Review: If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book??? Let's chat.
SUMMARY:
Zombies. Rabies zombies. Rabies mutates, infects a bunch of people, people start biting, uh-oh, apocalypse. Typical zombie stuff. Flora and her brother, Cain, are the only people left in an LA suburb. They get a radio message from their missing dad, so what do we do? ROAD TRIP BABY. On the way we meet various friends and enemies and cute dogs. The zombies are there too, sometimes. BUT ROAD TRIP BABY. Teen rom-com-dram road trip!
MY THOUGHTS:
This book really had me up until like the last act. But let's talk about the good stuff first, since there is way more of it than the bad.
Ok, so maybe Flora is me?? A little bit? Maybe?? I feel like a lot of people are going to really relate to her. First, I want to talk about something a little silly that meant a lot to me. As a person who is into horror, I have of course had the "How would I do in a Zombie Apocalypse?" conversations. As a person who is also Severely Mentally Ill, the answer is always, "Well, if the withdrawal from my meds doesn't get me killed, the constant panic attacks and general instability will probably not help." But here comes Flora! And she has my doomspiralling tendencies and inability to eat without being like. This is going to make me sick, isn't it.
AND SHE'S GAY. This is a book for the girls, gays, and theys, folks!
The zombie apocalypse in this book feels, to me, like a metaphor for two of my biggest fears. Ones I am sure a lot of other mentally ill folks have faced. The fear of "My parents are gone, how am I supposed to take care of myself now?" and "Oh no, how can I possibly find friends when everyone around me feels like a threat?"
Flora's journey throughout this book felt deeply real and personal to me. Which is probably why the last act lost me a bit. An external threat of supervillain level evil people show up. It was very obvious and heavily foreshadowed that they would, but it still felt out of place. Like, Flora's mental health and the literal actual zombies are enough of a villain for this story. Then the worst part of the book was the last like. Three pages. I am just unclear on what happened??? Like, a major letdown to have that be the ending of such a good book.
Quick side character rating!
Adan: 10/10. Best boy, I will take one (1) Adan please!
Biscuit: 100/10. Best girl, no notes.
Cain: 6/10. Kind of annoying sometimes not gonna lie. But by the end of the book you are like, if he dies, so will I.
Crisanta: 4/10. I don't really know why, but she bugged me a lot. Like dude. Just tell the truth. You are the problem.
Lastly, unfortunately the main romance kinda sucked. I just think it would have been better for Flora to not have a crush on Crisanta at the start of the book. She is just so down bad for her right away, and it really makes her overlook a lot of things she should question more about Cris. By the end of the book you see both Cris and Flora grow a lot, and it makes more sense for them to be together. Having them both be way into each other minute one doesn't give us a chance to see why they are a good fit. IDK, it just felt a little rushed. Maybe I am just a Cris hater, lol.
FINAL OPINION:
I really enjoyed this book overall. It is a great coming of age story. It felt very genuine throughout. I am sure it will be a favorite for many a teen. I definitely recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
SUMMARY:
Zombies. Rabies zombies. Rabies mutates, infects a bunch of people, people start biting, uh-oh, apocalypse. Typical zombie stuff. Flora and her brother, Cain, are the only people left in an LA suburb. They get a radio message from their missing dad, so what do we do? ROAD TRIP BABY. On the way we meet various friends and enemies and cute dogs. The zombies are there too, sometimes. BUT ROAD TRIP BABY. Teen rom-com-dram road trip!
MY THOUGHTS:
This book really had me up until like the last act. But let's talk about the good stuff first, since there is way more of it than the bad.
Ok, so maybe Flora is me?? A little bit? Maybe?? I feel like a lot of people are going to really relate to her. First, I want to talk about something a little silly that meant a lot to me. As a person who is into horror, I have of course had the "How would I do in a Zombie Apocalypse?" conversations. As a person who is also Severely Mentally Ill, the answer is always, "Well, if the withdrawal from my meds doesn't get me killed, the constant panic attacks and general instability will probably not help." But here comes Flora! And she has my doomspiralling tendencies and inability to eat without being like. This is going to make me sick, isn't it.
AND SHE'S GAY. This is a book for the girls, gays, and theys, folks!
The zombie apocalypse in this book feels, to me, like a metaphor for two of my biggest fears. Ones I am sure a lot of other mentally ill folks have faced. The fear of "My parents are gone, how am I supposed to take care of myself now?" and "Oh no, how can I possibly find friends when everyone around me feels like a threat?"
Flora's journey throughout this book felt deeply real and personal to me. Which is probably why the last act lost me a bit. An external threat of supervillain level evil people show up. It was very obvious and heavily foreshadowed that they would, but it still felt out of place. Like, Flora's mental health and the literal actual zombies are enough of a villain for this story. Then the worst part of the book was the last like. Three pages. I am just unclear on what happened??? Like, a major letdown to have that be the ending of such a good book.
Quick side character rating!
Adan: 10/10. Best boy, I will take one (1) Adan please!
Biscuit: 100/10. Best girl, no notes.
Cain: 6/10. Kind of annoying sometimes not gonna lie. But by the end of the book you are like, if he dies, so will I.
Crisanta: 4/10. I don't really know why, but she bugged me a lot. Like dude. Just tell the truth. You are the problem.
Lastly, unfortunately the main romance kinda sucked. I just think it would have been better for Flora to not have a crush on Crisanta at the start of the book. She is just so down bad for her right away, and it really makes her overlook a lot of things she should question more about Cris. By the end of the book you see both Cris and Flora grow a lot, and it makes more sense for them to be together. Having them both be way into each other minute one doesn't give us a chance to see why they are a good fit. IDK, it just felt a little rushed. Maybe I am just a Cris hater, lol.
FINAL OPINION:
I really enjoyed this book overall. It is a great coming of age story. It felt very genuine throughout. I am sure it will be a favorite for many a teen. I definitely recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
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