Jemology

Although set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an incurable virus, this book is more of a character study of a woman who's suffered horrific trauma, escaped disease and survived beyond all odds.

As is typical of post-apocalyptic worlds, lawlessness abound and it's pretty much a survival of the fittest. The book begins with the woman Taylor's arrival in a seeming oasis, a rural farm run by a benevolent leader Buck who tries his best to maintain a sense of normalcy for the few survivors who seek refuge on his farm. But even within the farm, sympathy and sharing exist side by side with greed and bigotry. Much of the book deals with Taylor's emotional journey from a traumatized victim with the help of her lady love, the wonderful Kate, who understand Taylor fully but doesn't take any BS from her. Their interactions are the highlight of the book, especially the slapping incident. A number of well-drawn out, engaging supporting characters and their own journeys round out this well-balanced tale. Major spoiler: I wished Taylor had played a bigger part in the resolution of the mutiny. She seemed to always need saving by other people. So it was a bit of a surprise for me when Buck asked her to take over the farm. I would've qualified that with 'only with Kate at your side' :)

4.4 stars

P.S. I would give this book 5 stars but for the fact that I had expected it to be a more of a thriller, an action/adventure type of tale. But it is just my personal preference so the rating doesn't reflect on the quality of the book. Another post-apocalyptic book I really liked is [b:The Gunfighter and The Gear-Head|15842240|The Gunfighter and The Gear-Head|Cassandra Duffy|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345673764s/15842240.jpg|17573282], a semi-serious action-filled steampunk tale. But for me the gold-standard for this sub-subgenre is [b:The Growing|1294993|The Growing|Susanne M. Beck|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1357406403s/1294993.jpg|1284113]--a perfect combination of action, angst, end-of-the-world thriller with a sprinkling of paranormal. It is not available in ebook format, but I had read it a long time ago while it was still available for free online. The paperback is selling for about a hundred bucks on amazon but our best friend google might come in handy. :)