I keep doing this. Reading books about pandemics during a pandemic, and then scaring the living daylights out of myself. Thank goodness I’d read Justin Cronin’s The Passage trilogy pre-Covid, because that would really have had me battening down the hatches!

This is about a different flu-like virus, but the mortality rate is far higher than Covid. And then nuclear bombs are also involved, so it’s a pretty full-on start to this remarkable book.

The sensible people move north. In this case, they move to the Yukon, where the virus is less virulent and people can hunt and trap their food. Lynn McBride lives here with what’s left of her family. They’ve carved out a life for themselves and live in relative safety in the barren, white landscape. But they can’t keep everyone away, and soothe outside world starts to encroach in the form of a loner called Jax, and a frankly scary group of people who are intent on seeing the end of the virus, no matter the human cost.

I loved the descriptions of the landscape - I do tend to love a book set in frozen landscapes (Arctic, Antarctic, just somewhere plain cold!), which is odd really, because I can’t think of a worse place to live. It’s a morbid fascination, I suppose. And the descriptions in this book of the cold, the landscape and the difficulties of living there are so evocative. People surviving against the odds always a winning theme.

It wasn’t until I sat down to write this, that I found out that the book was YA. Honestly, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. Ok, there’s no sex, but in my opinion it just seemed too cold anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️. The main protagonist is in her late teens, and there is a sexual assault and some shooting/ bloodshed. There’s a very cute dog though (also a winning formula for me).

So if you’re feeling brave and like a post-apocalyptic story, you may well fancy reading this. I do wonder if there will be a follow up, because I’d love to know what happens after the final page (it does seem open to that). I’d definitely read it!

When society started to crumble around them, Lynn McBride's extended family left home and headed to the wilds. Here they survive on the animals they can hunt and eat, and the few vegetables that will grow in the inhospitable Arctic conditions. Life's hard and monotonous. Their small settlement hasn't seen other people in years - then one day a stranger, Jax, wanders by, bringing with, or at least behind, him remnants of the old world, and trying to survive takes on a whole new meaning. Lynn is forced to face up to her father's past, to come to terms to what he had been doing, and how it could affect them now.

I've tried my best but there are bound to be spoilers here - sorry.

I seem to be reading a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction recently. I'm not sure if this is reflecting a publishing trend, or just my personal tastes, but, anyway, here we are again after the 'end of the world as we know it', in the Canadian Yukon this time.
The familiar mix of war and flu have cut the population drastically, and if there are more survivors than Lynn and her family, they too are living hand to mouth. One aspect of the past that has managed to survive though is a government scientific programme, which has a particular interest in Jax, and, now she's been brought to their attention, Lynn. What you end up with is part post-apocalyptic survival story, part government conspiracy thriller - and it works well, although ti wasn't at all what I was expecting. After a slowish start, things kick off and you'll be hooked (I was).

The setting is unusual - the cold, snowy north - and brilliantly brought to life, even when I quibbled about some of the details of survival there.


One aspect that marginally disappointed me was that the ending seemed to be setting up for a sequel, maybe even a series. Don't get me wrong, I liked The Wolves of Winter, and it does round off to a nice conclusion, but I'm happy for it to end there, rather than have the story spin-out forever.

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and to review this book.

I thought this book would be right up my street, a dystopian set in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, a mysterious boy showing up and creating chaos? Sign me up! However, this was entirely different than my expectations.

I couldn’t move on from how slow this book is, actually the entire pacing of this book is wrong, it’s slow when it needs to be fast, and fast when it needs to be slow. There was SO much world building which dragged my attention away and I kept wondering how long it will be till the next chapter. This is the main reason that I give it 2 stars. I felt that the ending was rushed, the part in immunity’s camp was rushed and I couldn’t get a sense of the layout of where everything is! It sounds like that Immunity’s camp is much much closer to where the main characters base is, that makes me wonder how they didn’t come across each other much sooner! This definitely needs some looking into.

I read this book in less than twenty four hours, I simply couldn’t stop reading. I’ve read post apocalyptic books before, and the majority of them have been quite ‘meh’ in my opinion, but this story is deceptive in that you think you don’t really care about the characters and then something happens and you’re worried sick about them. I loved the setting in the Arctic Circle, it sounded stunning and deadly all at the same time. All in all, I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for an addictive read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and HQ Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a different type of book/storyline to what I normally read. But I was drawn to the synopsis, and I’m glad that I was. It’s a very intriguing read that kept me turning the pages and wanting to read more and that’s always a good sign.

If you are looking to read something a little different this one is for you.

I obtained this as a ‘Read Now’ provided by HQ on NetGalley as its stunning cover art, title and description all appealed to me. Though first published in January 2018, it has recently had its paperback edition released in U.K. and USA.

This post-apocalyptic tale is told by 23 year old Lynn, who with her surviving family, is living in the deep forests of the Canadian Yukon after nuclear wars and a flu pandemic has devastated the world and the human race. Quite a bleak scenario with the weather reflecting the effects of nuclear winter.

One day Lynn comes across a stranger, Jax, and his dog, Wolf. This meeting sets off a series of events that threatens their already precarious situation.

The descriptions of the winter environment was very evocative and I felt quite chilly while reading given all the snow. Lynn was a great protagonist, strong and resourceful yet also vulnerable.

An engaging story with plenty of action in their present day and flashbacks to the events that brought them (and the world) to this point providing context. The ending allows for the possibility of further novels and I would certainly be interested in reading more of Lynn’s journey.

Fantastic book. Loved the characters, the pace of the book and even the cold came out of the pages and chilled me. A brilliant dystopian themed novel that was very believable. It was unputdownable, please let be a sequel.

This is a total departure from the genre I normally read but I’m so glad I’ve read it! A really good read, pacy and well written.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. A thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing read set in a post apocalyptic world, a world devastated by warfare and a deadly virus. Pockets of humanity are barely surviving, you are rapidly drawn into one families fight for survival against the elements. Lynn and her family have fled to the Yukon to escape the ravages of a world in turmoil, the arrival of a mysterious stranger sets off a thrilling chain of events.
Wonderfully descriptive, fantastic characterisation and chillingly perceptive. I really hope there is going to be a second book.
Thanks to NetGalley, HQ and Tyrell Johnson for my favourite read of the year.

3.5 stars

Going on the first half of the book,I thought I was getting a completely different story to what I ended up with.
Survival in the wilderness after war and disease has killed off the majority of the country/world.
It sounded scary and quite believable.
Then all of a sudden we have a different thread... people who have extra abilities,and almost healing powers,though both of them make it sound like superheroes... definitely not that. And let's not forget the mad scientists. 
Entertaining enough... though the ending was a bit twee for me.
Guessing it's not actually the ending though,just part one. (

I fell into this one and read it fast – beautifully described and utterly chilling (I mean there is a LOT of snow!) it is just the kind of after the end tale that I love – small groups of humans, desperate to survive and mostly being pretty horrible to each other, as would likely happen…

Into this snowy landscape, following a huge loss of humanity from both nuclear war and the flu, comes Lynn and her family, who have fled to the Yukon and built something of a home. They are close knit, if divisive with each other, Lynn would probably live out her life here if not for the arrival of mysterious stranger, followed by a series of revelations that send her reeling.

There are a lot of typical themes embedded here but Tyrell Johnson has a way of making it more vivid, more visceral whilst also using a gently rolling prose that really sinks into your subconscious. I loved how Lynn felt as if she was treated like a child then tended to do the things that children stomping their feet do – however when the chips are down her inner toughness comes out and she is an engaging protagonist that you root for along the way. The aforementioned mysterious stranger, Jax, has an edgy, animal feel to him that is very attractive and the whole novel has a brilliantly addictive plot that never dulls.

It’s a kind of a hybrid but I won’t give away why, however if you like a good apocalypse, a good origins tale, with an excellent premise and a great set of characters then Wolves of Winter is probably for you. It is a contained tale that also demands a sequel – it has the feel of a story that could shift focus and expand it’s reason for being – so I’ll look forward very much to what comes next. This one had some real edge of the seat moments, a definite sense of horror and melancholy, plus was fascinatingly riveting. Very enjoyable indeed. Shiver.

Recommended.