This book had quite a slow start. I did not finish this book and therefore I am unable to provide a review in full.

Before the pandemic — the spread of COVID that the phrase “the pandemic” now describes — there were other pandemics, real and fictional. Many of the fictional pandemics produced zombies. White Horse infects people and produces mutations that kill most people. Many of those who survive become monsters, although to Alex Adams’ credit, they don’t become zombies, exactly. The protagonist and a few others who seem be immune to White Horse embark on a search for hope.

The public can’t get enough apocalyptic horror fiction. As the genre goes, White Horse tells a more interesting story than most. The story is strange in a (mostly) good way, unpredictable and surprising. Adams’ writing style strives for literary effect, but the result feels forced, lacking the natural grace of literary prose. This might be a good choice for readers who haven’t overdosed on the genre.

I tried so hard to like this book, but no matter how hard I tried, I just didn't. I had to give up at about 70% because I figured if I didn't care for it by that point, I probably wasn't going to at all. I didn't have a problem jumping back and forth between Then and Now. In fact, I liked that aspect. I just didn't like the characters and didn't become invested in them at all. I'm not going to post this review because I don't post reviews of books that just weren't my cup of tea. Thank you very much, though, for the opportunity to read it.

DNF

This writing style and plot set up was absolutely not for me. I got really into the dystopian trend for a while, but only a handful worked for me, and this was not one of those.

Do not waste your time or money. It's written in a before and after style (fine), it's exceedingly bleak without any redemption or explanation (meh), and it fails to include the trigger warning that the main character is repeatedly raped by family members then is "rescued" by aligning herself with someone who (yup) rapes her. No thanks.

Sorry, this book/story was just okay. I actually never could get into the story and wound up leaving it unfinished.

I requested this book but then realized it had content I preferred not reading. It was too dark for me. Plus it was violent, had crude language and just had everything I dislike in books. I had a different perspective when I read the book's description and thought it would be a good post-apocalyptic story.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO WHITE HORSE BY ALEX ADAMS?
White Horse by Alex Adams is an adult dystopia book that has crossover YA appeal. Or at least that’s how it was pitched when the book was released several years ago. At the time, that really appealed to me. However, as you all know how TBRs go, I kept putting it off for newer and shinier books. Of course, as you all know basically every book I have been reading seems to be from the library these days or from either Netgalley or Edelweiss. White Horse combines both — it’s an audiobook that I borrowed from the library that also is on my Netgalley queue FOR MULTIPLE YEARS. Leaving it on the queue for years is kind of weird for me. I am usually all about books with plagues.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Essentially, White Horse by Alex Adams is narrated by this woman named Zoe. Zoe was a janitor at this biochemical company. One day, there is this strange jar that shows up in her apartment and she questions just why it is there. So, that’s the past.

Now, we flash forward to the future and basically humans have all but died out due to this disease. It was caused by the company where she worked – white horse is the name of the disease. Zoe, however, is immune and pregnant. So, she ends up on a journey traveling with another girl as well as a man known as the Swiss. White Horse goes back and forth in timeline between the past and the present.

HOW DID I LIKE WHITE HORSE?
Unfortunately, I feel like I could take or leave Alex Adams’ White Horse. I mean, I was really looking forward to this book. However, it just failed to really connect with me. I did find myself bored a lot of the time. Then there was the pregnancy aspect and as a pregnant person, I felt stressed out pretty much my whole time reading this book. The biggest factor generating my apathy was the narration though. It is likely that I would have enjoyed this so much more had I read it physically or via ebook and not listened to it.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
So, I listened to a CD version of this book from the library and ripped it to my iPhone as I only have a CD player in my car otherwise, I do not have one at all. The audiobook is narrated by Emily Durante and is 10 hours and 15 minutes long. It just DRAGS the whole time. Right now, I am used to listening to audiobooks via apps and so I have that ability to speed up audiobooks with the click of a button. I have become accustomed to listening to books at a faster speed than what is normal. Unfortunately, I could not do that with this book. It just went so slow. Plus, the production values were just terrible. There probably could have been a whole hour cut out with tighter engineering – there are a lot of awkward LONG pauses. I am just not about that life.