This was another great book in the Thicker Than Blood series. With the world as they know it forever changed after a virus infected a majority of the population, attacking the living and bring the dead back to live, aka Dead Heads, Willow, Luke and Logan struggle daily to survive. Being all that remains alive from their original group, they spend their days scavenging for food, shelter and other basic essentials and trying to avoid threats from both the dead and the living. Not knowing who they can trust, they only have each other which causes it's own problems.
The book focusses around Logan, his younger brother Luke and the latter's girlfriend from high school (and better times), Willow. It's not smooth sailing, especially since Logan and Willow constantly fight and bicker, seeming to hate each other's guts. Logan, a former high school football legend, approaches life with a harsh outlook, remaining stoic, serious and uncompromising. If you love your book boyfriends jealous and possessive, Logan definitely ticks those boxes. Luke, on the other hand, is the peacekeeper, trying to keep everyone happy. He's kind, thoughtful and lives for Willow. To be honest, I think some readers might want to stab Willow with a rusty nail. She comes across as immature at times as she's extremely impulsive to the point of being selfish and self-indulgent as well as being incredibly stubborn at times. I liked her as I really enjoyed her transformation throughout the book but it wasn't easy at times. The book is told from both Logan and Willow's point of view, which I loved, because they were polar opposites and you got a great insight into what their priorities were and how their mind ticked. An occasional smattering of flashbacks pop up here and there to help take the reader back and see how events for the main characters unfolded and helped shape their personalities. The addition of some great secondary characters that complemented the main characters' stories also made for entertaining reading, especially Britt, a terrific kick-toot woman.
I'm a big fan of zom poc and loved this book. Logan and Luke both had an uneasy childhood that was made worse by the dead coming back to life. When the unthinkable, but almost inevitable, happens to one in the group, the lives of the three main characters, and their relationship to each other, is changed forever. Hate becomes just the flip side to love as a beautiful, all-encompassing romance blooms from ashes. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but I'm trying not to give spoilers and as cheesy as the previous line sounds, it really was a story of hope, transformation and new beginnings as a future becomes more attainable and some sense of normalcy possible for survivors. There are plenty of near-death experiences to keep you on your toes, some gore (which was soooooo good), some feel-good moments, heaps of action and a lot of nail biting.
If you haven't read any other books in this series, you can absolutely read this one as a stand alone. It 100% holds up on its own and while all of the books in this series tear your heart out a little bit, I think this story would be a great introduction to Thicker Than Blood if you haven't dipped your toe in before because while there was a perfect amount of drama and angst, I loved the romance side of things in this novel and I'm happy to say that I wasn't an inconsolable wreck at the end of the book like another in the series that shall remain unnamed (I still haven't forgiven the authors lololol). If you're someone like me that likes to read things in order, you really don't need to here and there's also a brief synopsis at the start if you feel like you need a quick catch up of a world gone to hell.
The worse thing about these books? Waiting for the next one lol. And I absolutely luuuuuuurve the covers in this series and this one is another knock out.