ApocalyptiGirlA post-apocalyptic story starring a strong female character and her adorable pet cat? This should have been right up my alley. But despite the art being streamlined and stunning, the story never quite grabbed me.

Though the internal narration conceit was very cool, it seems the author erred on the side of “less is more” when it came to world-building. Unfortunately, that “less” led to a world that didn’t make much sense. I also did not figure out Aria’s place in it soon enough to care, and only finished the story because it was so short. 

Even though things got super violent (almost unnecessarily so) about halfway through, the ending to this tale was incredibly poignant and I’m glad I stuck with it. The surprising twist and Aria’s response were lovely.

And, of course, I think Jelly Beans the cat is pretty awesome.

Rating: 3 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.

3 thoughts on “Review: ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times by Andrew MacLean

    1. steelvictory – Ellicott City – By day, J. L. Gribble is a professional medical editor. By night, she does freelance fiction editing in all genres, along with reading, playing video games, and occasionally even writing. Her debut novel, STEEL VICTORY, was her thesis novel for Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction graduate program in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Previously, she was one of the co-editors for FAR WORLDS, a speculative fiction anthology. She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, with her husband and three vocal Siamese cats. Find her online (www.jlgribble.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jlgribblewriter), and on Twitter and Instagram (@hannaedits). She is currently working on more tales set in the world of Limani.
      steelvictory says:

      The art in this was stunning.

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