TheREDBooks

I read this book because a bunch of YouTubers I watch had been talking about it. What I learned from them was that it was a zombie apocalypse novel about a boy named Michael who protects his five-year-old brother from the trauma of the apocalypse by pretending that it is all a game. I loved that part of the story--you could really feel how much Michael loved his brother. I also loved the portrayal of Patrick's mental illness. It's rare to see a book in this genre with mentally ill characters and, as someone who works with mentally ill children, I found it fascinating to read. There were some moments in the story where the narrative dipped into a stream-of-consciousness style and that confused me a bit, but other than that, I genuinely loved this book. There were all sorts of twists and turns, and I often found myself wondering how the characters were going to get out of the terrible situations in which they found themselved.