Wranglestone

Wranglestone, Book 1

By: Darren Charlton

Narrated by: Hunter Stanford

Winter was the only season every Lake-Lander feared in this action-packed and thought-provoking debut, for fans of Patrick Ness, Marcus Sedgwick, Dread Nation and The Walking Dead.

The islands of Lake Wranglestone are a safe haven in a world filled with the Restless Dead. But as the lake freezes over, there’s nothing to stop them from crossing the ice.

Peter has never really felt at home in a place where practicality and grit are valued above all else. He’s nothing like Cooper - the boy he’s always watched from afar. But when he is ordered to join Cooper out on the mainland, they find more than just each other.

There they unearth a dark secret about Wranglestone’s past. One that forces the pair to question everything they’ve ever known.

©2020 Darren Charlton (P)2022 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"Fresh and chilling and totally immersive." (Sunday Irish Independent)

"Zombie thrills combine with an achingly tender gay love story in this unusual debut." (The Observer)

"Chilling, atmospheric and beautifully written, Wranglestone is a thrilling apocalyptic tale with a tender love story at its heart." (Gabriel Dylan, author of Whiteout)

An interesting concept with likable characters

My biggest issue with this book is the religion of words and phrases. If I have to hear “turned ‘round” one more time… But the characters are likable and the romance is cute and standard for a YA novel. The concept and explanation of the zombies is a fun new take and there are some horrific concepts to really think about.

great story

I liked the relationship between the main characters, Peter and Cooper. Really enjoyed the twists

Good surprises and a great story

No formulaic coming-of-age queer romance here. You will feel acceptance without asking for it. Without spoiling the story, really enjoyed the undoing of certain tropes. Can’t wait for the next book!

interesting 🤔

it's a slow story but in the middle full of action but kind of missing something in the end

WOW

Wranglestone was one of the best books I’ve experienced in a while. This book has brought me chuckles and warmed my heart, while also having me cry happy and sad tears. Thank you for this magical work that I will always cherish Darren. I can’t wait to catch up with the boys in September.

Amazing

Finished just now and purchased book 2 wonderful read looking forward to the next one

Good but has some problems

Okay the characters building is nice and all but I’m going to be a critic. Okay so there were a lot of statements that were very controversial to begin with like that the death virus was uniting all people of genders and ethnicity. The reason that I doubt that is because the main character was being picked on because he wasn’t useful, also i’m pretty sure that all the people in wranglestone are white. There’s also the weird thing which is that people who are basically rednecks are more valuable also the women in the book have no important part in wranglestone other than to the main character.

Another problem I have with the book is that everything is very unreal even for a apocalypse setting like how the main characters fall in love in like a few days or that the whole book happens in a few days. Also everything escalated so quickly like the main characters falling in love to the whole of their problems and plot. But overall it’s still a decent book just got some plot holes and don’t really take to much from this I’m 14 and probably didn’t get most of the stuff that was talked about in the book.

The Twist

The twist comes about halfway through and I’m not sure I cared for it. It’s definitely a unique spin on the typical zombie trope and wasn’t expected. On one hand I appreciate the inventiveness, but on the other, it took the story in a direction I wasn’t really loving.

With that said - this author is definitely talented, and though I didn’t like the twist I still enjoyed his writing and how descriptive he is.

Great listen, only lacking in story.

While it is a great listen, and has a well written romance, the story has multiple plot holes that could have been explored farther to add more depth to the characters. The ending felt a bit rushed as well.

Great world but story lacking a sense of continuity

Book was cut but not well written. Still would recommend as a quick once read that you do and then forget about because none of the characters have any redeeming qualities. Very cute tho. Maybe read to kids ( 5-8 ) Age range