Book 2 is here and most of the characters from book 1 have returned. Those missing weren’t particularly interesting in my opinion, and one in particular, just wasn’t necessary given the events. Our college friends are here though, each off on their own adventures this time. We also see the return of our oddball divorcee, though Maggie doesn’t make an appearance. A few new characters (or at least ones I didn’t remember) appear as well.
As one of the characters notes in the book, the apocalypse is what happens to you, so with that line of reasoning, the title fits. In the bigger picture however, this was more like a local natural disaster due to a series of unfortunate events. This time, the characters are trying to make their way home or to safety after fires break out all over California. More of a “day in the life” tale for most vs actual survival drama, but there are a few deaths. One character’s death early on makes me think the author just doesn’t like the character and plans to off them in creative ways each book. I’m OK with that as I don’t particularly like them either :p
While I won’t spoil it, there was a death that I felt was just largely unnecessary — almost as if the author knew there wasn’t enough drama in the book (and the characters are all disposable given the series) so wanted to turn it up a notch.
Though there were hints of a broader, overall reasoning or motive behind the disaster (and even some vague references to the other books), nothing ever came of them, which is unfortunate. The tidbits of their lives dropped in books 1 and 2 show that many of these characters have so much to explore as well. So, while I’ve enjoyed both of these tales for the adventures they bring, I really feel the author is leaving something on the table by not giving us “more”.
Still, it was an enjoyable listen with excellent narration.
This audiobook was provided to me free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review.