Review: American Rapture by CJ Leede (Spoiler Free!)

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The Book: American Rapture by CJ Leede

Content warnings

• SA (aside from the Rape Zombies)
• Rape (see, Rape Zombies)
• The most horrific dog death ever (I DNF’d before this, this is according to many other reviews)
• Child cancer (this is only mentioned, not a major plot point)

The Synopsis (from memory)

A mysterious illness is slowly spreading across the US, it’s primarily been contained in the northeast but as it makes it’s way to the Midwest, it becomes something no one could have anticipated. Instead of just typical virus symptoms, victims of the Sylvia variant are ravaged with uncontrollable lustful desires.

Sophia was raised in a somewhat isolated and devout Catholic household but is becoming more aware of the outside world and having a bit of a sexual awakening at the same time as the virus spreading.

As the virus spreads and gets worse, Sophia sets off to reunite with her brother in these trying times with the help of strangers and a four legged friend along the way.

The Review (TLDR)

(My review from Goodreads)” Two years in a row starting with DNFs! DNFing on page 236. I was very excited about this one but it’s just not it. I loved the beginning, then when I realized it’s basically zombies (zombie adjacent since they’re not dead?), and rape zombies at that, I lost a lot of enthusiasm for it.

I kept going and was still interested for a while, but I just feel bored with it at this point. For a lot of things happening and going on, there’s nothing happening either?

I just have no desire to finish this and find out what happens.

The Good

The cover. Come on, it’s a great cover.

The title. It’s a very good title and part of what intrigued me.

I didn’t hate the writing style, that was a common complaint among reviews I read but it worked for me.

It’s set in Wisconsin! I knew it was set in the Midwest but didn’t realize it was Wisconsin. I live here so that was exciting and it actually starts out close(ish) to me!

Everything pre-Rape Zombies. I really loved the beginning of this and was very excited to keep reading, but as soon as we got the Rape Zombies, I knew I was going to like it at least a little bit less (I don’t generally like zombie stuff), I just didn’t anticipate how much less.

And some of it after. I didn’t completely hate this book, I was enjoying it even after the “zombie” thing started and did look forward to picking it up, until a certain point. I do like the idea of the story (generally) but the execution wasn’t right for me.

The format. While I wouldn’t say this was mixed media (my absolute favorite type of book ever), it has whisperings of it. It was fun that How To’s were mixed in after some chapters that related to the “for dummies” books she read at home. I do wish it was integrated a bit more but I like the idea of it.

The Bad

Holy typos Batman! Yes, I copy edit for a living but even without that, there were A LOT of typos in this. Like, a really bad amount for this being a final printed and published copy.

Sometimes I feel silly complaining about this because I’m not a typo stickler in my own blog writing but this is much more casual than a whole traditionally published book where I expect little to no typos. I’ll let a few slide, it happens, but this was too much.

Rape Zombies. Need I say more? Yes. First, technically they’re not zombies because they don’t die and come back, this “lustful desire” thing is just a symptom of the virus. And it’s not just “lustful desire” but like, aggressive forcing themselves on any poor soul that happens to be around. It’s more zombie-adjacent but that’s too close for me.

It feels like nothing is happening. Yes, there are a lot of things happening and going on, but it feels like nothing is happening at the same time and I do not like when that happens. I don’t think this book needed to be as long as it was.

I don’t need constant twists and turns but a lot of this just felt sort of like filler, maybe a little too much inner thought?

Sophie is kind of annoying? But also, she’s a teenager and having a bit of an identity and belief crisis so I can forgive that a little bit more.

“The most horrific dog death,” according to other reviewers (IF this kind of thing bothers you, starts on 338 and is mentioned through the end of the chapter, page 343, called Inferno). The chapter is called Inferno and may be chapter 44 in the audiobook (according to this).

This part happens after I DNF’d (page 236) it so I just went back to read this section to see what everyone was talking about. I will say, animal death in books generally doesn’t bother me and I was expecting something pretty bad, and it was but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I don’t know what that says about me.

So if this normally bothers you, you may want to skim or skip this section (the most descriptive part is the bottom of page 338 and top of 339 but it does get mentioned through the rest of the chapter). If this doesn’t usually bother you, it’s hit or miss on whether this will or not. If you read Tender is the Flesh and were appalled by the puppy scene, you will not like this.

Should you read American Rapture, too?

I am definitely in the minority for not liking American Rapture so I would say yes, unless zombie-adjacent things and SA are things you cannot read. Then skip it.

I get why people would enjoy this, but it just wasn’t for me and that’s ok. I’d say give it a shot but maybe from the library if it’s something you’re unsure of and don’t want to pay full price for.

It’s far from being the worst thing I’ve ever read though so don’t totally let this review scare you away! I will also say, it’s rare that I’ll ever just straight up not recommend a book, only one or two are coming to mind, so it’s always worth a try!

Buy American Rapture here.

Have you read American Rapture? What did you think of it? Would you recommend it? I want to hear your thoughts!