A sci-fi horror with compelling characters

Melara Dark uses well -crafted prose to draw you through a story about a troubled man burdened by personal monsters of addiction and abuse who finds himself trapped repeating the same day at the end of the world with very real monsters, so wonderfully conceived that I cannot help but wish to see them on a screen. The action sequences are fraught with tension and again had me longing to see them envisioned on film. I found myself deeply invested in the journey of a man who had made horrible mistakes, and that of the wholly-conceived characters of his found family. Every one is richly detailed and has a unique voice. They aren't all likeable but you still feel invested in their survival.

Melara Dark's debut novel is a successful sci-fi horror with heart that pays homage to the author's influences (like Stephen King) without being derivative. It's a time loop monster horror told by a fresh new voice with surprises that you don't see coming.

This was freaking WILD. The deeply twisted love child of Groundhog Day and The Langoliers, this book follows the life of David Rusk, a man who's living out the same horrible, monster-filled day over and over again. Worse, he thinks he might be the only human left alive. Until he accidentally stumbles into the path of some more survivors who might have a lead on an answer to the horrible question of WHY.

Thanks to Netgalley and Nevyrmoore Ink for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story has themes of sci-fi, dystopia and horror woven into it which is at times well written, descriptive and entertaining. The author is very good at describing what could happen in an apocalyptic type situation, she describes very well the emotional turmoil of humans during this time and what they could go through when on their own.

The monsters and their existence are well described, scary and very imaginative as is the amount of violence and gore they create. I had fun reading these parts. I almost looked forward to them attacking..!!

To sum up I felt this book has real potential. The plot was really interesting and engaging at first as was the monster element but for me the book had too many unanswered questions and also had too many personal situations in it. The ending also felt a little clichéd and was a bit anti-climactic. However this book screams human resilience in the face of unimaginable horror and I applaud it for that.

This was such a great read I absolutely love dystopian type book I just knew I’d finish it quickly!
The writing was actually so well done, sometimes I start reading and it hard to keep up but this was not one of those.

This book is a mix of Groundhog Day and The Walking Dead with some creatures that could be a creation of a mangaka. But not only this, is also about a man and his journey to face his regrets and wrongdoings. David Rusk thinks he is the only person alive experiencing a weird Groundhog day, but when he realizes he's not alone, things get more complicated.

I really liked the characters and the community they established. The author explored it very well, creating tensions and doing a similar work as the author of The Walking Dead in showing that in a extreme situation, we can see the best and the worst side of humanity (but I would rather read Reboot than watch ten minutes of TWD, this show went downhill after season 1). I liked how the author made me care about almost every character, but I still would like some background to Neal, Con and Ollie. Andy, Webster, Orela, Kate, Mall and Cassie talk about their past, but that's it. My favorite character, however, is David. His journey in finding out what happened to Toni, and trying to save her, brought a good character study. His growth is very well done, like how he overcome the issues he developed because of his father, which lead to the perfect scene with an axe.

The worldbuilding is very original. There's a lot of titles about reliving the same day, but the author took a fresh approach of the situation. I would suggest to add some drawings of the monsters, I am more of a visual person when there's monsters in a story. I liked how the consequences of the reboot started to get more serious, it was a good plot device, because it added urgency to characters. I just find it strange they assumed there was a machine and a button and they were right. Maybe Clancey's book could have more answers. And I agree about what other reviewer said about pacing, the balance between traveling-fighting-talking could be improved. Towards the end, the balance is ok, but right after David finds the group to when they reach California, things got a little bit dragged. Overall, I liked the writing, and I would read the next book the author writes.

However, I wish I had some answers regarding the characters, such as what happened to the characters when they disappeared, like Neal, and what happened to them after the reboot was fixed, they still remembered what they experienced? Did they went to another world, living the reboot while other people were living life as usual all this time (I know probably not, but I still list this as a possibility)? I also wanted to know if David forgave himself and truly started living, as going back in time isn't an option (I was rooting so much for him and Toni to get together, even if without Jake). I don't care that much about why the reboot happened, but I wanted to know what happened to the characters.

And for the other reviewer asking what was the point of the story, the point is David's growth. He definitely is not the same person by the end of the book, and he improved a lot on accountability of his mistakes, and overcoming the voice in his head that put him down. So, not liking the main character could be a problem to get into the story, but I recommend to try it, anyway. There's not many authors exploring time loop like this, mixing with other genres, and making it work.

*I read this book because of Rachel, from Reads With Rachel @ Youtube

For years David Rusk has believed the world has come to an end and he is the last man alive. Every day the world resets and he remains alone. Well, almost alone as there are monsters to contend with. Eventually he decides to venture outside of the city and finds a small group of people that are also attempting to survive in a world with monsters that reboots itself every day.

I really enjoyed this book. The premise is very interesting. I loved the found family aspects. The idea of the world resetting isn't uncommon but I did like the way it was used in the story. All of the characters were well developed. I don't know if there is a possibility of this being a series but I would definitely read more. I will also be watching for future books from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have some mixed feelings about this, so I’d probably rate it a 3.5 but rounded up to 4.

The premise is an interesting one—groundhog day meets Palm Springs meets a sort of video game aesthetic. The main character has a troubled past and a very negative view of himself, and that can make it fairly unpleasant to be in his head throughout the book. I would say there is some level of growth for him as a character but it is very unsubtle—the author actively tells you anything you are supposed to learn, know, or feel about him and other characters without leaving you to interpret that.

I didn’t particularly care for the main character or his journey, and I wished we had gotten a lot more from the other characters in the book. The way they were all introduced at once made it difficult to keep them separate in my brain to some degree, I also felt like the way we were just told their stories and never saw anything from their POVs, never had flashbacks, etc kept a level of removal from them that made it harder to emotionally connect with any of them. That’s a shame, since several of them were more likable than the main character and all had interesting back stories. I get why Neal was a plotpoint but the percentage of racist/homophobic text was really high, even if obviously it is condemned in the book. It also added to the book being less pleasant to read.

*spoilers*

Finally, I felt like the plot was pretty bare given a very complex and interesting premise. The traveling, fighting, traveling, fighting pacing really dragged without adding a lot, and the big reveal of the final destination of the book was sort of… I didn’t even get how they were all so sure about the machine? What the machine even was? What the whole reboot even was? Who caused it and what was up with the Oregon machine vs the LHC? What were the monsters?? Did it ever even occur or was the main character just stuck in his own time loop? Did he actually stop it or was the rest of the world moving on without him the whole time? I don’t need everything explained to enjoy a book but after how heavy handed the characterizations were, I was really expecting a lot more in terms of the actual plot. I was definitely left with a sense of, what was the point of all of that?

There were a couple cringe-worthy sentences with REALLY bad grammar early on in this book that made me wonder what I was getting into (mostly in the scene where the main character is talking about how it is better to be sitting or lying down during the reboot). But, as the book got going, those glitches proved the exception. The majority of this book is really good, and while a last close editing pass could still help catch the last few missed errors, over all this was a really pleasant arc to read. This book reminded me right away of the episode of The Librarians where the librarians get stuck in an unstable time looped bubble universe patterned on a video game. It also reminds me of some of JG Ballard's apocalypse survival novels and some of Stephen King's later novels. I've recommended this book to other scfi readers, and look forward to seeing what this author comes up with for their next novel.

The plot was a little messy, but I enjoyed it all the same. The story is well paced, the world building is alright, and the ending of the book leaves you begging for a second book.

I LOVED this book. Now to be fair it's right up my street, end of the world I am Legend stuff with some kind of twisted Groundhog Day and Lovecraftian monsters thrown in just for the craic. What's not to like?
There was a fairly big cast, once we got going, and some are more likeable than others. I really enjoyed the whole conspiracy theory thing going on, and I even tolerated it when it started getting very like Lost. The button, the button, we have to hit the button. It's always going to be that simple... It's a clever story fairly well executed. I'm going to stick it in my auto recs for the dystopians out there.

This enjoyable, fast-paced read follows David Rusk, who suddenly finds himself seemingly alone in the world. The story follows his journey, as he tries to understand where everyone has disappeared and why the world reboots every day. After meeting a disparate group of survivors, they struggle to fight off monsters and keep each other safe. David is also fighting his own demons, and as the group travel across a deserted America, it becomes a journey of redemption too. The concept is intriguing and the story keeps you hooked, but ultimately I found the ending rather unsatisfying and it left a lot unanswered.

I loved every page of this book. I was excited as soon as I was introduced to David Rusk and I only got more invested as I learnt more about this mysterious new world he has to live in. The ending only made me wanting more.

This was a very interesting and different take in a very familiar theme, let me explain, David Rusk, our main character start this story as a loser, he is a drunk, addicted to drugs and because of that is living alone, his wife left him years ago… this was him in the start, and he stays alone years in the reboot until he decides to get his life back, in search of his wife and while he does that, he find his destiny, new enemies and his new found family, living alone without hope is not living at all and that gives him reason to keep on and continue…

without spoilers, I think this book reminded me very much of silent hill, the difference being that is not the dark that brings new dangers like it was in silent hill, but is the new reboot, with new revelation, new dangers appear, and to be honest I only give 4 stars because I didn’t understand what did the ending of the book mean for the whole story, will we have a second book, for the ones lost, did it really end? I need to understand.

If you don’t mind having more questions than answers in the end without a prevision of continuation, please read this book, the story will keep you on your toes.

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I've been a member of NetGalley for around 14 years and in that time I can probably count on two hands how many books I've requested. Barely into double figures. I'm just not that desperate or hard up for books that I can't wait for them to get published. Very occasionally though I see one that I think looks interesting and I'd like to give it a whirl AND it's auto approval, sooo - This is that book.

End of the world, last man standing in that empty world, monsters, no clue what's going on...yep, that's my kind of book. I hate to read on my phone so the fact that I happily read this on my phone tells me I liked the story quite a bit. There's a list of triggers and tropes as long as my leg and that does jar a bit because I always feel like it has been done to make it either appeal to all tastes, or offend everyone or just chuck as much at the story as is possible and see what sticks. I'm not hating the story though, I liked it quite a bit. I'd probably read more. I feel like the ending was a bit thin and left things unanswered so maybe I'll get to read more in the future if there's a book 2. For now...it's a decent story.

This book really captivated my imagination. I'm there if it's made into a movie or series. We follow the life of David Rusk, casually driving along he thinks he's had a stroke, but things definitely are not what he expects. A dystopian book set in the now, it shows how a family can be made when people are brought together. My only criticism is the ending of the book, but I'm hoping this means there will be another book, as I feel it didn't really explain itself well enough. It had a groundhog day feel to It,but filled with monsters.

this author really knows how to tell a story. i was hooked from the start. i didnt think at frist i would be as interested in it but the more i kept reading the more into it i became. will definitely read more.

This story was incredibly engaging, and I really enjoyed reading it. I found the set up compelling, and really liked the Lovecraftian vibe of some of the monsters. The world of the novel utilizes a number of tried and true elements of dystopia and sci-fi, and manages to pull them together in a unique and refreshing way. The world built had the potential to be extremely confusing, but was explained and introduced in such a way that I sort of fell into the world easily.

I loved the group of characters and the value that was put into a found family, particularly for people who’s actual family finds wanting in some way or another.

I found the pacing a bit jarring sometimes. There would be moments when the narrative had established that the characters needed to rush but then the plot would pause for a chapter or so to do character work. While I enjoyed those chapters in isolation, their placement in the plot felt confused.

I also wish that the ending had done more to explain some of the mysteries set up throughout the novel about how the world functioned and why. I understand the value in keeping a lot of it fuzzy, but it just felt a bit disappointing given that those mysteries are a part of why I was so keen to keep reading.

Those criticisms aside, it really was a great read, unafraid to hit me in the guts many times over while still managing to maintain some sense of levity in the story. I think I would give it 3.5 stars, but err on the side of 4.

Fast paced, heartbreaking, unique, and engaging. This book will excite scifi lovers, those who love a good Groundhog Day story, and those who love the found family trope.