True Refuge

A great book of surviving the end of human civilization fiction!!

4.5*


This book takes place three years after the first signs of the plague, the plague which went on to decimate the United States. 
There was no cure the few survivors survived through natural immunity, the scientists were dead long before they could develop this immunity and life for the survivors is hard.
Euan is a survivor, a huge man that had been an amateur heavyweight boxer before the end and after a year alone, a year after civilisation was wiped out he finds Nick and they've been together for two years.

Just surviving is difficult just finding food and water alone is a huge challenge and everything else has been scavenged. 
Along with the human race compassion, empathy, and generosity have all but gone leaving the bad and evil to rise up from the bottom to control their own groups of hell, giving themselves power they should never have. 
Women are incredibly scarce and men are desperate, it's lonely and not many can make it on their own and these groups attract the bad and make them worse showcasing the depravity of humanity.

Not only is life hard but trust is harder, trust placed wrongly can end your life. Without women there's nothing left, no future and it changes men and brings out the worst.

Euan and Nick suffer and their journey is a harrowing one and as we travel with them we get a picture of the land and the life that's left.

I'm not giving spoilers because we know from the blurb they come across a woman, a woman untouched by the horror of the new world and this profoundly changes everything. A woman's presence is the balm Nick needs to heal and while Euan takes on the full burden of responsibility for their safety he finds he's happier than he's ever been and he finally has hope for a life better and more meaningful than the one he had before.

Why not 5*?
I very very rarely give 5* after all how many books are perfect or nearly perfect?
But this one came close and I may yet upgrade because this book and these characters are under my skin.
This is an amazingly descriptive read the writing paints a picture and it's easy for us to see this new world but...
While incredibly descriptive is good at times it became a little too much, too verbose, everything is described in detail and I found myself skimming on occasion (Nirvana for example) because I was so invested in these characters and their situation I needed to know what happened and I was getting frustrated by the endless descriptions and so I found myself skimming ahead.
This could just be me, I'm incredibly impatient so don't let this out you off what is an amazing dystopian read.

This is book 1 of 3 and a cliffhanger (I really hate cliffhangers) book 2 is due for release in November this year and I can't wait. I am well and truly hooked.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Escape Publishing

4.25 stars

Plot: 4/5
Characterisation: 5/5
Prose: 4/5
How much I enjoyed it: 4/5

In a world where humanity is lost, two men tries to survive in this dystopian world. Euan used to be a boxer with a strong sense of responsibility. While navigating in a broken world, he met with Nick whose innocence became a beacon to stay strong and survive. The book encompases the time when Euan got temporarily separated from Nick until they met with Kira.

While I enjoyed their quest for survival, the book ended with a cliffhanger. I understand that its a trilogy but the abrupt ending makes it seem like its the end of Part 1 of the book instead of Book 1. Also, the book focuses a lot on how depraved the world has turned but not on why. With limited resources available, it seemed like the only people who survive are those who knows how to use technologies but not create or repair them. 

The book's strengths are the characters. I can feel their pain and despair. This book centres more on Euan with his need to protect both Nicky and Kira. I wish I get to know more about Nicky and Kira in the next books.