Joan of Apocalypse made me feel anger toward a protagonist, something I hadn't felt in a long time. To be honest, I found this novel a little difficult to read, as I found Joan to be a somewhat insufferable and delusional character. That said, it's interesting to have characters who aren't the typical protagonists you fall in love with and like. I'm talking about selfish protagonists. Those who are deceitful, cruel, inconsiderate, and complicated. I didn't remember how you could feel as much dislike for a character as you could sympathy. I really wanted to enjoy it, but I did nothing but yell at her throughout the book and didn't have much fun. I loved the idea, but the execution didn't convince me personally, as shown by the fact that it took me forever to read it. I realized that maybe I wasn't the target audience. There are books with insufferable protagonists that I can enjoy, but this time it wasn't to my liking.

I wanted to like this more than I did. The unlikeable main character didn't bother me. I found her hilarious. But the plotting felt relentless, and not in a good way.

In this wild apocalyptic romantic thriller, readers follow struggling actress Joan looking for her first big break after a decade of rejection and failed callbacks, and the chance to star alongside Hollywood’s top actor is her chance to dump her boyfriend and really get her life started. However, Joan ends up trapped in a basement with him listening to a 1980s glam metal band when a zombie apocalypse begins. Forced to rely on her wits and a surprising talent with an ax, Joan must try to survive with the help of Ryan, the other (attractive) survivor of the basement party, and maintain their fragile alliance built on secrets. Chaotic, entertaining, and occasionally baffling, readers who like horror, comedy, and romance will love this wild book from Chloe Lukas. The characters are more complex than they may appear, and the relationship between Joan and Ryan is really central to the novel in some interesting ways. Their changing dynamic and interactions are both sweet and funny, and the overall tone of the book is absolutely fantastic. Wild, entertaining, and intense, this book and its characters will take readers on a wild and unexpected ride with a surprising ending and unpredictable plot points and emotional beats.

Not the targeted audience for this one. I usually don't mind reading YA as long as the plot and characters are interesting . I'm quite annoyed by the main character on this one and I wish the zombies could have killed her off in chapter 1.

This one was a bit difficult to get through as the main character is insufferable and comes off as quite delusional. However, if you can make it to the end it sort of pays off with an explanation of why she's like this, but it comes a bit too late and I found myself skimming some of the later chapters.

Yeah this book wasn’t for me.
I realise it’s supposed to be satirical but clearly just a type of humour that I don’t gel with.
Very much reminded me of Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.

I’m only adding an extra star to my original rating because the cover is gorgeous but that’s the only thing that saves it for me.

2/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Such a fun book with an over the top, selfish main lead that just makes you laugh out loud. The humor about living in LA is priceless along with the puns regarding Hollywood, popularity and dating. Its an extremely well written book with lots of sarcasm and character relationship depth.

I really wanted to like this one but I couldn't get over how much I disliked Joan. I am a reader who has to be rooting for the main character to care about the story and Joan seems to care about no one while also letting people treat her terribly? I didn't understand her motivations. If she only cared about herself why stay with her awful boyfriend? I think at the end of the day I wasn't the correct reader for this book so I decided to DNF.

This is a hard review for me to write, because I never want an author to get discouraged - but I didn't find one redeeming thing about this book.

I was lured in by the cover and the promise of Fleabag meets Shaun of the Dead. Ultimately, it delivered on neither for me. The worst part is - as an avid lover of Fleabag, I was expecting irreverent humour and an endearingly self-involved (but ultimately someone you root for) FMC, but Joan was just narcissistic, selfish and oblivious. There was zero character growth (which I naively kept hoping for). The jokes weren't funny. The puns were lazy. Taylor Sweet? REALLY? The news anchors all having basically the same name? Lazy attempt at clever humour. It really just read as a high school creative writing assignment meets badly written teenage fanfic.

Not even the 'plot twist' at the end could save this for me - because we know Joan would have acted the same way, Zombie apocalypse or not.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Where to even start with this wild ride? I went into this knowing as little as possible, and that's the best way to approach this. I felt like the action never stopped! There were super cheesy moments and sometimes the writing felt a little juvenile, like a fanfic. But knowing the ending, that makes sense to me, and I appreciated it more.

Joan is an unlikeable character, but her humor was the best part of this book. I wrote down so many quotes. She was outrageous, and I loved it so much.

Even though I wasn't the key audience for this book, this was a fun and weird ride, and I had no idea where the story was going to go.

Okay, so "Joan of the Apocalypse" by Chloe Lukas? It was... a lot. Like, in a chaotic, wild kind of way. It's a zombie apocalypse, but not your typical grim one. The main character, Joan, is this struggling actress who's super self-absorbed, and she ends up trapped in an underground vault during a zombie outbreak while at this cringe-y glam metal band listening party. Seriously.
What I thought was cool was how it's a really different take on the zombie genre. It's supposed to be this dark horror comedy, and it definitely leans into the absurdity. There are parts that are genuinely funny, and I laughed out loud quite a few times. But also, Joan is a character you might either love or totally want to shake. She's definitely an anti-heroine. So, if you're looking for something that's fast-paced, action-packed, and doesn't take itself too seriously—and you're fine with a main character who's, well, a lot—then this could be your thing. It's a pretty wild ride.

Joan of Apocalypse is pure chaos in the best, most batshit way possible. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but here we are. The cover drew me in (gorgeous, 10/10), and I stayed for the absolute trainwreck that is Joan.

Joan is a failing actress with a deadbeat boyfriend, finally landing a callback for her dream role… right as the zombie apocalypse hits. What follows is explosions, car chases, gore, Hollywood satire, and a lot of yelling. She teams up with Ryan, and together they try to survive long enough to get her to that audition because what’s more important than your big break? Certainly not zombies.

Let me be clear: Joan is insufferable. I genuinely couldn’t tell if I wanted to throttle her or give her a standing ovation. She's awful and hilarious and says the most ridiculous things. The humor in this book is so on point. Think Zombieland meets dark romcom energy.

The plot is fast, wild, and unhinged in all the right ways. I couldn’t put it down. The twists were actually shocking, and Joan’s choices had me audibly saying “what the fuck” multiple times.

My only gripe? The ending/epilogue. I didn’t love it, and I really could have done without the two-year time skip.

However, if you’re looking for something over-the-top, fast paced and fun, this book is a blast. Huge thanks to Chloe Lukas and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a really funny spin on a girl-ocalypse and throw in the zombies and you have a really good book on your hand. It was funny and there were some lines that made me laugh out loud.

This was some true zombie satire with a FMC with a heart if gold. I really liked being in her thoughts!

I think I'm in the minority here but I really liked this. I thought it was funny and lighthearted with a great mix of gore and violence. I don't think people realize that this is supposed to be satire. This book is supposed to be corny and the fmc is supposed to be annoying and unlikable that's the whole point! I honestly adored this and of I could get a physical copy to shove in everyone's face I would!

I did not like the female main character. I had hopes for the story cause it has an unique story but the FMC was a big no for me

I really wanted to have fun with this but I just rolled my eyes the entire time and decidedly did not have fun. I loved the idea, the execution just didn’t work for me personally, as evidenced by the fact it took me forever to read this

It was clear from the title that this was angling for a comic take on a zombie apocalypse, and from the minute we meet our protagonist Joan, the locus of the satire was obvious. Joan is an actress in Hollywood, constantly auditioning and getting very little response. At the start of this book she is up for a small role of a victim, one line, but she milks it for all it is worth. She has a rubbish boyfriend and initially seems rather engaged with life. But once she is invited to an album launch party, and the zombie virus starts to spread, nearly all of her redeeming qualities seem to vanish.

I don't have a problem with a despicable protagonist, or even a self-centred one. But Lukas draws Joan as such a shallow, vapid egoist that stubbornly resists any opportunity for character growth that she genuinely becomes painful to read. This is broadly the point, to show how self-obsessed, influencer culture is resistant to any form of change, but it doesn't even feel realistic in the context of her experiences, she is aided in her survival by a man who she fancies and she still seems to belive the regular rules of dating apply in a constant survival scenario. The same is true of her audition callback, as written, she may be shallow, but doesn't appear dumb enough to still believe that her callback will happen in a zombie apocalypse. This undermines the good stuff here (its pleasantly grisly in places and some of the Hollywood satire hits) and makes it a less fun read than it should be.

This was ridiculous, hilarious, and the perfect slump buster. Being in her Joan’s head was pretty fun

I have a lot, and I mean a lot of mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, it is quirky and zombieriffic, and full of the apocalypse fun I love. On the other, Joan is the most grating, mind-numbingly awful character I have ever read about and the only reason I finished the book is because I was really, really hoping she'd be eaten by zombies.

The Good:

It's a fast-paced, quick read, and it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. I like that! The apocalypse itself started out very promising- Joan was with this awful boyfriend at a hilariously bad wayyy-past-their-prime hair band show. I mean how can you not love that, right? And of course, the action is there because, hello, zombies. I did enjoy the racing through Los Angeles, and the idea of a struggling actress worrying about her audition in the midst of the thing. I even liked the dude she was running with. But...

The Bad:

Okay, I lied a little, I also wanted to finish in hopes for some tiny bit of character growth from Joan. Or the zombie devouring, honestly I was fine with either. But alas, friends. She had no personality, just vapid awfulness. She was just a bad, bad person, and for no reason that I could discern. None of her decisions made a lick of sense either, so not only was she a crappy person, she was a stupid one to boot. It is just so hard reading a book where the main character is infuriating at every single turn, and you can't even pinpoint a reason. In fairness to the author, I am starting to think that is how a large majority of society is as well, but I also strongly dislike our real-life dystopian nightmare, so. My ruling stands.

Bottom Line: Fun premise and fast-paced, I just hated Joan so much that it was hard to stay invested.