I don't want to be too critical of the book because I've yet. But there was just too much going on in this novel. The reasoning behind the family being back in the UK, after living in America for over a decade was flimsy. The mom was extremely childish in the beginning of the book, a typical incompetent adult. The boy lead was annoying the majority of the book. His burgeoning romance with Freya was unneeded.

If the book had ended with the group burning Megan then the book would have felt better paced. To learn that the plague could recreate humans (as they were before death, minus teeth and hair - shouldn't the camp group have realized that they didn't have fingernails or eyelashes?) and speak, but also had the memories of the humans that it killed seemed a slap-dash way of setting up a sequel. I also got the impression that the author had no idea of how to write teen and pre-teen characters. They seemed too old and then too juvenile at times.

There were moments when the action was actually gripping i.e. when the passengers in other train cars were infected, but Eva and Greg's infection was handled to whimsically for my tastes and undid any urgency created by having such a fast moving infection. If the rate of death was slowed, and each person was infected more like Megan the book would have been better paced. But by the characters being able to see the flakes (choosing not to cover their skin to avoid being touched by them), dying within minutes of contact, and the infection learning the hide from antibiotics the pacing seemed off. For all the explanations given on how the virus was evolving I would have loved to read about their origin and purpose. It was written to seem sentient, and have a hierarchy of sometime, but what was the reason for that?

Don't this read this pile of garbage

The idea is great at first because I think the world will end with a plague BUT making it an alien was a bit too much. Also for a young adult book having someone being set on fire was a bit violent. The characters that don’t get much depth get killed off pretty quickly so you don’t form attachments to them and after a while all the deaths become boring. I will probably read the others just to see how they develop this

The first book in a trilogy, it certainly owes much of its inspiration to a stylistic blend of Matheson and Ballard. There is a certain underlying confusion, as if at first the author had thought of a re-telling of 'The Mask of the Red Death', then changed his mind, turning to 'I Am Legend' and then concluded his narrative wanderings with 'The Day of the Triffids'. Apart from that, the defensive and power dynamics of closed communities are described quite well - by the book, in short - and in general the writing is good. In other words, despite the many misgivings it raises (perhaps because I am not a teenager and have a scientific, as well as a literary, background), it is a good read.

This book is absolutely shocking. The twist that it takes.. I can not wait to read the next book.

OH. SHOOT.

The first part of this book I have to admit I was a little panicked. Reading it in the middle of Corona, I was convinced I did not want to end up in the apocalypse. The second half just sent me panicking in general. The thought of a virus with its own brain was just a crazy thought!

I almost gave this a 5 star, but a few things got me. There were times the timeliness felt all over the place. The book would mention it had been three months and then turn around and say it was five. Besides Leon's journal, I wasn't sure what time of year we were at. That could have been a little clearer. Also there were times that it was unclear of who we were following. It took me a couple reads the first time to realize I was reading a section in the point of view of the virus.

I'm excited to get ahold of the second book and read it!

W. T. F. ?!?!?! Yessss!! More please 🤲

I checked my Fitbit more than once while reading and each time I did, I found my heart rate to be elevated because I was so freaked out or pissed off.

That, my friends, makes for a good book.

What a wild fucking ride. Holy shit.

Took it a minute to get going but once it did it just kept getting crazier. I didn’t expect any of the turns it took.

Definitely reading the rest of the series.

Post apocalyptic is one of my favorite genres. But very rarely does it grab my attention like this.

DNF - not bad, but just too much right now