Day Zero (The Arcana Chronicles) (Volume 4)

I loved getting to know the other players. In a way, it's kind of heartbreaking knowing most of them are still in this battle and will probably not make it out. To you Kresley, I say, if Jackson is not the hidden card... A lot of us will be disappointed.

It was a rewrite of the first novels. There was additional character development and the writing was from characters perspectives that were not seen in prior novels, but nothing new happened. It was a little disappointing.

I LOVED the different perspectives from so many of the characters! I would definitely recommend reading before Arcana Rising comes out, because you're introduced to so many new characters and also given a lot of origin detail on past characters. It was such a good read and I'm so happy to have read it before the next book!

Took a chapter or so for me to really get into this, but once I did I loved it. Gives so much insight into all of the characters and makes me love (or hate) them even more than I did before. Definitely worth buying if you love the Arcana books as much as I do.

Okay. So...let me tell you a little secret. Once upon a time, I decided I wanted to try Wicca. I bought crystals, incense, the whole bit. But most importantly (and most relevant to this review), I taught myself how to read Tarot (and I'm pretty good at it, just sayin'.) BUT, when Kresley Cole started her series about post-apocalyptic survival with fights to the death with personified Tarot cards?! GIDOUDDAH HEAH. I swear to god she stuck a plug in my head and found all the things I love about...everything. So, I might be a little biased. A wee bit. A touch. However, I was enthralled to see another installment, despite its lack of length. I absolutely adored seeing characters that the readers have only previously heard about. It left me wanting to know mooooooore about each and every card. I appreciated her knowledge of each card and how they related to each character. And that lil story of Calanthe and Jules? DAW. and OW. DAOW.

I wouldn't say that it is a NECESSARY read for the series, but certainly helpful, especially with the character of Sol. So, as a companion/novella for the series - perfection! Just don't go into this expecting a full story. I'd have this titled as a 3.5 instead of Book 4. That's my only gripe.

I'm a huge fan of the Arcana Chronicles series and was really looking forward to this coming out. However, after having read the whole thing, I'm a little disappointed. The best description of this would be a series of descriptions and scenes, not a book by any stretch of the imagination. It's not that I didn't enjoy or appreciate the information, but I could more have seen it as website content (the character descriptions) or bonus material at the end of a book. Value-wise, I wouldn't consider it worth $3.99, though it would have been worth $1.99. It won't keep from looking forward to the next book, but I will more wary about purchasing ebook only extras.

It is truly an eye opener. You get the chance to see Day Zero from other cards point of views. You hear their stories. I couldn't put it down. Thank you Kresley for creating an interesting twist to tarot cards. Team Aric!!

Not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it and now see the importance of clarifying some info before the next books. I can't wait until the next book comes out. Like, I am seriously dying over here. HURRY!

Not sure what was the purpose of this book and why they charge so much. Feels like total scam and milking of loyal fan-base since large portion of the book is basically a copy-paste from the previous one.

Would not recommend unless you are a huge fan and collector (like those Star Wars fans hunting fake lightsabers)

I hope vol.4 won't dispappoint like this one.

Wth? I'm so mad right now! I can't believe I paid for this! I have been a faithful reader and I knew everyone's past from the previous books. Why in the world would you write a book about who they are and where they stood? We that have read all the books knew this information yet I even preordered this book hoping for more action and continuing of the players! After all this time and waiting I am officially done with your books. I was taken this time but I will not waste my time or money on another!

This series is purportedly for teens This particular volume, however I would not recommend for young people under the age of 17. There is simply so much sexual violence that I would be hesitant to recommend it. The other 3 volumes are less sexually violent but contain what I would consider questionable material for the young teen. I am not a prude, btw, although the concept is YA, the content is not.
P

While it was interesting to see Day Zero from many perspectives, that wasn't what I thought I was getting. I thought I was getting the continuation of the story from Dead of Winter. Maybe I didn't read anything about this book because I was so enthralled by the story and couldn't WAIT to see what happened. Anyway, it gave me a lot of good background which makes Arcana Rising (what I'm reading now) more understandable. I recognize some people and know them a little bit. So, that's good.

I have loved this series, and I was so excited to see she came out with two books instead of one. However, this fell flat. The only part that was really interesting was Jack's and deaths background on day zero. I just felt like this could of been more than what it was.

For me, this book was disappointing. This is not at all a part of the story, it's a sidestep. This was a reasonable series. And now this? They have passed off her idle musings as a part of the story. I honestly don't need an entire book telling me about the characters in a story, if you need a book to do that, you've pretty much taken a negative step

I will no longer be following this series.

While I thought this was an interesting summary of characters and their arcana powers, ultimately I don’t think this was worth the price of $3.99. Several pages in the book are lifted wholesale from Poison Princess.

Although this does provide an introduction to several characters introduced in book 5 (which I was also disappointed by), ultimately I don’t think it added much to the series.

This book provides the back story of all the major characters and seems like filler. I was hoping for this to continue on from book 3,but it did not. This all could have been placed at the end of one of the other books. Book 5 will pickup where book 3 left off.

Kresley Cole has given the fans of her ARCANA CHRONICLES series a gift. That gift is Day Zero. The book reads like a compendium, a guide to the major players in the Arcana Chronicles series and is quite compelling. Cole pairs tactical knowledge of all the Arcana with a look into Day Zero from each characters perspectives.

In Day Zero, each character has it’s own section. Cole goes into details about their name, their title, what their powers are, special skills, their weapons, tableau, icon, arcane characteristics, what they were doing before the flash. Cole goes into detail about some and brushes over other, for a very intense look at each of the characters.

If you want more Arcana Chronicles, before the release of Arcana Rising on the 15th — this is a special gift just for you. The diabolical thing that Cole does with this is include Jack. He’s not named as a card, but he is in this book — which was frustrating and amazing at the same time. I liked seeing Day 0 from his perspective.

She also hints that Jack “might” be a card and there is even a “redacted” card The Hanged Man - that the Fool would not allow to be released, which is who she hints at “might” be Jack. Which if you’ve read Kresley Cole before - don’t be fooled. Har har. She’s got something else in her bag.

Overall, this was for fans and only fans of the series will really get into it. I suggest reading the Arcana Chronicles before reading this. There will be ton of spoilers in this. Don’t do this one first, you won’t get anything out of reading it first, only a bit of confusion.

Thank you for this tid bit, Kresley! Love it.

Book provided in exchange of an honest review.

Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I don't believe in doing bad reviews and I'm not saying this book was bad but I think I was expecting a lot more. I absolutely love this series and I can't wait for August 15th.

I received this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Kresley Cole's Arcana Chronicles is one of my most favorite series ever! It's so intense and each novel has seriously gotten better than the previous one. And when I heard about Day Zero, I knew I HAD to read it! Though it does state as being 3.5 in the series, it's sort of a prequel as well. It basically gives you background information on all the Arcana players and roles. So it does include spoilers and must not be read before Poison Princess, so keep that in mind! But I won't be mentioning spoilers in this one, never fear!

We basically get to see what a good deal of the Arcana players were doing when Day 0 occurred. And let me tell you, some of these stories were scary! At least in the sense that you're watching the world come to an end and possibly watching loved one die!

For a reader like myself who reads too much and can't always remember previous books (an issue I am remedying with taking better notes for myself. Of course this doesn't help me with all the books I've come to read and still reading series wise) this is a great book to give you a refresher in some way on who's who. Although I do know some have died already, I couldn't remember who all they were. Whoops! LOL!

There are some stories that aren't included. Some from characters we've met and some from who have yet to be revealed! I found those particular ones the most interesting, ironically. Only because we staring at text that's literally been blacked out. A few words are still readable in some, which they sometimes would form an odd sentence...which may or may not be intentional. Who's to say since we're missing text!

This novella is truly one for fans of the series. And if you haven't started this amazing series yet, I don't recommend starting with this one, because there are spoilers in a sense. Goodreads says it's 3.5 in the series and I would keep that in mind, like I mentioned earlier. This was one intense read and I truly enjoyed getting glimpses of all the other characters we've come to meet and seeing what they were doing at the time of the end and watching their powers come into play. It's one wild read for sure!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

This is the 3.5th book in the Arcana Chronicles. It is really more of a guide than an actual novel. The book is broken into sections for each of the Arcana and lists the properties of different Arcana. Some of the Arcana information is followed by a short story about that Arcana.

This is a fun book to read if you want to know more about what each Arcana’s powers and abilities are. We also get to look at “Day Zero” for a lot of other Arcana (these are the intermittent short stories that sometime follow an Arcana’s info).

I enjoyed some of the “Day Zero” stories. I think one of my favorites was the one about The Emperor; he was just starting to enter the story at the end of the 3rd book.

Overall this was a well done guide to the Arcana of the Arcana Chronicles. While there are some short stories in here, this was more of a guide than a collection of stories. I would recommend to die-hard fans of the Arcana Chronicles. Those not already reading the series would probably just find this confusing.

In the exciting series by Kresley Cole comes the newest addition, a prequel novella, DAY ZERO. We all know what happened from Evie Greene’s point of view in the first novel of the series, but now we get to see things from other major characters in the series and some that have yet to appear.

From fan favorites such as Finn and Selena as well as Mathew to our dear hearts own Jack, we see what these characters went through on the day that the apocalypse happened.

As someone who’s enjoyed the series a lot, I love this new viewpoint that Cole brings us. It was incredibly nice to step out of Evie’s shoes for just a moment and take a glimpse into the mind of other characters. Albeit, some information was withhold in order to avoid spoilers, Cole did an excellent job in giving us just enough details to keep the series fresh as well as to wonder who will be coming in next and what their role in the coming books will be.

I, for one, enjoyed this quick and easy read. I would recommend reading this book at the very least after the first book, Poison Princess, but it is noted as Book No. 3.5, which means it can also be read after the third book. Whichever way you decide to read this you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve always enjoyed Cole’s writing for adult books, but her books on young adult fiction has been just as amazing as her work with adult novels. If you haven’t read the Arcana Chronicles you are missing out!

If you're a fan of Kresley Cole's Arcana Chronicles then Day Zero is a must read companion. It does contain spoilers for the first three books so I wouldn't recommend picking it up until you've read Dead of Winter but it contains lots of fun information about the major Arcana players in the series and definitely got me excited about reading the next book.

Have you ever wanted to know where each of the main characters were when the Flash occurred on Day Zero? We saw Evie's story first hand and have heard bits and pieces about what happened to the others throughout the series but this book gives us a chance to see exactly what happened. It also includes profiles on the various Arcana with information about their powers, special skills, weapons and a whole lot more. Some of the information is still blank because it hasn't been uncovered and Matthew (aka The Fool) has redacted things he's not ready to share yet but it was really nice to have everything all in one place to remind me of the details.

You'll be very happy to hear that Jack's Flash story is also included even though he's not one of the Arcana players. I still suspect that he's the inactive card but Kresley Cole states at the beginning of the book that she'll neither confirm or deny if that's the case. Either way I absolutely love Jack's character so I'm glad we got to hear from both him and Death in this book and I'm definitely ready to continue the series and find out what happens next in Arcana Rising.

This was a great, well put together collection of micro short stories from most of the characters we've met and yet to have meet as their lives irrevocably change on the day of the Flash. I really liked the introductions of new cards like the Centurion and the Sun, as well as familiar characters like Selena. There wasn't much to the stories since there were so many of them, but each one felt true to the character's voice and was preceded by helpful backgrounds on the character and their cards power. Well, all except for one, but if the fan theory is true, then we all know who that is. This a great addition for fans of the series and a nice short book to pass the time while I emotionally prepare for the next book. So not ready.

Day Zero is an account of all the Major Arcana Tarot Cards on the day The Flash hit and destroyed the world as we know it. (Day Zero. The day the world ended. GET IT?)

It gives you:

1) Backstories
2) Arcana Calls
3) Nicknames
4) Powers
5) Icon and Tarot Card
6) Weapons
7) Special Skills

Of all the characters you know, and all of those that you’ve yet to meet.

It’s basically a quick character guide, introducing you to all the Arcana you’ve never met before and ALSO giving you a Death AND a Jack point of view (WHICH IS SO COOL I MIGHT DIE)

I don’t know if you need it to read Arcana Rising, (ACK.) but I’m sure some information from here will be pretty important!

Five stars, I guess AND HELLO ARCANA RISING!

I was curious about the other Arcanas, and it was great to get to know them!

The stories I liked the most were Aric's (#teamdeath here), Circe's (heartbreaking) and Calanthe's (my favorite).

The big question is, if Jack isn't The Hanged Man, as most of us imagine, who could it be? I think Kresley Cole is still hiding things from us, she's an author that knows how to manipulate information and loves a good surprise.

Sadly, I couldn't find any clues about what's coming on Arcana Rising, nor any new information that might be important in the future. But..who knows, right? RIGHT, KC?

Day Zero by Kresley Cole is a wonderful addition to the Arcana Chronicles. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and this book is very helpful with that. If you haven't read the first three books yet, you definitely need to do so before reading this one as there are spoilers. In Day Zero, we see the characters just before the game begins. Some of them know what's coming. Some are clueless. I particularly enjoyed the characters who didn't know. I liked seeing their personalities before it all hit the fan, and comparing them to how they are now. It really helped me understand them better.

Day Zero by Kresley Cole was kindly provided to me by the author's publicist for review. The opinions are my own.

The first thing to note is that this isn't really a book. This is a look into the notes and stories of the characters we've met so far - with some redactions to keep from giving too much away. Although, The Fool's section had me grinding my teeth! I need to know more about this kid!

I enjoyed seeing how the other cards prepared and survived Day Zero, stories that were 2 or 3 pages and gave a bit of background that helped me understand where they came from a little bit more.

A good addition with some fun facts, but don't go in thinking this is a novella or short story.

Someone already said this but it doesn't make it any less true "Had Everything I Didn't Know I Needed"
Exactly girlfriend, EXACTLY!
This was like a little secret behind the scenes of each character book. Brilliant! You get a little background on each character. Where they were, who they were with, what they were doing, and how it affected them on Day Zero. Every day forward is considered A.F (After the Flash)
All the characters you love and hate and hate to love, well you have a whole new view on.
Happy reading people! #TeamDeath

This book is great if you love the series and can’t get enough of the story line and characters. Great insight of what all the characters went through the day of the flash and shows everyone’s struggles.