I'm a huge fan of apocalyptic survival stories and this was pretty good. I enjoyed the alternate history wild west feel to it and the story itself was a bit unique, which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately I feel like the prose, while beautiful in parts, really overwhelmed the story a lot of the time for me & actually distracted from what was happening rather than enhance it. My interest is definitely peaked in this author though and I will for sure be looking out for more.

Thank so much to BDA publishing, netgalley, and the author for the e-galley!

I look forward to the full release!! I need more… I destroyed this on my lunch break this afternoon and loved it. I was not super connected to the characters but I loved the atmosphere and writing.



4 / 5
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy/early read opportunity!

I love a novella but I wish there was more to this one, it feels unfinished? There is something here. I loved the story a lot- zombies are always a good time for me. I am a self confessed bland prose lover and this was very flowery but it added to the stories’ atmosphere so I can appreciate it. The author is obviously a talented writer and I look forward to future releases.

it’s hard to give this a proper rating since it will rely on being graphic and this is the first “episode”. a lot of it wasn’t connecting to me and it also just was so much prose that really didn’t make sense or even matter. most of everything in italics, i skipped and don’t really feel like i missed out on much.

This started off really strong and it was beautifully written throughout, I just feel like I didn’t understand the point or connect with the characters. There were several parts that in my opinion made no sense to propelling the story forward and the flashback/vision(??) sequences were confusing. This somehow felt too short and too long at the same time.

Beautifully written and atmospheric. I DEVOURED this novella. I can't wait for the full release. 5 out of 5 stars for me!

4.25 rounded down to 4.

Thanks to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for an advanced copy of Revenants in exchange for an honest review.

According to their Instagram page, BDA Publishing mentioned that this book will be part of an "episodic" series, which means chapters will be released regularly as opposed to the entire book at one time. This story wasn't the complete version, just the first few chapters that will be released later in the year. I figured this was worth mentioning, as several previous reviews seemed confused about this and rated the story low because they thought it just ended abruptly, but that's not the case.

That being said, I think this series shows great promise, and I'm likely going to be following the story once it's released. The writing is fantastic and the plot is very fast-paced. Was there a lot going on? Yes. This is marketed as a romance zombie western, and is tagged as horror, romance, and fantasy - which is an ambitious and unique blend of genres for sure. With the short amount of chapters released, there was a decent start to building this world, along with the character development. The romance was budding, but since this is an ongoing series, I wasn't expecting much to happen within the 50 or so pages included in the excerpt. The Zombie western inclusion was extremely fun, and I'm curious to see how that progresses. There accent choices for the two main characters were interesting (one seemed to be Scottish?), but with this fantasy/warrior plotline that seems to be developing, I'll give it a chance to play out later since it did seem a bit off- putting at the time.

I'm very intrigued at this point and look forward to the episodic releases.

I fully understand that this is a novella, however, there was just too much going on for any of the characters or plot points to get the development that was needed to flesh out the story.

Revenants starts off with a zombie horde coming for the cabin that Maddie and Pa live in and things just go off from there. In the span of a few pages, Pa is dead and Maddie realizes that she's likely the product of her dad raping her mom, who had died by suicide several years previous. I felt like that was a lot to drop in without any additional exploration. I think if this could be developed further or expanded there is definitely something there, but as-is, was a tough read for me despite its brevity.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the advanced copy.

What was that endinG???????

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Mel. C. Bell for this arc, all words are my own.
In the beginning I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, I knew it had something to do with horror/thriller/grotesque, so I dived into it.
The story is short, no more than 55 pages, but it manages to deliver the dread and the horror very well. I really hope for a second book because what was that cliffhanger 😱

I still give it 4 stars, because the way this story was written, so beautiful and lyrical, I did feel like I was in that world myself.

This might be more like 2.75-3. It was good for a novella but sort of hard to follow. The use of description was really nice but was often a placeholder for more important development that was not as fleshed out

This was definitely a short read. I still have so many questions! I think I understand what happened but not completely sure. I will probably need to read it again! But I think it is about good and evil and trying to fight the demons in the world. This book had a spooky vibe for sure, zombies are scary! I found the writing to be really great! The descriptions of the environment and the characters was well done. I would have liked it to be a little longer to see where Maddie goes! I am giving it 4 stars because I was a bit confused and I wish it was longer. Overall, it was great!

Revenants
By Mel C Bell
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Format: Digital ARC
Overall Rating: 4.75

It’s been a long time since I read a book that actually surprised me. Not only did this story really catch me off guard, but it went way into left field. I really enjoyed it.

My major complaint is that it’s super short, even though this could easily be so much longer. Yes, it was well rounded and it must tell the story the author wanted to tell. But I’m now invested in these characters and I want to know what happens to them!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this upcoming title!

I’d like to keep this short and sweet, this was such a romp! I enjoyed it from beginning to end and even though its length was an overall strength, I kept hoping there was more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I can appreciate that this novella is not the finished product, however, I do think that this book would benefit from having only one installment. Unfortunately, this was just not quite enough for me- and I was left feeling a little left down by the lack of ability to really settle in with the story.

I will say I am not a fan of the romance side of things, but the style of writing was gorgeous enough for me to be able to manage it. I was impressed with the way that the narrative had the troughs and peaks, and it is very clear that the author knows how to write. With that said, I don't feel like I got enough of the characterisation of anyone in this story because of how short it was.

There's also a lot of stuff going on in the story, and perhaps too many things going on at once. I think it's a fabulous concept with a lot behind it, but I think there could have been some cuts and some additions, and this would have been an absolutely wonderful horror piece.

This short novel blends masterful contemporary Gothic prose and a strong female character who speaks with a distinct Southern twang. While I found this distinct divergence in style a bit jarring at first, I soon grew to love this unique form of storytelling. As one who tends to shy away from romance, I found this story to be very satisfying as a horror-lover, providing thoroughly unsettling descriptions of terrors. The main character, Maddie, is a down-to-earth spitfire personality reminiscent of Mia Goth's character in Pearl. The descriptions in the story are so vivid and well-written that I struggle to see this as a graphic novel. However, given the care and attention clearly put into this first novel, I have no doubt the rest of this story will be an expertly-crafted, wild and wonderful ride.

Thank you BDA Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Short but impactful novella about a young woman up against something sinister, when a soldier comes to her rescue. I found the writing descriptive and well crafted, and enjoyed the bits of back story that were weaved in.

Revenants is a horror novella published by @bdapublishing. it's set in the old west and features zombies.

The book follows Maddie. She and her father have been surrounded by war. They witness soldiers set fire to a building across the bridge. Curiosity gets the better of her father and he decides to get closer and see what's happening. But as Maddie awaits for her father's return, she notices several people shambling out of the water. The closer they get, the more horrifying they look. These "people" lay siege on the house. Maddie starts to think her life is over, but it's only just beginning. Especially when a dreamy soldier helps her evade death.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful. It's 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.

The zombies in this book were downright creepy and I was all here for it. Kid zombies are always scary and the ones in here were fantastic.

Read this if you're looking for

📖zombies
📖some romance
📖supernatural elements
📖western feel quick read

I gave this one 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and loved the writing but just wish it was longer. Special thanks to NetGalley and bda Publishing for the advanced readers copy.

Did not finish, unfortunately. It wasn’t my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this arc.

Revenants by Mel C. Bell was wonderful! I loooved the writing, the prose was absolutely beautiful. My only critique of this was this it was indeed to short. This would have been an amazing full length novel or novella. But everything else about the story itself was amazing. I will be looking out for more releases from this author in the future.