Review: The First Days by Rhiannon Frater

Title:  The First Days (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy #1)
Author:  Rhiannon Frater
Format:  Audio Book
Genre:  Horror >> Zombie
Source:  Audbile.com (Personal)
Published: July 5th 2011 by Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

From Goodreads.com
The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde.
Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership, mowing down zombies as they rescue Jenni’s stepson, Jason, from an infected campground.
They find sanctuary in a tiny, roughly fortified Texas town.  There Jenni and Katie find they are both attracted to Travis, leader of the survivors; and the refugees must slaughter people they know, who have returned in zombie form.
Fast-paced and exciting, filled with characters who grab your heart, The First Days: As the World Dies is the beginning of a frightening trilogy.

Get comfy, this could be a long one…

I have always hated Zombies. I’ve always rolled my eyes at the Zombie Apocalypse, I mean come on! I would much rather have a Plague. And they are so fake that they can’t possibly put you on the edge of your seat. Or so I thought…

Awhile back I stumbled upon Xpresso Reads review of Book #2, and her excitement about this series was crazy. Seriously guys, there are only a few bloggers who nail it every time, if they read a book and love it? Then I know I will too. Giselle is one of those people. About the time I stumbled on that review, she was also pimping book #3 (Siege) pretty big on Twitter, thanks to it’s release last week! So I bit, I downloaded it on Audible and figured I’d give it a try. Once I started? I seriously could not stop – Action packed to the very end!

Let me tell you, few books have gripped me from the beginning the way Rhiannon Frater managed to. (My Teaser from last Tuesday has the particular passage, if you’re curious.) The Zombie Apocalypse that she has created has scarred me for life, that teaser is proof. And while her world building (or rather, zombie building) has left me with quite a few questions – I am hopeful that they will all be answered in subsequent books. But I must warn you, the writing? The zombies? Not for the easily queasy.

One thing I loved about this book? The characters. Sure, the relationships are a bit insta-love-esque, but come on! You just saw your spouse, your children, your mom, turn into a zombie? You’ll probably quickly latch on to whomever you find that is still human. At least I think I would. And I loved Katie – I love Travis, and Juan and Jason. I think Narit and Ralph were among some of my favorite secondary characters in a long time. (I’m trying not to spoil much, just simply saying that I loved them.) I have to mention though – I do not like Jenni. I can’t stand her. Her personality scrapes at me, she’s too clingy and needy, but she’s needed. She’s also been abused for so long, that she fits that role well.  And I understand that, so I can live with her.

As I was nearing the end of this one, the last 20 minutes of the audio? I was thrown for a huge loop, and a little sadness crept in. In just one short book, I am very attached to these characters and their survival is of the utmost importance to me! (Even the little old man, who is virtually worthless to the plot aside from the factor of having a nice little old man around!)

I cannot gush enough about how much I love this book, how quickly I rushed out to grab a copy of the second book (of which my local store was SOLD OUT!!! So I rushed back home to download on my Kindle!) I absolutely adored The First Days, and I look forward to reading everything of Rhiannon Frater’s I can get my hands on!

Would I recommend this book? YES! To whom? I’m assuming most Zombie fans have already read this one, so I’d definitely recommend it to people like me. Those of us who love dystopian/post-apocalyptic/plague type books, who don’t mind some serious gore, yet aren’t sure of this whole zombie mumbo jumbo going around. It’s a great introduction to Zombies!!

Check out some of these reviews:
Xpresso Reads
On a Book Bender
Book Loving Mom
Chapter by Chapter