Title: Refuge
Series: Fight for Survival Trilogy: Book One
Author: H.L. Day
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 408 Pages
Category: Sci-Fi, Romance
At a Glance: All in all, Refuge is absolutely worth the read. The premise was intriguing, the story engaging, and the last fourth of the book in particular was so good and suspenseful.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: If you no longer recognise someone, how can you possibly be expected to trust them with your life?
Some might describe Blake Brannigan’s life in the small Yorkshire village of Thwaite as bordering on mundane. His job in a café doesn’t exactly set the world alight. But, he’s got his own house, a boyfriend, and a close-knit group of good friends. For him, that’s more than enough to lead a contented life.
Then in one fell swoop, everything’s ripped away when he’s forced to flee the village with only his boyfriend for company. He doesn’t know why they’re leaving. He hasn’t got the faintest clue what’s going on, and he’s struggling to understand the actions and behaviour of a man he thought he knew. A man that it soon becomes clear knows far more about what’s happening than he’s letting on. A man hiding a multitude of secrets.
When the true extent of what’s happening comes to light, Blake is rocked to the core. Peril lurks around every corner. The smallest decision suddenly spells the difference between life and death. If Blake’s to have any chance of survival in this new and frightening world, he’s going to have to unearth buried secrets, figure out whether love really can conquer all, and face emotional, physical, and mental challenges the likes of which he could never have imagined.
One thing’s for sure, when life suddenly boils down to nothing more than the desperate need to find refuge, priorities change. Blake’s certainly have.
Review: When new-to-me author H.L Day’s new release popped up, I pounced on it with very little deliberation. Having not read her before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I couldn’t pass up the cover or the blurb for Refuge. Looking at her previous releases, it looks like this is her first foray into writing paranormal or urban fantasy, and I think she did an admirable job with it. The world building that’s necessary to make a novel like this really shine is immense; Day is off to a good start with Refuge, but I hope to see even more detail and development in the next books in the series.
It’s near impossible to do a comprehensive review of this book without veering into spoiler territory, so I’m going to keep it pretty brief as far as story points are concerned. What you already know from the blurb is that something unexpected happens that causes Blake and his boyfriend to have to flee their home in the village of Thwaite—something dangerous that Blake’s boyfriend obviously knows about. He initially refuses to discuss anything with Blake, though, only telling him to get his shit together in seven minutes or he’s going to get left behind. The lack of sharing on his part got sort of frustrating at a point. I didn’t understand why he had to keep poor Blake in the dark for as long as he did. But, eventually, he is forced to disclose some things, and we begin to get a picture of what is happening.
In the beginning of the book, Day goes back and forth between present day, and a timeline that is set three years prior. I actually didn’t love this method. Sometimes the flashback thing works really well for me in stories, but in this case, I found Day to be unnecessarily vague in the earlier present day chapters about a particular detail, and it frustrated me as a reader. Once that detail is confirmed, though, the timeline switches stop, and things begin moving forward. I enjoyed the overall pace of the book, and Day’s storytelling is engaging, if a bit predictable at times.
I enjoyed the characters—especially Zed—and hope to get even more character development in the next book. Zed was lovely and quirky, and just SO in love with Blake. I adored that about him. I liked him both when he was being all bumbly and awkward, and when he was more confident and take-charge. Blake’s character evolved along with the story, and definitely grew on me as the book progressed. His personal growth was fantastic; I really liked where he was at the end. I also really loved Blake’s best friend, Cherry, who owned the little café he worked at. She was so fun and sassy.
All in all, Refuge is absolutely worth the read. The premise was intriguing, the story engaging, and the last fourth of the book in particular was so good and suspenseful. I’m definitely excited to see where the author takes the story from here!
You can buy Refuge here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B07BF4BM4X?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]