REVIEW: The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek's Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding. Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen--and Patrick's birthday is only a few days away. Determined to save Patrick's life and the lives of the remaining kids, the brothers embark on a mission to uncover the truth about the parasites--and what they find is horrifying. Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity's only hope for salvation.

This book was not at all what I expected, but in a good way. First of all, it can get gory. Second of all, it's totally creepy and third . . . well, you'd have to read it to find out all the things I love about it because I don't want to give away spoilers. The book is told in diary entries and the narrator is Chance, one of the Rain brothers. Chance and Patrick are not just brothers, they're best friends. Their parents died in an accident and they are being raised by their aunt and uncle. 

This book grabbed me by the throat and just did not let up. The action starts right away with weird and messed up things happening to the adults nearby. And when I say messed up, I can't really say much more beyond that because it is MESSED UP. Seriously. There are brain parasites and exploding bellies and kidnapping kids and mappers and empty eyes and it's just all kinds of craziness. I mean, it's like they're zombies but not really. It kind of reminded me of a Stephen King book. But it was slightly more gory than creepy, not that I wasn't creeped out more than once.

What I didn't love was that Patrick and Chance were always taking crazy, insane risks. But I still admired the hell out of them. The kids find out that the parasites or whatever attack on your eighteenth birthday (and not a second later), so they are in a race against time to find a cure before Patrick turns eighteen. In the beginning of this book, Chance is still very reliant on his big brother. He's sixteen so he's basically a kid. But he grows up fast and I love how independent he gets.

Okay, so they do (kind of) discover what's behind the parasites and I just can't even say anything except that it is crazy and intense. Seriously, the action in this book is crazy and it ended with the MOST INTENSE cliffhanger. I knew the cliffhanger was coming and it was everything I thought it would be.

The only real issue I had was that Chance had feelings for Patrick's girlfriend, Alex. The romance between Alex and Patrick was so incredibly sweet and I wish the relationship between Chance and Alex would have been more of a brother/sister one. 

I would highly recommend this one and I really hope there is a sequel.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one!