I bring to you today, a review of Apocalipstick by Lisa Acerbo as part of her blog tour. Read the review down below, and don't forget to enter the giveaway down at the very bottom. You could win one of two eBook copies of Apocalipstick
Author: Lisa Acerbo
Published: August 1st, 2013
Publisher: Eternal Press
Word Count: 67,000
Genre: Horror Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Contains non-graphic zombie gore
Recommended Age: 15+
Synopsis
Jenna should be having the time of her life at college. Instead, her only desire is survival. She lives in a world gone insane after a virus kills most of the population. Being alive after the apocalypse is bad, but when the undead return, hungry for humans, times turn darker. For Jenna and a small group of survivors, the goal is to reach the High Point Inn. At the inn, Jenna develops feelings for Caleb, who, while exotic and intoxicating, is not quite human. Will this new utopia last?
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I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Apocalipstick from the author in exchange for an honest review, so that is what I will be doing today for my stop on her blog tour. My review will take the usual format, and for those of you who don't know, it follows a format like this: the good, the mediocre, the ugly, and a end summary. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible while still keeping it informative. I do not include ratings in my reviews.
The Good:
What I really enjoyed about this book was its take on vampires. I know they weren't technically vampires, but they were compared to them, and I liked the take on them. Acerbo brought a new spin on how they were created and I liked that they weren't made from a spell or anything magical as in most books/movies. I liked that the cause was a completely natural mutation due to the survival of a deadly disease. While biologically impossible, fictionally, it was interesting and fun to read about.
The Mediocre:
The romance in Apocalipstick was cliche and cheesy, with love triangles and all. I'll be honest--I can't stand love triangles, and while the one here might not have been totally traditional or lasted the whole book like most do, it was still hard for me to read through. Much of the romance was done in ways that I swear I'd read before, not in a plagiarizing way, but more in a 'I'm not really sure how to write this, so I'm going to pick how by reading everyone else's work.' I was able to look past the cheesy and cliche romance and the love triangle, though, due to my love of the chemistry between the characters with the relationships. Jenna and Caleb, though a little cheesy together, had chemistry that set them apart, and I really enjoyed them as separate characters and as a couple.
The Bad:
I felt that this book lacked an overall problem. Yes, there was the apocalypse, but that didn't get solved at the end, so that couldn't be this book's overall problem. One of the main problems for the book that lead to the climax that I could see wasn't introduced until a little over halfway through the book, so while I think it was the main problem (as it was the conflict that caused the climax) the book lacked direction for the first half.
Second, I cannot begin to describe to you how much I intensely disliked the ending. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. I don't want you guys not to read it. But seriously, there were two problems with the ending. The first part of it where she … could see better … was too predictable. I saw it coming from fifty pages away that it was going to happen to her, although based on the rest of the book and the explanations of the others, the ending with Jenna does not make any logical sense. Beyond that, there is a part in the end where she passes out. That, and the last sentence, left me with too much confusion. If there's a second one, then some curiosity is good because it'll make you want to read the second one. However, the confusion I was left with in reading the end wasn't curiosity; it was just confusion.
Summary:
Basically, it was a good book. It had its flaws. Despite the extensive grammar errors, the book itself was good. It lacked direction for about the first half, which left me wondering what was really the problem and what they were doing to solve this non-existent problem, but once the main problem made it into the picture, I was able to get into the book much better. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry between characters, though the romance was a little cheesy and cliché. Finally, the ending was predictable, yet confusing, and probably should have explained more. It closed off all the other ends that I could think of, but left the reader (me) wondering what the heck had just happened. I enjoyed reading Apocalipstick, and would like to thank Lisa Acerbo for sending me a copy for review. Thanks, Lisa!
The Good:
What I really enjoyed about this book was its take on vampires. I know they weren't technically vampires, but they were compared to them, and I liked the take on them. Acerbo brought a new spin on how they were created and I liked that they weren't made from a spell or anything magical as in most books/movies. I liked that the cause was a completely natural mutation due to the survival of a deadly disease. While biologically impossible, fictionally, it was interesting and fun to read about.
The Mediocre:
The romance in Apocalipstick was cliche and cheesy, with love triangles and all. I'll be honest--I can't stand love triangles, and while the one here might not have been totally traditional or lasted the whole book like most do, it was still hard for me to read through. Much of the romance was done in ways that I swear I'd read before, not in a plagiarizing way, but more in a 'I'm not really sure how to write this, so I'm going to pick how by reading everyone else's work.' I was able to look past the cheesy and cliche romance and the love triangle, though, due to my love of the chemistry between the characters with the relationships. Jenna and Caleb, though a little cheesy together, had chemistry that set them apart, and I really enjoyed them as separate characters and as a couple.
The Bad:
I felt that this book lacked an overall problem. Yes, there was the apocalypse, but that didn't get solved at the end, so that couldn't be this book's overall problem. One of the main problems for the book that lead to the climax that I could see wasn't introduced until a little over halfway through the book, so while I think it was the main problem (as it was the conflict that caused the climax) the book lacked direction for the first half.
Second, I cannot begin to describe to you how much I intensely disliked the ending. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. I don't want you guys not to read it. But seriously, there were two problems with the ending. The first part of it where she … could see better … was too predictable. I saw it coming from fifty pages away that it was going to happen to her, although based on the rest of the book and the explanations of the others, the ending with Jenna does not make any logical sense. Beyond that, there is a part in the end where she passes out. That, and the last sentence, left me with too much confusion. If there's a second one, then some curiosity is good because it'll make you want to read the second one. However, the confusion I was left with in reading the end wasn't curiosity; it was just confusion.
Summary:
Basically, it was a good book. It had its flaws. Despite the extensive grammar errors, the book itself was good. It lacked direction for about the first half, which left me wondering what was really the problem and what they were doing to solve this non-existent problem, but once the main problem made it into the picture, I was able to get into the book much better. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry between characters, though the romance was a little cheesy and cliché. Finally, the ending was predictable, yet confusing, and probably should have explained more. It closed off all the other ends that I could think of, but left the reader (me) wondering what the heck had just happened. I enjoyed reading Apocalipstick, and would like to thank Lisa Acerbo for sending me a copy for review. Thanks, Lisa!
About the Author:
Born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, Lisa Acerbo has lived in Trumbull, Connecticut since 2001. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in English Education and receiving a Master’s degree in Environmental Education from Southern Connecticut State University, she worked in a variety of educational positions. Presently, Lisa works as a high school teacher and adjunct faculty for the University of Phoenix.
Lisa always loved to write and worked as an intern for the Connecticut Post when completing her degree at Southern Connecticut State University. In addition to the Connecticut Post, her articles appeared in the Trumbull Patch and Hollywood Scriptwriter. She occasionally dabbles in poetry and her poetry won first place in the Trumbull Arts Festival Literary Competition.
Lisa lives with her husband, Frank, two daughters, Dominique and Jessica, plus three cats and two horses.
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Born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, Lisa Acerbo has lived in Trumbull, Connecticut since 2001. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in English Education and receiving a Master’s degree in Environmental Education from Southern Connecticut State University, she worked in a variety of educational positions. Presently, Lisa works as a high school teacher and adjunct faculty for the University of Phoenix.
Lisa always loved to write and worked as an intern for the Connecticut Post when completing her degree at Southern Connecticut State University. In addition to the Connecticut Post, her articles appeared in the Trumbull Patch and Hollywood Scriptwriter. She occasionally dabbles in poetry and her poetry won first place in the Trumbull Arts Festival Literary Competition.
Lisa lives with her husband, Frank, two daughters, Dominique and Jessica, plus three cats and two horses.
Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website