately and have not liked anything I picked up for the past month or two. I honestly picked this book up because it had the least cliched cover out of all my KU suggestions.
I couldn’t put it down! Like seriously I went to sleep at 4 am and only because I couldn’t keep my eyes open. This is the first book I finish in almost 2 months!
It was fast paced and action packed. With well rounded characters that you cared for. The heroine is very likable, she is strong and a badass but in a believable way. She is not over the top, talk a big game but then relies on the Hero more often than not while telling him she doesn’t need him -_-. She is actually strong, has been through a lot and is healing. She is no pushover, she pulls her weight and is extremely capable, even when she experiences crippling fear. But the best part about her is that she is believable.
The heroes need a bit more developing. I feel like we didn’t get to know them as well yet because it is single point of view (hers only), and because they don’t come in for the most part until later in the book. I hope we get to learn more about them in the next book. The sexual relationship was a bit fast, but not terribly so, it is not insta-love by any means.
Besides the heroine the other best thing about this book is the world building. It is extremely realistic, as in I am seriously writing some points down to remember if we ever go through another pandemic. Maybe it is because of the world we live in today, but the series of events that lead to the “end of society as we know it” in this book felt real and totally plausible.
A lot of the side characters are very like-able and you get invested on. I would love to read Mike’s story, and BJ’s, and hope Sylvia has a happy ending, as well as all the aunts and uncles. However I will say the “mean girls” were a bit over the top and even childish.
I can’t wait for the next book (really hoping there is a second book). Finally a new series I am into!
d-n-f
February 8, 2024dnf @ 60%
a little too “not like other girls” and as close as you can get to pregnancy trope without the actual pregnancy. also wayyyy too much referring to family friends as cousins that are then romantically involved… no incest here please.
a little too “not like other girls” and as close as you can get to pregnancy trope without the actual pregnancy. also wayyyy too much referring to family friends as cousins that are then romantically involved… no incest here please.
May 17, 2024
I am a sucker for a good apocalypse book. The whole finding love in terrifying circumstances and having to constantly fight for survival. This is like the walking dead, but if the whole main cast were in their 20s.
I read a lot of reviews before reading and the main FMC was not liked at all, which is surprising because I really liked her. She is definitely the ‘good at everything girl’, but I think she moulded herself into that because of all the trauma she’s faced. If everything around you is crumbling you need to be the one constant. Anyway I really liked her.
I did struggle at the start to figure out who her rarem was. There was just so many soldiers being introduced and sometime she’s found them hot, which made me think ‘maybe’.
Quick rundown - we have :
- Corbin & Wyatt (both very golden retriever & non-blood cousins. She grew up with them)
- Axel (very alpha, ‘touch her and die’ vibe
- King & Easton (twins, one is super playful and the other is very straight laced. Not in a boring way)
They are also very adorable with her adopted baby. I personally love an accidental pregnancy or single parent trope, so this add in to the plot was a massive win for me.
I had a couple of peeves that stopped this being 5 stars :
- She was dead set that she kinda hated Corbin (bit of a hoe - in a good way), because Trevor cheated on her and he always wanted to be like Corbin. However , as soon as she sees him that is all forgotten and they make out. I kinda understand this because it was a bit irrational and tensions were high.
- The hot tub. The goddamn hot tub. All the guys put up a hot tub for her in the bathroom and got alcohol and a blue tooth speaker. Like wtf, we are in an apocalypse here, there is no time for this shit.
- They picked up a lot of kids. I’m not suggesting they leave the kids, I’m just saying why were so many kids included. I feel like there was better ways to show them being ‘good people’.
- It does get a bit cheesy at time and she may repeat herself sometime, but overall I really liked it. I can’t wait to read the next book.
Side note - if Emery has a retribution arc in the next book, I will flip a (small) table. I want her to be eaten so badly. 🧟♂️🧟♂️🧟♂️🧟♂️
I read a lot of reviews before reading and the main FMC was not liked at all, which is surprising because I really liked her. She is definitely the ‘good at everything girl’, but I think she moulded herself into that because of all the trauma she’s faced. If everything around you is crumbling you need to be the one constant. Anyway I really liked her.
I did struggle at the start to figure out who her rarem was. There was just so many soldiers being introduced and sometime she’s found them hot, which made me think ‘maybe’.
Quick rundown - we have :
- Corbin & Wyatt (both very golden retriever & non-blood cousins. She grew up with them)
- Axel (very alpha, ‘touch her and die’ vibe
- King & Easton (twins, one is super playful and the other is very straight laced. Not in a boring way)
They are also very adorable with her adopted baby. I personally love an accidental pregnancy or single parent trope, so this add in to the plot was a massive win for me.
I had a couple of peeves that stopped this being 5 stars :
- She was dead set that she kinda hated Corbin (bit of a hoe - in a good way), because Trevor cheated on her and he always wanted to be like Corbin. However , as soon as she sees him that is all forgotten and they make out. I kinda understand this because it was a bit irrational and tensions were high.
- The hot tub. The goddamn hot tub. All the guys put up a hot tub for her in the bathroom and got alcohol and a blue tooth speaker. Like wtf, we are in an apocalypse here, there is no time for this shit.
- They picked up a lot of kids. I’m not suggesting they leave the kids, I’m just saying why were so many kids included. I feel like there was better ways to show them being ‘good people’.
- It does get a bit cheesy at time and she may repeat herself sometime, but overall I really liked it. I can’t wait to read the next book.
Side note - if Emery has a retribution arc in the next book, I will flip a (small) table. I want her to be eaten so badly. 🧟♂️🧟♂️🧟♂️🧟♂️
November 22, 2021
I DNF'ed this book about 75% of the way through. There was so much deep seated misogyny hiding in this book. All of the women hated the Main Character and there was so much women hating other women in this book it was hard to stand. While I liked the Main Character at first she quickly got on my nerves she was a Mary Sue in the worst sense of the word. She was always in the right, never made the wrong choices and was always perfect all the men wanted her. It was annoying. The only women who were not "evil" in this book all desperately wanted babies and they seemed to collect them like baseball cards. As the book progressed religion slowly leaked in and it eventually got super annoying. The only redeeming factor in the end (and the only reason it got 2 stars) was the writing was solid and I've read books by this author that I enjoyed. This book was not it.
May 8, 2020
Interesting story but annoying AF heroine
This was a really good apocalypse book but the reason I have 3 stars is because I couldn't stand the lead female by halfway through the book. She was mentally whiny and constantly second guessing herself even though she was supposed to be a strong female.
I also didn't like all the awful things that happened to the lead lady pre apocalypse. It seemed a bit over the top to me.
All in all, I liked the survival part of the story and thought the author did a great job making that part seem realistic and smart. The drama and victim mentality of the heroine really ruined this story for me sadly.
This was a really good apocalypse book but the reason I have 3 stars is because I couldn't stand the lead female by halfway through the book. She was mentally whiny and constantly second guessing herself even though she was supposed to be a strong female.
I also didn't like all the awful things that happened to the lead lady pre apocalypse. It seemed a bit over the top to me.
All in all, I liked the survival part of the story and thought the author did a great job making that part seem realistic and smart. The drama and victim mentality of the heroine really ruined this story for me sadly.
April 28, 2020
*note* there are still editing issues- words misspelled, etc, that I don't quite understand. I also found moments off some repetition and even confusing almost-contradictions in the content, but they weren't HUGE things, just pieces that I would have preferred to be cleaned up because I notice things like that. There are less than in some of the author's other series though, so that's an improvement*
One of the first things that I liked about Avery is that she's not a damsel, which is nice since some of the author's other FMCs fit that type. It's nice to see variety, and Avery is a near-olympian in Tae Kwon Do, so she's certainly got some skills to take care of herself and to use in the zombie apocalypse. She's a good sister, a faithful friend, empathetic, and notices the people around her. I was kind of waiting for her to have a drawback- she has flaws, but they're moreso ones that affect her personally like scars left by past trauma. So, she's a little bit the perfect girl kind of syndrome, but that doesn't bother me as much as I know it might some others.
Along with Avery is her best friend Sylvia, and I have to say thank god for that. Most of the other women that Avery encounters fall into the Mean Girl crowd- including her twin sister. It was a little hard to read all the other women constantly sniping at her because at some points their animosity just felt forced so that there WAS opposition for Avery to deal with. There were just some things that I found hard to believe, especially considering that the Mean Girls' selfishness really gets taken to ridiculous and even dangerous levels being that this is not a normal world they're living in anymore.
Along with Sylvia, we get Avery's brother, her "aunts and uncles", and her men to help balance out the bad. The guys are an interesting mix- a set of twins, two of her "cousins" (they're not really related), and a team leader who always puts others first. The harem model makes sense because the guys are positioned as teammates on a super-elite military team, men who spend 24/7 together in order to grow their family bond and connection with each other. So, of course, that's a nice easy way to segue into the idea of sharing a committed relationship with a woman.
I think the men I like the most so far might be Kingston & Easton, the twins. They're a bit of the other side of the coin type scenario- one clearly more responsible, one more caring, one more mischievous, etc, but I think it'll be interesting seeing what hidden layers develop beneath their tropes. The other guys- Corbin, Wyatt, and Axel- are all perfectly fine too. They don't shine too particularly to me in either a positive or negative way, which can be fairly typical for a first in a series.
Overall, the zombie plot is just getting going. If you're familiar with these types of dystopian situations, the big focus is really on- get in one place, get supplies, get safe. They'll probably be moving into phase two of the post-zombie-apocalypse plan in book two: hold on to your safety. Generally, I was amused by the story, and it's on KU, so really, why not?
***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT ON THE TRIGGERS***
One of the first things that I liked about Avery is that she's not a damsel, which is nice since some of the author's other FMCs fit that type. It's nice to see variety, and Avery is a near-olympian in Tae Kwon Do, so she's certainly got some skills to take care of herself and to use in the zombie apocalypse. She's a good sister, a faithful friend, empathetic, and notices the people around her. I was kind of waiting for her to have a drawback- she has flaws, but they're moreso ones that affect her personally like scars left by past trauma. So, she's a little bit the perfect girl kind of syndrome, but that doesn't bother me as much as I know it might some others.
Along with Avery is her best friend Sylvia, and I have to say thank god for that. Most of the other women that Avery encounters fall into the Mean Girl crowd- including her twin sister. It was a little hard to read all the other women constantly sniping at her because at some points their animosity just felt forced so that there WAS opposition for Avery to deal with. There were just some things that I found hard to believe, especially considering that the Mean Girls' selfishness really gets taken to ridiculous and even dangerous levels being that this is not a normal world they're living in anymore.
Along with Sylvia, we get Avery's brother, her "aunts and uncles", and her men to help balance out the bad. The guys are an interesting mix- a set of twins, two of her "cousins" (they're not really related), and a team leader who always puts others first. The harem model makes sense because the guys are positioned as teammates on a super-elite military team, men who spend 24/7 together in order to grow their family bond and connection with each other. So, of course, that's a nice easy way to segue into the idea of sharing a committed relationship with a woman.
I think the men I like the most so far might be Kingston & Easton, the twins. They're a bit of the other side of the coin type scenario- one clearly more responsible, one more caring, one more mischievous, etc, but I think it'll be interesting seeing what hidden layers develop beneath their tropes. The other guys- Corbin, Wyatt, and Axel- are all perfectly fine too. They don't shine too particularly to me in either a positive or negative way, which can be fairly typical for a first in a series.
Overall, the zombie plot is just getting going. If you're familiar with these types of dystopian situations, the big focus is really on- get in one place, get supplies, get safe. They'll probably be moving into phase two of the post-zombie-apocalypse plan in book two: hold on to your safety. Generally, I was amused by the story, and it's on KU, so really, why not?
***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT ON THE TRIGGERS***
March 21, 2025
Reread
This book was a cringefest a lot of times but it was interesting enough.
Most of the guys were manwhores, Corbin confessed to wanting the h for years but tried to ignore his feelings. They're adoptive cousins.
By the time he got sense she was in a relationship with his brother.
Guys were special badassses who were accustomed to sharing women.
Two of these women were in Sanctuary with them(imagine the world ending and you're stuck with your men's exes and your own 😭)
h had been in a relationship since she was a teen, she accidentally got pregnant and lost the baby.
She finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her with her identical twin sister the same time she lost the baby.
Turns out during their "breaks" he'd also been sleeping with other women.
The ex and the twin are also at Sanctuary 🤦🏽♀️🤭
Me personally I would've put the twin sister out if the compound, she was a raging bitch.
After her heartbreak the h got drunk a lot and had a couple ONS
Months later the drama broke out now she's being shared by 5 men I think
The h was a gymnast then turned into a Taekwondo specialist, she was training for the Olympics. Let's not forget she was going to school to become a RN too. Plus she's like Buffy if Buffy killed zombies 🤭
It was ridiculously exaggerated but entertaining enough
OW and OM drama
No relationship buildup (well the world is ending so who's got the time🤷🏾♀️)
RH
********
A deadly virus has broken out, ppl are being bitten and infected. The mcs family owns a campground called Sanctuary that they're slowly turning into a survivalist camp.
Original thoughts
Review at book 3 , 2.5*
This book was a cringefest a lot of times but it was interesting enough.
Most of the guys were manwhores, Corbin confessed to wanting the h for years but tried to ignore his feelings. They're adoptive cousins.
By the time he got sense she was in a relationship with his brother.
Guys were special badassses who were accustomed to sharing women.
Two of these women were in Sanctuary with them(imagine the world ending and you're stuck with your men's exes and your own 😭)
h had been in a relationship since she was a teen, she accidentally got pregnant and lost the baby.
She finds out that her boyfriend cheated on her with her identical twin sister the same time she lost the baby.
Turns out during their "breaks" he'd also been sleeping with other women.
The ex and the twin are also at Sanctuary 🤦🏽♀️🤭
Me personally I would've put the twin sister out if the compound, she was a raging bitch.
After her heartbreak the h got drunk a lot and had a couple ONS
Months later the drama broke out now she's being shared by 5 men I think
The h was a gymnast then turned into a Taekwondo specialist, she was training for the Olympics. Let's not forget she was going to school to become a RN too. Plus she's like Buffy if Buffy killed zombies 🤭
It was ridiculously exaggerated but entertaining enough
OW and OM drama
No relationship buildup (well the world is ending so who's got the time🤷🏾♀️)
RH
********
A deadly virus has broken out, ppl are being bitten and infected. The mcs family owns a campground called Sanctuary that they're slowly turning into a survivalist camp.
Original thoughts
Review at book 3 , 2.5*
April 6, 2022
Interesting read. I liked the zombie-like apocalypse setting, a nice intro story into the life of our MC before it, and the overall plot was good. The author does introduce a lot of side characters, whose names I forgot all the time and wondered who the hell is that each time she mentions them again, and that along with the magical instant attraction of our MC with the Alfa team are probably the things that bothered me the most. But all in all, I liked it.
August 29, 2020
This is going to be a long one folks.
Okay, so I’m about 80% through this book and I’m calling it quits.
I was surprised I with how much I didn’t like about this book, since I remember white enjoying her other books, but I guess this was just unlucky.
To start off with, I was enjoying this book - I wasn’t hooked, but it kept my interest enough for me to keep reading, but there was just so much I didn’t like, I had to stop before I started pulling my hair out.
This book follows our heroine, tae kwon do expert and soon to be in the Olympics. She’s had a very tough past - a bit too tough...kind of to the point where you think ‘of course that’s also happened to her’. Just before her dreams of being In the olympics happen, people start getting infected and they have to vacate. This book then follows their struggles surviving.
Now, this sounded like a good book - something that could easily hold my attention, but so much was wrong with it. SO much, that I’m going to make a list.
1) The heroine was perfect. Her only flaws were the fact that she ran away in her sleep. Thats it.
2)The heroine had SUCH A SHITTY PAST. It was overboard. She shouldn’t have been as okay as she was.
There was just TOO much. I understand giving your characters a shitty back-story, but...come on.
3) The relationship between our heroine and the guys developed...badly. One minute, she was saying how she hadn’t had sex since the breakup - traumatic breakup - and obviously wasn’t over her ex-best-friend-of-six-years/boyfriend and then, the second she meets a guy from her harem, she’s getting over it and ready to start shagging like rabbits.
4) This irked me a lot: SO MANY UNNECESSARY CHARACTERS, OH MY GOOD LORD! It’s hard enough having a harem and having to remember so many main characters, but each character that was introduced had their own backstory delivered to us on a golden platter. As well as that, it just seems like everyone had to be paired with a child or a dog, like how the hell am I supposed to remember? But I’ll do my best.
I kid you not, we meet the guys (5 of them work in this, I don’t even know, training place, where they’re trained to be weapons) , then we have the heroines twin sister, her demon posse of 2 or 3 bitches, the younger brothers girlfriend, heroines dad, uncle, aunt, Stephanie - don’t even know how she fits into things. THEN we have the people who work with the guys, so cal and joe - conveniently, they’re Sylvia (heroines bestie’s) harem - then we have Felix (Fenix? Frank? Frodo?...something with an F...I think) and his fiancé Amy who’s only relevant to the story because she sticks up for our heroine one time. Then we have the farm kids - Mike and his/her (not trying to be offensive but this really wasn’t cleared up) siblings - And you know they have a story of their own, too! Then we have Rosa and Luca - some bad guys for the start of the book - who has a kid named Ben and an even more irrelevant other child. Then, because there needed to be more, we have some random young kids, Jenny and her brother (insert name I don’t remember) and, of course, because there wasn’t enough, Heroine needed another of her own - did I mention heroines name in Avery and her twin is Emery...I don’t think so, but who cares, nobody will remember with the horde of people - so the heroine found little baby Isa May Michaels - weirdly Avery was going to name her kid Isa (or Bella) Mae (with an ‘e’ people, it’s not THAT coincidental, jeez, stop thinking out your arse) and her dog, Bane. There were other dogs I don’t remember too.
And, even with all these people having a back story...we hardly learn our own harem’s back story.
This is the problem with havin so many characters - Fenix/Felix/Frank/Frodo and his Fiancé Amy were COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNNECESSARY! They werent needed at ALL!
5) They didn’t struggle. For the apocalypse, they were completely fine - baking cookies, talking to all of their irrelevant friends, shagging. They were grand.
6) Every girl apart from the designated bestie and irrelevant Amy were bitches.
7)Said this, but we don’t know ANYTHiNG about the guys, lord help us.
8) Finally, the last one...nothing really happened? I mean, for the apocalypse, it was pretty boring.
So, yeah, I didn’t finish it.
Okay, so I’m about 80% through this book and I’m calling it quits.
I was surprised I with how much I didn’t like about this book, since I remember white enjoying her other books, but I guess this was just unlucky.
To start off with, I was enjoying this book - I wasn’t hooked, but it kept my interest enough for me to keep reading, but there was just so much I didn’t like, I had to stop before I started pulling my hair out.
This book follows our heroine, tae kwon do expert and soon to be in the Olympics. She’s had a very tough past - a bit too tough...kind of to the point where you think ‘of course that’s also happened to her’. Just before her dreams of being In the olympics happen, people start getting infected and they have to vacate. This book then follows their struggles surviving.
Now, this sounded like a good book - something that could easily hold my attention, but so much was wrong with it. SO much, that I’m going to make a list.
1) The heroine was perfect. Her only flaws were the fact that she ran away in her sleep. Thats it.
2)The heroine had SUCH A SHITTY PAST. It was overboard. She shouldn’t have been as okay as she was.
There was just TOO much. I understand giving your characters a shitty back-story, but...come on.
3) The relationship between our heroine and the guys developed...badly. One minute, she was saying how she hadn’t had sex since the breakup - traumatic breakup - and obviously wasn’t over her ex-best-friend-of-six-years/boyfriend and then, the second she meets a guy from her harem, she’s getting over it and ready to start shagging like rabbits.
4) This irked me a lot: SO MANY UNNECESSARY CHARACTERS, OH MY GOOD LORD! It’s hard enough having a harem and having to remember so many main characters, but each character that was introduced had their own backstory delivered to us on a golden platter. As well as that, it just seems like everyone had to be paired with a child or a dog, like how the hell am I supposed to remember? But I’ll do my best.
I kid you not, we meet the guys (5 of them work in this, I don’t even know, training place, where they’re trained to be weapons) , then we have the heroines twin sister, her demon posse of 2 or 3 bitches, the younger brothers girlfriend, heroines dad, uncle, aunt, Stephanie - don’t even know how she fits into things. THEN we have the people who work with the guys, so cal and joe - conveniently, they’re Sylvia (heroines bestie’s) harem - then we have Felix (Fenix? Frank? Frodo?...something with an F...I think) and his fiancé Amy who’s only relevant to the story because she sticks up for our heroine one time. Then we have the farm kids - Mike and his/her (not trying to be offensive but this really wasn’t cleared up) siblings - And you know they have a story of their own, too! Then we have Rosa and Luca - some bad guys for the start of the book - who has a kid named Ben and an even more irrelevant other child. Then, because there needed to be more, we have some random young kids, Jenny and her brother (insert name I don’t remember) and, of course, because there wasn’t enough, Heroine needed another of her own - did I mention heroines name in Avery and her twin is Emery...I don’t think so, but who cares, nobody will remember with the horde of people - so the heroine found little baby Isa May Michaels - weirdly Avery was going to name her kid Isa (or Bella) Mae (with an ‘e’ people, it’s not THAT coincidental, jeez, stop thinking out your arse) and her dog, Bane. There were other dogs I don’t remember too.
And, even with all these people having a back story...we hardly learn our own harem’s back story.
This is the problem with havin so many characters - Fenix/Felix/Frank/Frodo and his Fiancé Amy were COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNNECESSARY! They werent needed at ALL!
5) They didn’t struggle. For the apocalypse, they were completely fine - baking cookies, talking to all of their irrelevant friends, shagging. They were grand.
6) Every girl apart from the designated bestie and irrelevant Amy were bitches.
7)Said this, but we don’t know ANYTHiNG about the guys, lord help us.
8) Finally, the last one...nothing really happened? I mean, for the apocalypse, it was pretty boring.
So, yeah, I didn’t finish it.
April 15, 2021
Eh. The plot holes and inconsistencies mentioned in other reviews were problematic for me as well. Moreover, beyond the overly flowery writing, this author is constantly writing the wrong words. She seems to struggle the most with homophones (e.g., your vs. you're), but there were several other mistaken words littered throughout the book as well, some that fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence being communicated. The mean women in this book are pretty much absolute villains, and it doesn't fit with the plot of the story. Are we really supposed to believe that several members of the mostelite branch of the military, which brings together the most elite from the other branches of the military, are lazy, poorly trained, and undisciplined? It doesn't make sense. There are a lot of these plot choices to move the story forward that just feel lazy and done for the sake of convenience—such as how quickly the romance aspect evolves.
May 27, 2020
Good read......but
I enjoyed this book but I don't like how SM made the crazy twin so crazy just to make the other twin seem better. And why did A have so many issues. I hate it when the author makes the main character to be this extra special person like she can't do no wrong. Other than that I love the way the guys took care of A and that she was independent and could fight.
I enjoyed this book but I don't like how SM made the crazy twin so crazy just to make the other twin seem better. And why did A have so many issues. I hate it when the author makes the main character to be this extra special person like she can't do no wrong. Other than that I love the way the guys took care of A and that she was independent and could fight.
October 4, 2020
Riveting!
I became quickly enthralled by this series and literally could not stop reading. I love each and every one of these main characters and can't wait to see what happens next.
I became quickly enthralled by this series and literally could not stop reading. I love each and every one of these main characters and can't wait to see what happens next.
October 27, 2024
Addictive apocalypse series, got sucked back in as audiobooks are on audible now (virtual voice). The “not like other girls” and “OW are evil succubi” drama gets old but I like the outdoorsy found fam w dogs feel.
September 18, 2023
I will forever reread this series!!!
May 5, 2022
I wasn’t hugely impressed by my last RH zombie book, so thought I’d try a take two with this one.
This has most of the same issues S.M. Olivier’s other books have: lots of grammatical and spelling errors, font colour changes, repetition, contradictions, all the other girls hate her and are very two dimensional bullies, and as soon as a new character is introduced you know immediately whether they’re a good or bad guy because the MC just has those instinctual feelings, and so many things make no logical sense . But… her stories always really draw you in and you don’t want to stop reading. I stayed up until 2am so I could finish it. There’s a lot of action and the MC is a bada$$. Plus sweet and wholesome at the same time. No way I can stop after one book. Solid four stars.
It has the usual MC with tragic backstory, cheating partners, angst, and MC with a heart of gold everyone loves (except other women). The MC is coming off a heartbreak, but jumps in pretty quick with a group of guys when the zombie apocalypse starts. And I was okay with that. Didn’t like the whole “I don’t do this” and then literally next sentence they’re doing whatever it was. That happened a few times, and just didn’t work. You can’t tell one thing then show the opposite.
And let’s be honest, 99% of the female cast is annoying beyond reason. No way would those two have made it to special forces if they never do anything or follow orders. It just wouldn’t happen. Very over the top drama all round. But damned if I don’t want to keep reading! They sucker you in so hard that you overlook most of this stuff, too busy in the moment.
This has most of the same issues S.M. Olivier’s other books have: lots of grammatical and spelling errors, font colour changes, repetition, contradictions, all the other girls hate her and are very two dimensional bullies, and as soon as a new character is introduced you know immediately whether they’re a good or bad guy because the MC just has those instinctual feelings, and so many things make no logical sense . But… her stories always really draw you in and you don’t want to stop reading. I stayed up until 2am so I could finish it. There’s a lot of action and the MC is a bada$$. Plus sweet and wholesome at the same time. No way I can stop after one book. Solid four stars.
It has the usual MC with tragic backstory, cheating partners, angst, and MC with a heart of gold everyone loves (except other women). The MC is coming off a heartbreak, but jumps in pretty quick with a group of guys when the zombie apocalypse starts. And I was okay with that. Didn’t like the whole “I don’t do this” and then literally next sentence they’re doing whatever it was. That happened a few times, and just didn’t work. You can’t tell one thing then show the opposite.
And let’s be honest, 99% of the female cast is annoying beyond reason. No way would those two have made it to special forces if they never do anything or follow orders. It just wouldn’t happen. Very over the top drama all round. But damned if I don’t want to keep reading! They sucker you in so hard that you overlook most of this stuff, too busy in the moment.
June 1, 2025
Horrific horrendous. Worst writing I’ve read in a long time😭
September 9, 2021
Ok so. I enjoyed this book, probably more than I expected. Somehow this author has a way of making some of my absolute least favorite tropes (OW drama and manwhores) into something that keeps me hooked.
This is an interesting premise, the start of a zombie apocalypse. I’ve watched enough Walking Dead to have a general expectation. I feel like that part was handled well. This book doesn’t cover a lot of time, seemingly only a few weeks in.
Avery, the fmc, is cool, but like…. She’s the “cool” girl who knows how to fight and was a tomboy growing up, who dresses down and always has more guy friends. In a flashback scene, she tells one of the girls her future guy is with that she has no self respect after said girl says maybe she just wants a good lay so. There’s that.
Besides that, just like the fmcs in Gifted Connections and Peyton’s Path, Avery is given such a tragic backstory and is seemingly so reasonable that you can’t help but root for her. Go figure. Also, unlike the fmcs in her other two series, at least this one isn’t a virgin paired with a bunch of manwhores.
I liked the guys in this one, these are probably the best guys she’s written tbh. While I like her other guys in her other books, I’ve never really forgiven the guys in Gifted Connections for how they acted knowing they had a fated mate, and at least this one didn’t have as much blatant in your face OW drama like Peyton’s Path.
Now for the things that I really disliked. The whole time I read her books, I am always stunned by the amount of mean girls. And they’re always soooo over the top dramatic. I really can’t fathom how military trained women, in elite special forces nonetheless, would disobey orders or not realize the danger they’re in during the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, because of some guys. Like. It’s BAFFLING to me how she writes such catty women, and I feel sad too, because it just comes across as incredibly misogynistic. It’s always out of jealousy for the fmc and because they want some guys.
Just like in her other series, there are SO many characters. I lost track of names somewhere along the way. There is simply no need for so many characters and for all of their life stories to be brought up. Half of the time, it seemed like 16 characters were mentioned as going on an outing and then in the next scene, where the heck are they?? Also characters who are never brought up again. Her stepbrother Mikey and whatever his name is are at the beginning, never heard of again, and then a female character Michaela is introduced but she goes by… MIKE. Like. Out of all the names.
The past relationship with Trevor was interesting to read about, I think I just wanted more jealousy/possessiveness from both him and the guys over her lol.
Also, some things were kinda strange. They’re not blood related but their dads were raised as brothers, they’ve known each other since birth, called each other cousins at one point, but then were just family friends? That developed feelings for each other. Like they’re not blood related so cool but there was something strange about some of the explanations used lol.
This could also use another round of edits. Lots of wrong words used.
Still a solid read though, and I did instantly start book 2.
TW i haven’t seen mentioned much: miscarriage
This is an interesting premise, the start of a zombie apocalypse. I’ve watched enough Walking Dead to have a general expectation. I feel like that part was handled well. This book doesn’t cover a lot of time, seemingly only a few weeks in.
Avery, the fmc, is cool, but like…. She’s the “cool” girl who knows how to fight and was a tomboy growing up, who dresses down and always has more guy friends. In a flashback scene, she tells one of the girls her future guy is with that she has no self respect after said girl says maybe she just wants a good lay so. There’s that.
Besides that, just like the fmcs in Gifted Connections and Peyton’s Path, Avery is given such a tragic backstory and is seemingly so reasonable that you can’t help but root for her. Go figure. Also, unlike the fmcs in her other two series, at least this one isn’t a virgin paired with a bunch of manwhores.
I liked the guys in this one, these are probably the best guys she’s written tbh. While I like her other guys in her other books, I’ve never really forgiven the guys in Gifted Connections for how they acted knowing they had a fated mate, and at least this one didn’t have as much blatant in your face OW drama like Peyton’s Path.
Now for the things that I really disliked. The whole time I read her books, I am always stunned by the amount of mean girls. And they’re always soooo over the top dramatic. I really can’t fathom how military trained women, in elite special forces nonetheless, would disobey orders or not realize the danger they’re in during the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, because of some guys. Like. It’s BAFFLING to me how she writes such catty women, and I feel sad too, because it just comes across as incredibly misogynistic. It’s always out of jealousy for the fmc and because they want some guys.
Just like in her other series, there are SO many characters. I lost track of names somewhere along the way. There is simply no need for so many characters and for all of their life stories to be brought up. Half of the time, it seemed like 16 characters were mentioned as going on an outing and then in the next scene, where the heck are they?? Also characters who are never brought up again. Her stepbrother Mikey and whatever his name is are at the beginning, never heard of again, and then a female character Michaela is introduced but she goes by… MIKE. Like. Out of all the names.
The past relationship with Trevor was interesting to read about, I think I just wanted more jealousy/possessiveness from both him and the guys over her lol.
Also, some things were kinda strange. They’re not blood related but their dads were raised as brothers, they’ve known each other since birth, called each other cousins at one point, but then were just family friends? That developed feelings for each other. Like they’re not blood related so cool but there was something strange about some of the explanations used lol.
This could also use another round of edits. Lots of wrong words used.
Still a solid read though, and I did instantly start book 2.
TW i haven’t seen mentioned much: miscarriage
July 1, 2022
I’m going to give one overarching review for this entire series, because I don’t think I need to break it down in depth for these books.
What I liked:
-The apocalyptic plot! That’s why I grabbed the book in the first place, and that’s what made me want to continue reading.
What I hated:
-Ohhhh the misogyny. Every single woman other than our FMC & her one lifelong friend is a BITCH. Not even just a bitch, a BITCH. They don’t even have reasoning behind their attitude, other than that they’re jealous of our FMC. I hate this, it’s so annoying, and it detracts from the story. I got annoyed of Avery’s twin sister so fast, and she just kept popping up and pissing me off. Her deplorable behavior towards Avery is so irritating and there’s no reason for it other than that she’s just a narcissistic POS. Love that!
-I hate when RH books try to like… explain away WHY the RH is okay. Bitch, I know what I’m getting into. Why are you trying to convince me that it’s ok for the FMC to have more than one love interest? It’s why I picked the book up… In this case, the reasoning is that her guys are military and they’ve shared a girl in the past because they were deployed and bunkered up together and it just made it easier for them. Great. I don’t care? I hate these explanations because it almost always includes the guys doing this before, “sharing a woman,” and I feel like it definitely takes away from our current romance.
-The Christian undertones are so confusing and the constant praying made me uncomfortable. At times the religion was blatant and other times the writing was definitely anti-Christian concepts so it was a weird dichotomy.
What I liked:
-The apocalyptic plot! That’s why I grabbed the book in the first place, and that’s what made me want to continue reading.
What I hated:
-Ohhhh the misogyny. Every single woman other than our FMC & her one lifelong friend is a BITCH. Not even just a bitch, a BITCH. They don’t even have reasoning behind their attitude, other than that they’re jealous of our FMC. I hate this, it’s so annoying, and it detracts from the story. I got annoyed of Avery’s twin sister so fast, and she just kept popping up and pissing me off. Her deplorable behavior towards Avery is so irritating and there’s no reason for it other than that she’s just a narcissistic POS. Love that!
-I hate when RH books try to like… explain away WHY the RH is okay. Bitch, I know what I’m getting into. Why are you trying to convince me that it’s ok for the FMC to have more than one love interest? It’s why I picked the book up… In this case, the reasoning is that her guys are military and they’ve shared a girl in the past because they were deployed and bunkered up together and it just made it easier for them. Great. I don’t care? I hate these explanations because it almost always includes the guys doing this before, “sharing a woman,” and I feel like it definitely takes away from our current romance.
-The Christian undertones are so confusing and the constant praying made me uncomfortable. At times the religion was blatant and other times the writing was definitely anti-Christian concepts so it was a weird dichotomy.
Read
February 21, 2025DNF @69%
Very confused as to why there are so many high ratings? The short of it: this author has never heard of sensitivity readers or content warnings.
First: there are two separate times when the author uses a racial slur that were completely unnecessary. Worse, one of those times was the main mechanism for letting the reader know that MC was Indigenous!!! When I read that I thought this book was written in the early 2010s! But NOOOO it was written in 2020, a mere 5 years ago!
Two: This author has never once heard of a sensitivity reader and it shows. They have written multiple different ethnicities into this book without any obvious care for how to handle those characters.
Three: *spoiler* the addition of the newborn was not only completely unrealistic (even for a zombie apocalypse book), it ruined the storyline, imo. I don’t know if it gets better because I cannot for the life of me continue reading.
Four: Multiple typos, spelling errors, etc. I usually look past these when reading because to me, they don’t ruin a story, but alongside everything else, I just can’t.
Five: The religion? Again, everyone is entitled to their own writing but I was not prepared for how bizarrely Christian this book was considering it’s about a polyamorous group of people in a zombie apocalypse. It was very distracting and I found it added NOTHING to the story.
Six: This author doesn’t know what sensitivity readers are, and they also don’t know what Content Warnings are. HELLO. There are multiple things that NEED to be warned of: miscarriage, cheating, violence, gun violence, gore, child abuse, child sexual abuse, Christianity, racial slurs, racism, and probably more that I’ve forgotten! The author simply states that there may be triggering content but these are BIG THINGS that need to be listed out!!
This is the garbage version of the WITSEC series.
Very confused as to why there are so many high ratings? The short of it: this author has never heard of sensitivity readers or content warnings.
First: there are two separate times when the author uses a racial slur that were completely unnecessary. Worse, one of those times was the main mechanism for letting the reader know that MC was Indigenous!!! When I read that I thought this book was written in the early 2010s! But NOOOO it was written in 2020, a mere 5 years ago!
Two: This author has never once heard of a sensitivity reader and it shows. They have written multiple different ethnicities into this book without any obvious care for how to handle those characters.
Three: *spoiler* the addition of the newborn was not only completely unrealistic (even for a zombie apocalypse book), it ruined the storyline, imo. I don’t know if it gets better because I cannot for the life of me continue reading.
Four: Multiple typos, spelling errors, etc. I usually look past these when reading because to me, they don’t ruin a story, but alongside everything else, I just can’t.
Five: The religion? Again, everyone is entitled to their own writing but I was not prepared for how bizarrely Christian this book was considering it’s about a polyamorous group of people in a zombie apocalypse. It was very distracting and I found it added NOTHING to the story.
Six: This author doesn’t know what sensitivity readers are, and they also don’t know what Content Warnings are. HELLO. There are multiple things that NEED to be warned of: miscarriage, cheating, violence, gun violence, gore, child abuse, child sexual abuse, Christianity, racial slurs, racism, and probably more that I’ve forgotten! The author simply states that there may be triggering content but these are BIG THINGS that need to be listed out!!
This is the garbage version of the WITSEC series.
December 10, 2025
3.5 stars. I liked this. The action was awesome, and I was on the edge of my seat quite a few times. Avery's kickassness was believable and I really like her, but I am starting to think the "Why choose" genre is just a bit too much for me sometimes lol.
I don't mind two or three, that seems somewhat manageable, but FIVE guys? Phew! That's a lot, and I'd love me some more Axel, but she's spread so thin, he's barely around the second half of the book. Plus, homegirl would be pregnant constantly if they all wanted kids---granted they're in the middle of an apocalypse, so not top of mind, but in the future, I have issues ;)
Few things I wasn't a fan of were the monolog brain dumps and just clunky dialogue in general. Instead of gradually learning about Avery, you get these awkwardly spoken monologs of life events that don't come off as natural conversation. This author writes much better action than dialogue. A lot of it came off as awkward and kinda juvenile. And what's with the therapy language??? I swear this is like the third book in a row where characters talk as if they're repeating something their therapist told them. It's just f'in weird dude.
And I like the five guys, but they were Messy. They were screwing and sharing their female teammates before. Yikes! You're just asking for trouble with that kind of thing in the military. All in all, it's a good read and excited for book #2.
I don't mind two or three, that seems somewhat manageable, but FIVE guys? Phew! That's a lot, and I'd love me some more Axel, but she's spread so thin, he's barely around the second half of the book. Plus, homegirl would be pregnant constantly if they all wanted kids---granted they're in the middle of an apocalypse, so not top of mind, but in the future, I have issues ;)
Few things I wasn't a fan of were the monolog brain dumps and just clunky dialogue in general. Instead of gradually learning about Avery, you get these awkwardly spoken monologs of life events that don't come off as natural conversation. This author writes much better action than dialogue. A lot of it came off as awkward and kinda juvenile. And what's with the therapy language??? I swear this is like the third book in a row where characters talk as if they're repeating something their therapist told them. It's just f'in weird dude.
And I like the five guys, but they were Messy. They were screwing and sharing their female teammates before. Yikes! You're just asking for trouble with that kind of thing in the military. All in all, it's a good read and excited for book #2.
August 14, 2022
Currently at 67% I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority with what I'm about to say bc most people end up hating the So, yeah, I'll settle for that at the very least!
November 21, 2023
The book is sold like a zombie apocalypse RH, not even close. What it really is: A kindergartner with some zombies walking around.
I can't stand Avery and her perfection. I also can't stand her stupidity and her internal thoughts that appear at the worst moment. Halfway through the book she enters the mall full of zombies, what Avery does as soon as he sees a handsome boy is start describing him from top to bottom, down to the highlights in his hair. Even though the handsome boy is about to be eaten, she needs to stop to explain what type of body the man has.
'Suddenly I found myself wondering what color his eyes were'
Girl, stop thinking with your ass, you're surrounded by zombies.
But don't worry, she finds out, the man is on the ground with a zombie practically on top of him but Averie once again describes his eyes, eyelashes and ends with 'Hoky crap, his eyes were mesmerizing!' WHEN THEY ARE ABOUT TO KILL HIM.
But don't worry because she saves him without much trouble and JUST AFTER, she sees another of her companions surrounded by two zombies AND KILLS THEM ALONE. NO PROBLEM.
All of them are special soldiers, the best of the best. But they would be dead without Avery.
If you think that the nonsense of falling in love with someone's physique in the middle of a fight only happens here, you are wrong, because it happens more times. Too many times.
This book is a great example of why authors need to 'Show, don't tell'. If not, you have a page and a half of Avery telling you in an internal monologue everything that is happening, instead of showing it through action. And explain her past (or any other character) with a giant text because the author doesn't know how to explain it to the reader in an organic way. So instead of show it little by little throughout the book, she releases it to you in one giant paragraph and move forward.
I'm not going to talk about how pathetic it is for the author to transform all the women in the book into jealous rats. It doesn't matter that the protagonist saved them from death. Nobody acts like that and even if you want to have a couple of characters full of hatred and envy for the protagonist in your book, doing it with all the female characters shows a bad writer and I don't understand how an editor (or whoever reviewed this book) wouldn't please ask them to change it in the first draft.
Those who are not snakes are at home pregnant or taking care of the nursery they have adopted, because someone has to take care of the children and like all men (ALL) they are busy defending and killing zombies, well that's it. Women washing clothes.
How has this come out to the public?
It is not a couple of comments that can be ignored. Is there, in plain sight, constantly.
It's a kindergarten and I'm not just saying it because of the attitude of the characters (that too). Why are there so many children? The book consists of collecting babies and kids and taking care of them, that's it. The author at some point decided that she was not interested in developing any relationship between adults because it is much more interesting to adopt everything that moves and cannot shoot on their own. Dogs? Yes. Children? the more the better. We're going to leave aside the whole plot to focus on the baby Avery found, even though you're in an apocalypse and you're supposed to have just come out of a very traumatic time in your life and at the beginning of the book you made it pretty clear that you're not you just got over your abortion but hey, what does it matter when you can spend pages on Avery trying to take care of a baby.
The relationships with the boys (and with everyone who appears in the book) are cardboard, absolutely nothing develops. If you're going to dedicate entire chapters to Avery taking care of Isa and remembering details from the past that don't really contribute much to the plot, please dedicate a few pages to developing a minimum of the relationship with the boys in the book, because you're selling me a trick for something. RH. They tell you that Corbin and Wyatt constantly harassed her as teenagers and at the same time they had her glued to the locker because of how in love they were and instead of exploiting that relationship that could have been interesting, she prefers to be yelling stupid things at her sister, because for some reason reason that advances the plot further. It's the same with the rest of the boys, Instalove is slow for what happens with King and his brother and although there is an attempt to develop something with Axel it seems that the author got bored of him and loses him for half the book.
Quick review of more problems but this is taking too long:
-Avery should be lying in bed with the amount of trauma she has suffered in her life, but no, they have barely made a dent in her character except for the fact that she runs at night.
- Despite it being an apocalypse, they don't have a single problem surviving because they are all super qualified: they are soldiers, nurses, farmers and when they find a pregnant woman it turns out that there is a nurse out there.
-The grandparents have weird names, all of them: Pappy, mamaw, pop-pop. Wth No one has a name.
I can't stand Avery and her perfection. I also can't stand her stupidity and her internal thoughts that appear at the worst moment. Halfway through the book she enters the mall full of zombies, what Avery does as soon as he sees a handsome boy is start describing him from top to bottom, down to the highlights in his hair. Even though the handsome boy is about to be eaten, she needs to stop to explain what type of body the man has.
'Suddenly I found myself wondering what color his eyes were'
Girl, stop thinking with your ass, you're surrounded by zombies.
But don't worry, she finds out, the man is on the ground with a zombie practically on top of him but Averie once again describes his eyes, eyelashes and ends with 'Hoky crap, his eyes were mesmerizing!' WHEN THEY ARE ABOUT TO KILL HIM.
But don't worry because she saves him without much trouble and JUST AFTER, she sees another of her companions surrounded by two zombies AND KILLS THEM ALONE. NO PROBLEM.
All of them are special soldiers, the best of the best. But they would be dead without Avery.
If you think that the nonsense of falling in love with someone's physique in the middle of a fight only happens here, you are wrong, because it happens more times. Too many times.
This book is a great example of why authors need to 'Show, don't tell'. If not, you have a page and a half of Avery telling you in an internal monologue everything that is happening, instead of showing it through action. And explain her past (or any other character) with a giant text because the author doesn't know how to explain it to the reader in an organic way. So instead of show it little by little throughout the book, she releases it to you in one giant paragraph and move forward.
I'm not going to talk about how pathetic it is for the author to transform all the women in the book into jealous rats. It doesn't matter that the protagonist saved them from death. Nobody acts like that and even if you want to have a couple of characters full of hatred and envy for the protagonist in your book, doing it with all the female characters shows a bad writer and I don't understand how an editor (or whoever reviewed this book) wouldn't please ask them to change it in the first draft.
Those who are not snakes are at home pregnant or taking care of the nursery they have adopted, because someone has to take care of the children and like all men (ALL) they are busy defending and killing zombies, well that's it. Women washing clothes.
How has this come out to the public?
It is not a couple of comments that can be ignored. Is there, in plain sight, constantly.
It's a kindergarten and I'm not just saying it because of the attitude of the characters (that too). Why are there so many children? The book consists of collecting babies and kids and taking care of them, that's it. The author at some point decided that she was not interested in developing any relationship between adults because it is much more interesting to adopt everything that moves and cannot shoot on their own. Dogs? Yes. Children? the more the better. We're going to leave aside the whole plot to focus on the baby Avery found, even though you're in an apocalypse and you're supposed to have just come out of a very traumatic time in your life and at the beginning of the book you made it pretty clear that you're not you just got over your abortion but hey, what does it matter when you can spend pages on Avery trying to take care of a baby.
The relationships with the boys (and with everyone who appears in the book) are cardboard, absolutely nothing develops. If you're going to dedicate entire chapters to Avery taking care of Isa and remembering details from the past that don't really contribute much to the plot, please dedicate a few pages to developing a minimum of the relationship with the boys in the book, because you're selling me a trick for something. RH. They tell you that Corbin and Wyatt constantly harassed her as teenagers and at the same time they had her glued to the locker because of how in love they were and instead of exploiting that relationship that could have been interesting, she prefers to be yelling stupid things at her sister, because for some reason reason that advances the plot further. It's the same with the rest of the boys, Instalove is slow for what happens with King and his brother and although there is an attempt to develop something with Axel it seems that the author got bored of him and loses him for half the book.
Quick review of more problems but this is taking too long:
-Avery should be lying in bed with the amount of trauma she has suffered in her life, but no, they have barely made a dent in her character except for the fact that she runs at night.
- Despite it being an apocalypse, they don't have a single problem surviving because they are all super qualified: they are soldiers, nurses, farmers and when they find a pregnant woman it turns out that there is a nurse out there.
-The grandparents have weird names, all of them: Pappy, mamaw, pop-pop. Wth No one has a name.
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