I really wanted to like this. I love the trope–lottery winner–but halfway through I couldn't take any more. We begin with a girl so desperate to get a scholarship that all she does is study, thus setting up her social outcast status. She spouts random trivia and is clearly a bright young woman, but she wins the lottery and becomes TSTL. I get that lottery winners make bad choices, but I just can't reconcile Maddie's actions after winning with the girl I met at the beginning of the story. Maybe that was Ms. West's point, but I just didn't buy it–so much that I couldn't get past it. So this is DNF for me.
That said, loved the audiobook narrator. It's just the story that didn't work for me.
I loved this book, but it's definitely not for everyone. If you loved early video games and nerdy 80s movies (like Wargames), you'll love this too.
I've never understood the appeal of true crime pods–now I know. I really loved this. The audiobook is definitely the way to go, though–highly recommended. The narrators did an amazing job.
I couldn't finish this. The book was well-written, with a believable, scary plot and interesting characters. Ultimately, maybe Mr. Cutter was just too descriptive for me? It's not a problem I've encountered in my limited apocalypse/terror/horror reads, but I reached a point where I just couldn't go any further, even not knowing how it ends–something that typically drives me crazy. Trying not to spoil it, but one character is NOT okay. Shelly is a fvcking sociopath, and the author does a *really* good job--too good maybe--describing Shelly's past torture of animals *BEFORE* Shelly moves on other things in the present. How convenient for Shelly that there's an apocalypse and he can do whatever he wants? Yikes.
I might pick it up later and finish it, but this is just not for me. Gonna go find me a HEA.
Audiobook narrator was great.
Note to self–listened to 6:37:34 of 11:02:10 (60%) with 4:24:36 left.
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