Thank you to BDA Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Cowboys and zombies, oh my! I enjoyed the written accents and writing. I didn't know the tale was incomplete when I requested this, no wonder it felt unfinished! I look forward to the next installment.

Revenants
Mel C Bell

Great premise and there's a lot of potential here ...
But it definitely feels like a rough draft, in my humble opinion.

Also, I found myself getting rather lost and confused.
Granted, I believe this is the first in a series, but ... still ...

I don't know about this one.

Maybe it suffered from me reading several 5 star horror novels recently.

I'll re-read it in a couple months and see if I feel any differently about it.

3 / 5

If you like zombie-Western-horror-romance shorts, give it a try. It might be for you! 😊

Once I got into this read, I enjoyed it. Truly a fun combination and commitment to a Wild West scene with a zombie twist. I thought the prose was dark, lyrical, and lingering. Unfortunately, I think the book’s brevity works against it. It seems that the dialect was utilized to provide more character, instead of providing more space to create fully rounded characters. Though I understand this isn’t the full story and there should be other installments to come that I can look forward to. This horror novella has a lot of potential, and I hope to see a longer novel with more world building and character development.

Thank you to NetGalley & BDA Publishing for this e-arc.

Rated up. My Rating 3.5

This is definitely an introduction to a much larger story, but it is a nice starting point. There were parts that I had to re-read for clarification only to find that, there weren't any. Not getting that clarity was not there in the sense of a plot hole as much as it creates some mystery to be revealed later.

I loved the imagery. It is descriptive in a way that evokes a physiological response.

My main "issue" is that the language of the narration is disproportionate to Madeline’s perceived intelligence. It is overstated whereas dialogue and internal thoughts from Maddie are simple and improper. It’s jarring, but a good use of discerning the difference between the two. So, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. It read more like a screenplay than a cohesive story, which made it hard to follow.

In spite of that, I am definitely excited to see where this goes after the reveal at the end of this one.

I think this has a ton of potential. I've read somewhere that this isn't the final form. I think it will either be a series or a graphic novel series and I would definitely read it. There's enough here to get me interested, but not enough here for me to actually care about it. I will definitely keep an eye out.

Revenants is a short and disturbing story that will definitely be well suited as a graphic novel. The setting is creepy in itself being secluded and in a wooded area. The events seem to take place very quickly over a short amount of hours and this is how I would picture an event like this happening. There would be some rumours and then it would literally be at your door knocking. I would definitely reread as a graphic piece. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I didn’t know I needed a zombie romance but here I am and loving it.

I kind of wish it was like 100 pages more of this because it was beautifully written and the story really held my attention… Like couldn’t put it down and was kind of sad when it was done.

I can’t wait to see what else Mel Bell has in store for us.

Thank you Netgalley and BDA Publishing for the eARC for an honest review.

3⭐️ Thank you NetGalley for approving me to read this!!!

This is a short story about a woman realising her world is taken over by zombies.

This book is fast paced, kept me intrigued the whole time, and zombies and cowboys in one book? Immediately sold.

I think my favourite thing about this book was the way the characters accents were written. It was so entertaining and I felt so immersed into the situation. I really enjoyed the writing style as well, I just felt at times I was super confused as to what was happening.

The other thing is I’m quite a character driven reader and would have liked to see more growth between the characters, and within each character themselves. Obviously with only 70 pages that’s a bit hard to do, but that’s why I didn’t rate it higher than 3 stars.

I look forward to hopefully reading a sequel? Highly recommend this suspenseful little read. 💕

Horror western is one of my favorite subgenres, and though this ARC read like a rough first draft, it holds a lot of promise for me.

Revenants starts with a bang, or perhaps a blaze, as Maddie watches soldiers enter her town and sets buildings ablaze, aiming to subdue something not quite human. But what this does is push the beings - dead humans who somehow still move - towards Maddie’s homestead on the outskirts. And in no time, a tall, handsome soldier stands above her, having just dispatched the moving corpse of her only remaining family.

There are a lot of moving parts here, from the reasons for the ‘zombies’, the witchy background of Maddie’s mother, and even the mysterious soldier who knows more than he’s saying. Nothing is really explained in this first installment, which acts for me as more of a prologue, throwing you into some exciting moments that will then require backing up a bit to explain just what’s going on. That’s totally fine with me. The main problem for me was really in the way this was written, which, it should be noted, is not to be the final format; I think this will be a really rad graphic novel as a final story, which will solve the following issues I had.

As you read, the writing style displayed an uncomfortable dissonance between characters’ speech and the general narrative passages. Characters spoke simply, in a dialect tinged with American south influence and missing consonants, yet the overall narration was weighed down with dense vocabulary and long sentences in a very scholarly, overwritten fashion. Maddie’s internal thought passages clashed with her dialogue in this way, making it clunky and difficult to read smoothly. And it is a short, action-packed and explanation-poor piece of the larger story, so a reader may feel disappointed just when their appetite has been whetted.

But as a graphic novel, obviously most of these issues would be resolved by showing settings and actions visually. I’m giving <i>Revenants</i> three and a half stars, rounding up to four in anticipation of that final product.

Very beautifully written. I felt as if I was being built up to be left wanting, though. Perhaps if this turns out to be the first in a series it would make sense. I felt like I was just starting to understand the bigger picture and then it ended.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful, plus its a quick read at only 70 pages. My biggest complaint was that I wanted it to be longer. I wanted to get to know the characters more. Where it ended didn't feel like an ending - it felt like a beginning to an even greater story.

I received this eARC from BDA Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For being less than 100 pages, this one was really hard to get into. It is my understanding that this will be adapted into a graphic novel at a later point, and maybe if the ARC was in graphic novel form it would’ve made more sense.

The Western “accent” used was over the top and hard to understand. Sentences seemed incomplete. The plot was also hard to follow. When I got to the end, I was confused as to what the central plot line was because there was too much going on at once.

I think if ARC readers could see the chapters in the graphic novel form, it might make more sense, although the western accent needs some work so that it’s easier to follow.

I had high hopes for this! Big fan of zombies, big fan of romance. Unfortunately ,Revenants reads more like a first draft than a strong first entry for a larger horror/romantasy series.

First of all, if you are someone who doesn't like 'eye dialect' or accents written out phonetically, I recommend skipping this one. I'm usually fine with this, but Revenants really toed the line between 'Distinct, memorable character voice' and 'Clunky, unnecessarily distracting writing style.'.

When I finished this story, the first thing I did was re-read the blurb. Now, I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but... There was a significant disconnect between the description and the actual story. I would hardly call what happened '[embarking] on a treacherous odyssey'. Treacherous, sure. Odyssey? No. The course of the story happens over what feels like a handful of hours. The language used implies an epic journey filled with suspense and divine conflicts. And if that's what you came for, you will be disappointed.

By itself, the pacing is strange, the plot points are flimsy, and the ending is underwhelming at best. Maybe if it were made more clear that this is just an introduction to the larger story, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. But even still, this series seems to start with more of a fizzle than a bang.

Overall, I think as a short story, this book needed at very least another round of editing. I struggled to connect with the main character, whose decisions often felt inconsistent. The flashback scenes seemed unnecessary, adding little to the plot beyond a lazy attempt to unsettle the reader. And without the blurb to go off of, the setting is just a non-descript, vaguely wartorn... Forest? I think?

According to the publisher's note on Netgalley, this book is to be adapted into a graphic novel, which, in my opinion, this story is far more suited to. But as it currently exists, Revenants is hard to recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

From the start, I felt that this story had the potential to be something truly special, but it needed to be at least three times longer to fully develop its intriguing premise. The author seemed to rush through the narrative, leaving the world and characters feeling underdeveloped. A more immersive approach could have significantly enhanced the reading experience and allowed readers to connect more deeply with the story.

One of the main challenges I faced was the use of accents in the dialogue. While it added a certain authenticity, it often made it difficult to understand what was being said. This obstacle prevented me from fully engaging with the characters and following the plot.

By the time I reached the end of the book, I was still confused about the central storyline. The plot, which involves zombie/vampire creatures and an undead/non-human soldier tasked with stopping them, had a lot of potential but lacked clarity and detail. I hoped for a resolution or an explanation that would tie everything together, but I was left with more questions than answers.

In summary, this story has an interesting concept, but it needs more depth and development to reach its full potential. With a longer format and clearer narrative, it could have been a standout tale in the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this ARC, umm I don’t even know where to start , I hated this book so much because I had no idea what was going on the entirety of this book. Usually a book of this size does take me this long to read but I couldn’t get into , my only motivation was that it was short. I normally don’t mind accents in books but I hated the accent in this book , their sentences never made sense , I had to pause multiple times to try and audibly read out the dialogue to even understand what they were even saying!!!. Also that ending was not it whatsoever, nothing was answered ??? Like he healed her bite and apparently he isn’t human?? And she isn’t either?? And then they are fighting zombies or is it vampires because they have fangs??? Nahh this made no sense to me whatsoever and I also was not a fan of the overly lyrical writing, it was so unnecessary to me, because it added nothing to the story other than confusion, confusion on why any of it was necessary.

Thank you to BDA Publishing and NetGalley for the earc, my opinion is my own.

Admittingly I did find this book hard to get into, and the way the dialogue was written also took some parsing in my brain. Once I reached about the halfway point things started making more sense, but I was left with more questions than answers at the end and would have enjoyed a longer story.

I was provided the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

I struggled with this story, because in many ways, it doesn’t feel complete. This book could have been twice (or even three times) the length, and I assume it will be (it appears this is the first in a series). With only the first instalment to go on, I’m left feeling confused about what just happened.

On one hand, the author’s prose is magnificent. The writing is absolutely stunning and a joy to read. On the other hand, I’m not sure I could describe the plot. There was a lot going on, and for me, more context would have been helpful. The story starts and ends right in the middle of the action, which felt a bit jarring. I kept waiting for an explanation for the events of the story, but that didn’t come.

I think this could be a really enjoyable series, but I would have needed to read each instalment in succession to understand what’s going on. As a standalone, Revenants was well-written but tough to wrap my head around. 2.5 stars rounded up.

It wasn’t what I was expecting and wasn’t able to get me hooked. I wish I had known this was not a complete book before requesting.

I feel this could have developed if it was a little longer - it felt like I was just sinking my teeth in and then it finished. It had some beautiful imagery and I'd love to read something that was longer than a novella.

Revenants by Mel C Bell is an exercise in the beauty and strength of truly creative writing. Beauty would seem to be a strange choice of word based on the brutality of the storyline and content, but the lyricism of the prose makes the carnage almost elegant?

It's a quick read, a short novella, yet it is packed to the straining shrieking brim. There is survival, post-apocalypse, a love story, reflection, desire, deceit and the undead all seething and roiling in a tenacious storyline that will leave you wanting more and more

An awesome author to add to your favourites list

Thank you to Netgalley, BDA Publishing and Mel C Bell for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own