Ice Diaries / Lexi Revellian

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Genre: Romantic Thriller/Post Apocalyptic

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

When she’s not writing fiction, Ms. Revellian designs and makes jewellery under her real name, Lexi Dick. She’s made pieces for Margaret Thatcher, 10 Downing Street, and Her Majesty the Queen.

Ice Diaries is her fifth novel. You can learn more about her at her website.

Description:

In 2018, the world’s population has been decimated by a virulent virus, and as if that’s not tough enough, a rapid freeze has covered England under snow and ice. London, where the story takes place, is buried by twenty meters of snow.

Appraisal:

In her Amazon author profile, Ms Revellian boasts that she has sold 60,000 self-published books. After reading Ice Diaries, my only question would be, “Why so few?”

I had a terrific time sharing a snow-swamped London with the characters in Ice Diaries. The author’s writing style is about as easy on the eye as any I can remember--like listening to a compelling after-dinner story told by a fascinating guest.

I particularly enjoyed the makeshift communities I spent time in with Tori, the twenty-three year-old protagonist. Her engaging nature and irreverent wit had me smiling, a lot. Tori hangs out with a small group of liberal-types. They have dug tunnels below the snow and live off the contents of the buried stores. This small group of survivors squat in apartments still above the snow level, furnish themselves with necessities from Argos (for Americans, think Sears), and live in hope that someone in the warmer south will send a helicopter to rescue them.

Along with Tori, I enjoyed her group of characters and the naive structure they force on themselves to retain a level of civility. They establish foraging rules and game nights and dinner parties—very British, in an eccentric but nice way.

Along comes Morgan, a rough, brooding, and dangerous cage fighter. He turns Tori’s head, forcing her to look outside the quaint but unrealistic life she has fallen into. When Morgan’s ex-gang members come looking for him, the pleasant balance of Tori’s community is turned upside down. Drawing on an inner strength that surprises everyone including Morgan, in the end she finds a way out of their difficulties, and in the process changes all their lives.

Format/Typo Issues:

English (UK) spelling.

Rating: ***** Five stars