Cover Image: Wranglestone

Wranglestone

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This was an absolutely amazing LGBT+ romance set within a zombie apocalypse that I flew through.

Winter was the only season every Lake-Lander feared...

In a post-apocalyptic America, a community survives in a national park, surrounded by water that keeps the Dead at bay. But when winter comes, there's nothing to stop them from crossing the ice.

Then homebody Peter puts the camp in danger by naively allowing a stranger to come ashore and he's forced to leave the community of Wranglestone. Now he must help rancher Cooper, the boy he's always watched from afar, herd the Dead from their shores before the lake freezes over.

But as love blossoms, a dark discovery reveals the sanctuary's secret past. One that forces the pair to question everything they've ever known.

I was instantly hooked by Peter's distinctive voice and the ominous presence of the 'Dead'. The discussion Charlton provokes around 'otherness' and alienation of certain groups is so thought-provoking and timely, leading me to ponder these issues long after the final page.

The romance between Peter and Cooper felt so organic, totally shippable and completely loveable. I really appreciated how naturalised it was, their queerness wasn't their defining trait and their romance was just accepted and celebrated by those around them. It was a quiet, brilliant romance that you can't help but root for.

One of my favourite parts of the book was the superbly crafted atmosphere of impending danger. It created this sense of paranoia and claustrophobia, with the tension like a thick fog encircling Wranglestone.

Full review will be up on my blog around publication date.

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A curious concept. Post-apocalyptic world and we don’t know what happened, but people are scared of those who are different.
Our focus is on a small community who live on a lake. They look out for those they call The Restless Ones, and the only time they truly fear is winter. Winter is when the ice comes, the lake freezes and the zombies can come.
Peter, our main character, has never felt as if he fits in. Interested in sewing and other activities unsuited to this outdoorsy life, Peter harbours a secret crush on his neighbour, Cooper, who is the original outdoor hero.
When Peter fails to check ID of someone trying to come ashore, he sets in motion a quite unusual sequence of events. He comes to question everything he has been told since he was little. Nothing is quite as it seems, and the question is to what extent this can change people’s lives.
At its heart this is a romance, but there’s suggestions of a bigger story coming into play. I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to, but I did feel the latter part of the story was a little frenetic.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my review.

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This wasn't a book I'd heard of but one that I knew I had to check out as soon as I saw it. Zombies with queer romance? Hell yes!

And then I started the book. The world building was fascinating but... There was just something I couldn't get along with. The characters just annoyed me and I found the book easy to put down. I so wanted to love this book but I didn't.

Still if you're looking for zombies with strong world building check this book out. It just wasn't for me.

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Absolutely loved this thrilling, scary zombie apocalypse novel, and the m/m romance was fantastically written. The premise of this book was very unique and and truly spine chilling at points. 5 stars .

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3.5 stars!!

I couldn't put it down. It was really interesting and had a lot of themes I like to read in books. Nevertheless, it had parts in which the inner monologues of the main character Peter dragged the story, and parts where more info and insight were needed, felt a lot rushed. Things happened real fast when a little explanation would've been great.

The premises was promising. A dystopian world full of zombies and a community trained to survive the walking dead. As I said, it was pretty interesting. Sadly it felt short in a few parts with the rushing of things and some other stuff just there pretty out of the blue. Again, an explanation would've been useful.

Peter and Cooper were really adorable when they weren't whiny which luckily didn't happen often. I loved how Peter was all for good grammar, sewing, making pillows, and just having a tidy and clean house. Everyone needs a Peter in their lives. And if you're a Peter, you're amazing!!

There were things I didn't see coming and revelations that I didn't guess, which made me like the book a lot. I like coming up with theories when reading. Makes me feel like a very amateur Sherlock. Alas, I fail at my deductions most times.

Fast read, finished in a few hours, easy to read, fluent storyline even with its flaws. I sure will recommend it to fans of zombies when it's release day!

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There were a lot of things I liked about this book - namely the national park setting, the fascinating premise and the zombie apocalypse world. I loved the atmosphere present throughout the story and I think the overall world-building was executed very well. There were also some amazing scenes that delivered exactly what I wanted from a book set during a zombie apocalypse.
But, unfortunately there were a few things that meant this book fell short for me. Specifically, there was a number of occasions when the writing really threw me off balance. There were times when I had no idea what was going on, and I felt that there wasn't enough clarity or explanation (mostly during the action scenes). These scenes always seemed to feel quite jumpy and confusing, to the point where I couldn't really follow what was happening. The main romance also felt a bit too 'insta-lovey' and unbelievable for my liking, but the LGBT representation is SO important that I appreciated the romance nonetheless.
Overall, a fine read that I'm sure many will love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Tiger Group for sending me a copy for review!

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Thank you NetGalley and Little Tiger Group for providing me with a copy for review. 

Wranglestone is about a post-apocalyptic community hiding out and protecting themselves from the rest of the world that has been overtaken with the living dead. The main character, Peter, is a misfit in this community and is called into question when his actions endanger the safety they have cut out for themselves in this small and selective sanctuary surrounded by a lake.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book when I first read the description. I still love post-apocalyptic stories and dystopians, even if it is a well used plot point, and I thought this one sounded really interesting. I don't think I've read a book that features zombies before, besides maybe some iZombie comic books, so I was excited to read a book that featured them for the first time. I was also particularly excited to read it because it features an LGBT+ romance at the centre of the story which I always love.

It was quite a quick read and the world building was very good. I could really see this community and the panicked atmosphere that the world would force upon the sanctuary. However, I felt that it was a little slow at points and I found I didn't really care about the characters as much as I had hoped I would. I will be honest, I did consider DNFing the book at points, but I made it through and I'm glad that I did in the end.

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While I don't think this book was for me, I think it will be perfect for those looking for an intense zombie apocalypse story. I requested this because I've been consuming a lot of similar media in the form of TV shows, but I don't think it's something I'm interested in reading.

That said, the premise of this is absolutely fascinating. A community that live on a lake fear winter each year because that is when the lake freezes over and the zombies can cross over. And the dead were very creepy, the way it was described that they just appeared on the shore and stared sent shivers down my spine. I think really good attention was paid to the way the younger characters who were raised on the islands speak; they don't have proper schooling so they talk less maturely and nuanced than the adults who remember the time before the apocalypse. However, this was a bit challenging for me personally to get used to at first as we are following Peter, who speaks this way.

This novel also stars a male/male romance which is wonderful to see in this genre and I think this will really draw people into the book. This definitely has potential to be someone's new favourite book, just not mine.

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Great addition to YA fiction , but absolutely suitable for all readers. A very good take on the Zombie genre, but with great twists and turns. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough.

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3.5 This was a really interesting concept and I loved the atmosphere created by writing and the situation that the characters are in, there were times that I found pretty creepy (and not just the creepy old men that kept popping up). Would I survive this zombie ridden world? Nope!
It took me awhile to get used to the dialogue at first, some of the characters talked strangely but either they stopped or I just got used to it.
Peter was so sweet, he seemed to be the only one left who sees the good in other people, though this gets him in to trouble sometimes, his romance with Cooper started off very cute (though a little creepy when you find out how obsessed he has been with Peter) and I really enjoyed it in the beginning but it moved a bit too fast for me, I was enjoying the awkward teenage crushing in the beginning. Cooper was awesome, he reminded me of Daryl from Walking Dead, I liked how he stuck up for Peter even against his own father and you could tell that he really cared about him.
I didn't figure out the secret of Wanglestone at all before the reveal. The question of who the real monsters are isn't that unique a concept for these types of stories but I thought it was done particularly well here. If you would like a cute romance set in a well done zombie story, this is the one for you.

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This was a great read. Who wouldn't want to read post apocalypse zombie novel with a queer romance?

Let's start with the Charcaters. There are a number of Charcaters in this book and some I liked and some I really didn't. Anyway I will focus on the main two Charcaters.

Peter - at the beginning Peter is sheltered from the restless ones (aka zombies) and doesn't really leave the lake. He's adorable and a little naive about the world. He also has a crush on Cooper but is too scared to do anything. We get to see Peter as he realises things about the dead, about the camp and Cooper.

Cooper - is adorable and a favourite of mine. He also has a crush on Peter and doesn't really know how to go about asking him out. He wrangles the dead and makes sure they stay away from the lake. He also saves Peter on occasion.

The book is set on Lake Wranglestone and the book includes a map which I liked. The people use boats to get around and live houses with stilts and the lake keeps people out. The lake is supposedly a safe zone for the living survivors but as you read on you realise the Lake isn't all that it seems. The plot was great and it had me hooked. The atmosphere is amazing and creepy which really helps build the tension in the book and I could feel that something bad was going to happen. I will say that towards the end the pacing felt a little off and everything seemed to happen really quickly which made it feel a little rushed. I aLao found certain parts to be a little predictable but I won't say too much about it because spoilers.

The romance in this is adorable. I really liked the build up of the relationship between Peter and Cooper. I also loved the little areas where they talked about how long they have liked each other and the interactions between them made me smile.

Overall I would recommend this book and I really enjoyed reading it.

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