Days of Love and Blood - R.S Carter

Description
A post-apocalyptic zombie book for women.

Without the zombies.

Worse than zombies.
The Demon Virus spreads worldwide in a matter of days leaving nothing but a few uninfected people in its path along with disease-riddled survivors who possess homicidal tendencies.

Carson drives across the country, back to her parents’ farm, with her son Ronan to begin a new life in a post-apocalyptic world. There she discovers more uninfected people like herself and attempts to build new relationships after the devastating loss of her husband.

Two men distract Carson from her grief, each possessing different characteristics that she found, loved and needed in her husband. Cooper has a bad attitude but gives Carson the space she needs with his self-sufficient, independent ways. Ben panders after her but exhibits a kindness she appreciates. Neither of them embody all of which she lost in her husband’s death.

The need for human interaction intertwines with the daily struggle of tribulation, remorse and adjustment, revolving around the constant battles between the uninfected and the last remaining homicidal maniacs.Days of Love and Blood is a story which examines the bonds created between people in times of change with an unexpected shocking end that will have you questioning your own threshold for pain.


My Opinion
I wasn't sure to expect from this book as I'm not really too keen on zombies, however the fact that this is a zombie book aimed at women intrigued me into how the author could differ the plot and adapt it to suit the audience. I must admit that R.S Carter did surprise me with this novel and it definitely achieved what it stated.

I liked how the book wasn't focused on the zombie apocalypse but rather it was in the background and more of the driving force for Carson's actions. I've read a few zombie books that go into huge amounts of detail about how they were created and about a small group trying to survive. Although this book was about surviving the story was based more around Carson's desire to protect her son rather than the zombies. Carter gave enough information for the reader to understand what had happened to the human race but it wasn't the main focus and overpowering. As well as this Carson's emotions where developed incredibly well throughout.

I liked the way every chapter started with a flashback of Carson's previous life with her deceased husband. It gave extra insight into the story and helped engage the reader even more. At times though a few did confuse me. Some seemed slightly random and didn't give as much detail as I would have liked so I could make sense out of what was happening.

This book keeps you on your toes with many twists, especially at the end. I didn't think the story would take the path it did and I'm really not sure what to make of the last few chapters. The book had hinted at things all the way through but the ending did become darker than the rest of the book and although I normally like dark novels it became a bit to graphic for my tastes as I wasn't too keen on the subject matter. As well as this the ending was slightly predictable as I find the same kind of things happen in the end of zombie novels, however it did tie everything up and didn't feel rushed so left the reader with a sense of resolve.

Overall this succeeded in being a zombie book for women. It was nice to read a book from this genre where the zombies weren't the main focus and the characters were developed well. I wasn't too keen on the last few chapters but that purely down to personal tastes in subject and would recommend this book as it is an interesting read. I would not recommend it to a younger audience though due to the language and some content.