Rating: 🌟
CW: Sexualizing of minors; underage drinking; teen pregnancy; sizism; homphobia; drug use; attempted rape.
Where do I begin?
I hate to be harsh, but I didn't find anything redeemable about this book, unfortunately.
From constant thoughts on the appearance of certain characters, to the many awkward sentences and phrasings, this book was a hot mess.
Literally nothing was spared. From rampant inconsistencies, poor word choices, the 'development' of the characters, and the so called plot. WHAT PLOT? It's literally just a bunch of stereotypes masquerading as people stuck in a department store during an apocalyptic event.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional, the dialogue was flat, the descriptions were all over the place, I could go on and on.
Not to mention the countless instances of misogyny and sexism, there were also a multitude of descriptions that I found appalling. The characters (particularly the main character) felt the need to comment on the weight of several of the other characters (at one point a character late in the novel felt the need to comment on the weight of a woman he had helped, when it was completely unnecessary).
I went into this novel with the notion that it would be a thrilling novel about a group of teenagers forced to survive in a Walmart-esque department store during an apocalypse.
Instead, I was forced to endure a novel revolving around the angst of teenagers set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic event.
The entirety of the book I FELT like I was reading a book, you know? There was no immersion that took place. Nothing felt real, and this book was a chore to get through. Literally the only thing this book had going for it was that once you started reading it, it was relatively quick to get through, but I had to fight my instincts to roll my eyes every two sentences!
The main character, Dean, was a creep, and at times appeared to display sociopathic tendencies. He is the most disturbing main character I think I've ever read. He literally STALKS his crush, Astrid, and is obsessed to the point that whenever she shows him the slightest bit of attention he goes on about how they're meant for one another.
"It was like we were magnets, meant to be fitted together."
and at another, comments:
"What I wanted was Astrid. She looked so good to me I wanted to take her, in a dark and terrible way."
UMMMMM???? EXCUSE ME?!! He literally thought about RAPING her, and it is never mentioned again! I do not care that he had been exposed to the dangerous chemicals. That is no excuse!
He spied on her without her knowledge, as well as numerous other offenses. And this was the character we were supposed to root for? I found myself wishing a meteor would crash into the store to end my suffering!
There were constant thoughts on how provocative Sahalia is dressed, numerous mentions to the weight of the smaller children, and a lot of mentions of wanting to strangle said children. So many of these comments were incredibly creepy! There was one instance where Sahalia was dressed in short shorts and a white t-shirt and it got wet, and the teenage boys just STARE at her! She is 13!!!
Getting back to the sexism for a moment, the female characters (Josie, Astrid, and Sahalia) were the only ones who seemed capable of taking care of the younger characters at any given time. Our MC had one kid help him prepare meals, but that was literally the extent of it, and he made it clear his disdain for them early on.
Astrid was immediately forced into the role of babysitter when they become stuck in the store, and then disappears when something happens (I'm still debating whether or not to actually write spoilers on this review so we'll just leave it at that), and then Josie takes over. She is even referred to as "Mother Josie"!
Yet none, and I mean NONE of the male characters do much of anything besides "protect" the others. It was horribly imbalanced and sexist.
For instance, there is a scene where they have to take the children to the restroom and Astrid (naturally -.-) is volunteered to do this. Alone.
"Astrid got the kids organized. She told Henry that they were all going
to stick together and go in the ladies' room, which was good psychology,
even if it elicited a round of groans from the boys."
Why didn't the males step up and take the boys to the men's room, you ask? Because that would have been the LOGICAL thing to do, and this book has shown that logic is definitely not in its wheelhouse.
The female characters were CONSTANTLY relegated to the role of babysitter, while the male characters did whatever DIDN'T involve them. There is another instance, where they force Josie to go take care of the kids when they encounter an issue, rather than having her input on it, despite the children being asleep! And on and on it went.
No female was spared, towards the end, it was Sahalia who was forced to be the babysitter, and just... WHY?!
And to briefly touch upon the attempted rape, of which Sahalia was the victim. I'll keep this brief because I am not familiar with this topic, but I do believe that this was handled poorly. It was mentioned very briefly and then it appeared to be glossed over, with our main character even describing Sahalia as "more grown up" towards the end of the novel, once the event had passed.
I was so enraged after I read that, because no one listened to the ONLY character who had common sense throughout the novel, when you could see the red flags IMMEDIATELY.
Overall, flat writing, unrealistic characters, rampant sexism... I could go on and on, but I think my review has gone on long enough.
My friend has written a review of her own, which I will link here > https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3355129738?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 so please go and check it out, she was much more thorough than I was.
Do yourself a favor and skip this book, you're not missing anything exciting.
