Bleeding Earth

by Kaitlin Ward

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I was beyond excited to read Bleeding Earth! I mean, the Earth is bleeding and growing hair and what even!? Lea and her friend Hillary are in the cemetery working on a class project when they notice a huge puddle of blood. Maybe an animal killed something? But then on Lea's way home, the sidewalk starts bleeding, and soon the news is reporting inches of a blood like substance all over the world. Then comes the hair, and finally the bones, which are all identified as human, but where is it coming from? The only thing anyone knows is that everything is going to hell, so they better be prepared.

Bleeding Earth was simultaneous disgusting and disturbing as well as sweet and adorable. The disgust is obvious. BLOOD AND HAIR! And of course, after a few days the blood starts rotting. At first, things are relatively normal. People go to school and work, but eventually everything closes. The water supply is tainted, people start looting, respirators are necessary to breathe the thick, putrid air. The world is a mess. In the beginning, everyone banded together to make it through, but soon enough, desperation kicked it and humanity was at its worst.

As for the adorableness, it was all about that romance! Lea is a lesbian. She's out already, so this is not a coming out story. It's just part of who she is. But her girlfriend, Aracely, hasn't come out yet, so their relationship is secret. They only have stolen moments like on the way to school since Lea has to walk by Aracely's apartment building. But then the blood comes and it's kind of a blessing in disguise for them. It's totally normal for people to hang onto one another as they walk, so no one falls. They take full advantage of this! And when they're trapped inside, there's kissing! Or cute text conversations when they're trapped apart. It was all just really sweet and made my heart all fluttery. At least until crazy things happen near the end, and I was really super nervous for them, because...well, let's just say no one is completely mentally stable by the end.

I really enjoyed Bleeding Earth. It was such a bizarre disaster story, but it really worked for me. It did get kind of slow, and repetitive in places, once Lea is confined to her home, but once the stir-crazy starts settling in...holy crap! I did not see that coming! I wish I could have rated it higher, but the ending did leave a bit to be desired. There's this kind of slow drop off, and then it just ends. It was a good ending, but I felt like there wasn't much to it. No twist, no shock. It didn't make me let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It was just kind of over.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.