Excellent! This tightly crafted, compact little mind-bender should please fans of the post-apocalyptic genre as well as those who love a good psychological creep-out a la Shirley Jackson. ( )

Excellent! This tightly crafted, compact little mind-bender should please fans of the post-apocalyptic genre as well as those who love a good psychological creep-out a la Shirley Jackson. ( )

Told in first-person narrative, we learn that the father, his two children and the family dog have taken shelter on a remote island after what appears to be an apocalyptic event.

I found this book compelling and a real page-turner, and could not rest until I had reached the final page. Some reviewers have commented on how they found the son's narration with its deliberate spelling mistakes offputting. Yes, some of the spellings are unconventional, but I am myself the mother of a 7-year-old displaying very imaginative spelling and as such recognise that they're clearly adding a distinctive voice. The same goes for the teenage daughter, sounding very stilted at first until you realise that the only literary influences in her life have been Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Bible and the collected works of Shakespeare. First-person narratives can be double-edged swords, but here the author makes masterful use of it, so that the final twist comes as a complete shock. Recommended. ( )

This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. The back of the book and cover of the book were very intriguing and I couldn't wait to read it! The writing style is very unique... I would say in a bad way. It took me a few chapters to really get the hang of it. There isn't much punctuation and a lot of the sentences just stop with no end. The story itself is very weak. The idea was wasted by easily guessed plot twists and undeveloped characters. The book is made of two parts. The first part is boring and makes you wonder 'why am I still reading this?' the second part is a little more interesting and holds your attention, because you think something will happen. However, nothing really does. I don't recommend reading this. ( )

I initially gave this book a higher star rating however, after thinking about it for a few days; I started to be more bothered by the implausibles of the story. It is an exciting read, but the way it ends is a disappointment, requiring the reader to ignore certain impossible and unexplained situations. I struggle with my word choices because I don't want to give too much away. It is still worth checking out from the library but maybe not deserving of a permanent spot on my limited bookshelf space. ( )