Okay, so "Joan of the Apocalypse" by Chloe Lukas? It was... a lot. Like, in a chaotic, wild kind of way. It's a zombie apocalypse, but not your typical grim one. The main character, Joan, is this struggling actress who's super self-absorbed, and she ends up trapped in an underground vault during a zombie outbreak while at this cringe-y glam metal band listening party. Seriously.
What I thought was cool was how it's a really different take on the zombie genre. It's supposed to be this dark horror comedy, and it definitely leans into the absurdity. There are parts that are genuinely funny, and I laughed out loud quite a few times. But also, Joan is a character you might either love or totally want to shake. She's definitely an anti-heroine. So, if you're looking for something that's fast-paced, action-packed, and doesn't take itself too seriously—and you're fine with a main character who's, well, a lot—then this could be your thing. It's a pretty wild ride.

Joan of Apocalypse is pure chaos in the best, most batshit way possible. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did, but here we are. The cover drew me in (gorgeous, 10/10), and I stayed for the absolute trainwreck that is Joan.

Joan is a failing actress with a deadbeat boyfriend, finally landing a callback for her dream role… right as the zombie apocalypse hits. What follows is explosions, car chases, gore, Hollywood satire, and a lot of yelling. She teams up with Ryan, and together they try to survive long enough to get her to that audition because what’s more important than your big break? Certainly not zombies.

Let me be clear: Joan is insufferable. I genuinely couldn’t tell if I wanted to throttle her or give her a standing ovation. She's awful and hilarious and says the most ridiculous things. The humor in this book is so on point. Think Zombieland meets dark romcom energy.

The plot is fast, wild, and unhinged in all the right ways. I couldn’t put it down. The twists were actually shocking, and Joan’s choices had me audibly saying “what the fuck” multiple times.

My only gripe? The ending/epilogue. I didn’t love it, and I really could have done without the two-year time skip.

However, if you’re looking for something over-the-top, fast paced and fun, this book is a blast. Huge thanks to Chloe Lukas and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a really funny spin on a girl-ocalypse and throw in the zombies and you have a really good book on your hand. It was funny and there were some lines that made me laugh out loud.

This was some true zombie satire with a FMC with a heart if gold. I really liked being in her thoughts!

I think I'm in the minority here but I really liked this. I thought it was funny and lighthearted with a great mix of gore and violence. I don't think people realize that this is supposed to be satire. This book is supposed to be corny and the fmc is supposed to be annoying and unlikable that's the whole point! I honestly adored this and of I could get a physical copy to shove in everyone's face I would!

I did not like the female main character. I had hopes for the story cause it has an unique story but the FMC was a big no for me

I really wanted to have fun with this but I just rolled my eyes the entire time and decidedly did not have fun. I loved the idea, the execution just didn’t work for me personally, as evidenced by the fact it took me forever to read this

It was clear from the title that this was angling for a comic take on a zombie apocalypse, and from the minute we meet our protagonist Joan, the locus of the satire was obvious. Joan is an actress in Hollywood, constantly auditioning and getting very little response. At the start of this book she is up for a small role of a victim, one line, but she milks it for all it is worth. She has a rubbish boyfriend and initially seems rather engaged with life. But once she is invited to an album launch party, and the zombie virus starts to spread, nearly all of her redeeming qualities seem to vanish.

I don't have a problem with a despicable protagonist, or even a self-centred one. But Lukas draws Joan as such a shallow, vapid egoist that stubbornly resists any opportunity for character growth that she genuinely becomes painful to read. This is broadly the point, to show how self-obsessed, influencer culture is resistant to any form of change, but it doesn't even feel realistic in the context of her experiences, she is aided in her survival by a man who she fancies and she still seems to belive the regular rules of dating apply in a constant survival scenario. The same is true of her audition callback, as written, she may be shallow, but doesn't appear dumb enough to still believe that her callback will happen in a zombie apocalypse. This undermines the good stuff here (its pleasantly grisly in places and some of the Hollywood satire hits) and makes it a less fun read than it should be.

This was ridiculous, hilarious, and the perfect slump buster. Being in her Joan’s head was pretty fun

I have a lot, and I mean a lot of mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, it is quirky and zombieriffic, and full of the apocalypse fun I love. On the other, Joan is the most grating, mind-numbingly awful character I have ever read about and the only reason I finished the book is because I was really, really hoping she'd be eaten by zombies.

The Good:

It's a fast-paced, quick read, and it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. I like that! The apocalypse itself started out very promising- Joan was with this awful boyfriend at a hilariously bad wayyy-past-their-prime hair band show. I mean how can you not love that, right? And of course, the action is there because, hello, zombies. I did enjoy the racing through Los Angeles, and the idea of a struggling actress worrying about her audition in the midst of the thing. I even liked the dude she was running with. But...

The Bad:

Okay, I lied a little, I also wanted to finish in hopes for some tiny bit of character growth from Joan. Or the zombie devouring, honestly I was fine with either. But alas, friends. She had no personality, just vapid awfulness. She was just a bad, bad person, and for no reason that I could discern. None of her decisions made a lick of sense either, so not only was she a crappy person, she was a stupid one to boot. It is just so hard reading a book where the main character is infuriating at every single turn, and you can't even pinpoint a reason. In fairness to the author, I am starting to think that is how a large majority of society is as well, but I also strongly dislike our real-life dystopian nightmare, so. My ruling stands.

Bottom Line: Fun premise and fast-paced, I just hated Joan so much that it was hard to stay invested.

DNF at 20%. I understand what this book was going for for with its very particular sense of humor, but it was a bit too insufferable for me. It is really hard to read an unlikable narrator, and I didn’t love how it was done in this context. I couldn’t motivate myself to keep up with this one. It was an interesting premise, but I didn’t like the execution.

The cover and description got me. This is a wild romp in zombie satire. The main character, Joan, is delusional, narcissistic, and frightening in a hilarious and charming way. I really loved how she was written and laughed often.

Whats keeping this from four or more stars, is the repetitive middle. There was too much of the same action sequences that turned a unique novel, boring. I was really into the first 25% and the last 30% and if the middle could have been tightened up, it would have a higher rating from me. The gold is in Joan's wild and insane head and if we got more slow moments with her, this would have been a knockout.

Thank you Netgalley and Chloe Lukas for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely loved the concept of this book. I just felt like it fell flat for me.
However, this is definitely a unique, comedic apocalyptic story, and I would recommend it to people who like movies like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead.

2.5/5 stars

I wanted to love this but I just really, really did not. I was sucked in by the cover and description, but this story failed in excecution for me. The pacing was completely inconsistent, and the writing lacked any sort of nuance. I also despised every single character, and the description of Bernie is concerning if the author herself is not Jewish. I would not have finished this book if it wasn't an ARC.

To compare this book to Fleabag and Shaun of the dead is WILD imho. I adored Fleabag and I felt like it was a complete bait-and-switch to compare this 2D story with a show that is full of 3D, complicated, lovable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for ARC in exchange for my honest thought and opinions.

I honestly really loved this book for all that it was. I didn't know what it was going to be about going into it and I loved every bit of it. The insufferable main character was probably my favorite part because she's genuinely a terrible person and doesn't change which I thought made the story unique. It was really fast paced so there was never a dull moment. The only problems that I had were the ending which fell a little flat for me, it was a bit repetitive at times, and the fight scenes did get a bit excessive at points.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me an early copy of this book!

DNF at 25%

I love a zombie apocalypse story but unfortunately this one just wasn't right for me. The main character, Joan, was rather unbearable and the humour didn't land for me at all. Instead of funny I found it all a bit grating and over-the-top. I loved the idea, but the execution unfortunately didn't work for me, however I can see why others would enjoy this story.

** with thanks to the author and the publisher who provided a free copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

I really wanted to love this one. The cover is amazing and i am a sucker for zombie apocalypse books.

But i really struggled. It was refreshing, different but Joan was insufferable and while it was most likely on purpose, i couldn’t find her funny.

Entertaining but not memorable

This was a fresh and dark humor filled take on one of my absolute favorite genre, zombies! This was more action-packed than I expected. I pictured Chappell Roan as the MC, very confident and badass. I was entertained the whole way through. Love the cover as well.

Thank you NetGalley & Chloe Lukas for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joan of Apocalypse is a story following the craziest heroine ever, the weirdest apocalypse and a love story you'll never quite understand.

I... don't even know where to start with this book. Joan is insufferable at every single part of the book, but in some ways, that's refreshing. I love apocalypse novels, and the heroine is always so tough and perfect and cool. Joan is none of those things, and I guess it's kind of admirable that she just is herself, overt narcissism and all.

With that said, this book is probably not for everyone. It is a parody with a lot of bizarre moments that will leave you somewhere between "what is she doing?" and "WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?" It was fun, though, and I do recommend it for anyone into comedy-apocalypse stories.

1 star

Oh, i didn't like this one at all. The heroine is one of the most annoying self-centered girls I've ever read about. She was awful from start to finish. The number of times I rolled my eyes and just wanted to banged my head to the wall... countless!
This had everything to be amazing, but the execution was not it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.