***Review*** Horizon by Sophie Littlefield

Horizon (Aftertime #3) by Sophie Littlefield

Released: 24th January 2012
Publisher: Luna
Series:  Yes #3 in the Aftertime series
Format: Digital ARC
Source: Netgalley for review purposes
Find At:  Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon | The Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Author Site:  Sophie Littlefield

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cass Dollar is a survivor. She's overcome the meltdown of civilization, humans turned mindless cannibals, and the many evils of man.But from beneath the devastated California landscape emerges a tendril of hope. A mysterious traveler arrives at New Eden with knowledge of a passageway North—a final escape from the increasingly cunning Beaters. Clutching this dream, Cass and many others decamp and follow him into the unknown.Journeying down valleys and over barren hills, Cass remains torn between two men. One—her beloved Smoke—is not so innocent as he once was. The other keeps a primal hold on her that feels like Fate itself. And beneath it all, Cass must confront the worst of what's inside her—dark memories from when she was a Beater herself. But she, and all of the other survivors, will fight to the death for the promise of a new horizon….

My Review:

I can hold my hand up now and say that I love zombie books, and this one is by far one of my favourites. The other one is The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. However when I compare the two books together, Horizon is more dark and graphic. I LOVED this book. It had me on the edge of my seat and I did manage to sneak home early from work to get it finished. I know this is the sign of a book that is going to get full marks from me :D

Horizon is part three of a series; I will say that I have not read the first two books. But this didn’t matter as everything is explained thoroughly and I didn’t have any blank moments. Yes, don’t get me wrong it would be better to read all three books in order, but in my opinion if you want to delve straight into Horizon it is possible.

Zombies are pretty gross and this book certainly has no qualms about describing how they look and what their actions are. It’s not over the top either; some books have you howling in laughter because they seem silly and ridiculous. Not in the case of Horizon, it gets the balance perfectly right.

I have to say that the main character Cassie is one of my favourite apocalypse survivors, she is totally flawed, which I guess there wouldn’t be many survivors who didn’t have some issue of some sort. She is treated like an outcast, even though she does her fair share of work around the settlement. At times it seems she is only tolerated as she is a hard worker and people adore her three year old daughter Ruthie.

 I think you would have to read books one and two to get more detail of Cassie’s story and how she came to Eden, but you do get snippets of the past in Horizon. Cassie is torn between two love interests and this seems to tear her in two, there are some angst moments.

 I’m not going to go in to great detail about the story as I tend not to when they are not the first in the series. I would have to spoil it for people.

I would definitely recommend this book to post apocalypse and also zombie book lovers. It was great and I think I will be raving about it for some time. I have ordered book one, Aftertime, and when it arrives I will be reading it straight away!

Overall: 

Had me hooked from word go, and certainly has given me more appetite for this kind of book. I will be checking out Sophie Littlefield’s other titles. 

My Thoughts on the Cover:

 I like the font of the title, but I do think that the authors name could have been better laid out. The colour scheme is quite flat and this gives the impression of a post apocalyptic book. I love the barbed wire and the crows, very chilling and very spooky. It’s very clever how the name of the book is Horizon and this is also incorporated on the cover. If you saw this cover in the shops then it would certainly give you a bit of an idea what it is about, especially the detail of the cracked pavement. Yes I do like the cover and I would be drawn to it.


 *** Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for supplying me a copy of this book for review.***