Wanderers - Review

Title:  Wanderers

Author:  Chuck Wendig

Synopsis: “Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady.  She appears to be sleepwalking.  She cannot talk and cannot be woken up.  And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows.  But Shana and her sister are not alone.  Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey.  And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

     “For on their journey, they will discover an America convulsed with terror and violence, where this apocalyptic epidemic proves less dangerous than the fear of it.  As the rest of society collapses all around them – and an ultraviolent militia threatens to exterminate them – the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic.  The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart – or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.”

Review:  You all know by now that I love a good apocalypse.  Give me a novel about the end of the world that is heavier than my cat (the small cat, not the 20 lb monster cat) and I’m a happy book worm. 

     Wanderers is an interesting take on the end of the world by plague trope, with interesting characters.  At first I thought that it was going to be a zombie novel.  Around 25% in I realized it’s actually a plague that kills all humanity/end of the world novel.  At 75% in I finally realized it’s actually neither, and yet both, of those.  It is full of characters you love and characters you love to hate.  My only complaint is that there are two main characters that are both female whose names begin with S and I spent the entire first half of the novel confused about which was which.  But that might just be me.    

     It took me five days to read Wanderers, but that’s only because I had to work; and one day I had a migraine headache and wasn’t able to read at all, which was horrible.  Every minute I wasn’t reading I was trying to figure out when my next opportunity to read was going to be so I could get a bit further in the story.  I stayed up way past my bedtime so I could read, and when I finally allowed myself to sleep I had weird dreams that I blame on Wanderers. 

    I highly recommend all of Chuck Wendig’s novels and I think Wanderers is a great choice for a summer read.  But be warned, this novel is an epic, heavy read (I’m not just talking about the physical weight of the book) and once you start reading you won’t be able to stop. 

***I was provided with a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Publisher:  Del Rey

If you like this book you may want to read:

Invasive by Chuck Wendig

The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J Walker