Red Hill Paperback – October 1, 2013

Review for Red Hill by Jamie McGuire5 starsPowerful, thought provoking, frightening, emotional and riveting. I would use all of these words to describe Red Hill by Jamie McGuire. McGuire hit a home run with this book. Not the kind of book that made me want to doodle Mrs. Maddox all over everything but excellent nonetheless. It was so very realistic, even while talking about the zombie apocalypse. I felt the fear, the hopelessness, the relief, the sadness, the determination, the terror, the confusion, the passion and the hope that these characters felt. Great Books can transport us to different worlds and I was definitely a resident of Red Hill for a few days.Scarlett is a mother of two girls and is a tech at a hospital. After surviving living with a constantly angry man and having to protect her girls from that anger, Scarlett is used to a tough life. When the world she knows come crashing down around her, she has to stay safe in order to get to her girls who were picked up just before hell broke loose by their father."It's incredible, the way the imagination can physically affect the body. My heart rate had doubled, and I was beginning to sweat. The more my fear crept up, the more I kept reminding myself that my girls needed me. They were probably scared to death, and no matter what happened or what state they were in, I wanted to be with them." -ScarlettNathan's wife has just left him and their young daughter. He saw it coming but with a daughter that doesn't take change well and sometimes has episodes that can be consuming he has to fight harder than ever to be strong for himself and his little girl."I settled back into my seat, trying to play off my fear. Watching a movie about zombies is one thing. Watching zombies outside your window was another. The movies didn't talk about that. Well . . . maybe they did, but they didn't drive home how terrifying each moment truly was. I tried not to think about tomorrow, or that we would still be fighting for our lives every day from now on. I glanced back at Zoe, and choked back the sadness welling up in my throat. I didn't want her to grow up in a world like this." - NathanMiranda is a college girl with a cute VW bug. Not exactly the ideal vehicle for surviving a zombie invasion but Miranda is used to taking charge and fighting through what life throws at her. How will these strangers lives intersect as the world crumbles to the ground?"I wasn't sure which old couple in the pictures were the owners of the home, but I liked them. The home they left behind made me feel safe, the love they left behind hopeful. The strangers in the pictures were fighting their own battle to survive like we were, and probably making their way to each other, too. At least that was what I wanted to believe. The wind picked up, moving the house just enough for the moaning to begin again. It was eerie, like the groans of the dead ones when they noticed prey and got excited about the prospect of feeding. Other than that, the night was quiet." -MirandaThese people along with their friends, some family, and even a couple strangers picked up as allies along the way are in the fight of their lives. They are witnessing horrors they have never imagined, they have to survive and adapt minute by minute. They are dealing with loss on a larger scale than they can comprehend. They are all making their way to a place they believe they can be safe. For Miranda it is her dad's ranch. For Scarlett it's a ranch she cleaned for a doctor she worked with. For Nathan it's a place he heard of that was out of the way enough to be safe according to some nice strangers he befriended along the way. They are all headed to Red Hill.There are many twists and turns awaiting the alive as they fight to get to Red Hill in one piece. Some will find love and some stand to lose it all. In this new world, even the strong don't always survive. Are you brave enough to ride the road to Red Hill?I loved this book! It had such rich characters and such a nice mix of suspense, romance, raw emotion and scariness. The scariness was dominant at times. I usually read late at night and sitting in my bed reading this book one night my phone pinged an email notification...and scared the crap out of me! I am such a wuss but this book being emerged in the world of Red Hill definitely had me a bit on edge. That being said, I would do it all over again.Review can also be read at readlovelust.com

Let me start out by saying two things. First, I love Jamie McGuire's writing. Beautiful Disaster has been in my top 5 books, since I read it. Absolutely LOVED that book! And second, and the most important, I hate zombie books. I really do. Hate, hate, hate. Can you see my dilemma? I wasn't sure I wanted to read Red Hill, when she first told the world about it. But I kept going back to my first point, I really do like her writing. What's a girl to do?? I was gonna wait til October 1st, when it comes out, and see what others said first. I don't like gore, so I needed a warning. But then I was approved for an ARC, so that basically made my decision for me. I started it the very day it showed up. And I'm so glad I did.It starts out on the cusp of a total world outbreak. You see glimpses of Scarlet and her two daughters, Daniel and his daughter Zoe and Miranda with her sister and both their boyfriends.When the world finally ends, you watch them all travel to get to Red Hill. They meet all different kinds of people. The way everyone seemed to help each other, was very reassuring. If any world collapse happened, I'd hope people would be like this. It was quite a bumpy ride. I totally loved figuring out how their lives all intertwined. At one point, I chastised myself when I realized who a character was, in the big picture.It was written from many POVs, but it wasn't confusing. That was probably why I missed characters until they're basically slapping me in the face. I love how all the character intertwined with each other. At one point I was cheering for one who showed up in the end. I thought this person was dead. I was sure of it. So glad I was wrong.I wondered how Ms. McGuire would be able to swing a love story in the midst of zombies, without it being like Warm Bodies: A Novel. But she succeeded. The story spans over several months, which is the right amount of time for love to blossom.And plenty of time for loss also. I did find myself tearing up at a few places, cuz I was attached to these characters. I was crossing my fingers that pain wouldn't touch them. But, life is pain, and no is immune to it.Let me just say, the pain that Scarlet was going through, I don't know how she did it. I doubt I'd be able to stand like her.The gore wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's there, and it's descriptive, but I'm just glad I was reading it and not watching it. I don't think I could have handled seeing some of those on the big screen.All in all, this was a good book. I'm glad I took a chance and read it. Who knew zombies and love went so well together.