I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Booksprout. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Crimson Sky by C.J. Connolly Series: The World It Left Behind #1
on August 17, 2026
Genres: Dystopian, Fiction / Disaster, Fiction / Dystopian, Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic
Pages: 342
Format: ARC
Source: Booksprout
Amazon|Barnes&Noble|Goodreads
The grid is dead. The phones are dark. And a father is walking home through a collapsing city to a family that doesn't know if he's alive.
Crimson Sky is a character-driven family survival story set in the first thirty days after the lights go out for good — a post-apocalyptic novel told from inside one family, not from above the wreckage.
Tuesday morning. Bacon burning. Three kids late for school. By noon the power is out, the phones are dead, and Declan Calloway is walking through a town coming apart one block at a time — toward the school where his wife and children are waiting.
This isn't an apocalypse of soldiers and preppers. It's an apocalypse of neighbors.
The ones who rise. The ones who don't. The fear that travels faster than any rumor, and the ordinary decency that either holds or breaks when everything that kept the modern world running stops at once. No grid. No phones. No help coming — just thirty days that decide who a person really is.
Dark enough to feel real. Warm enough to live in.
"I couldn't put it down. The children act like children — scared but capable, who understand the danger and have faith in their parents." — Ursi, ARC reader (5 stars)
"When the dark hits, it hits hard and fast. The characters are realistic and the plot is cleverly layered." — LeaD, ARC reader (5 stars)
"I could literally feel my panic rising as events unfolded. An eerie foretelling of a coming apocalypse — chillingly realistic." — Tahmyrah, ARC reader (4 stars)
"Padraig might be my favorite character of the year. If you loved One Second After but wanted more heart and less hardware, this is exactly that." — lilyarc, ARC reader (5 stars)
Perfect for readers of One Second After, Station Eleven, and The Road.
Crimson Sky is Book One of The World It Left — a post-apocalyptic series about the people the disaster leaves behind. The collapse is only the beginning.
I am really struggling with this review. Before I ever took it from Booksprout, I was intrigued by the synopsis and even read the first chapter and literally synced in. The burnt bacon did it for me. (Years ago I had a little couple of paragraphs fun start about bacon and burnt toast. I’ll find it sometime.) Anyway, burnt bacon just hit the feels for me. Before I even get to the issues I had with the book, just know I really did enjoy it a lot; the story was engaging, and I really want to finish this series.
But . . . I’ll start easy. Sentence structure was a double edge sword. While the brief, almost staccato, sentences helped to build the tension, it left a lot of things feeling undeveloped and unfinished. While the brevity gave credence to the situation everyone found themselves in, it didn’t allow for depth. For building out the story in a way that drew you in instead of just holding you with the facts. For developing characters that felt real and believable. And that’s the other bigger struggle—the characters.
The brevity of words and the sentence structure really held back the ability to develop strong, relatable characters that you got to know. It was hard to believe that every person was in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge for everything to fall into place. I also struggled with the idea that everyone always did things a certain way and that everyone knew it was just their way. Always. And possibly that everyone is telepathic, as it seems like everyone always knew what someone was thinking and what they were doing, or going to do, with one word, if that, even with people that literally just had met, even with young children that seem perfectly positioned for everything and always behaved. Fear is acting out, not becoming perfect for children and, honestly, also adults.
There was a lot of repetition of things as well- a LOT of repetition in short staccato bursts that, while can feel real as that’s how you think when your world is collapsing it, also felt contrived in the book. Overall, the idea is strong, the tension is perfect, and the outcome is yet to come. But the execution left me a lot to be desired. I’d like to know these people better, understand their motivations and fears better, and actually believe in how they react. This storyline has a ton of promise, and I like the author. I just need a bit more.
Wanna share your thoughts? Leave a comment!