4 stars

I've read and enjoyed several of Racquel Marie's books and was surprised - and admittedly a little skeptical - when I learned about the focus of this newest one. Fortunately, I was pleased with the outcome!

Flora is not quite thriving but thus far is surviving during a bizarre, end of days style event. A huge privilege she has that is not afforded to most is that her older brother is with her. There's been a lot of loss otherwise, but this bond is invaluable and definitely coveted by others they encounter. Her brother's presence also facilitates Flora's memories of the past with her parents, which brings her some joy and a lot of pain.

While it did take me a minute to get into this book, once I did, I became really invested in Flora's outcomes AND in what the rest of the characters experienced. I also really enjoyed the way the past memories were woven seamlessly into Flora's contemporary perceptions and experiences. She processes grief and loss in a relatable, realistic way, and this makes her unrealistic (I hope! Who knows what's next for us in these weird times?!) experiences feel more connected to readers and their potential encounters with loss, uncertainty, and fear.

I enjoyed how distinct this book felt compared to this author's previous work. It still possesses many of the characteristic features I enjoy in their earlier efforts but also shows some exciting variety in scope. This is a dark one (which should be apparent based on literally everything one can ascertain about it before reading!), but it's an intriguing read.

Absolutely crushed this post-apocalyptic masterpiece in one night. It was just everything I wanted in a zombie horror tale. Queer latinx characters, a thorough examination of grief and mental illness, with the perfect amount of gore and monster smashing. I am scouring all of author Racquel Marie's socials for any bit of info on her process writing this book as its so much more than what's described in the synopsis. I've already started my re-read to catch all the little morsels I may have missed. Please go get yourself of a copy of this book. You won't regret it.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This is very abnormal for me to say for a dystopia but oh my gosh this arc took me forever to finish. Like over 2 weeks which is usually very abnormal for me. This by all means was not badly written but it took way too long to get going. The first half drags so much that this book put me in a reading slump. It gets MUCH better around halfway through but before that, I wanted more horror, more darkness, more gripping. Instead, a lot of this almost felt like a contemporary with the backdrop of an apocalyptic zombie setting?

In what I would consider an effective dystopia, I’m usually on the edge of my seat, horrified by the brutality of the characters’ circumstances. For most of this book, I didn’t get that, not until maybe about 60% in. I zipped through the second half in one sitting but the first half took me WEEKS to get through. It does get better, but it takes forever to get to that.

I’d also say this is more character driven than plot driven. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, if that’s your taste, but I usually don’t personally care for anything remotely coming of age. I will say though, BIG bonus points for the scenes with all the dogs. As a big dog lover it pulled at my heartstrings to see dogs happy and thriving and safe (as safe as you could be in a zombie apocalypse). A dog is a main character in the first part of the book but the dog is A ok, so more bonus points for that! Best parts of this book were the parts with the dogs and Biscuit absolutely is the best character in this book. I loved the parts with the dogs so much I almost wanted to bump this rating up a star just for that, because that really tugged on my heartstrings and I am super biased towards dogs.

I’ve always been a dystopia girl and while zombie dystopias usually aren’t my thing, I’m not new to them. I loved the Forest of Hands and Teeth and This Is Not a Test, and I was hoping that this book would be somewhat like the latter. Especially with a safe house cabin as the end goal, I compared it to This Is Not a Test in my mind a lot because of that similarity, but it just lacked the intensity that book had. This Is Not a Test had me racing towards the end because I was dying to know how it was going to end and how they were going to get out of this, and I was really hoping to feel that with this book too.

I will occasionally read a contemporary but not often, and as someone who doesn’t like anything remotely close to coming of age or character driven focused books, this was not my personal taste. But, not every reader has the same preferences as me and this may be someone else’s cup of tea. It does get a lot better, it just takes too long to get to that point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Feiwel for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

DNF at 20%, I enjoyed Racquel Marie’s contemporaries, but I just wasn’t into this. The dual timeline style (especially with first person present in both for some reason) really didn’t work for me, so I kept being jerked out of the story.

I completely devoured this book - pun very much intended. I love a good zombie story, but this was really exceptional! The imagery was so good, I felt like I was watching a new spin-off of The Walking Dead. There were several scenes that really got my heart pumping! I can hardly believe that this is Marie’s first go at a horror novel - it’s so good!

Flora is one of my new favorite FMCs ever. I related so much to her as someone who also has OCD and knows exactly how those spiraling intrusive thoughts feel. I’ve often considered how I’ll fair when (ok, ok... IF) the zombie apocalypse happens, and Flora is exactly what I’ve imagined. Prepared, because we’ve always seen death around ever corner. Afraid, but doing what needs to be done anyway. Fierce, because we’ve been fighting to survive from day one - and survive we will.

This book was done well. Unfortunately I’m not a fan of apocalyptic books so this didn’t hit for me. But the story and adventure of the FMC was good.

I did enjoy If We Survive This, but it wasn't my favorite work of YA horror. I however did appreciate the diverse representation. I will still recommend this to teens who enjoy suspense / horror fiction.

This is a sapphic zombie road trip story about a girl with contamination OCD doing her best to keep her brother and friends alive. This is a big genre shift for Racquel Marie, but I knew from her short story “La Patasola” in Our Shadows Have Claws that she’d have no problem writing a gory zombie book. While there is a fair bit of gory action, this is a very emotional and character driven story that focuses mainly on Flora’s internal struggles with her constant anxieties about death in a world where death is around every corner. If you don’t want to cry, this might not be for you

My favorite part of this was that it's pretty good rep for OCD. I enjoy seeing different mhds in literature!
I think the main con of this book that kind of turned me off of really enjoying it is the pacing. Apocalypse books always feel like they should be fast and rough, but this one kind of dragged on and was hard to really fall into the world of.
The characters also felt a little underdeveloped, and I didn't really feel that much friendship chemistry between them.

Not a bad fun read, but I would probably reach to something else first.

I loved this! I really enjoyed the characters and the overall story. It was a bit slow to get into, but that ending! I adored it. The characters in this were the absolute highlight. The plot was interesting and I liked it, but I LOVED the cast! Love love love! Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan's Children Publishing Group for an ARC! Highly recommend <3

THOUGHTS

For all intents and purposes, this is just your average, run-of-the-mill zombie book. It's nothing special. But I did enjoy reading it. It's told well, even if it is a tad too tried-and-true to stand out.


PROS
OCD Rep: I really appreciated following a main character with OCD, in general and especially in this apocalypse. Flora's OCD is both a boon and a hinderance to her survival, and I liked that--how well and how completely incorporated this very real condition is in this zombie apocalypse book. I liked that her OCD is more than an excessive-hand-washing stereotype, too. She's preparing for worst-case scenarios. She's wrestling with her compulsions. And she's making it through, day by day. I appreciate that.

Doggy Sidekick: There's just something so nice about having a dog by your side through the end of the world. Biscuit might not be the most useful of companions, but I just really loved having her there. She's a part of the group, and she's coming along no matter what.

Consequential: When you read enough YA, you get to the point where you just expect authors to pull their punches (though that really, really isn't necessary in the YA market). This book doesn't. It's got consequences. It's got tragedy. It's got missing limbs and hard choices, blood and guts and sacrifice. Limbs aren't precious when there's a life on the line, right? And it's the end of the world. You take what you can get. You do what you've got to do. And I appreciate that.


CONS
Shambling: For being a zombie apocalypse, this book moves pretty slowly. It kind of shambles along, dragging characters here and there as they don't accomplish much. And that's fine. It's just not very high octane, and high octane is kind of what people pick up a zombie horror for, am I right?

Why the Secrecy?: There are a lot of secrets in this book, and I'm not sure why. Sure, don't trust people right off the bat. Even if you grew up together, the apocalypse changes people. You don't know them anymore. But after this teenage crew falls in together and really starts to trust each other, we were still keeping secrets. Just for the sake of plot tension. And that, well, that doesn't make sense.

Been There, Done That: I've said it above, and it bears mentioning again here. This... is a zombie book. And I didn't hate reading it. But it doesn't really add much to the genre. It isn't special. It doesn't stand out. Was it a bad read? Not at all. But if you're looking for something novel, well, this just isn't it.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7/10
Those who loved the found family of Andrew Joseph White's Hell Followed With Us will like these queer characters banding together to survive the apocalypse. Those who really liked Brooke Archer's Hearts Still Beating will love falling in love at the end of the world with this cast of characters.

3.5 stars! This was good, but the characters were a bit too immature for my liking. I think I’m starting to grow out of ya, or at least the ones that don’t have characters who act rationally enough. However, the ocd rep in this was extremely well written, and the characters were quite lovable!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a complimentary early release copy of If We Survive This by Racquel Marie.

I have mixed feelings about If We Survive This. I liked the sibling relationship between Flora and Cain. The sibling relationship between these two are strained/tense for a number of reasons but you can still tell very clearly that the two of them care for one another. I like that we get perspectives from before and during apocalypse, I kind of liked the before moments of the book as it really made me like the family aspects better. The before chapters helped give me an idea of what the characters were like before things had changed in their world, it also helped me feel a bit more connected to the family and feel for them.

I wasn’t fond of the found family aspects in this book. I didn’t really like any other characters besides the main characters family. A good percentage of the book is just the characters moving around and surviving, nothing really sticks out about any of those moments. The action of the book doesn’t even hit until about the sixty percent mark. Then things become a bit chaotic and rushed, I kind of liked the direction the book was going in towards the end as it made sense to me but then things had changed leaving me with a rather opened ended ending that I wasn’t fond of. The romance in here between the Flora and her love interest didn’t even come in until towards the end, I didn’t like nor feel for this romance and even though the characters knew each other for a long while it still felt kind of instant lovey and out of nowhere. I did like the brief mentions of Cain’s relationship, I think the two of them make a cute pair together.

I am a simple girl, I see anything pitched as The Walking Dead or Yellowjackets I’m going to read it…so when I saw it was being pitched as both?! yeah, GIVE IT TO ME NOW! I was really enjoying this until I wasn’t towards the middle but then the ending..like yes flora be a boss!

I think the main thing that I enjoyed the most about this is how much representation it has. We get a lesbian mc with queer side characters, there’s neurodivergent rep as well as Hispanic & Biracial family rep all woven into this story..the writing is easy to follow as we switch between dual timelines. I loved the sibling dynamic between Flora & Cain but let’s be honest the real power duo was Adan & Biscuit. he really loved his little pup & I loved him as a character, he was so funny & I loved that biscuit is alive & well!

however, despite being pitched as YA Horror this felt more like a coming of age, survival thriller so I finished feeling a liiiiittle underwhelmed because I wanted more horror. for me, the romance between Cris & Flora was underwhelming as well but maybe I’m just expecting too much considering they were trying to survive an apocalypse? lastly, I wanted more of the bad guys. they added that touch of the darkness you would expect to see from people living in this world & trying to survive. they could have been Negan 2.0 but fell flat.

Final thoughts, this is a solid YA apocalyptic read. I did enjoy it overall but certain things fell flat. I would recommend to someone who wants a YA survival/apocalypse thriller.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of If We Survive This.

I was hooked from the opening scene of If We Survive This. What would you do during an apocalypse, especially if you’ve always considered yourself to be “weak” and those that love you also seem to deem you as “weak”? Well, if you’re Flora Braddock Paz, you fight like hell and try to survive this.

Without their parents, Flora and her brother, Cain, have to deal with the repercussions of what’s left for them in this apocalyptic world where no one is safe including the friends you thought you knew the best.

Racquel Marie paints a horrific setting for Flora both figuratively and literally. Flora’s strength here is that she has to survive even with the terrible intrusive thoughts that plague her brain. She’s always been afraid of death. Always thought about the worst case scenario for everyone around her and now Flora is placed into this world full of worst case scenarios that have become real. But she keeps fighting. She keeps trying to save what she can. And she doesn’t give up even when she knows that things aren’t as they seem.

This story is gripping and horrifying and full of entanglements that keep you engaged throughout. I couldn’t put this book down because I wanted to know – and hoped – that things would work out for Flora. Highly recommend.

I've read other books by this author before and really enjoyed them but I had to DNF this one unfortunately. While I think the characters and world building were well-developed, the story was just not for me. Still giving it 5 stars as I can understand the audience this book is for. Thank you!

If you’ve ever felt too soft for the world, meet Flora. Zombies are chasing her, her family is falling apart, and somehow she’s still moving forward.


📚 Reasons to Read If We Survive This
Survival – Flora isn’t your typical zombie fighter; she’s anxious, emotional, and vulnerable—but her journey proves that strength comes in many forms.


Sibling bond – Flora and her brother Cain are at the heart of this story, navigating grief, hope, and what it means to protect each other when the world ends.


Flashback + Heart – With heart, honesty, and emotional depth, this book delivers beautifully complex characters surviving with vulnerability and fire.
Since I am a big fan of The Walking Dead, I thought this would be a fun read. Flora is trying to reach her family’s cabin with her brother and along the way runs into a past friend. This book is divided between this journey as well as chapters that describe a past trip to the same cabin that Flora takes with her family when everyone is together. For me, these chapters are kind of a low point, as I really was more interested in how they survived in the present. However, they do provide some interesting parallels to the story. If you like YA Horror, suspense, and a slightly ambiguous ending, then you might want to give this one a try.

*4.25 Stars*

This was very different from Racquel Marie's other books and I also lived it. it still felt the same at the characters level. I felt and fell for them all. The whole thing was a lot and stressed me out a lot too. I just couldn't see an end to this story. I really did like it still. I like the main character and the plot. It actually took me quite a while to get through the book but that wasn't the story's fault. After a while, I was so enthralled I dreamt of this and couldn't stop reading. I really love Racquel Marie's characters and stories and I can't wait to read whatever she comes up with next!

3.75 stars

This wasn’t really horror even though it is described as such. What it is though is a really great coming of age, found family apocalyptic story.

The end of the world with zombies told through the lens of a teen is not something I’ve come across, and I’m greatly happy that I’ve taken the time to read it.

This story is highly character driven. If you’re looking for world building or plot, I would keep your expectations to a minimum. But if you’re looking to fall in love with some characters, keep your expectations high, because it does deliver.

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This review contains honest opinions.

The representation of OCD in this book was SO well-done and thought out; it was such an interesting way to look at how something that could have been perceived as abnormal pre-pandemic or rabids showing up, and on the flip side how it became helpful once the world ended. I loved Flora as a character, especially as more of her backstory was revealed as the story went on. Sometimes I had to remind myself that Cain had been kept mostly inside and away from rabids so when he got a little irate with Flora about wanting to keep moving, I couldn't get that mad at him. I loved the addition of Adan and Crisanta and I do wish that we got to know more about Adan's backstory as well.