This is the second book in the Flesh Series. I gave the
first, Flesh, four stars as well. I enjoyed this one just as much. Flesh
was a ménage, but Skin is a dark romance. Nick buys Roslyn and chains
her to the bed in the beginning. There is some nonconsensual kissing and touching
but no rape. He didn’t want to keep her chained up forever and was hoping he
wouldn’t have to resort to that, but she cracked his head open with a wine
bottle as soon as he got her home. Watching these two sort out their
differences was entertaining and often made me laugh.
Nick was not a bad guy. He was just in a bad situation
and made some mistakes. He is an alpha male but not over the top. I liked that
Roslyn was strong, didn’t give in to Nick right away, and had the guts to stand
up to baddies. The sex scenes were hot. The action scenes were well written and
paced without too much gore in the book overall.
Just like Flesh, the story grabbed me from the start. There
isn’t too much backstory at the front. It is set in Australia, but if it wasn’t
explicitly stated, I wouldn’t have known. There is no dialect speech, not a lot
of “mate”s and such. Just a little flavor thrown in.
M/F, no cheating, no OW/OM drama, contains several
graphic sex scenes, contains a bit of foul language and a good dose of violence,
standalone, HFN.
Error count: 11. There are many comma splices (sentences with
two independent clauses joined with a comma but not a conjunction). It happened
so often that I have accepted this as style. I’m not a fan of the style, but
that’s probably because my brain keeps yelling, “Error!” while I’m trying to
enjoy the story. I do think it may add to the fast pacing.
Favorite Quotes:
“He was a beast, an animal reeking of sweat and ready to
pounce, rock hard and hurting. His hard-on gave Godzilla a run for its money.
If he swung it about, Tokyo would be leveled.”
“Men were such complicated creatures. Women were so much more straightforward.”
I love The Walking Dead and Z Nation TV
series, but I generally prefer post-apocalyptic novels without zombies. That
said, I did enjoy this. It is a post-apocalyptic ménage romance with zombies.
Ali has been holing up in an attic since the zombie
apocalypse started. When she runs out of food, she goes foraging in empty
houses. There she finds Dan and points her shotgun at him.
This novel started out with a whoosh instead of a lot of
backstory, which I enjoyed very much. The action kept on going, with the
zombies and other humans and in the bedroom. It contains several graphic sex
scenes, M/F and M/F/M, because along the way, they meet Finn. I loved the
characters in this, especially Dan, who is very funny. This novel made me laugh
out loud a few times. I liked that they are in their 30s and 40s. I also loved
that Ali is a strong woman. She helps herself, fighting back instead of waiting
to be saved. She’s no annoying damsel in distress!
It is set in Australia, but if it wasn’t explicitly
stated, I wouldn’t have known. There is no dialect speech, not a lot of “mate”s
and such. Just a little flavor thrown in.
Everything is totally consensual. There is no cheating or
OW/OM drama. It contains foul language. There is lots of sex and quite a bit of
violence. For a zombie story, I wouldn’t say it was gory.
I thought it was well written with good pacing. I caught
only 6 outright errors, which is fantastic. There are many comma splices (sentences
with two independent clauses joined with a comma but not a conjunction). It
happened so often that I have accepted this as style. I’m not a fan of the
style, but that’s probably because my brain keeps yelling, “Error!” while I’m
trying to enjoy the story. I do think it may add to the fast pacing.
If you like ménage and zombies, I recommend it. I plan on reading the next in the series, Skin. This is a standalone novel but part of a series, with different characters in each book.
I’m combing the two reviews for these together here because they comprise one total book. Saltlands picked up exactly where Population left off. It’s like someone just tore the book in two along it’s spine, ala Bed Knobs and Broomsticks!
I liked Saltlands better, but that makes sense. Population is slow at the start because of necessary world building. Taken as one book, the action builds throughout, hitting a steady stream near where the book was broken in two, and goes on to the climax.
Over a decade ago, “the Others” arrived on Earth. They have since carved up much of the planet into private kingdoms. Humans remain in the leftovers, fighting over scraps. This is a post-apocalyptic romance.
I loved the strong female lead, Abel, her African and Spanish genetics, her ability with the sword and hand to hand fighting, her determination, and her emotional strength. I loved Kane, who is complex but honorable. The world-building was good and something I haven’t seen before. I enjoyed the “Others”. The pacing was good, most of the time, and there were some great action scenes. There was a good dose of violence, but it wasn’t described in gory detail. You can cut someone’s head off with a sword without describing blood sprays and such.
There is a cliffhanger ending, but the sequel is out. It’s basically one book split into two parts. I definitely want to read the next one, but I hate this modern tendency of splitting books. “The Stand” is hugely long but is one book!
Child molestation and rape is hinted at in some parts but not seen directly.
This is M/F. No cheating. No love triangle. It is written in 1st person pretense tense. I find this much less jarring than 3rd close present tense.
There are basically two sex scenes. They aren’t graphic but rather camera obscura. They lack detail, so the words could be taken to mean more or less depending on the reader. For example:
I tear his belt free and kick his pants off with my feet, then I tease him with my fingers and then again with my lips.
What is meant by this? Exactly where her fingers and lips go is up for interpretation.
Grammar and spelling: I found 13 errors in Population, including missing words, wrong words, and repeated words or phrases. Not bad at all. This is aside from the routinely missing commas between two independent clauses, missing commas after introductory clauses, and extreme run-on sentences that I have accepted as the author’s style of writing. This is fiction, not academia, so the rules are less rigid. I found this style distracting because my brain shouted “error” frequently, and the run-on sentences were confusing at times.
Unrealistic Timing: Abel is seriously hurt after the forest cult part in the beginning but seems mostly recovered 1-2 days later. She has never worn heels, wears and dances is stilettos for 48 hours, and no mention is made about swollen ankles or legs. There is definitely some almost instalove. It happens pretty fast. But I’m okay with it.
Confusion: Earlier in the book, Abel talks about having been raped or was it attempted rape that was thwarted? I thought two of a gang had actually succeeded until the second sex scene when blood is obliquely mentioned twice along with some pain. If she wasn’t a virgin, where do the pain and blood come from? At the least, it’s unclear. At most, there is a contradiction.
There were times when the story got too close to familiar fairytales. There was some “Beauty and the Beast” when Abel first gets to Kane’s estate and some “Cinderella” with the ball preparation.
I would have given this 4 stars, but the aforementioned problems drop it to a 3 for me. I will be reading the second half of this ONE book.
In the second half, action is
almost nonstop with lots of gory fight scenes and drama. Each chapter has a
black and white inkblot image above the chapter title, blood splatter, and they
are appropriate! The violence is certainly amped up. Abel goes through hell,
one desperate situation to another, and keeps her determination and resilience.
It was a wild ride, very fast paced, and kept me reading very quickly. It made
me laugh out loud a few times. The humor was appreciated amidst the intensity.
It tickled my funny bone that the villain always sets up in dental office
buildings. I liked the secondary characters, especially Mikey.
There are a couple of short sex
scenes, not graphic. Romance is not the focus of the second half of the ONE
book. There is some OM drama. I was very happy that our main couple dealt with
this in a mature fashion, by talking it out. It didn’t cause anything stupid to
happen except a ridiculous fight for fair maiden’s hand.
I found more errors in this half
– 17. Mostly missing words, a few repeated words or phrases. As with the first
half of the ONE book, commas are missing everywhere, but I accepted that as
writing style long ago. At the opening of this half of the ONE book, I thought
to myself, “Someone has a thesaurus.” Many words were used that just aren’t
common enough to be in Abel’s thoughts since she hasn’t spent the last decade
reading literature.
This is a 1st person
present tense novel. One scene could be considered cheating, but wasn’t exactly
consensual, so I don’t want to call it cheating. OM drama. Occasional foul
language, but it gets as bad as it can. HEA.
A third book is hinted at called “Generation 1”. I couldn’t find anything when Googling this. If it is published, it will at least be a totally different book than this ONE.
I’m a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction and romance, so the joining of the two is one of my favorite sub-genres. And I really like this one.
About nine years ago, the economy crashed, followed by technology, and then civilization as a whole, wiping out most of the population through starvation, disease, and violence. Selena has been on her own, not even talking to another person, since her father died four years ago. She is almost caught by a group of nasty men and ends up hiding in the same building and room as Dan, who is also avoiding the same men. After the group gives up on finding Selena and leaves, Dan forces her to return to his small group with him.
It’s written in close 3rd, always with Selena. I would have liked to have followed Dan some of the time for sure. I didn’t get to know him as well as I hoped, but I liked what I saw. There is no cheating, no OW. There’s a man who wants to be an OM, but Selena has zero interest in him.
It’s a little steamy. There are only two sex scenes in this book, and they aren’t that graphic. The first starts with some nonconsensual touching. I’ve read in other reviews that some readers view this scene as rape. I didn’t see it that way myself, so it’s at least subjective. Dan gave Selena a chance to stop him, and she didn’t take it. We also know that she’s already attracted to him. The reader has had some foreplay. Selena says, “I hate you,” but I took it like “I hate that you have the power to make me feel so strongly because it scares me”. Afterwards, Selena hasn’t been traumatized and is actually regretting not showing that she wanted Dan more, afraid that he might not want her the same way anymore. However, if you are sensitive to things like this, if it’s a trigger for you, then definitely stay away. The second scene is fully consensual and even initiated by Selena.
There are some strange formatting errors. Most of the book is left justified with paragraph indents, but sometimes there are several paragraphs that are fully indented like a block quote. I found very few actual grammar / spelling errors.
I enjoyed the story and really liked the action scenes. They are described and paced very well. I especially liked Selena’s parts in the fights. Selena is strong in that she’s a survivor and has some skills. But she’s been emotionally and socially stunted by her life experience. She acts childishly at times, but I liked that she called herself out on it. Her behavior makes sense for her life experience, and she grows along with the story.
I agree with other reviewers that the story could use some work, but it’s a good read as is. If you have a fascination with post-apocalyptic romance like I do, then I recommend it.
Travis picks Angel up when she starts to hitchhike across the country.
This was so frigging cute. It’s a light-hearted, feel-good read. I loved that both the leads are virgins. Travis’ horror date stories were hilarious. I laughed out loud several times while reading this.
The only thing I didn’t like was the OW drama. It was just another woman that wanted Travis, mean girl stuff, no touching at all between H and OW. Very cliche, but at least it was over quickly!
Angel was naive and far too trusting, but she’s very young (17/18). It’s nice to see that life hadn’t beaten that out of her already.
This is written in alternating 1st. I only found a few grammar mistakes in the whole book, just extra words. HEA.
Great quick read that I needed between heavier stuff!
In one sentence, this book is about: a family running off to a cabin in the woods as a plague kills most of the population.
This book is pretty clean – no sexual situations and just a bit of swearing.
It is not a YA novel like All Is Silence. The main characters are adults.
I don’t want to write a spoiler, but I think people should know that not every character gets an HEA. You don’t want to read this while depressed. It does have a solid ending, no cliffhanger.
I really liked this. The characters and situations felt very real. The people have strengths and flaws. I saw family dynamics that matched some of my own experience. It’s convincing and real. This isn’t about greater issues of society but rather the microcosm of a single extended family. We don’t get to choose family! Families are messy, but they still care about and are there for each other.
If you like apocalyptic / post-apocalyptic stories, I highly recommend it.
I love post-apocalyptic fiction and this gave me that. I was predisposed to like it. There are no zombies! Hurray! The story was engaging, fast paced, and seemed realistic. I liked that the characters weren’t flat. They have flaws, but I could still sympathize with them.
The writing was good but not amazing. I would have loved more details about the world. There were very few grammar mistakes.
Sex occurs once in the book, but I would still call it “clean”. That one scene had very little description and was over very quickly. The violence wasn’t described in detail either. There were a few curse words, including the F word, but they were rare.
V. B. Law 