First, I want to thank Netgalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read If We Survive This by Racquel Marie. I absolutely loved this book. I was so enraptured by the book that I had a very hard time putting it down. The story follows 4 characters, Flora and Cain, who are brother and sister,and Adán and Crisanta. The MC is Flora, and as the story evolves, so does she. The story starts out with Flora hiding. There is a zombie outbreak due to a rabies virus. Flora, before the outbreak, was pretty much scared of everything. She had extreme anxiety and OCD. She had to get over her fears and anxieties to care for her brother and ensure they didn't starve and die because he got hurt. They decide that they would venture out to their summer retreat, a secluded cabin in the woods, knowing that they would be safer there. On the way they run into Adán and Crisanta, Cain and Crisanta were best friends before the outbreak, and Flora had unrequited feelings towards Crisanta. The four decide they should all travel together to the cabin since four people are stronger than two. The story progresses through their relationships and growths, individually and as a group. The story was extremely well done, and truthfully, it left me wanting more! I gave this book at 4.75 and definitely recommend it to everyone.

This book had a lot of positive attributes. I really enjoyed the inclusion of a main character struggling with her ocd. I liked the examination of how different people react to life altering experiences. The book was well written, though sometimes the pacing was a bit inconsistent. Despite all of its great qualities, I struggled to finish the book, mainly because I never really really connected with any of the characters or felt very invested in their relationships. However, I would definitely recommend this for readers who enjoy zombie/dystopian/apocalyptic fiction. Fans of The Walking Dead or other zombie fare would certainly enjoy this novel.

okay, racquel marie ATE with this.

from what i've seen of early reviews, some people most disappointed by this were the ones expecting "the walking dead meets yellowjackets" (which is referenced in the blurb). i've never seen either, so i didn't go in expecting that, but apparently, this book isn't really like yellowjackets.

the BEST thing about this book, hands down, is the OCD representation. it is one of the best representations of OCD i've ever read. racquel marie beautifully expressed what it feels like to not be built for a pre-pandemic world, where ocd is not considered "helpful." but then, once a pandemic hits, all those ocd thoughts and behaviors are suddenly considered better survival instincts. this is how i felt during covid! it's like... so before covid, it wasn't 'normal' to be so germ-obsessed, but during covid, it became so normal. the pandemic made my ocd worse, because after years of working on it, now my ocd behaviors became necessary? anyways, yeah, flora's ocd stressed me out a bit, but i also felt so seen.

i personally really liked the dual timeline! the "now" chapters perfectly juxtaposed the "then" chapters, even if 'the why' isn't initially clear. yes, flora is very different in the "then" chapters, but that just goes to show how pandemics fundamentally change a person (i think we all can attest to this. covid definitely changed me!).

i didn't really vibe with the romance between flora and crisanta, but i did like the romance for flora's brother, cain! idk but i loved how gay this book was!!

while i somewhat liked the open ending, i do wish there had been an epilogue years into the future, post-zombie (or "rabid") apocalypse. i feel like that would have been more satisfying as a reader, after going through the last 300+ pages of emotional trauma, LOL.

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc of this book!

Are you loving season 2 of The Last of US (even though they killed off the hottie)? Well, this sapphic apocalyptic YA triller will definitely grab you.
In If We Survive This by Raquel Marie, Flora Braddock Paz grew up obsessed with germs and death. Now she lives in a world where a disease has spread, turning people into violent, infected zombies called “Rabids”. But even with everything falling apart, she’s managed to keep going and keep her older brother, Cain, safe too.
Now that Cain has recovered from an injury, the siblings decide to leave their Rabid infested LA neighborhood and travel north to a remote cabin where they used to visit with their family. They’re hoping their dad might be there, but the road is full of danger, hard memories, and unexpected reunions.
What makes this story really stand out is Flora’s struggle with OCD. In a world where infection is everywhere, her mind becomes both her biggest strength and her hardest challenge. Through it all, becomes the definition of a chingona!
The book shifts between the present and one important day from the past, giving us a full picture of Flora’s relationships, her fears, and how much the world has changed her.
If We Survive This is coming out June 17th, so be sure to preorder or drag yourself to your local indie bookstore or public library to check it out.

If We Survive, a gripping YA horror novel, skillfully weaves a zombie apocalypse with profound personal themes of mental health, grief, and identity. The story centers around Flora, a teenager grappling with OCD, navigating a world ravaged by violent “rabids.” It’s a tale of survival as much as it is about inner strength. Racquel Marie crafts an emotionally charged journey, brimming with tension, diverse representation, and raw introspection. This fresh and poignant take on the YA horror genre lingers in the reader’s mind long after the final page.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!! Racquel Marie is like one of my top 5 authors so I was so hype for this. The fact that this is a horror/apocolypse book from her makes it even better even though I loved her contemporary books as well. I will read every single thing she puts out forever.

"The Walking Dead meets Yellowjackets in If We Survive This, a tense and emotional young adult horror novel from award-winning author Racquel Marie about a teen girl leading a group of survivors on a perilous journey during the apocalypse.

Flora Braddock Paz is not the girl who survives. A colorful creative who spends as much time fearing death as she does trying to hide that fear from her loved ones, she's always considered herself weak. But half a year into the global outbreak of a rabies mutation that transforms people into violent, zombielike "rabids," she and her older brother, Cain, are still alive. With their mom dead, their dad missing, and their Los Angeles suburb left desolate, they form a new plan: venture out to the secluded Northern California cabin they vacationed in growing up - their best chance at a safe haven and maybe even seeing their dad again.

The dangers of the world have changed, but so has Flora. Still, their journey up the state is complicated by encounters with familiar faces, hidden truths, new allies, and painful memories of the whole family's final time making this trip the previous year. And for Flora, one thing inevitably remains: No matter how far you run, death is never far behind."

I want to know why the suspect their father is at the cabin...

I think what really got to me was the adamant refusal to use the word “zombie” - like, are we existing in a world where there has never been a zombie movie? Even if the rabids have fundamental differences, there’s no way any teenager would call them anything other than zombies.

Personally I found the “then” and “now” sections to be too fundamentally different (mostly because Flora was sooo different between the two) - and in the “now” sections especially, the characters’ decisions were wildly inconsistent from one page to the next. It was really hard to latch on to a clear direction or path of character development

Months ago, a rabies mutation overtook the world turning humans into "rabids," a.k.a zombies. Now, Flora leads her older brother Cain in a race to their childhood cabin in hopes of surviving and reuniting with their missing father. Along the way, they meet new and old friends, come to grips with their own buried truths and traumas, and learn what survival truly means.

This was a great story about survival and doing what it takes to stay alive. The pacing is thoughtful, giving space for characters to breathe and relationships to deepen, all while a quiet tension hums beneath the surface.

Overall, a solid, well-written read that many are sure to enjoy.

This was a great story about survival and doing what it takes to stay alive. The characters were good and felt like they could be real people. I really liked that it took place in the middle of the end of the world, rather than at the beginning. It was refreshing to see people who were already used to what the world was like, and they weren't learning how to navigate it. The story was fun to read and I really liked seeing the relationships form and grow as they faced impossible odds. The use of the past and the current day was well done, and really helped to shape the characters, as we got to see them before the world went haywire, and then see how they grow from that to people who can survive the end of the world.

The more I read, the more I liked the story. It got really sad and depressing near the end. I loved Biscuit (Spoiler: the dog doesn't die). I didn't really care about any of the romance happening. But I didn't have it either. I liked the way that OCD was represented and I liked the characters.

I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book??? Let's chat.

SUMMARY:
Zombies. Rabies zombies. Rabies mutates, infects a bunch of people, people start biting, uh-oh, apocalypse. Typical zombie stuff. Flora and her brother, Cain, are the only people left in an LA suburb. They get a radio message from their missing dad, so what do we do? ROAD TRIP BABY. On the way we meet various friends and enemies and cute dogs. The zombies are there too, sometimes. BUT ROAD TRIP BABY. Teen rom-com-dram road trip!

MY THOUGHTS:
This book really had me up until like the last act. But let's talk about the good stuff first, since there is way more of it than the bad.

Ok, so maybe Flora is me?? A little bit? Maybe?? I feel like a lot of people are going to really relate to her. First, I want to talk about something a little silly that meant a lot to me. As a person who is into horror, I have of course had the "How would I do in a Zombie Apocalypse?" conversations. As a person who is also Severely Mentally Ill, the answer is always, "Well, if the withdrawal from my meds doesn't get me killed, the constant panic attacks and general instability will probably not help." But here comes Flora! And she has my doomspiralling tendencies and inability to eat without being like. This is going to make me sick, isn't it.

AND SHE'S GAY. This is a book for the girls, gays, and theys, folks!

The zombie apocalypse in this book feels, to me, like a metaphor for two of my biggest fears. Ones I am sure a lot of other mentally ill folks have faced. The fear of "My parents are gone, how am I supposed to take care of myself now?" and "Oh no, how can I possibly find friends when everyone around me feels like a threat?"

Flora's journey throughout this book felt deeply real and personal to me. Which is probably why the last act lost me a bit. An external threat of supervillain level evil people show up. It was very obvious and heavily foreshadowed that they would, but it still felt out of place. Like, Flora's mental health and the literal actual zombies are enough of a villain for this story. Then the worst part of the book was the last like. Three pages. I am just unclear on what happened??? Like, a major letdown to have that be the ending of such a good book.

Quick side character rating!

Adan: 10/10. Best boy, I will take one (1) Adan please!
Biscuit: 100/10. Best girl, no notes.
Cain: 6/10. Kind of annoying sometimes not gonna lie. But by the end of the book you are like, if he dies, so will I.
Crisanta: 4/10. I don't really know why, but she bugged me a lot. Like dude. Just tell the truth. You are the problem.

Lastly, unfortunately the main romance kinda sucked. I just think it would have been better for Flora to not have a crush on Crisanta at the start of the book. She is just so down bad for her right away, and it really makes her overlook a lot of things she should question more about Cris. By the end of the book you see both Cris and Flora grow a lot, and it makes more sense for them to be together. Having them both be way into each other minute one doesn't give us a chance to see why they are a good fit. IDK, it just felt a little rushed. Maybe I am just a Cris hater, lol.

FINAL OPINION:
I really enjoyed this book overall. It is a great coming of age story. It felt very genuine throughout. I am sure it will be a favorite for many a teen. I definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Rated 4.75 stars on StoryGraph. If We Survive This is a YA sapphic zombie apocalypse novel. Since the rabies virus mutated and started turning people who are bitten into zombies (as far as I remember they are never referred to as zombies, but as rabids), Flora has had one focus: getting her brother through it alive. Her brother broke his leg at the beginning of the outbreak, so it's been up to Flora to keep them safe and alive. Now that his leg is healed, they are planning on traveling to a remote cabin that they vacation every summer at, hoping that their dad will be there after receiving a radio message from him. On the road, they find an old friend and her companion and join together. Flora suffers from pretty severe undiagnosed OCD (specifically contamination OCD), something that is both helpful and detrimental to surviving an apocalypse. Occasionally there are chapters the flashback to a day that took place the summer before, which served to shine light on Flora's OCD and family dynamics.
Flora's OCD is the best part of the book; it was a super interesting and different approach to the zombie apocalypse genre that made it feel fresh. I don't have OCD nor am I an expert on it, but I feel like it was portrayed accurately and thoughtfully, the author also having OCD. The plot was very engaging and I loved the structure; I liked that the flashbacks weren't to the beginning or start of the apocalypse but instead to a fairly normal day, it really showed a lot about the characters, their relationships, and highlighted the ways the outbreak has changed Flora. I do think the blurb is a little misleading, it said "The Walking Dead meets Yellowjackets," but it has only very surface level things in common with Yelllowjackets (Queer teen girls and technically humans eating each other, but zombies are very different from what happened in Yellowjackets), it is very different tonally and thematically. It seems pretty obvious that the marketing team said it was like Yellowjackets due to Yellowjackets popularity, not because of any real similarities between the two. Overall this was a very well written book that I would definitely recommend.
Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie is a powerful and emotionally layered novel that starts with a quiet intensity and builds toward something truly unexpected. What begins as a grounded story about a group of teens dealing with the aftermath of tragedy soon evolves into a deeper exploration of survival, identity, and the complicated ways we connect with one another.

Marie’s writing shines in its ability to surprise without relying on dramatic twists for shock value. Instead, the story develops naturally, with each moment - big or small - carrying weight. The pacing is thoughtful, giving space for characters to breathe and relationships to deepen, all while a quiet tension hums beneath the surface.

While each character adds something meaningful, Cain stood out to me personally. I saw parts of myself in him - in the way he processes emotion and tries to find his place in the chaos. His journey felt honest and grounded, but it never overtook the story. Instead, it added to the larger emotional impact of the group dynamic and the choices they all face.

This is a novel that lingers - not just for the surprises it delivers, but for the emotional truth at its core. If We Survive This is heartfelt, raw, and deeply human.

i am totally biased because i love Racquel Marie and all that she writes, but if we survive this is one of the best books i've read this year and one of my all time favs of Racquel's. as someone who frequently says that I do not want to live during the zombie apocalypse, this book and plot was my literal nightmare but I still ate it up!! violently sobbed at the end. read it y'all!!!! a zombie/apocalypse piece of media that isn't created by a zionist!!

If We Survive This was an interesting apocalyptic zombie horror story. I always enjoy reading a plot where the main characters spend the book trying to survive while traveling from one place to another and that is the premise of this novel. The book opens with the main characters Flora and her brother Cain hiding in their childhood home from “ rabids” that have infected the majority of humans. The main characters decide to make their way to a cabin several hours away with the hopes of finding their father who was supposed to check out the cabin and come back for them but never returned. This was a quick read with a lot going on with no dull moments. I enjoyed the secondary characters that they travelled with. I wish there would have been a couple extra pages at the end of the book to wrap it up just a bit more but other then that I enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan for the eARC access!

Wow I really liked this, I love zombies and lesbians, so lesbians + zombies?? Hell yea! Zombies are so sapphic coded I fear.. anyways onto the book.

I relate so much to Floras OCD, the intrusive thoughts that I struggle with daily were so well represented here on page, and I can’t even imagine being in a zombie apocalypse with contamination OCD (which I do not have) But boy was the story great, a girl just trying to protect her brother in the apocalypse, and some turmoil because of that- the younger sister caring for the older brother, who doesn’t believe she needs to be cared for nearly as much or even at all… then we join friends along the way, who seem to have a strange past they just won’t spill, until it’s too late.
Yeah this book was peak.

Wow! This one was a pleasant surprise. I thought it had a really well-written combination of scares, love, suspense, and humor. I wouldn't say it matches the Yellowjackets comparison in the description so much as The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later. I loved that it was set in California. I myself live in Northern California and have been to many of the locations the book takes place which enhanced my enjoyment even more. The author says in the Acknowledgements that she wasn't a horror person and somehow ended up writing a book, and I urge her to write more of them because she's dang good at it, not to mention it reaches a whole other audience you probably weren't reaching before. Thanks for the awesome read!

What. A. Book.

I feel like this was written for me! I am a huge fan of zombie/apocalypse stories, and I also have OCD. I've rarely seen OCD reflected so accurately and in such a relatable way in media, and adding the backdrop of this dystopian world (and all of the uniquely horrible things that come with it) elevated the read for me. Even though the setting of IF WE SURVIVE THIS isn't necessarily the "real world" (despite how dystopian our current world can feel sometimes), situations arose for the main character, Flora, that ignited anxious thought spirals that almost exactly mirrored how I have felt in my day to day life. Racquel does a seamless job of interweaving these anxieties into a story that is fast-paced, exciting, excruciating, and emotional.

I cared so much about the characters and their well-beings, and especially loved how complicated their relationships with one another were. The complex sibling relationship between Flora and Cain was portrayed so well--especially the push and pull between wanting to protect and wanting to feel protected. I cheered so much for the romantic relationships, yet understood that a world marked by death and destruction wouldn't allow them to be all sunshine and butterflies. Flora's relationship with her parents also struck a chord for me; I related so much to her fear about her parents' health, long before the rabies took over the world.

I really appreciated the early read of IF WE SURVIVE THIS and will be thinking about this book for a long time!

Months ago, a rabies mutation overtook the world turning humans into "rabids," a.k.a zombies. Now, Flora leads her older brother Cain in a race to their childhood cabin in hopes of surviving and reuniting with their missing father. Along the way, they meet new and old friends, come to grips with their own buried truths and traumas, and learn what survival truly means.

Racquel Marie's books never fail to make me cry. I am not very big into zombie or apocalypse media but when she announced this book, I knew I was going to love it and I was so right. The characters in this book are devastatingly real. Flora's struggles to live in an apocalyptic, gory world while trying to manage her OCD and anxiety; the beautiful queerness of almost every character, the way humanity and compassion lives on when the state of the world says it shouldn't: all of this creates a very real world and real group of people to not only root for but care and grieve for.

If We Survive This tells a story of darkness and grief and fear as survival becomes a hope instead of a guarantee. We see that survival means many things to different people, and that it is achieved in different ways. But hope is a present theme here as well. Hope and love and life. How you live means a lot more than how you die and, especially in the middle of an apocalypse, who you live on with can change everything. Found family continues to be my favorite trope.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.