Wranglestone Book Review – Wrangle Stone – Darren Charlton

Urgh, I really liked this book! It doesn’t matter how much I like a book though, I still took forever to read it. I’ve actually gotten into audiobooks at the moment for when I’m at the gym so I’ll have to update everyone in another post on how I’m getting on with that and what books I’ve been listening to!

Today, however, I’m talking about Wranglestone and what I thought about it. Remember this is my personal opinion. You might not agree with me but then again you might totally agree with me. I have mixed feelings about this book and I can’t wait to read the next in the saga, Timberdark.

If you don’t own Wranglestone already, what are you waiting for? Buy it through Amazon here!

Wranglestone – Darren Charlton

I’ve taken a look around and found some of the most asked questions for this epic LGBTQ+ book. This Wranglestone book has made its way into my top ten, which is a big thing to do because I have read quite a few books, and many of them are just amazing. Keep a look out for my top 10 LGBTQ+ books soon because I can’t wait to share them with you.

What is Wranglestone about?

Wranglestone is an apocalyptic genre, it focuses on life after the zombie plague took over. It focuses on a group of survivors who live on a lake to best protect themselves from the zombies and they use canoes to travel. However, nothing is as it seems, winter poses some problems with the lake freezers and a certain truth about zombies comes to light and shakes everything up!

I won’t put any spoilers in this bit but the Wranglestone book follows the main protagonist, a gay guy as he uncovers some truths other lake members have tried very hard to keep secret. He also falls in love and it’s so sweet! If you’re looking for an apocalyptic LGBTQIA+ novel, this is one you should consider that’s for sure.

What age is Wranglestone for?

The book is fairly PG when it comes to romance, however, it’s about zombies and there is some blood and gore thrown in. Personally, I would say ages 13+ but I’m 29 and I loved this book, I’d probably let my 12 year old brother read it as well if he was actually interested in reading that is!

Will there be a sequel to Wranglestone?

If you have an audible subscription you can listen to this for free! If you don’t have audible on Amazon you can get a free Amazon Audible trial now, so go check that out!

Wranglestone By Darren Charlton Characters

I won’t talk about all of the characters in this book, there are too many. Compared to other books I’ve read this has to be one of the select few that have more than 10 characters to remember if I’m honest. It’s not that I like my books simple, I like my books easy to follow and in my opinion, it means that all characters in the book get a better story/back story.

That being said I did like some of the characters in this book, there will be spoilers below so if you don’t want Wranglestone spoilers, stop reading!

Spoilers. Peter. I loved Peter, I thought he was a great protagonist and it was great to watch his character development throughout the book. He was very personable and relatable. I also feel that his awkwardness towards getting with Cooper is probably any LGBTQ+ person can relate to at some point or another, especially if you don’t know if the other person is actually into you!

Spoilers. Cooper. “I just wanted to say your name”. Every time Cooper said this I swear I let out a joyful scream! He was so cute, he made Peter so much better, he’s a shirt thief but I can forgive him thanks to his expert way of describing films! Honestly, I couldn’t wait to see what Timberdark had in store for him!

Spoilers. Bud. I mainly put Bud into this because I was a bit annoyed with his death. He was a horrible character throughout the book, I didn’t like him and 90% of his actions sucked or were from his own personal pity party for one. I think he deserved a better and more painful death and I thought his death was somewhat of an afterthought. Not to mention I thought Cooper would have reacted a little bit more than he did.

Spoilers. Rider. I had very mixed feelings about Rider. He knew his family were gone and didn’t want anything to do with him. He knew the flare would attract the zombies, did he get them to set the flare off for revenge or was it because he knew what would happen? The plot twist ending was a nice touch by Darren that’s for sure!

Cry Factor – Was Wranglestone by Darren Charlton Sad?

If you’ve read my reviews before or seen me talk about books on Instagram then you’ll know I am a very emotional person who cries with pretty much anything I read or watch! I love putting a cry factor into these reviews to let people know if they’re going on an emotional rollercoaster or if a book is safe without the threat of tear stained pages.

Did I cry while reading Wranglestone? Yes, more than once actually. I’d easily give this Wranglestone book at 3 out of 5 on the cry factor. I carried on reading through my tears and didn’t have to stop to dry my eyes so it wasn’t that bad but if you’re an emotional person like me, Wranglestone is a sad book and you will need to be prepared!

Remember, just because I did or if I didn’t cry. It can still be a good book. I’ve read some amazing books where I’ve not cried and one example would be this Reverie book review!

Books Like Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

So I’ve not actually read many apocalyptic books that have an end of the world genre about them. If you know any I’d love to know because I’m really loving apocalyptic LGBTQ+ books! I think I like them so much because it’s pretty much the end of the world and the gays still manage to find someone and fall in love and that’s just something special.

If you’re looking for books like Wranglestone, take a look at some of them below. I had to of course put in the Wranglestone sequel, Timberdark but if you want to get that one, make sure you read Wranglestone first!

Wranglestone Funko Pop

I loved this book and I won’t lie, it took me a while to find a Funko Pop that matched up to what I was reading. I was going to go with a white walker from Game Of Thrones but they’re evil and Cooper is far from evil, even if he did come back from the dead. That’s why I decided to go with this Jon Snow Funko Pop!

Jon Snow was the good guy who just so happened to come back from the dead and he carried on caring, he carried on protecting what he loved and I think that sums up Cooper to a T. I just hope the next book doesn’t destroy that and I have to find a new Funko Pop!

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton Rating

So overall I’m sure you want to know what I really thought about this book. I really liked it but I’d give it a 4 star rating. I want to be honest in all my reviews, just like this Wranglestone book review is my honest opinion. I think the thing that took that last star away was some of the deaths. Mainly Buds death, he deserved so much worse or it would have been a great opportunity for Darren to make him the “hero” and have him die defending Cooper and Peter but instead, it was a wasted, crappy death.

The Wranglestone book also left LOADS of questions unanswered so I’m so glad that Timberdark is a thing. It was a little annoying at the time not knowing the answers and if we’d ever find out but trust me, it’s worth the wait!