2.5 Stars
I'm a fan of PC Cast and was excited to read Into the Mist. The premise sounds awesome. We have an apocalyptic event that kills most men. There's a magical green mist and a cast of strong women with powers to lead the way. I was hoping for female empowerment, but this book fell flat.

I love fantasy and expect to suspend a certain amount of disbelief. However, the characters seemed emotionally detached to me. After mass casualties and the destruction of the world, as we know it, deserves a reaction. No one tries to contact their families. It's dismissed. They didn't even seem excited over their newfound powers.

I was getting very frustrated with the story. It kept going on, and on, but the plot fails to move the story forward and boom, we're at the ending and it was so unsatisfying. It's more of a money grab to read the next book in the series, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I will not be continuing this series but will keep a lookout for more from PC Cast.

Lorelei King is fantastic as a narrator. If not for her, I don’t think I would’ve finished the book. (5 Stars to Lorelei King)

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with an Audio ARC for an honest review.

I was looking forward to this, It seemed intriguing and I was curious as to how PC Cast would address trans and nonbinary people - unfortunately they're just not mentioned. I'm really disappointed.

I did like the chaos when the bombings were happening and people were simply reacting on instinct without knowing what's happening. Though I found a lot of the characters to not behave in a believable way. Considering the mass casualties all around them, the characters are oddly light about it

At the very least, I was hoping for empowering women but I sure didn't get that. There's no empowering when you're putting others down or forcing people to act how you think they should (ie how the characters acted towards Karen Gay because she didn't act how they though she should). It's fake surface level feminism patting it's back for being feminist without actually addressing anything .

The dialogue was a mess. I'm mid 30s and these women are around my age yet they all talk the same and sound nothing like anyone I know would. It sounds more like a older person trying to write how they think younger people talk, it didn't work.

The narration by Lorelei King was probably my favourite part of this. If I didn't have the audio, I likely would have DNF unfortunately.

Into the Mist (Into the Mist, #1)
by P.C. Cast
An astonishing attack on Oregon countryside changes the world for a group of teachers at a weekend retreat. Not only are they left stranded in a post apocalypse world with out connection to the entire story, they have more to contend with as the green mist flows over them. Their struggle, and their triumph, is finding trust in understanding themselves, loving each other, and trusting their instincts. Very well done, and very scary with many looks into the human spirit, not all that beautiful. PC Cast knows how to make impowering stories, that show the best of humanity, and their ability to overcome the worst of humanity. I would love to see what is to come and how evil the destroyer of worlds can be.

First of all, I need to make a plea to the author. Please, Please put out the sequel to this book ASAP! This is one of those books that if it was a TV series, I would be staying up til the wee hours of morning, watching til my eyes burned and main lining coffee to stay awake, just to finish it. Yup, this book is totally binge worthy.
It’s a Sci Fi Fantasy book with soft hint of horror that takes it to another level. I’ve read books about mists that consume and destroy, the most famous being a Stephen King story, but they are nothing like this. This mist kills men, and enhances women’s hidden skills. The whole book is girl power turned up. Oh and the badass main characters are teachers. Hell yeah! I know who I’m sticking with during the apocalypse.
If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, but could do without the zombies, this is totally your book. It’s women surviving the unimaginable, and kicking ass. Beyoncé’s “Run the World” song played on repeat in my mind the whole time I listened to this book.
The narrator of the audiobook,Lorelei King, is a queen of voice changing. She can jump from an Oklahoma woman’s accent to a man’s voice so well you would think there was two narrators. She gave extra heart to Mercury and Stella, while giving strength to Imani and Gemma. Listening to Lorelei was like living the story.
I didn’t want it to end. I need to know what happens next. How can they survive and flourish in the new world where woman are in power. How long will the mist stick around for? And how will the human race continue if men are completely wiped out???? I guess I’ll have to be patient.

If you are looking for a dystopian book with kick ass female empowerment with paranormal elements, this is the books for you.

This story has all the great familiar tropes that makes a good dystopian with the end of the world and bad guys and trying to find your place in the new world with the added bonus of witchy powers. It is shaping up to be a very cool new world. I love the camaraderie between the main characters but my favorite character is Karen. I love her complex character and I love how she is fits in with the group. I

The story has twists that I wasn't excepting and it is set up nicely to move into the next books with I am very much looking forward to reading.

I’m a huge fan of PC Cast, her solo books and those she’s penned with her daughter, Kristin. I was really excited to start Into the Mist – the premise is amazing and I always love the strong themes of sisterhood and women’s empowerment her books deliver.

But Into the Mist didn’t work for me and I’ll tell you why:

There’s a devasting apocalyptic event that has wiped out most of the male population and the main characters aren’t all that pressed about it. Almost immediately after the event – mind you, there are mass casualties and destruction of the world - the main characters are drinking wine, cracking jokes and patting each other on the back about how great they each are. I felt it was more a slumber party/good ole girls’ atmosphere then a ‘we’re fighting for our lives’ scenario. This is where the story lost me – right here.

And, as I mentioned earlier, I love strong relationships and female empowerment but, dang, you cannot twist female empowerment around to fit your narrative. For example, Karen Gay (insert huge fucking eyeroll here), a religious middle-aged woman was bullied by the other women because she didn’t fit their mold – she is pressured to behave in ways that really bothered me. Men were either ALL good or ALL bad. You can’t empower when tearing others down. Which brings me to my next point.

The whole overwhelming misogynistic undertone of the story, which I was expecting but taken to such an extreme.; it was too much and left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt the story portrayed Stella and Mercury more like cult leaders than strong empowered women leading others into an unknown future. In fact, one of the main characters thinks it was fortuitous that men were the target of this event because they’re basically the root of all evil. Ok, then!

Every other paragraph felt like a set-up for some words of exorbitant wisdom or for a joke – because you know, the end of the world is hilarious. And, sadly, instead of giving me ‘Women are Strong’ vibes, it gave me ‘Women are Hateful’ vibes. This is not what feminism is. Two steps back for the feminism movement, no kidding.

What I can say is that Lorelei King rules as a narrator. If not for her, I don’t think I would’ve finished the book. Well done and bravo, Lorelei!

I love fantasy – especially when combined with a dystopian theme and can suspend my belief for the purpose of pure entertainment but in this case, I found that the characters and their dialogue did more damage to the story than the plotline could save.

I’m so sorry I didn’t like this one but TBH, if I didn’t know better, I’d never believe this was written by one of my favorite writers.

My thanks to Dreamscape Media for the gifted ALC and to Crooked Lane Books for the physical copy.

Into the mist. Very good narration and interesting premise, but what are apparently the author's personal prejudices detract from the story. Overall it's okay, but the end of the book seems more like a set up for the next in a series rather than an actual conclusion.

In the unlikely event of a sudden onset of Armageddon, who would be your first choice as your survival companions? I’ll just bet you didn’t say: your coworkers. P.c. Cast is back with a little bit darker and stranger flair than the light YA that made them a cool duo years ago. This is one for fans of the strange and weird but my only recommendation is that you do not read this book while eating Jello. You’ve gotta love spoilers with absolutely zero context! This may be a survival fiction but it is definitely still a bit on the YA side. It’s not an overly conscious play by play involving scientific plausibility but more a stressful jokes-y amble through the unknown. Come in with no expectations of greatness and take it for the simple read it is.


This review was made possible by an ARC.

I really liked the idea of this book, and I had seen a lot of Cast's book but never read them, so I was eager to try this one. For the most part, it's good. There is a nice variety of characters with vastly different personalities. Mercury and Stella and Ford were the most fleshed out and interesting. The way Cast depicts the bombing and the green fog is very well done. No one knows what's going on, there's barely a coherent thought in anyone's head, and people react on pure instinct. The chaos of those early scenes is perfect. She also does a good job of building tension. From the brutal men roaming around looking for female victims to the crazy mayor in Madras, I was constantly worried about what would happen next.

I did find some hiccups that were distracting. I found it very odd that the characters weren't constantly checking their cell phones for a signal to try and call loved ones. It is mentioned once and never again. I also found it strange that people in general weren't scrambling to find a way - any way - to find out what was going on in the rest of the world. Most people in that situation would be focused on when help was coming, not just accept that it may not and settle into the disaster.

The bigger issue was the way the characters deal with the probably death of everyone they loved. Imani is the only one who shows and owns her grief. For the rest of the characters, including people who have lost children, it doesn't even seem to be a second thought. Yes, there is the tantamount issue of surviving, but in those moments when you aren't fleeing for your life, or you're as safe as you can be inside a warm building, that grief would be at the forefront, and it is nowhere to be found here.

As for the ending, I think it's a bit pie-in-the-sky, and I since the book is clearly set-up to be the first in a series, I hope we see a little more nitty-gritty reality about a small group of people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world and the emotional toll that and grief would take on these characters. Imani can't be the only one mourning.

Overall, I enjoyed most of the book, but found the above-mentioned issues too distracting to give it a higher rating. I will definitely check out the next one.

Interesting concept, but it didn't really do anything unique with it, the dialogue was a bit stilted, and the treatment of religion was ham-fisted.


Review copy provided by publisher.