Very intriguing and different book. Great start but had some area of opportunity. Characters were ok and the world was a lot of fun! Still fun overall

This is a fast-paced story full of ongoing action. The story starts off quickly and just escalates more and more as it progresses.

S.E. Glen puts a lot of emotion into the characters. I can't imagine what I'd do in the situation the main characters are in, but I feel like it is believable. The way they react to different scenarios is something I think would be plausible.

Definitely a good, quick story for the weekend. I recommend this if you like the end of the world stories that don't involve zombies.

#NetGalley #FalloutinGeorgia

Ellena has hit rock bottom with her jailed ex-husband, her job as an EMT, and is foreclosing on her family home. When she reluctantly agrees to a camping trip with her pampered step-sister "Button", it's a last-ditch effort to find herself again and be at one with nature. Heading into the wilderness, Ellena holds onto a shred of hope that things can't get worse - that is until nuclear war breaks out, atomic bombs strike the Georgian wilderness, and Ellena suddenly finds herself in a desperate struggle to keep herself, Button, and other survivors alive as long as possible with almost no survival tools.

As the fallout settles in the outside wasteland, the mismatched group deal with their own emotional and personal fallouts, unable to leave the safety of an RV lest they risk radiation or the aggressive wildlife. Can everyone band together to survive the fallout, and can Ellena prove to herself that may be down but not out?

A fast-paced, punchy read where everything that could go wrong does exactly that, leaving you wondering what would you do in the same situation. Ellena evokes sympathy as she tries to do her best by everyone whilst continuously being too hard on herself, proving herself useful time and time again. The characters all have contrasting personalities that make their rag-tag team more interesting, though it would have been more enjoyable to see some substantial character development and see everyone step up in various scenarios, rather than leaving it to Ellena to save the day repeatedly.

The scenes are dramatic and full of action, however they do become layered on top of each other and become a little desensitizing, leaving you wondering what more can these survivors go through before they throw in the towel - though you could argue this is a shrewd perspective on how survivor's instinct keeps humans moving forward, even at the end of the world.

It's enjoyable as a quick read for fans of action, and the author puts a lot of emphasis on the scenery making it easier to visualise the Georgian landscape and aftermath of the nuclear fallout - Fallout in Georgia has great potential as a stand-alone story.

The plot is interesting, and the characters feel well fleshed out. The tension feels real and the romance is very slow burn. You can feel what the main character feels and understand her motivation. I very much enjoyed the setting, the plot, the characters and the real feeling intensity. The only issue is that there’s a switch in pov for two chapters that are confusing.

Ellena Reed's life is now in tatters: her ex-husband is in prison, her home is in foreclosure, & she is awaiting confirmation that her career as an EMT is also done. At her wits end, she reluctantly agrees to accompany stepsister, Button (aka Elizabeth), on a camping trip. The night they arrive nuclear warheads hit multiple targets in the US.

Their fellow survivors are a mum & son, & a man who claims to be ex-SEAL. His answers to Ellena's questions are a little too pat & she's sure he's hiding something. The few survivors at the site hunker down together for the 3 days in which the fallout will be the worst, but with no word from the outside & the animals around the swamp starting to act out, it will soon be time to move on but where?

I don't know why but I tend to like postapocalyptic reads, people learning to cope with adversity etc. I thought the cover for this book was really good & it actually made me think it was going to be a lot darker storyline than it actually turned out to be. My heart did sink a little when I realised there was a canine character, Winter the dog, as I knew I'd spend the rest of the book on tenterhooks hoping nothing happens to him. (He is still alive at the end of the book so don't worry.)

It's a gripping read but some of the characters are not really developed enough (Button & the mother & son included) & Button became really irritating at points. I enjoyed it enough to finish it though. It could be improved upon in parts but it was fine. 3.75 stars (rounded up)

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Cork Place Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This is a genre I'm generally forgiving of, and I really wanted to like this book, but it was a struggle to get through.

I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I found them unlikable, which, in itself, isn't a deal breaker, but they were inconsistent and some of their behavior (especially Button's) felt over the top to the point of caricature. Towards the end of the book when some characters changed their behavior for the better, it was so jarringly sudden that it felt like a switch being thrown rather than growth.

I didn't feel that enough research had been put into the science related to the story, down to the behavior of wildlife.

The happenings, one after another, felt like the disaster story equivalent of a daytime soap opera. I think the book wanted to be an adventure disaster thriller, but the pacing and events were disjointed, providing instead a group of despondent, disingenuous and bitter characters tripping blindly down a hazy trail. At the end of that trail the author basically said "forget all that, they are happy and hopeful!"

There's potential here, but I don't think it was even close to being realized.