My first contact with the author, definitely will read new books by him. Loads of action, dark themes, and exciting characters.

I'm sure this was an excellent book. Just such a shame that our young reviewer pulled out because of exams and didn't tell us in time to allocate to someone else.

We apologise for this and will ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Oh gee. This is kind of a hard one to review. So many things to love about it, only a few things I didn't love, but they were kind of biggies.

First of all, it was a refreshing take on a post apocalyptic world. No zombies, no mutants... just a disease that ravaged the world and the people trying to deal with the aftermath. Some choosing to live queitly in their private and hoarded worlds. Others choosing to remain in groups and practice the lifestyle dictated to them. Others still who go crazy and controlling Mad Max style.

Finn and his lifestyle gave a reader a lot to thing about. He seemed so young in ways, yet was forced to mature almost to a breaking point in others. It fit nicely the mold of the world the author created, and gave the reader a relatable character. So strong and clever, yet still so young and immature.

The adventure he finds himself forced into was nerve wracking and heart breaking, as so many things were over complicated by those who were out to help, or out to simply survive, even at the cost of others.

It definitely ended on a note to imply that there was more story to be told, and if it's anything as entertaining as this first one, you can definitely sign me up!

This was a quick book, and an entertaining read, though I don't think the plot was particularly groundbreaking. I loved the Australian setting and the sense of adventure. It was a super fast moving book and a quick read, and while I didn't completely feel connected to the characters, I liked them enough to be invested in the story and the outcome for the characters.

This book follows the path of quite a few survival/dystopians, so it isn't completely fresh, but the setting and some of the situations the characters face are unique so it feels a bit different. I'm definitely curious to find out what happens next, so I plan on reading the sequel.

Bottom Line: If you're a fan of dystopian, you'd probably enjoy this. It's quick and entertaining, if not completely novel.

I really liked this one. Loads of action, dark themes, and exciting characters. A first time author for me, I will definitely check out more by this author!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a refreshing OzYA, and I was immediately hooked. It was harsh, amazing, and hopeful. This is a great survival adventure story with complex and compelling characters, and a fast-paced, page turning plot. Finn was a remarkable character, he was very real and inspiring.

I highly recommend this book, I loved every page.

Think of this book as The Road meets The Children of Men, though appropriate for teens. The interesting thing to me is that this post-apocalyptic novel doesn't show society devolving. It has devolved. We get, instead, the attempt of the remnant to live in the aftermath. Teen fiction tends to show the down fall. This is a more adult approach. It works surprisingly well. While listings for this book make it clear that this is the first in a series, it stands fairly well. Additionally, the writing has a distinctly foreign feel but is not so foreign as to be distancing. A solid choice for teens interested in survival.

I have to declare an interest here, I seem to love Australian writers, its a bit weird to think they have a generic writing style, but I find them easy to read and quirky and that suits me perfectly.No disrespect to other Nationalities and personally I've never been anywhere near Australia but this author is easy to read and spins a good tale and I loved it.For me it was believable, the guy obviously knows about bush craft, and his description of surfing made me want to go out and immediately buy a wet suit and board and throw myself in the nearest bit of sea, sounded wonderful.The characters in the story were engaging and there was tension and I didn't know how it was all going to turn out,I enjoyed it and thought that this was a great first book.I will definitely be looking forward to reading more books by him.Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I love a good Aussie book. There's just somehow a different feel to them than say the same story set in America. This was short and easy to read and simply told and engaging - although at times I would have liked just a teeny bit more information, about the virus and exactly who the Wilders were, for example. But it was a great story with great characters! I'm definitely interested to read on.

Set sometime in future Australia, climate change has caused the weather to become wilder and the seas to rise and asylum seekers are doled out to farmers to work as slaves. When a virus wipes out a large proportion of humanity, a boy called Finn finds himself alone, after the death of his parents and the rest of his small Victorian coastal town, with only his dog for company. He has survived largely through catching seafood and rabbits, growing a few vegies and through rationing the dwindling stack of canned food his father hid before his death. Apart from swapping some food with an old man on another property he has seen no one for two years when a teenage girl shows up being chased by a group of men called 'wilders'. After Finn helps her get away, she persuades him to go in search of her sister.
This is an excellent debut YA novel and a great start to a new series (perhaps trilogy?) about survival after a viral apocalypse. The plot is simple but engaging and the main characters are gutsy and interesting.

The Road to Winter

This was a very enjoyable read. It was easy to read and the story flowed quickly, holding me in suspense with the development of the story and the interaction of the characters. Finn was a likeable and believable character whose relationship with others was complex but endearing. His initial suspicion of Rose was understandable but then he quickly took on her cause. His personality also deepened when he met Kas and this also added an additional level to the story. I also loved the location being in Australia - fictitious town but could be a coastal town near where I live. Although set in the future the situation is very believable but scary.
I highly recommended this novel and look forward to reading more from this new author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Text Publishing for a chance to read and review this novel.

This was a very welcome surprise! Both young adult and post apocalypse fiction (not to mention the two combined) are reaching saturation point in the market. This stands out from the crowd - not just because of the Australian setting, but it's an extra point in its favour.

Finn and Rowdy are both charming. They've survived alone - together - for a long time since the virus came, and despite their isolation, remain their softer sides. When they have the opportunity to risk themselves helping their unexpected visitor, neither hesitates.

While it had it's bleak moments, this novel shone through with heart and soul - not unlike its country of origin.

Sorry for the delay in reviewing this. I really enjoyed it. I always enjoy survival titles, and being set in Australia gave it a twist I haven't seen before. I want to know what happens next, though!

Thanks very much for allowing me to read it. I'll definitely be recommending it in my store.

The Road to Winter feels like a crossover between young adult fiction and adult fiction. It’s got the apocalyptic setting and the teen romance of the usual dystopian YA thriller, but it has the intrigue, uniqueness, and plot development of an adult novel. All ages will love this book.

Mark Smith doesn’t shy away from dark topics. When Finn helps a young girl, Rose, who was being held captive, it becomes quite clear what her captives were doing to her. It also becomes clear how important it is that Finn saves her sister Kas from that same fate.

I really loved this novel. It may have been a slow burner, and it may have taken a bit for me to warm to Finn, but in the end I grew to love the setting and the premise and I think Mark did a fantastic job of drawing the reader in. Nothing frustrates me more than an end-of-the-world novel where everything seems to work out for the protagonist/s. In The Road to Winter, not everything works out for our main characters, which makes everything seem more realistic. It makes the dangers and the antagonists seem more realistic and in turn, it made me more invested in the story.

“Something that kept me in touch with my old life. It’s dangerous, not because of anything in the water but because of what’s on the land – who might arrive in town while I’m caught up enjoying myself. But it’s a risk that’s worth taking to stay sane.”
-FINN

Mark has done a great job of establishing the secluded Australian setting. At times it feels quite claustrophobic, and this does wonders for engaging the reader. Angowrie is the small coastal town that Finn grew up in. His parents are dead and it’s just him and his dog. Even when he ventures out to try and find Kas, there’s an eerie, haunting atmosphere that envelops the novel and really draws the reader in.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of (very little!) things that I disliked about the novel. Initially, Finn just seems to be hanging around. He surfs during the day, hunts his own food and hangs out with his dog. This seems a little too good to be true. If the world really had been wiped out by a virus, wouldn’t you be motivated to find allies? To find more food? Surely rabbits aren’t always going to be around for you to capture and eat. And even when Kas and Rose come into the story, there are a few times where everything seems a little too relaxed.

Another element of the story that I found a little underdeveloped was the budding relationship between Kas and Finn. They go swimming together and their relationship suddenly blossoms with a kiss. It wasn’t built up too much prior to this so I found myself quite confused.

Despite these two things, I did really love this novel and I really want to see where Mark takes the story. I recommend this to young readers who are looking for the next dystopian/apocalyptic read for their shelves.

Finn has lived on his own amongst the meleleucas on the rugged Victorian coast since he was just fourteen years old. His best guess is that he’s survived for two years since a deadly virus (and the violence that followed) killed his parents and most of his small community. Finn and his dog Rowdy have settled into a neat routine in their isolation, surviving on trapped rabbits, abalone and veggies traded with old Ray, the only other survivor in the region. Finn and Rowdy make a great team, always finding time for a surf and (so far) staying out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage.

Enter Rose, an Afghan asylum seeker who has escaped from the enslavement of Ramage. She is desperate, sick, and needs Finn’s help to finder her sister, Kas.

The Road to Winter is a strong debut for Mark Smith, who has started his Winter dystopian series for young adults with a captivating examination of humanity. Single-sitting reads can quickly be forgotten, but the rapid narrative pace of this novel is paired with a visceral atmosphere and enough subtle hints of a dystopia frighteningly easy to imagine to keep The Road to Winter (and the smell of tea trees and wet sand) in mind for long after the final page.
Smith’s imagining of an Australia that has ‘progressed’ from offshore-‘processing’ of asylum seekers to a modern take on slavery is sadly not unimaginable, setting up a series of power dynamics and perspectives on human cruelty that strike a chord in a contemporary Australian reading. Seeing these play out through the eyes of Finn - a boy becoming a young man in the absence of the social structures that shape the adults we become - adds a dimension to the post-apocalyptic narrative that more than once had me reflecting on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Like The Road, The Road to Winter is a story of survival, vulnerability, masculinity and family. Likewise is it bleak and, at times, gruesome (not McCarthy-bleak or -gruesome, but still bleak and gruesome nonetheless). But Smith also brings a warmth and hope to his imagining of survival. Indeed isolation is not just a cruel fact of post-apocalyptic life for Finn; it also offers solace. Finn’s meditative surfing habit provides a freedom and distance from the monotony of survival.

Smith clearly has a keen understanding of the development of masculinity and manhood in the critical mid-teen years, and it shows in his creation of Finn. It would be easy to create a boy-scout/Bear Grylls hero, but Finn is a vulnerable, emotionally intelligent and compassionate young man. Likewise are the supporting cast carefully crafted characters with depth, although I must admit I was taken aback by the rapid development of Finn’s relationship with Kas (particularly from Kas’ perspective). I was also a little thrown by the addition of Willow to Finn’s motley crew, but presume she will have a significant role to play in the forthcoming sequel.

The Road to Winter is a compelling and intelligent story of survival in a bleak but beautiful Australian coastal setting. Smith’s straightforward writing style (at times reminiscent of stablemate Jock Serong - perhaps there’s something in that salty coastal air?!) is easy to read and should be appealing to the wide readership this book deserves. A great read - looking forward to the follow-up in May 2017.

This book is a great read for anyone, but would be a terrific gift for a contemporary of Finn’s. Don’t be afraid to buy this for a young adult that ‘doesn’t read’ unless they’re required to by their school curriculum - it is a page-turner and written from the perspective of a relatable young man. The Road to Winter is the perfect opportunity to get someone into reading.

It had been around two years as far as he could work out, since Finn had been on his own with just his dog Rowdy for company. He and Rowdy made a good team, and Finn’s ability to trap rabbits and catch abalone and crayfish meant they ate reasonably well. But the danger of the Wilders finding them was always there. Since the virus had killed almost everyone in his little town, including his parents, Finn knew he was better off alone. The one thing which kept him sane was the occasional surf in the nearby ocean.

The day he spotted the stranger hurrying towards him, Finn knew trouble had finally arrived in his world. And the young girl’s terror at the men who were chasing her meant his immediate decision was to help her. Ramage, leader of the Wilders was determined to get Rose and her sister Kas back into their clutches. But the girls had been separated and Rose was injured and desperate. Could Finn keep Rose in hiding long enough to escape Ramage?

With a cunning born from desperation, Finn and Rose devised various means to stay safe. But they were only kids, and the people after them were men who were also desperate. Would the two youngsters survive? And would they be able to find Kas who was more than likely lost in the bush?

Wow! Stunning! The Road to Winter is the debut novel and first in the Winter series by Australian author Mark Smith, and I absolutely loved it! Extremely well written, the setting in the Australian bush was authentic – the central characters down to earth and real. At the forefront is the fight for survival; but there is also friendship and trust. Set for a Young Adult audience, nevertheless an adult audience would enjoy this novel equally as well. (I haven’t been in the YA age group for many years!) I’m also looking forward to book #2 very much! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy to read and review.

This was a very interesting dystopian style type of book. I enjoyed the story but it was lacking in explaining what happened to create the issues that were happening. I mean yes it did explain the virus but it seem to be lacking in better explaination almost like I need to read a book before this one. Other than that I still think this was a good book to read.

This book was an excellent read. So many topics covered. Death and dying, grief, friendship, survival and preparedness, ingenuity. I was blown away. One young man and his dog against the odds. The kinship of an elderly survivor and the introduction of three young women. Family does not have to be blood. And the extent that some will go to destroy all that is sacred. When is the next book coming out?!

Interesting to read a dystopian set in Australia, and some interesting themes, though nothing to make it hugely stand out from the noise that is end of the world fiction.

Full review at attached link.