Review – World Departed by Sarah Lyons Fleming

World Departed by Sarah Lyons Fleming
Series: The Cascadia Series #1
Publisher: Amazon.com Services LLC
Publication Date: February 27, 2020
Date Read: March 8, 2020
Length: 782 pages
Source: Kindle Unlimited
★★★★★

In the zombie apocalypse, your worst enemy may be yourself.

From the Until the End of the World and City Series universe comes the story of the virus on the West Coast. Where the end of the world is only the beginning…

Rose Winter has enough problems. With a marriage going down the tubes and a dreaded anniversary party on the horizon, the last thing she needs is the zombie apocalypse. She wanted to get drunk and sing karaoke, not murder her undead neighbors. It’s clear the party’s over, however, and now Rose has more problems—a missing husband, an overbearing houseguest, and keeping her family alive.

Tom Jensen has inflexible rules. Rule number one? Don’t deviate from the plan. But when his life is overturned in the space of minutes, his plans die along with everything else. The world is finished, the future is uncertain, and survival means living in the last place he’d planned to be. Maybe his rules weren’t meant to be broken, but if he can’t change his tune, he risks losing the one thing he has left—his daughter.

Craig Matthews has a mission: get to Oregon. Doable, maybe, if he could bring himself to leave his apartment. With his food and water near gone and death closer than ever, a chance encounter may lead to finding his friends—if he can first find his courage.

Unfortunately, the new world doesn’t always mean leaving old problems behind, and as the West Coast succumbs to the virus, the survivors face more than the undead—they face themselves. But in an existence where fences offer dubious safety and zombies certain danger, people may save you in more ways than one.

Amazon

I loved this book!  There are a handful of authors that I will drop everything when she releases a new book so that I can immediately start reading it.  Sarah Lyons Fleming has made her way onto that list of authors.  I knew that a book would be coming out soon but I wasn’t exactly sure when it would be.  Once I saw that this book was available, I couldn’t download it fast enough.  Let’s just say that my expectations were high.  This book was even better than I could have hoped it would be.  I feel like I have been on a journey with these characters and I loved every moment of it.

It is no secret that I love a well-told zombie story.   I think that this is a book that could appeal to readers who wouldn’t consider themselves to be fans of zombie apocalyptic fiction.  That’s because this book is all about the characters.  Sarah Lyons Fleming can write characters that work their way into your heart and leave you feeling like they are family.  This is really a character-driven story.  Sure, those characters get the chance to stab zombies in the eye from time to time but the focus is really on how this group of people can band together to survive the worst-case scenario.  This book is set in the same world as the Until the End of the World and City Series but it is set on the west coast and features a brand new cast of characters.  This is a great place for readers new to Sarah Lyons Fleming’s work to jump in since it is the start of a brand new series. 

I liked the fact that this book was told from multiple points of view.  Rose is the mother of two young adult children who home from college when tragedy struck.  She was set to host an anniversary party so her dad and best friend are also around, despite the fact her husband is missing.  Clara is a college student who happens to be best friends with Rose’s daughter, Holly.  She came home from school when her dad asked her to because he was worried about the virus and her whole world has fallen apart.  Tom is Rose’s difficult neighbor and Clara’s father.  He has been through a lot and has a really hard time dealing with everything happening but he will do whatever it takes to keep Clara safe.   Craig is one of Rose’s best friends but he didn’t make it to the party and is stuck miles away.  He will have to find the strength he doesn’t know he has to make to Oregon. 

I loved seeing the group adjust to their changing situation.  I loved seeing them work together to put ideas into place and do what was needed to help the group.  These people felt so real and I really enjoyed seeing how compassionate they were to others.  I cheered for them when things were going well and feared for them when situations were less than ideal.  I was able to relate to these characters and found myself wondering if I would have handled certain situations in the same way they did. 

I would highly recommend this book to others.  This was a book that was almost impossible to put down even though I had to since life will not wait for me to read a book that is almost 800 pages long.  This is one of those books that I will be reading again and already have plans to add the audiobook to my personal library once it is available.  I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work!

About the Author – Sarah Lyons Fleming

I’m a Laura Ingalls devotee, wannabe prepper and lover of anything pre-apocalyptic, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic—-or anything in between. Add in some humor and romance, and I’m in heaven.

Besides an unhealthy obsession with home-canned food and Bug Out Bag equipment, I love books, making artsy stuff and laughing my arse off. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, I now live in Oregon with my family and, in my opinion, not nearly enough supplies for the zombie apocalypse. But I’m working on it.

Author Link:  Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Related Posts