This novella - which is a prequel that was published after the series was completed I believe - packs a punch. For being around 230 pages, this book cover a lot of character and time. It manages to have some intense action scenes and some emotional moments. From the beginning I was hooked and hit in he heart. I loved the perspective on zombies, mutations good and bad (was pleasantly surprised but the powers), post-apocalyptic dynamics... very cool concept.

I had a few issues with it however. I could tell this was written after the other books although chronologically it takes place before. Some of the POVs were confusing and I had to go back and refresh my memory on who they were about and where we last left them. I think that also affected the pacing negatively in the middle - being this short, pacing issues feel very noticeable. Overall, I enjoyed the book and it got me to want to read the rest of the series. 3.75 stars.

This book surprised me. I thought the inclusion of magic in a post apocalyptic setting would be interesting but this is extremely well written. I was legitimately sad to have finished. The only issue I have is that sometimes there would be a time jump in the story and it was a little unclear that had happened for longer than necessary. I am planning to continue this series to see what the heck happens next.

Nelle Nikole does a great job in writing this novella, it had that prequel element that I was looking for and was invested in getting into this world. The characters had that feel that I was looking for and worked with the world going on, it left me wanting to read more in this world and can't wait for more from Nelle Nikole.

I struggled with this book, but I think that is mainly because it is a short prequel, and I have not read the other books. I love a good dystopian story, but I didn’t get enough detail about the world and what had happened to really feel invested. The characters seemed interesting, but I did struggle a few times to keep track of who was who, as there are a lot of characters in such a short book. If you have read books 1 and 2 I'm sure this wouldn't be an issue. I would have liked a more fully fleshed story which is why I feel I just wasn’t the right audience for this book. It really felt like it was written for someone who had already read books 1 and 2. If you have already read the other books than I'm sure it would be a really interesting to learn some of the character back stories.