2.5 stars rounded up, full Review on my blog!

I'm super disappointed with this one. It was very repetitive, filled with many unnecessary smut scenes... I mean they were great but I felt like it was too much.

❥The Walking Dead meets The Vampire Diaries
❥Post-apocalyptic
❥zombie vampires with a virus; they're called ‘the afflicted’
❥military-type setting
❥enemies-to-lovers
❥vampire x human
❥insta -lust/love
❥forbidden romance
❥he falls first
❥morally grey mmc
❥touch her and die
❥forced proximity

Possible spoilers:

Afflicted by R.D. Baker is a vampire x human-forbidden romance in a post-apocalyptic world. I’ll be honest this wasn’t what I expected the story to turn into from how the first 40% started. From that point, it went downhill; the story shifted to endless smut and a dead plot – the Afflicted (zombie vampires) repeatedly breached the compound, which became quite repetitive, it felt like over 200 pages of breaches. It was later revealed that the National Guard was behind these breaches. They were using the Afflicted to try to get into the compound? It wasn’t clear until the end of the book (within the last 15 -20 pages), where it was somewhat explained, but throughout the story, it remained an unexplored plotline. I enjoyed the writing style and believe this story holds great potential, but it was underwhelming.

The events in the first 50-60% of the story set up a different potential storyline than what was delivered. I had this vision of the potential it could be – a Vampire post-apocalyptic world, where the National Guard is saving the humans from these evil vampires and there’s been a war going on for years/the start of a war; would have been way more epic IMO, with Divergent or The Hunger Games vibes; the vamp x human love interest fleeing the war, etc.

At this point, I’m just visualizing things that didn’t really happen and it makes me sad!!

Anyway, I shall digress…

After 50%, I began skimming through all the smut scenes because they occurred so frequently, with at least two in each chapter or just 40 pages of straight smutty scenes with nothing else, this definitely didn’t contribute much to the plot progression. We get it, the main characters are hopelessly in love and super co-dependent. I honestly got bored and thought about DNF’ing, but continued skimming, searching for some kind of redeeming quality, which never really happened. I guess, it started to pick up again around 84% when Sam’s (Silas’ supervisor / old FWB) jealousy led to Juliet being transferred to the Breeding Compound, which causes Silas to panic in turn fleeing with Juliet to a Human Safehaven in Roanoke. Despite Juliet’s pleas, Silas leaves her there because Vampires aren’t allowed, and after spending a day-ish there she decides to leave the safety of the compound in search of Silas. In hindsight, it wasn’t the wisest decision, considering the events that unfolded after leaving. As they set off to live in the wild they see the National Guard, with tanks and an army of afflicted heading towards the Safehaven. No deaths but interesting information from one of the National Guard doctors about the “Originals” (yes, just like TVD; original vampires). One confusing thing, are they still at the Safehaven, or did the National Guard take them somewhere? No idea, but the ending felt rushed. I guess it’s nice knowing there’s an agreement between the President and the Vampires to rebuild. And a HEA.

The dialogue occasionally felt childish, particularly from Juliet’s perspective. While she initially appeared as a promising character, she gradually lost her appeal and was annoying. She felt a bit bland and not particularly smart or strong. I’ll be honest I didn’t understand Silas’ obsession with her. Also, the fact that she is very co-dependent, and she seemed quick to say “I love you,” first to Matt (who was her first love interest, Matt came from the Breeding Compound… that’s a whole other story and too much chaos to even decipher rn) and then to Silas, which made her come across as shallow? I don’t know, by the end of this, I did not like her much.

Silas King, our MMC, was way more interesting, although his background felt a little rough. He was kinda the perfect book boyfriend: protective, possessive in a good way, gorgeous, with a “touch her and d!e” vibe, and utterly devoted to Juliet. His morally grey nature made him even more appealing.

I guess I did enjoy their chemistry. Despite the unusual circumstances, their bond felt healthier than in other Dark Romances. They communicated well about their lives before the apocalypse, their interests, past hobbies, their relationship, and their hopes for the future. These parts were refreshing especially when more than half the book was just smutt.

Definitely needed minor editing and I hope it was before release because there were a few things like forgetting the ‘h’ in he, or “gGuard” when talking about the National Guard.

Overall, it wasn’t bad; I even found myself enjoying some parts despite its shortcomings.


 Thank you for the ARC, R.D. Baker

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