I usually have a hard time finding a good end of the world, zombie apocalypse, or any kind of apocalypse, book. Usually they are corny, already been done, and the ideas aren't that original, often stealing from each other or from movies and tv shows about zombies and the like. At first it bothered me that these "zombies", or as they chose to call them the Awakened, could be speak, were fast, could hold things and fight, etc. basically behaved like a normal person (except with an insatiable hunger for human flesh), and that if they bit you, you wouldn't turn into a zombie. Then it started to get weird and interesting. 
 I enjoyed reading this book. After having finished it, I admire the way that the Awakened were introduced. There was a lot going in the story and I found myself engrossed in the storyline and invested in Zoey and Ash. I couldn't believe the things that they were going through, even if they never could catch a break, and I actually didn't want to put the book down because I wanted to know more about the apocalypse, what started it, how did it spread, who where the bad guys, and the good guys, if this is to be a duology, there was going to be a lot of explaining in this book, and there was. Boy, did I get it. After learning about Sekhmet, I immediately started hating the bad guys and I wanted nothing more than for Zoey to leave escape and fight back against the crazy people (view spoiler)[it all started because Dr. Razi's son was murdered just because he was gay and she went crazy and shit went to her head (hide spoiler)]. 
 The romance was a little bit annoying. it was over the top whenever Zoey would stop and think about how hot/handsome Ash looked, or the times she hated his annoying self, especially when it was at inappropriate times when they were almost fighting for their lives. But after she finally realized her feelings for him, it started getting a little bit more beareable, especially in the end of the book. 
 THere were a few typos here and there, I could literally count them in one hand. The pacing at times felt a little rushed and not well written, sometimes the passing of time was just mentioned like a few months or weeks passed, but they weren't really focused on. If someone reading this story would skip a few a lines here and there, by the end of they book they would think that it had all taken place in whole day or week instead of 9 months. 
 Let me just say that Razi a crazy woman. Like one of the worst antagonist's ever, and I don't mean poorly written, I mean I hate her guts and was very shocked that she didn't die in the end (view spoiler)[bullet to the throat- how do you survive that? (hide spoiler)]. Her parting words, and the cliffhanger ending, makes me want to get my hands on the sequel now, hopefully we get some resolution on Sekhmet, Sanctuary, the rest of the world, and Ash and Zoey get to live their lives safe and happy.