Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

What an original concept!!! A survivalist reality show becomes survivalist reality! The cover and book jacket description are enough to hook anyone that has ever watched the survivalist shows and thought to themselves "I could do better". In this book, the beginning of a series, you meet the characters and get the back story that will carry them through the Everglades and into a reality none of them are prepared for!

Grace Hamilton is a new go-to author for me. I get sucked into her books and while I sometimes disagree with how to characters try and survive, I'm thoroughly invested in the characters and their journey.

I felt it was time to return to my favourite genre of post-apocalyptic and it happened by coincidence an author I have previously read and loved has just started releasing a new series. I decided to learn a little more about her book. When I read the series name and part of the blurb, I will be totally honest and say I was initially put off. How would the reality show elements come across? If all the contestants were picked to fail what was the point of the show? In the end I decided that the only way I would find anything out was to start reading the book. The cover has an overall apocalyptical feel. It has a background that fits the description of the swamp and surrounding area within the book. I would guess that the two figures pictured on the cover are most likely Wolf and Regan.

The book begins with Regan plodding on making slow but sure progress through the swamp to the next rendezvous point with the cast and crew of the reality show. The thing bothering Regan the most is that her feet are wet and that’s bad, very bad. The resident expert on the show, Wolf Henderson had given all the contestants a warning about foot rot, and told them all to carry spare socks with them. Unfortunately for Regan she had managed to lose her spare dry pair. Regan goes over in her head why she had thought it would be a good idea to enter this reality show. Her partner had already ditched her, and she was now all alone. Or as alone as you could be on a TV show. Regan finally comes to a point where there are three choices as to how to get to the rendezvous point. Choice one, the quickest and shortest way there was to wade through a pond area. Choice two was to head even deeper into the swamp and Choice three was a climb. It didn’t look impossible to climb, though it was quite steep. Having a partner would have made it a much easier option. Regan discovers each option has its pros and cons, she needed to just decide and get on with it! Regan manages to become stuck at around half way up, and is wondering about the chances of her injuring herself if she has to jump down. Suddenly Regan hears a voice and looks up to see another contestant, Tabitha Funelli. Tabitha helps Regan up the rest of the way and that’s when they hear an air horn sound. The two women walk into the camp to discover what is going on. Basically, there are no camera crew, in fact there was no crew about at all. Wolf, being the only expert there takes charge of the situation. It seems there has been some sort of “apocalypse” which means that they are basically on their own with no way to communicate with anyone! Wolf and some of the men discuss what could have happened. Some of the other contestants start pushing extra supplies into their own backpacks. Wolf, asks them all to slow down, and says no one should be heading off alone into the swamp, it’s too dangerous and reminds them the supplies are for everyone. One of the contestants called George spins around on Wolf and tells him his “little show is over”. George goes on to rant about not hanging around with Wolf, a Native American who is a wannabe survivalist, who thinks he knows it all. He goes on to say he knows enough and he is going home and the rest of them should be doing the same. Thankfully Wolf takes some deep breaths, he is proud of his very genuine Native American heritage and being an accomplished survivalist. Despite Wolf suggesting they all settle for the night and set out the next day George insists he is going now, and Mary goes with him! It seems everyone else is taking Wolf’s advice and everyone finds a comfy spot within the camp to sleep. The following morning as people awaken, they discover more people have left, but worse than that they have taken the majority of the supplies and anything useful with them!

All those remaining have decided to be in Wolf’s group whilst getting out of the Swamp and then reassess the situation once back in civilisation. The group consists of Wolf, Regan, Geno & Tabitha Funelli, and Fred. Despite the smaller groups impatience to set off Wolf is determined to forage for food, supplies and anything they could possibly need before actually beginning their journey out of the swamp.

My favourite characters within Surviving The Swamp are 27 year old Regan who has wasp allergies, so knows the importance of having a decent amount of epi-pens and other medical supplies on hand. The other main character I grew to like throughout the book was Native American, survival expert Wolf. He is infuriating at times with how slow he does things, and how everything has to be done his way. I can definitely imagine Wolf & Regan slipping into a relationship together, if they ever make it our of danger! I wasn’t overly keen on Lily at time she came across as a rather spoilt young girl who was more worried about her appearance than even her father’s safety. The other character I adored was Tabitha, small in stature but a big heart that she wears on her sleeve for all to see! Tabitha is a paramedic so her skill set is vital to the group. I loved how her persistence with Regan resulted in a great friendship between them both. Tabitha ending up putting her own safety on the line for others more than once, in this first instalment of the Survivalist Reality Show series.

The pace of the book is good and keeps you reading, you certainly don’t want to put it down to do anything else! So quite an addictive read. I enjoyed following the group through the different challenges they came across due to being in the swamp and their journey to Naples, as well as how their different characters had to learn to get along with each other. I also liked the “Dear Diary” aspect of the book where Lily is chronicling what she and her grandfather are doing, and how they manage to get over to the island to await Wolf’s arrival.

To sum up I enjoyed the book, like most of the characters, though I think disliking some of the characters is a good thing too! You don’t like everyone you meet in real life so why would a book be any different! I am looking forward to reading more of the series and perhaps improving my opinion of Wolf’s daughter Lily as time goes on.

I was not happy with this book at all. It's like the author had only the barest notion of writing apocalyptic fiction, and tried to throw in a little semi-romance too. The result is not pleasing at all. From the Native American named 'Wolf' (really?) to the stereotypical 'badass' female who was not badass at all to a wandering plot to tired storylines, this is not something I would recommend to anyone.

Surviving The Swamp starts out with a great premise - take the contestants of a survival show and make the SHTF in the real world while they're out filming. A lot could have been done with this.
The characters pay for any stupidity and lack of forethought. The sequence of actions/consequences are a good reminder to would-be preppers to really think before you act, and if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. The conversations are heavily repetitive and unfortunately, that slows the book down.

In the book Surviving the Swamp, author Grace Hamilton writes about Skin of Your Teeth Survival, a survival television show hosted by Survivalist Wolf Henderson. But when an EMP hits America the contestants are now in a fight for their lives to escape the swamp. But maybe the swamp is the safe place to be with the chaos of civilization.
This was a good quick read that kept you reading and wanting more. I would recommend this book! I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay read.

It does generally work as post-apoc and it’s nice to read one that’s really just about the human factor (i.e. no zombies, pandemics, aliens, etc.) – and I really hope the series stays that way!

The book has its grim parts, but our characters are mostly enjoyable to read.

Our main character is a little harder to feel for. She’s a mix of prickly (which is okay) and goo-goo eyed over a guy (which kind of isn’t). I really wanted her to just be the tough girl she tries to be and no worry about if he likes her likes her.

I’m not entirely certain that I’m up for the next book. All the main characters ‘feels’ were kind of getting in the way of adventure. We’ll see…


*ARC Provided via Net Galley

I loved Grace Hamilton's AFTER THE SHIFT series and am excited about her new series, SURVIVALIST REALITY SHOW. In SURVIVING THE SWAMP, a group of reality show contestants vie for a big payoff by "surviving" 4 weeks in the Florida Everglades. It's all fun, games, and stress--until communication is lost and the camera crew fails to return. Nothing electrical or battery-powered works. It's true not just inside the swamp.

SURVIVING THE SWAMP will rivet the attention of prepper readers and of lovers of attention too.