The Darkest Winter: A Kayla Hicks Book Review
I am a sucker for apocalyptical and dystopian novels. And I stumbled across this book series and fell in love with the story and the characters. Better yet, I discovered that there are 7 books in the series!
What is The Darkest Winter by Lindsey Pogue about?
The Virus spread. Billions died. The Ending began.
A group of orphaned misfits. The wildlands of the last frontier. Superhuman abilities, harrowing adventures, and heartbreaking secrets.
Haunting shadows are nothing new to Elle St. James, she’s been running from them all her life. But since the outbreak spread from the lower forty-eight, new monsters lurk in the darkness. After Elle wakes from the fever, capable of horrific deeds, she fears she’s one of them. When she stumbles upon four orphans, Elle’s forced to discover what happens when her greatest fear becomes her darkest secret and her only hope of surviving.
After the world goes mad and takes his family with it, Jackson Mitchell tosses aside his badge and decides a bottle of bourbon and the depths of despair are preferable to any semblance of living. All of that changes, however, when a group of young survivors are in dire need of his help and Jackson sacrifices his blissful oblivion in order to keep them safe. As they trek further away from the collapsing cities, Jackson must rely on his knowledge of the backcountry and the traditions of his people, or succumb to the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness.
Brought together under the worst possible circumstances, Elle and Jackson must face the inexplicable realities of the new world. Their past lives are over, and the Arctic isn’t all that’s savage anymore.
My review:
Author Lindsey Pogue does a wonderful job of creating characters that the reader can latch onto and want to know more about.
The story was well-paced and the world-building was on point. I especially loved the way Pogue takes the reader from pre-apocalypse to the beginning of the apocalypse and finally through post-apocalypse.
The way she shows the world through both Elle's and Jackson's eyes throughout the story allows the reader to see how the world has changed.
I honestly found it hard to put this book down.
Readers who like post-apocalyptic, horror, and science-fiction stories will enjoy this book.
I would give this book more than five stars if I could.