The End of the World Survivors Club

I liked the first book and I like this follow up. Neither book stuck with me for awhile afterwards like a GREAT book or a GREAT movie. But they were enjoyable and I wanted to keep reading them. I get the vibe it was set up for a 3rd book.The author does a great job of creating an interesting and seemingly realistic world. I am definitely going to read the 3rd if it comes.

Ended up being a quick read for me after falling in love with the first book! Great page turner.

This book started where the book 1 ended. An apocalypse caused by a viral outbreak forced a husband and wife to separate out.The husband was left back, and the wife had to travel to another land by sea. Book 1 dealt with the husband’s story who was initially whiny and weak but slowly overcame the hurdles and became stronger over the pages. He wanted nothing more but to get to his wife, so he started running.This book dealt with the wife’s story, about how she managed to survive with her kids and an absent husband. When suddenly the kids are taken, and it was up to Beth to get them back.My first book by Adrian J. Walker, and I was amazed at the swift pace this book moved. It started with a bang and never stopped its flow. Beth’s desperation to get to her children caused fear to lodge in my throat. I could only marvel at the author’s writing which showed me how a mother clawed and fought against all obstacles to get her children.Every page felt like a race against time in a world, which seemed harsh and unforgiving, filled with more water than before and a virus deadlier than before. The worldbuilding of a different but the same land made me look at the landscapes with a different perspective.There were moments I had to bite my lips to hold back a gasp. Beth had me firmly on her side, supporting her, egging her on. I so desperately wanted her to find her kids. Emotions were felt solely via Beth, to her as I connected, I fell deeper into the darkness of the story with its deceptive people.The book felt a bit long and needed to be made edgier. Nonetheless, action was nonstop almost around every corner, though Ed reached her in this book, it was to Beth that my eyes followed.A different, exciting read, for sure.

Beth has managed thus far without her (mostly) useless husband, but when her children are taken from her she'll need friends old and new to help her cross a new, terrifying ocean to track them down.It's a long time since I read the End of the World Runner's Club and, to be honest, I didn't remember all the characters or the exact sequence of events. But I remembered the basics, the inventive apocalypse I haven't seen anywhere else, and that unnerving, open ending. That at least is dealt with relatively quickly in this, what I'm assuming is the central novel of a trilogy. Things happen fast in this novel, with little down time.I was a little surprised at how quickly everyone picked up how to sail - from what I know it's a complicated hobby with a lot to go wrong - but I understand that they didn't have much else to concentrate on and that when they need to people can learn very quickly. I'm looking forward to the possible third book to tie up those last couple of loose ends.

While nothing in this book plums the depths of horror and philosophical angst that The End Of The World Running Club excelled in, it's a reasonably enjoyable read. Perhaps its downfall was relying on repeatedly implausible fortuitous coincidences, but it's still possible to engage with the characters and want to know what happens next. Personally, though, I preferred the open-ended nature of its precursors finale where nothing was neatly tired up, an aspect of the books realism that was sadly lacking in this one... -irk-

I wanted to love this as much as The Running Club, but I didn't. To be fair, I've recommended The End of the World Running Club to everyone I know, whether they wanted me to or not. And it was great to have some loose ends tied up (although it's probably worth re-reading the first one). But it just wasn't as well written - although I had a few sleepless nights as it's even more terrifying in parts.

Things looked hopeful. An end of days book which wasn't American. Better still the leads were Scottish. This should give the book something a bit different. Well it was different just not in a good way. Beth was a horrible woman who began by hating her kids and being happy to pawn them off to a stranger. Having lost the kids she became Supermum and a right pain in the area pursuing them. The pursuit was a joke and completely unbelievable. Coincidence followed coincidence . The plot was thinner than a post apocalyptic dug and the other characters unbelievable. Bryce was like Hot Shot Hamish , large Highland and not real. I won't be back to see how they cope in the New World

I loved 'The End of the World running club', and the sequel did not disappoint. The action is well-paced, there are great moments of tension and drama as Beth, Ed's wife, narrates her own nightmare journey through the post-apocalyptic world Walker has created. While the narrative follows on from the end of the previous book, Beth's story also overlays Ed's. In the first book, Walker lays bare Ed's faults and failings as a father and a husband, and his slow attempt at redemption; here, we see Beth's perspective, her own frustrations at Ed's actions and her own struggles to deal with being a parent and a wife. As ever the literal and the metaphorical journeys run side by side, and Walker writes well about the conflicts and difficulties in both.

Without spoiling for these still to read, the story continues from a different character's perspective. Just as enthralling as the first but I found it less brainwashingly persuasive, I managed to keep some detachment and a bit of perspective, whilst thoroughly enjoying the story. In the first book, I had to keep looking up and reminding myself that the world was still ass it should be.