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    First Days
    First Days
    First Days
    Audiobook9 hours

    First Days

    Written by C. L. Stone

    Narrated by Natalie Eaton

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From USA TODAY Bestselling Author, C. L. Stone, read First Days, the second book in The Academy Ghost Bird Series.

    Sang Sorenson used to be the invisible girl in class. As a new student to Ashley Waters High School, Sang hopes that her new friends will be the change she's been craving and will make fitting in a breeze. But Academy students aren't there to take it easy. The high school is overcrowded and rife with violence. When fights begin, Sang will uncover the true reason the boys traded in their private school life for a public one. This year, Sang will no longer be invisible. This year, Sang is a target. The principal and vice principal are hot to take Sang down, and her own mother is determined to entrap Sang forever in her belief that the safest place to be is in the shadows. Despite this, Nathan, Luke, Kota, North, Silas, Victor, and Gabriel will discover Sang's unyielding loyalty. And they will sorely need it. The Academy, supremely influential.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateAug 22, 2017
    ISBN9781543615548
    First Days
    Author

    C. L. Stone

    C. L. Stone likes :chocolate_bar: and #findingburiedtreasure. Her books are about :revolving_hearts: and @dark_themes and #chocolatechippancakes. IF LOTS OF BOOK BOYFRIENDS SCARE YOU…RUN. RUN NOW. You can email her at clstone@arcatopublishing.com

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    Reviews for First Days

    4/5

    247 ratings26 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed the zombie story...I just didn't like the character of Jenni. Her jealousy of Katies friendship with others and the way she pouted about things just got on my nerves. I'll still read the rest of the series though.
    • 4/5
      The First Days (As the World Dies, #1) Ever since reading Feed by Mira Grant I have been strangely drawn to zombie fiction. (Thank you Wendy, Maja, and Michelle) This is especially strange considering that I'm usually pretty squeamish and blood and guts fiction has never been my thing. While I'm still not a fan of the gore, for some reason, I seem to enjoy stories about how people survive in a world gone completely insane. The First Days certainly fits in that category with a sizable helping of the gory bits included. The First Days begins by traumatizing the reader into a state of frozen terror by describing how a woman is watching her 3 year old's bloody fingers scrabbling under the door in an attempt to get to her and goes on to explain how the woman had earlier walked in on her husband consuming the child in his crib and she wonders how there was enough left of him to make it downstairs since her husband has always been known to have a big appetite. With such an insane beginning, I was repulsed by the story and also intrigued with where this author could possibly go from there. While I don't believe The First Days had the emotional impact of Feed, it definitely held my interest from start to finish. The rest of the book didn't exactly fulfill the promise of that first chapter, but there was no shortage of zombie action either. The fast moving plot and well written female characters made up for the fact that the male characters, other than Jenni's stepson Jason, were pretty meh. I also felt like there were a lot of unnecessary explanations about Katie's sexuality. Jenni and Katie's weird bond was fascinating but the stand-out character for me was Narit, who fascinated me for some reason. The First Days is a blood soaked crazy look at how chaotic a zombie apocalypse can be. I absolutely enjoyed this from beginning to end and am looking forward to reading the second in the series.
    • 5/5
      Story and narrative was spot on love the characters next book here I come
    • 1/5
      There doesn't seem to be a lot left to cover in zombie fiction, and this novel does an excellent job of communicating just how true that is. What appeared to have the potential to be a fairly-entertaining, however formulaic, zombie story quickly proved itself to be a total flop. Some action scenes make the reading quicker and less painful, but 80% of the book is borders on torture.The story follows two survivors of the initial zombie outbreak in Texas, fleeing from the city into the country in an attempt to escape the hoards. A woman who just lost her wife (prepare yourself, as 1/3rd of this book will be about her sexuality) rescues another who barely escaped her zombified abusive husband and children. Together they encounter other survivors and attempt to figure out a rough existence in a drastically changed world. As mentioned, the pace picks up during well-choreographed fight scenes, but these still offer nothing new or exciting -- rather they just manage to give the reader a bit of hope following page after page of excruciating descriptions about the characters' relationship problems. How a zombie novel could spend so much time concerning itself with flirting I would not have been able to imagine prior to reading this book. The characters, though occasionally responding to situations realistically, are extremely flat and often difficult to tell apart from one another in their language and behavior. The more dynamic characters become stereotypical. The humor falls entirely flat. Equally exhausting, though only two pages long, is the very bizarre epilogue that ends the novel. It was almost as though Frater couldn't decide whether she was writing a novel or a screenplay for a low-budget soap opera. Though this is the first book in a trilogy, I will probably take my time before bothering to read the books that follow it.
    • 4/5
      The First Days by Rhiannon Frater is the first book in her zombie trilogy, As the World Dies. It’s been awhile since I have read a “zombie book” and I have to say that I quite enjoyed this one. I find these kind of fantasy/thrillers very good escape reading. While Frater really didn’t bring anything new to the genre, she provided an exciting, page turning story and a group of characters to root for. Two women are front and centre in this story, Katie and Jenni, and it was fun to see how they grew from terrified victims to kick-ass, gun toting, zombie bashing heroines.The story follows Katie and Jenni as they escape from a heavily populated city and find sanctuary in a small, roughly fortified Texas town. With the men outnumbering the women, and many of the man being young and single, it isn’t long before romance breaks out. Things don’t always run smoothly however, as both Katie and Jenni are recovering from the zombie death of their spouses. While the book doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, there are enough unsolved issues that have me looking forward to the next book.While The First Days deals with zombies in a very familiar way, and there isn’t a lot of emotional depth to explore, I still found the story compelling enough to clear my mind of the real life difficulties we are currently facing.
    • 3/5
      I have a lot of mixed feelings regarding this book. I have heard great things about this book and the description really appealed to me so I was excited to dive into this one. The book opens right in the middle of some rather heartbreaking zombie action and I was sure that I had made a good choice. There were some things that I absolutely loved about this book but there were other things that bothered me. It was a book that I didn’t want to put down even while I grew more annoyed with each page.At the start of the book, Jenni is trying to get away from her husband and two young children who have recently become zombies. The imagery was very well done and I could envision those tiny toddler fingers reaching for his mother. Katie happens upon the scene in a truck and rescues Jenni. The pair has no idea what is going on or what they should do. They eventually head out of town and eventually meet other people who are just trying to survive as they are.I thought that the zombie scenes were very well done. They were descriptive enough that I could picture everything quite well and I found them to be rather exciting. I thought that the confusion regarding the situation that some in the community seemed to have kept things really interesting and felt authentic. I liked the survival aspect of the story and enjoyed seeing the characters adapt to their changing environment.I did have some pretty big issues with this book. I didn’t care for one of the main characters at all. I thought that Jenni was okay at the start of the book but as I read I disliked her more and more. I think that the book would have been a lot stronger without her and I have to admit that I kind of wished that she would be eaten by a zombie before everything was over. She wanted to be the only person to be close to Katie and had some rather unreasonable behaviors if Katie was in any danger. Jenni also seemed to be very focused on finding a new relationship when it seemed like she probably had a few other important things to think about.I also had some major issues with the fact that Katie’s sexuality seemed to take over the story at times. Katie lost her wife, Lydia, at the start of the epidemic. She loved Lydia and thought that the way she mourned her was very well done. I just got so sick of all of the other characters talking about the fact that she is into women. She was doing all of these amazing things but the only thing anyone wanted to talk about was her sexuality when she just wanted to be left alone to mourn her wife. Katie’s sexuality does end up being a bit more complex which just added more unnecessary drama.I am glad I read this one and do think a lot of readers will like it a bit more than I did. I found this to be a rather exciting zombie story with enough action to keep me turning the pages. I don’t think that I will be reading any further in the series because of the issues that I did have with the story.Book Source: Library
    • 3/5
      I have had this book for a while to read and was excited to finally get to read it. This was part of the bunch of books I got when I was in a huge zombie reading phase a few years ago. This ended up being a pretty typical zombie book. This book details the first days of a zombie outbreak and two women who struggle to survive it.I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was well done. It wasn’t outstanding but it wasn’t bad either.My main complaint about this book is that after the initial rush and struggle to survive the book gets very soap operaish. There is a ton of drama about which characters are hooking up with which other characters. Of course then there is jealousy over this and infighting. I would have rather heard more about the survival aspects and the understanding behind why this zombie plague happened.This book doesn’t explore the “why” behind the zombie attacks at all. I found that frustrating, but I assume that will be covered in future books. Towards the end of this book they start to address roving bands of brigands and thieves who are attacking the region. It becomes clear that other humans, rather than the zombies, are becoming the focus of the story.This book is very brutal and gory and doesn’t pull any punches. If you don’t like reading about gore and brutality I would stay away.Overall this was an okay read that is pretty standard zombie fare. I wish the book had focused less on human relationship drama and more on survival and the why behind the attacks. By the end of the book I was kind of bored with it all. I don’t plan on continuing the series.
    • 3/5
      It's a zombie novel. It won't really mess with your expectations for a zombie novel - rather, it fulfills them. If you liked the TV series The Walking Dead, you'll probably enjoy this book.
      The writing style is rather as if the author was watching a TV series and describing what happens on screen, as quickly and simply as possible. At times it's rather amateurish, and the depth of characterization doesn't go beyond what you'd expect from a TV show. The author's website notes that the story has actually been optioned for TV. I'm not at all surprised, because although the literary qualities of the book are limited, the story shows a keen sense of timing, a lot of good action, and the mix of humor and horror that every good zombie story needs.
    • 5/5
      This was my first ever zombie read and I absolutely loved it. Jenni and Katie become sisters-in-arms, developing an unbreakable bond in the face of the zombie holocaust. I was envious of their friendship. They came from very different backgrounds, their old lives lost and embark on new ones together and in Jenni’s case with a completely new personality as a crazy risk taker. Their survival was more about luck than skill, it was horrifying to see good people die so quickly and easily.

      After reading this, for the first time I wished I lived in a gun-toting country. I want a gun, make that “guns”, plural, and a never-ending supply of bullets. You know, just in case.

      My Favourite Bits
      The zombie old man outside the library clutching “Better Sex After 60″

      Juan to Travis about Katie:
      “Ever see Chasing Amy?”
      “No.”
      “Eh, you’re fucked”
      “Yeah.”

      Juan to Jenni:
      “Dropping from the harness is real loca, Loca. What if you had missed and hit the spikes?”
      “Um, you would miss me?”
      “Yeah, right.”

      Mike's ominous "...the black man always gets it"

      The fact that Jenni's mixed race: her mother was Mexican, dad Irish so she can speak Spanish.

      Katie's bisexuality.
    • 3/5
      That was good and bad.
    • 4/5
      The First Days (As the World Dies, #1) Ever since reading Feed by Mira Grant I have been strangely drawn to zombie fiction. (Thank you Wendy, Maja, and Michelle) This is especially strange considering that I'm usually pretty squeamish and blood and guts fiction has never been my thing. While I'm still not a fan of the gore, for some reason, I seem to enjoy stories about how people survive in a world gone completely insane. The First Days certainly fits in that category with a sizable helping of the gory bits included. The First Days begins by traumatizing the reader into a state of frozen terror by describing how a woman is watching her 3 year old's bloody fingers scrabbling under the door in an attempt to get to her and goes on to explain how the woman had earlier walked in on her husband consuming the child in his crib and she wonders how there was enough left of him to make it downstairs since her husband has always been known to have a big appetite. With such an insane beginning, I was repulsed by the story and also intrigued with where this author could possibly go from there. While I don't believe The First Days had the emotional impact of Feed, it definitely held my interest from start to finish. The rest of the book didn't exactly fulfill the promise of that first chapter, but there was no shortage of zombie action either. The fast moving plot and well written female characters made up for the fact that the male characters, other than Jenni's stepson Jason, were pretty meh. I also felt like there were a lot of unnecessary explanations about Katie's sexuality. Jenni and Katie's weird bond was fascinating but the stand-out character for me was Narit, who fascinated me for some reason. The First Days is a blood soaked crazy look at how chaotic a zombie apocalypse can be. I absolutely enjoyed this from beginning to end and am looking forward to reading the second in the series.
    • 4/5
      Amazzzzziiinnnggg!!!!Totally loved it. I got really caught up with the story and the characters. Some zombie books tend to get kinda far-fetched this book,however, kept it believable. It felt REAL. I never found myself thinking this is a bit overboard.I wanted to give this a 5 star so badly but I felt I had to stick with my rating rules and there were a few spelling errors and a few instances of the author repeating things that I already knew that got on my nerves. Kinda a pet peeve of mine..If ya told me, then I already know it. Soooo even though I had to give this a 4, after reading I immediately put the others on hold at my local library and can't wait to continue the series.
    • 4/5
      The First DaysBy Rhiannon FraterPublisher: TorPublished In: New York City, NY, USA Date: 2008Pgs: 335Summary:The first day of the outbreak. Terror, disinformation, run for your lives. A zombie attacks your car. You fight it off. You find a woman racing into the street with a zombie chasing her. You and your new best friend set off to try and find safety. The apocalypse is upon you. Where are you going? What is life? What is love? Why?Genre:fiction, horror, life quest, zombies, apocalypseWhy this book:Zombies. And it has been on my list ever since it came out. And it’s zombies in the Texas countryside. I’m in.This Story is About:courage, survival, one foot in front of the other, friends, sadness, familyFavorite Character:Ralph and Nerit in their hunting store, off the main roads, in a small Texas town. She a former Israeli sniper; he, a shopkeeper, former mayor of the small Texas town, and postmaster. Good characters.Least Favorite Character: Mr. 6-Figures Douche. He and his sports car didn’t have such a good trip into the city.Add the rednecks in the fort.All of them are villains and you’re not supposed to like the villains.Character I Most Identified With:I like Ralph, a lot. And Jack the dog. Course with the way these stories usually go, I don’t have high hopes for either of them being around for the end of the story.The Feel:The loss of control, the putting one foot in front of the other mode of survivalFavorite Scene:The first 20 pages of this story are pedal to the metal and one of the grossest zombie scenes I’ve ever seen or read. Makes me a bit oogie. Love the fast zombies vs. slow zombies explanation slipped into the opening big scene.The convenience store scene when they stop for gas.When the red pick up comes to the gate in the closing chapters.Settings:The city, the road, the cab of the truck, the hunting store, the wilderness area summer camp site, the Ashley Oaks construction site(awesome zombie survival site idea)Pacing:breakneck. It does slow down when we make it to the Ashley Oaks site, but I believe this is just a catching of the breath and a coming to grips vignette against the larger zombie apocalypse.Plot Holes/Out of Character:Some stuff is left for the next book in the trilogy.Last Page Sound:I’ve got a smile on my face as I finish this. But I wish I knew what happened to the characters beyond the last page.Author Assessment:Definitely earned a look at everything that has her name on it.Editorial Assessment:Tightly done.Disposition of Book:Irving Public Library, Irving, TXWhy isn’t there a screenplay?Hopefully when there is, the lessons of World War Z not having jack or shit to do with the book gets taken into account.Casting call:I’d like to see Mark Harmon in the role of Ralph.Considering the story’s Texas-centric storyline, I’d love to see a scene where Chuck Norris being Chuck Norris is shown cameoing as Chuck Norris. It’d be a great nod to geekdom and internet fandemonium.Can this book be broken down into a pop culture cliche:Thelma and Louise with ZombiesWould recommend to:genre fans, horror enthusiasts, zombiephiles
    • 3/5
      The names of the first two characters starts the story off confusingly - Katie and Jenny - and it went downhill from there. And I'm not convinced the author kept the characters straight either: it felt like sometimes Jenny was the hysterical useless twit, and at others it was Katie. Unless both women were supposed to be hysterical twits?? perhaps...Jenny is an abused wife, but this felt like a feminism 101 version of spousal abuse. Jenny recollects how she was planning to leave her hubby, then a few pages later, she goes on about what a terrible wife and mother she was, and how much she needed a "strong" person (aka Katie) to follow. It's like the author read a book about how abused women behaved, and tried to incorporate this into the book. Including a moment where Jenny was going to "pay back" Katie by offering her sex. It didn't feel real - especially since I'm pretty sure women don't turn lesbian in a matter of a few hours. And Katie says when offered the opportunity to join an armed group: "I think we're better off on our own"??? are you nuts? Yeah, sure... a couple of people against the world - it's even irrelevant that they are both women... nobody wants to face a zombie apocalypse with just one other person at their back. (Of course, the next day, they're all gung-ho to join a group...the reader is not told what stimulated this sudden change of mind.)Then when they finally find a place where they think they'll settle down to stay (the author - I mean Katie - tells us directly that they want to stay here)... all of a sudden Katie (a lesbian) realizes that she has felt a connection and "feeling that they have a future together" with a man she met 30 seconds ago. Err... I'm not clear if this is meant to show that lesbians turn straight when necessary, or... It is one of the more poorly plotted (two women take a road trip through the zombie horde, then they take another one), stereotyped (lesbian and abused wife), and repetitive (enter building, fight zombie, run to truck, run over zombie, rinse and repeat) zombie books I've read. I decline to read any more in this series. Try Mark Tufo's zombie books if you want this type of story with better plotting and characters who act more like normal people would. Or Grant's Deadline series if you like more conspiratorial zombies.
    • 4/5
      The First Days sucked me in with the very first chapter ~ because 'Lloyd always did have a big appetite.'. OMG! I won't spoil for you what that means, I will just tell you that it is some sick-nasty-brutal-zombieness. Rhiannon Frater does an excellent job of creating a world gone to hell via the reanimated dead. It's scary good with a couple of chicks to guide your way through the torrent of horror.Katie is smart but a bit reluctant to accept what the world has become and where she fits into in it. She forms a couple instant bonds with other characters. Usually, I have a problem with relationships that go from stranger to life-line in a matter of pages. It never feels genuine to me. Katie and Jenni's relationship totally worked for me though.Jenni is your typical housewife gone zombie-killer. It takes her no time to figure out her role in the world and embrace it. I loved Jenni! She's who I would hope to be, you know, if ever attacked by ghouls. Hand that girl a gun and she's ready to mow down anything in her way. A little crazy? Yes. Effective? Most definitely.My favorite character of all? Well, besides the hordes of zombies.... Juan. He is capable and a smart ass. Which I like in my fictitious men, thank you very much!! He was pure fun and I giggled to myself several times while reading, because of him.The characters are all pretty well developed which says a lot, considering there are numerous in this book. Think Walking Dead. Plenty of people for her to kill off in later books??? Eeep! I hope not, because I really enjoyed them.
    • 3/5
      The First Days started kind of iffy for me. It ended kind of iffy for me too. There were things I liked about this book, but unfortunately there will be a lot more complaining in this review than praising. There were a lot of technical issues, and as I read an older copy of this book, there's a good chance this book may have been further edited, but I have to write my review based on what I read. I hated the dialogue in this book. Especially at the beginning. Either it got better the more that I read, or I just got used to it. But it was super choppy in the beginning and the dialogue tags were excessively excessive. It was an issue of editing. Too many dialogue tags will jolt a reader out of the story and make the writing seem amateurish. For me, it really interrupted the flow of the narrative and kept me from getting as involved in the story as I could have. So right off the bat, I was annoyed with this book.Then there were the exorbitant amount of adverbs: Katie said softly, Katie said firmly, Jenny nodded thoughtfully...etc. It was really obvious too. Every page was loaded with adverbs. I have a feeling this was Rhiannon Frater's first book, and to be honest, it was kind of obvious. I am sure she learned how to fix these issues the more that she wrote, but there were a lot of beginner's mistakes made here. Then there was this (quote taken from the book): I noticed at least five gallons of extra gas loaded up in those red canisters in the back of your pickup." I rolled my eyes after reading that. I might be the only one saying this, but I think it's a bit too convenient to have extra gas just laying around in the back of trucks during a zombie invasion. The plot was fine. A bit more telling v. showing than I would have preferred, but I enjoyed it. I didn't find it anything special, but it was a solid zombie book with a decent amount of suspense. I was left feeling disappointed because almost everyone I know loved this book and I felt like I was missing something. The plot did not blow me away like it did so many others. And I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I found most of the characters pretty flat. And the one character that wasn't flat was one of the most annoying characters I have ever had the agony of encountering. Jenni. Oh Jenni. I wish you would take a long walk off a short pier. You seem to be one of those characters that readers either love or hate. But I could not stand you. The things you did and the things you said...made no sense. I understand that your life was difficult. I don't even blame you for being glad you got away from your abuser of a husband. But your kids just got killed and turned into zombies yesterday. They are out somewhere roaming around, eating people. And here you are, worried about Katie flirting with Travis. Worrying about whether or not Travis likes you. Regretting saving the town librarian from zombies just because she is pretty and intelligent. You said some pretty catty things about her, and I don't much care for catty women. You're a lousy mother and a shitty friend. I don't like you. I kind of think some of the things you did were over-the-top and not something a real human would do, and that would be the author's fault. But for the most part, I just wasn't a fan of your personality. I had a hard time getting into any scene you were in. I wanted the zombies to eat you. But somehow, on top of all your annoying characterizations, you were a zombie killing badass. That's the one thing about you that I liked. I really hope in future books you become more likable. Look, I really like zombie books. So will I read the next one? Yes. Did I have a lot of problems with this book? YES. But do I think the series has the potential to get better? Absolutely. I'm not in a hurry to read the next book, but when I get around to it, I will gladly read it. It was suspenseful, fun, and gory.
    • 4/5
      I borrowed a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way for them.Review:“Tiny fingers. So small. So very, very small. The fingers pressed under the front door of her home were so very small. She couldn’t stop staring at those baby fingers straining frantically to reach her as she stood shivering on the porch.”Tiny Fingers. Those simple words struck me to the core. I knew what Tiny Fingers meant and what the character Jenni was dreading having to face. Zombie children are so rarely utilized in Fiction or heck even cinema, it was a pleasant surprise when the book started out with those Tiny Fingers clawing at the door. Those simple words really stood out to me. I knew then that this was going to be a great read since the Author had clearly decided that anyone was fair game to be a zombie which in turn meant anyone was able to be killed as well. I think that beginning scene will stay with me for a good long time.While the main characters of the story are Katie and Jenni, even the background players were given distinct voices and personalities. I have a feeling they might play bigger roles in things to come, actually I hope they do. Another thing I enjoyed was the way Rhiannon Frater had her characters knowledgeable about Zombies. One of the characters Juan even references Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide! Juan is one of my favorite characters. He's one of the two main male leads and has some of the best lines in the whole book.I have only a few small gripes about the book and both came about midway through. The first is Jenni. All of a sudden from out of nowhere she becomes this jealous, crazy, creature. Her personality just goes all over the place during these few chapters and really made me just dislike her.Which brings me to my second gripe. Both female leads started lusting after the main male Travis (though Katie wrestled with this). I'd expect this after a few weeks but barely two days after their loved ones had been eaten and killed. I don't know it just seemed wrong.Overall this was a great Zombie read. I am looking forward to reading the other two books in this series. If you like Zombies and kick butt female characters then I suggest checking this out. I will be giving Rhiannon Frater's As the world dies: The First Days 4 Stars.
    • 5/5
      Although a tad stomach churning in areas, a Great book none the less. I loved that the two main characters were strong women who were willing to do whatever it takes to survive this new world that they are trapped in. The characters were believable and the author did a good job of keeping the story moving. Ready to read the next one!
    • 5/5
      It's not really a new idea for a zombie book, as it is pretty straight-forward zombie killing and surviving, but I feel that Rhiannon Frater really made it her own. One of the greatest aspects of this book is that the protagonists are two women. It is a wonderful thing to read about two strong women doing what they must to survive and battling back zombie hordes on their own. These two ladies, Jenni and Katie, are lucky to make it through the first wave of the zombocolypse. After living under the thumb of a domineering and abusive husband, Jenni has difficulty standing on her own two feet. She clings to the safety and strength that Katie provides for her as they travel across Texas looking for a safe haven away from the big cities. While Jenni is determined to rescue her stepson, Jason, to make up for the loss of her other two sons (which she witnessed being eaten by her former husband), Katie is dealing with the regret that she harbors over losing her beloved wife Lydia that same morning. These two women quickly form a bond that is insurmountable by anything going on around them. They are their new family now and will take care of each other no matter the cost.Once they get to the refugee town of Ashley Oaks, the reader is introduced to a whole new cast of characters. Every one of them is so distinct in their personality. The group tries to form a new life as best they can in the fortified town, but as time goes on, there is a distinct personality shift in both Jenni and Katie. While Jenni turns into female Rambo, wanting to kill everything in sight and ask questions later, Katie becomes extremely depressed once she actually has time to breather and realize that she has lost her one true love.The First Days is an action-packed, no frills, zombie novel. I think that if you are a fan of zombie movies, than you will most certainly love this book. It is disturbing and gory at times, but what can I say, that's what I love about it. It isn't afraid to be real, and I can't help but feel that when the zombocolypse does come, this is how its going to go down. I am happy to have this book right next to Zombie Survival Guide on my shelf, and I absolutely cannot wait until the next in the series comes out to find out what happens to the people I feel like I've been through this entire ordeal with. I applaud Ms. Frater for never giving up and her original fans for getting the word out on this amazing internet sensation.
    • 5/5
      On a normal day just like any other, Jenni is making breakfast for her kids, wondering why her abusive husband never came home. Katie is getting ready for court later that day and kissing her girlfriend goodbye. Then disaster strikes and both of their families are torn apart (quite literally). Katie happens upon Jenni as she stands frozen in shock at her zombified children and saves her. Together (along with their dog Jack), the duo become a fierce zombie-killing team and go in search of Jenni’s stepson, who they don’t even know if he’s alive or not. He is trapped at a zombie infested camp ground and they have no idea how many zombies there are or how they will get away. Will they survive their rescue attempt? If so, where can they find a safe place from the zombies?Rhiannon Frater grabs my attention on the very first page. The first image introduced is tiny, bloody fingers trying to grab Jenni from under her front door. Those fingers belong to her three year old son. If I remember nothing else from this book, that image of tiny, bloody fingers attached to an insatiable three year old zombie will be burned into my brain forever. It’s not surprising that the genesis of the novel came from that one scene. I also like this scene because it sets up the disturbing factor early. If you can’t handle a small child as a zombie, then you should just put down the book now (much like the opening scene in The Walking Dead TV show). Scenes like this and even worse would happen in such an event. Who are you around the most? Your friends and family. Of course you would certainly have to face killing one of them, no matter how young they are, because they are infected and want to eat you. The characters are realistic, normal people who have found themselves in an extraordinary situation, so they adapt. Jenni was a beaten, empty shell of a person before the zombies. It took a while of being practically catatonic to become fairly normal and then she became a gleeful and adept zombie killer. Her zeal can be a little off putting, but she moved on from her old life and came to be a person without the constant fear of abuse. Each character had their own separate transformations of varying degrees, but I never thought that they grew to be too good. Mistakes are still made and people still die. The only thing I thought was unrealistic was the amount of supplies, weapons, and ammo. Conservation is important and needless wasting is never a good idea. Maybe this will become more of a problem in later books.Frater’s zombies are normal for the most part. They shuffle, moan, try to eat people. The only different thing is that these zombies grow smarter as the book goes along. I would like to know the zombie science behind it, but no scientists are in their group. For now, I can accept that the virus may be mutating or going into a second stage of infection. I can’t wait to read the next book to see how the virus progresses.The First Days is a good, solid addition to the zombie genre. I’m interested to see what happens after the initial outbreak and how the remaining survivors deal with sustaining for the long term.
    • 5/5
      Bought for MyselfOverall Rating 5.00Story Rating 5.00Character Rating 5.00NOTE: I picked this up because of Ashley, The Bookish Brunette. She was right this book sticks with you and that is a good thing!What I Loved: Realism! I wish there was a way to accurately describe just how realistic The First Days truly was. From the moment the story begins until the Epilogue, everything read like a true account of what it was to run into the Zombie Apocalypse. It brought up a million questions: What would you do? How would you react? Could you make it through? Could you do what was needed to survive? Each character (major and minor) gave you a glimpse into so many facets of surviving that sometimes you forgot this was a work of fiction. There were small fractions of humor mixed into the story but it was macabre and gut-wrenching overall. I was literally trying to read faster to figure out who was going to survive, how they were going to do it, and how this little society was going to grow. This was a read in one day book with very little "take a break" time.Why I Gave it a 5? As you noticed I just skipped the What do I Like and Complaints section! I just loved every minute of this story. I will read it again before Fighting to Survive comes out on Nov 8, 2011. Just an absolutely fantastic read!
    • 3/5
      *Rating* 3.5*Genre* Zombies/Horror/Science Fiction*Review*The First Days premise is easy to understand and follow as Rhiannon Fraters characters find themselves running and fighting for their lives, while trying to live in a world where everything they ever knew has suddenly changed for the worse. The First Days is often vivid in its descriptions of the killings the main characters partake in order to remain alive for another day. It’s a story about facing the reality of a zombie-apocalypse while others remain faithful in their belief that the media and those in power are not lying to them when they say this is all due to race riots, and mob violence and nothing more.What is most obvious to me the reader is that Frater is a huge George Romero fan and has most likely watched every movie in the Living Dead franchise. But then, she’s not alone in that regards. Her references to several newer versions of the franchise actually were used by the survivors to protect themselves against the hordes of zombies coming after them.*Character & Story Summary*Jenni is an abused wife who is on the verge of running away when she suddenly finds herself under attack from her entire family. (Husband and two sons) They have been reanimated into zombies and now they want a piece of her flesh. It seems that her husband was bitten by a panhandler and reanimated into a zombie and now he has infected the rest of the family. There is another son, Jason, but he is away at camp and presumed to still be alive by Jenni. In another part of town, Katie, a prosecutor, watches in horror as her partner Lydia chases her back to her car while trying to eat her. Lydia has been reanimated as well, and it appears she was viciously attacked. Katie, who apparently got lost along the way, arrives in the nick of time to save Jenni from her reanimated family. The two of them end leaving town as fast as they can while being chased by hordes of rampaging zombies while being low on gas. Katie and Jenni form a survivors bond which crosses into mutual respect and friendship. These women come from two different backgrounds and sexual orientation but the only thing that matters is trusting the person next to you to have your back.There was a point in this book where Katie’s sexuality actually started to become a burden and a strike against her instead of something that is none of anyone else’s business. I find myself restraining my opinion since in another book that recently came out, the main characters sexual orientation became a point of discussion. I don't want to go there with this book and thus deny readers a chance to read a pretty decent story. Even though Jenni and Kate are considered the main characters, there are others that Frater introduces along the way that make a huge impact on the lives of both women. The most important ones are Ralph, Nerit, Juan and Travis.This is my second book from Rhiannon Frater I’ve read in the past year and am trying to find the next book in the series so that I can finish it out. The first was Pretty When She Dies which is based on a vampire heroine and is also a dark and bloody affair. I’m not sure why this has been compared to Thelma and Louise meets the Walking Dead but readers and reviewers based their opinions on what they believe. The comparison is pointless in that neither Jenni nor Katie is running from the law. Running from zombies yes, but that is what happens in every zombie novel.Rhiannon FraterAs The World Dies1. The First Days (2008)2. Fighting To Survive (2009)3. Siege (2009)
    • 5/5
      If ever my faith was shaken on finding another amazing zombie book, THE FIRST DAYS has renewed it tenfold and I am definitely itching for another bloody good time in ye olde zombocalypse! At first, I imagined THE FIRST DAYS as something similar to ZOMBIELAND – a tragically scary Twinkie filled with hilarities for comic relief – but it is actually more DAWN OF THE DEAD where a zombified Bill Murray isn’t necessary to make this unforgettable.Rhiannon Frater captured my attention from the very first line (see above) – and held me as a oh-so-willing captive throughout the entire book! I don’t think I have ever gripped a book as crazily – or put my entire life on hold to solely devote all my time and energy to this book! The writing simply flows and never lets up on its intensity as the characters struggle to accept zombies as a new reality and figure out how to stay alive. I constantly marveled at how easily one scene melted into the next. I felt like I was watching a movie except obviously THE FIRST DAYS is very much all book!What makes THE FIRST DAYS memorable is the cast of characters who lucked out and somehow escaped the flesh-eating jaws of death. Jenni, Katie, the couple who holed up in the hunting store, and the city who used their construction project as a barricade all had stories to tell – and they all carved a place in my heart. Some were die-hard zombie fans who recognized what was happening and noted how these zombies were breaking all the rules establised by classic zombie movies. Others had a hard time with killing their bitten loved ones because they were in denial of the truth. I cannot imagine how hard it was for Ms. Frater to decide who lives and who must die because, in truth, not even the good guys are guaranteed a “get out of zombies” card forever.THE FIRST DAYS is the first in the As The World Dies trilogy – and I absolutely cannot wait for the rest of the series to release because this is definitely one to look out for! I am ecstatic that TOR snatched up this zombie gem up because I probably would not have discovered it otherwise!
    • 5/5
      This is a Reading Good Books review.* In compliance with FTC guidelines, it should be noted that I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.Survival horror happens to be my favorite video game genre. Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and the likes. So what haven’t I tapped into this literary genre sooner?As I understand, The First Days by Rhiannon Frater started out as an online serial with quite a following. It is the first of three books following the lives of Katie, Jenni, and the other survivors of a “zombie-pocalypse” in Texas called As the World Dies. This is the author’s first “official” publication.The book jumps right into action. A beautiful morning takes a turn for the worse when the dead rise and start eating human flesh. Jenni wakes up to her husband eating away at their young son while Katie almost gets mauled while on her way to work. The two women bond, although from very different backgrounds, bond together to survive. They then meet more survivors until they settle into a community where they try to rebuild their lives.Like with most zombie-related anything, nobody knows where the zombie “virus” came from. This book does not dwell on that either. Instead, it focuses on the lives of our two heroines (plus points for female leads). The author developed her characters very well, their interactions feel natural. I found myself rooting for some of them, especially Nerit. Even the dog, Jack, I liked. The book not only deals with the horror of the existence of zombies and the end of the world (as we know it) but also heavier issues such as sudden loss of everything, of staying strong and surviving. The characters put up a brave front for the rest of the group but every now and then, there is a moment of vulnerability showing through. The visuals are great as well. It was easy to picture what was going on.As a Romero fan, I appreciated the references to his work. (Although I could see how this can be a disadvantage to those who are not familiar with zombie movies.) It shows that the author herself is a fan of the genre. It was great that the characters were using the movies as “zombie reference”. And I also like how the author tried to be different and veered away from the image of the zombie that we are familiar with. Her zombies were fast-moving and sometimes, showed signs of brain activity. Fast zombies made for scarier zombies. Frater gave a lot ways to become infected, all of them horrific. Everything felt so real and haunting. Beautiful.I really, really enjoyed this book. It reminds me a little bit of AMC’s The Walking Dead in terms of the pace and the story progression. However, I felt that some scenes were simply filler. There were details and descriptions that were mentioned over and over again. At some point, it became a little repetitive and it concerns me a little about the next two in this series. Hopefully, the author has not exhausted her tricks and plot twists on this first book. This is good stuff!Rating: 5/5.
    • 5/5
      OH. MY. GOD. Where do I start? From the very FIRST paragraph- I was hooked!Jenni- with an 'i' is standing on her front porch staring at "tiny fingers" trying to claw their way out from underneath the front door. Her terror IS MY terror from the very beginning, as she recounts the events of her family being transformed into flesh eating zombies before her very eyes.Her abusive husband had come home the night before claiming that a homeless man had bitten him, slept on the couch and Jenni was awakened by the terrifying screams of her 3 year old son being eaten by his father. (Literally- I am almost trembling just remembering it.)As Jenni is standing, paralyzed with fear and shock on her porch as her 12 year old 'now ZOMBIE' son is about to break through the window- Katie, a stranger in a beat-up white pick-up truck flies into her yard yelling for her to get in the truck.Jenni barely makes it into the truck as her once precious son, whose last act was unknowingly sacrificing himself to his zombie father in his mother's place.Amidst the chaos that has now claimed the United States, there are few places of sanctuary for the 'living'. After Katie and Jenni risk their lives and save Jenni's step-son, they make their way to Ashley Oaks (Um WIN... Fab choice in names!)In Ashley Oaks... comes Travis (the name 'Travis' says it all doesn't it?) The picture of perfection- but which woman will he fall for? Killing zombies, going on rescue missions... in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse is there even a chance for romance? There is nowhere to go. There is no escape. The zombies are everywhere. The First Days is terrifyingly realistic and vividly horrifying, this book is feverish and electrifying- AMAZING in every sense of the word.
    • 2/5
      Review courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyI’m so torn as to how to review this book because it had several things going for it that I flat out loved, but…it also had one thing that made me want to chuck it across the room several times while reading.THE FIRST DAYS is basically Thelma and Louise meets The Walking Dead. Jenni is a young battered wife who is about to be eaten by her husband, son, and baby when Katie, a stranger, pulls up in a truck and rescues her. The women quickly bond over their respective losses. Katie lost her wife, and Jenni nearly her whole family. They meet several interesting characters on their escape from Houston including the reluctant leader of a band of survivors they join named Travis. *WARNING* The first scene is one of the most upsetting things I have ever read. Mothers are especially cautioned. *Spoiler* It involves a woman watching her zombie husband eat their baby out of a crib and later what is left of the baby, now a zombie too, tries to get to the mother. Later a different zombie baby, this one an infant, has it’s skull bashed in. *End of Spoiler*The story is so good. It was initially written as an online serial, so every scene is packed with action, conflict, and zombie killing goodness. And I couldn’t ask for more from a zombie infested world than I got in THE FIRST DAYS. It’s terrifying, chaotic, and full of misinformation and seemingly insurmountable odds. All the secondary characters Jenni and Katie encountered from the husband and wife survivalists holed up in their gun store methodically sniping their infected neighbors, to the Reverend who saves Katie’s life and his dog’s at the expense of his own, were fantastic. I wish I could just stop there and give this book a glowing recommendation, but I can’t, and it’s mostly because of Jenni. She has the maturity and decision making skills of a thirteen year old. She starts out as one of the most tragic character ever, but quickly shifts into an entirely different person who I wanted to strangle in every scene. The day after her husband eats her baby in front of her, she decided to give lesbianism a try. The day after that, she starts flirting with Travis, smirking when she catches him watching her, getting jealous when she thinks he might like someone else. A character who lived through what she lived through should be barely functioning, not worrying about landing a new boyfriend or giggling about a jerk getting eaten by zombies. Every scene she was in (and as a main character we’re talking half the book if not more) was more ludicrous than the last. Her thoughts, actions, dialog, and facial expressions became a new form of torture to me. I don’t believe Jenni or Katie would be anywhere near the realm of even beginning to have the slightest inkling of a romantic awareness with anyone yet both women respond the second they meet Travis which is less than two days after surviving an unimaginably horrific loss. Like I said, Jenni should have been catatonic, but Katie’s response was almost more shocking because, up until this point, she had repeatedly proclaimed herself to be a lesbian. Turns out she’s bisexual which is convenient revelation so both women can test the the bonds of their new friendship when a guy comes between them. I’m getting angry again just writing about this.Overall, certain aspects of THE FIRST DAYS like the worldbuilding and plot, were amazing, while others, like the characterizations, were infuriating to point of ruining the book for me. The second book in the As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy series is called FIGHTING TO SURVIVE and will be published on November 8th 2011.Sexual Content:Kissing. References to homosexuality and a discussion of bisexuality. References to gang rape. A brief sex scene.