The Prelapsarians by John Gaiserich

This was a brutal read, in a good way. Nothing is held back and everything is shared, sometimes in almost painful to read detail. It took me a while to get through this book. Not because it was difficult to read or poorly written, for it is neither of those. Life gets in the way and sometimes other bookworms steal your reads! My son (23) loves dystopian, post-apocalyptic, survivalist type novels. When I set down the book in the living room, and ended up leaving it rest there while I handled life for a few days, he picked it up and kept it until he read it in full. From what I read, it was an intense story with gripping passages and situations, hard-core and no holds barred. When he returned it he said it was one of the best books he’s read in a long time; high praise coming from him. A man of few words, he simply said it was very detailed with a few gruesome parts, difficult to put down. So why not five stars? While the book is well-written and an excellent read, I feel it goes a bit too far with the depressing, brutal, violence and can be a bit overwhelming with the wealth of information. I may go as far as giving it 4.5 stars but in my opinion it’s not a 5-star read. I received an ARC through Smith Publicity in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.