Mordacious

Feel Good Zombie Apocalypse

I was excited to find Sarah Lyons Fleming had released another book in the Until the End realm. I loved the first series and have listened to it multiple times. I must admit I love this book more than any of the three in the original trilogy and novella.

I love how real these characters were, how SLF made them loveable even with their flaws. Sylvie's and Grace's friendship is enviable. The humor between them and Sylvie and Eric is perfect. I never thought a post apocalyptic book could make me laugh out loud so many times, as well as feel fear or sadness.

This book has joined my top 5 books of all times. SLF has a real gift for words. I can't wait for the next book.

27 of 27 people found this review helpful

Feel Good Zombie Stories!

Any additional comments?

Loved it! If you are new to this author, stop! Check out her trilogy + novella, Until The End of The World. Mordacious is a spin off of that series. It is not essential that you read Until the End of the World first to enjoy this book, but I recommend you do.

Do you like zombie / survival stories – but hate to get bogged down with endless tragedy and after tragedy? I love apocalyptic novels, but I am often turned off by plots that take the reader down a dark hole (evil humans, society at its worst, characters spending the entire book trying to find a way out of a hopeless and ugly scenarios). While Fleming’s novels include all these elements, her books center on the dynamics of the survival group. The plot is centered on her characters, their struggles, and growth – that happen to be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Fleming wrote the first “Feel Good” Zombie story I have ever read – and it was such a breath of fresh air! That is, when my heart wasn’t racing from fearing for my beloved characters well being and safety.

Narration: I am a narrator snob. I have loved Luke Daniels since “The Druid” series… he does a fine job here. I am new to Therese and thought she was a little better fit for the character she’s playing. The story is told from two points of view, so that is why we get a male and female narrator. When the two characters are together, the narrators get to play off each other, the narration really shines. I saw one negative review of the narration and I honestly don’t know what they are talking about. The narration is great.

Can't wait for the next installment!

38 of 39 people found this review helpful

✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫

I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to find out this was Eric's journey. I wondered many times what happened to him while listening to The End of the World series. In the beginning I wasn't sure how I was going to like these characters. Sylvia has mommy issues and she can be very self-deprecating. But she quickly grew on me. I really enjoyed the City aspect of this book, knowing how they would manage in NYC was really different from the other part of this world. Eric was a great characters from the beginning, I love how he just coasts along making his was into NYC. He is a great hero. I also love how such different groups of people find a way to help each other in this book. The details of the city travel is awesome, I felt like I was in the ruins of New York with these characters when they were trying to make their way from place to place.

The narration is great. Therese Plummer is always awesome and so is Luke Daniels but hearing them in duet style was perfect!!!!

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Harlequin Zombies?

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed her first series with Cassie and friends, and while I liked finding out what happened to her brother there was way too little zombie action and way too much romantic angst. This seemed like a book written for a harlequin romance series with a bit of zombies thrown in. The main female character was just too stereotypical 'nobody can ever love me'. Perhaps having Terese Plummer queen of romantic narration didn't help with that feeling. I will continue the series because I want to find out if they ever meet up with Cassie.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

This book was so satisfying!

What made the experience of listening to Mordacious the most enjoyable?

I previously read it before I listened to the audiobook. I think I enjoyed reading it better, but I still loved listening to it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sylvie and Eric were probably tied. They are both so funny and witty and i obviously love what's happening between them. Sylvie isn't afraid to stand up for herself and her friends. She doesn't realize the impact that she has on people. She thinks she isn't worth anyone's friendship, but she doesn't realize that anyone she meets loves her. Eric gets her. Knows when to push her and when to back off. He gives her time to adjust to him and he respects her personality traits.

Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels and Therese Plummer ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sarah has a way with words. She could write the dictionary and I would still listen to it all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

If you haven't read the prequel series to this, you are missing out. It's called "Until the End of the World" and it has three books. They are so phenomenal. I have re listened and re read probably a dozen times. Do yourself a favor ;) This series is setting up to be the same. I love her writing. And her plot twists.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

It's like the book is split into two parts.

At first, "Mordacious" starts off as the average zombie scenario. In fact, deja vu might occur with all of the familiarity. The character personalities, survival situations, tools they use, settings, and internal struggles can be found in other similar material. Halfway through the book, however, things start to shift gears into something that involves a lot more emotional drama. It's pretty much a different audiobook after that point as the entire tone and pacing of the story changes. Zombies randomly fade into the background as relationships happen, couples ogle, emotions are repeatedly developed and discussed, and psychologically is extensively explored.

Therese Plummer and Luke Daniels were an outstanding team to voice this audiobook. Both have terrific range and get the emotions across for every written scene perfectly. This alone makes the audiobook worth it, despite the story itself being a touch predictable in areas.

The story is set mostly in New York and split between the first person perspectives of two characters; Sylvie and Eric. Sylvie being the main character for most of the story. An interesting character with mild social anxieties, Sylvie is as interesting as she is uptight because she is constantly worried about what others are thinking of her while attempting to deal with stresses that come with a zombie apocalypse. Eric is survivor searching for his family and has a bit of a fatalistic sense of humor.

This book is recommended to listeners who enjoy romance with a toe dipped in survival horror. If you are expecting more traditional zombie thrills, then the first half of the book is for you. If you are expecting a book that has romance and dramatic discussion, then the second half of the book is for you.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I have listened....

I have listened this series Starting with Cassie's Journey & all she went through!! I was excited to find this book about her brother Eric & his Journey! I can't wait for the next book to come out!! Even though this series has new narrators they did an amazing job! In a way I'm glad Sarah Lyons Fleming switched narrators for this series! DON'T GET ME WRONG THE OTHER NARRATOR WAS JUST AS AMAZING but I like her voices for Cassie, Nelly, Penny, Anna & Peter as well as all the other Characters for that series! So it's good to have new narrators for Eric & his group!

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Love this series, can't wait until Book 2

I like Zombie books, but I'm kind of picky. It gets monotonous when there's blood, gore and eating of human flesh, 24-7-365. So when I found a free book download on Audible, So long Lollipops.....I found nirvana. I plowed through the "Until the End of the World" series and was saddened when I discovered that series was finished. That's when I got desperate and plugged in Sarah Lyons Fleming's name into Audible and found Mordacious....Yahoo! I hit the mother lode! Now, I'm finished with that one and I'll have to wait until the next of "The City Series" comes out:-( Can you tell that I'm in love with this series. Oh well, I'll have to placate myself with some other meaningless books until the next comes out.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love this. More please!

This was a long one but I liked it so much I barely noticed and now I can't wait for more. Hats off the narrators for pulling off so many different voices. Luke Daniels is one of the best. The story was great, the characters were interesting and there's so much potential for the series. Seriously great listen.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

LOVE HER

Overall Assessment:
FINALLY! I have been waiting for this book since Sarah Lyons Fleming announced it after releasing the last book in her last series Until the End of the World. The City Series will be on the same timeline as UTEOTW. Of course, it did not disappoint! I have been waiting to hear what happened to Maria (Penny and Ana’s mom from UTEOTW) and Eric (Cassie’s brother). I am so glad we finally get some answers! I’m so excited to see what she will do with Sylvie, Eric, and co.!

What I liked:
– Luke Daniels perfectly captured Eric's witty and snarky personality. His parts were laugh-out-loud funny at times.
– Therese Plummer did a great job as well, I felt Sylvie's pain and uncertainty through her narration.
– Sarah’s character development and world building are flawless, as always.
– The main characters are complex and I can’t help rooting for Sylvie and Eric!
– Supporting characters are not washed out by the main characters and hold their own depth.
– I love that I am able to match the timeline and characters up from the other series to this one. It’s a little heartbreaking though knowing that Eric is alive and well, but Cassie thinks he’s dead :(

What I didn’t:
– uh, nothing.

Would I recommend this book to family and/or friends?
Yes!!! Seriously, read it. Like, now. And then go read the Until the End of the World Series!

For this review and more like it please visit my blog linked in my profile.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful