April has her hands full in the dystopian ruin the world was left in by the plague and the rising vampires – especially with her family traumatised and falling in tatters after being kidnapped in the last book. She certainly doesn’t have time for romance

But when she hears of a potential city of survivors managing to hide and thrive away from the vampires, she has to check it out. Alone if she has to.

I finished this book feeling dissatisfied – and I don’t think it was down to the world building (which is a fairly decent dystopian zombie apocalypse with vampires holding the zombie spots with a few unique little additions) or the characters (though I can’t say any of them thrilled me). It was primarily down to structure. I feel like there were a number of story-ettes that were started, kind of wibbled around a bit, and then shuffled away sort of embarrassed. Kind of like a chorus of singers who suddenly realise they can’t remember the words. I think a lot of that comes from the author having an idea of how they wanted the book to end, but not entirely sure how to get from the end of the last book to that point. Which, in turn, may have been because the last book felt like a stand alone (I was actually surprised to find this book existed) which has now been stretched into a series.

Take, for example, the romance at the end of the last book – April and Rye have fought together, done the standard “I cannot be with you but I love you so much” and sealed the deal with the magical-bond-of-insta-love-because-who-has-time-to-develop-relationships. Done, closed storyline (ok, they could actually develop a relationship but that really goes against the All-To-Common-Template that says getting your love interests together is HAPPILY EVER AFTER). This book starts with the two separated (though still drowning in endlessly descriptive sexual tension and moping and lots of “so hawt I wish we could be together”). The reason presented – that April feels the need to focus more on her family after they have been through the traumatic experiences in the last book – is certainly very reasonable but isn’t carried by the story because April doesn’t do that. She has some torn inner monologues about her mother but quickly abandons them in favour of exploring her newest curiosity

So it feels convoluted – like this couple needs to split up for the plot (or not be a done deal), so they’re split up. Here’s an excuse – but it’s a half-assed one that isn’t followed up.

The same applies to April’s curiosity – she wants to examine the city full of humans; which takes precedence over her (repeatedly moped about) split up with Rye AND the family which is the reason for that split up. And why does she decide she needs to rush off and do this alone? Because she thinks the vampire hybrids may try to wipe them out without consulting her – but when we switch to Rye’s point of view, the hybrids seem to be adopting a policy of leaving the humans alone. He could tell her that… but without these leaps of logic and dubious foundation, April wouldn’t have any motivation to go wandering off in dangerous places all alone.

Or there’s Elijah who may be a leg on April’s budding love triangle (or square); he wants to get out of the human city because the head of the human city is Terribad Evil. He says. But he doesn’t really give any examples of said Terribad Evil nor do we see her ever act in a way that is Terribad Evil. She just is. The lack of development there feels like it has been cobbled together rather than thought through

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I received this book in exchange for an honest review~~~
Disarming by Alexia Purdy

HOLY MOLY OMG!! OMG the author is killing me!!! Finished Disarming and my mouth is on the floor with all the twists!!! All I can think is .... WHAT NO!!! UGH!! too emotional need to lay down!! lol. What a book and what a story and what a story line!!! This author has me spellbound at how wonderfully this book is written and had me so captivated I could not put this book down. I read it in a day and the ending is AMAZING!!!! Dying for the next book and I so look forward into reading more of this amazing author. I can't wait to see what else this authors got up her sleeves!! The story is full of twists and turns that you won't see coming. The climax and ending are spectacular! We see some characters from the last book, but also meet some new characters. The creepiest is Katrina!! This series I can see being made into a movie series! The characters and their interactions are dynamic!

This book picks right back up after the rescue of Helen and Jeremy. April is trying to go back to the way it was before they were taken. Helen's strange behavior and her change in appetite keeps that from happening. Rye is also pressuring her about her feelings that she is not comfortable with. Then events take a turn for the worst when they find a group of people murdering the Feral Vamps while lining up like cattle. Why? Who are these new people and why have they not been seen yet? Can Helen be saved? Will April be killed? I gave this book a 5 star jumping up and down doing flips review since it was so so so good.
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Wow!!! I was one of the lucky ones to get a copy of this before its release and all I can keep saying is wow!!! I loved this book. Talk about putting someone on the edge of their seat and not wanting to stop reading, this book takes you there and won’t let you go. Ms. Purdy’s words never fail to allow us, the readers, to see, hear, and feel thru her characters own experiences.
This story is the continuation of her Reign of Blood story and picks up where it left off. We see how things are now different for her after the battle against Christian. Her own mother is different and April has to take on a new roll. Rye is still around and hoping with all hope that things will work out for them as his love for her grows stronger. Other humans have been spotted. Where have they been hiding and is there somewhere her brother Jeremy can go and be with kids his own age? How did they survive? These are the questions that April is determined to answer. But she must attempt to do things alone as her hopes grow that her family isn’t the only true survivors of this apocalypse that has invaded their homes. April is going to make discovers that will allow you to have the same “Wow” factor hitting you and not wanting to let go even at the end of this book. You will find yourself asking Ms. Purdy when the next book will be out. Great read for all and I would definitely suggest this to all. ( )