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gatoraly's review against another edition
4.0
I'm very sad the generation dead is over. Passing Strange was not a disappointment though. I really enjoyed reading from Karens point of view, especially after her suicide. This book gave me a lot more insight on the zombies reading from a zombies perspective. This was my first zombie series but will definitely not be my last.
colorfulpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
AHHHHH ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I freaking love this book!! I absolutely loved getting inside Karen’s head and all her adventures. I love how relatable this book is to real world issues. Phenomenal.
gg1213's review against another edition
4.0
Watch my 2011 review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTNzn18xKNA
readwithpassion's review against another edition
4.0
Karen committed suicide and is a zombie. She lives in a world where zombies aren't accepted. So, she decides to break the law and go to work, faking that she is alive with special makeup. I enjoyed this book much more than I anticipated. I haven't read the first two, and I heard this one can stand alone. This was true with the exception of a few confusing details or characters. I found it a bit confusing at the beginning of each chapter because the point of view shifts, and the reader is left trying to figure out who is talking for a few pages. Supposedly, this is the last book in the series, but there were many loose ends, so I am not sure if Water is planning on writing another. I would definitely pick those up. I am tempted to buy this whole series for my classroom because I know this will be popular.
ayyelle's review against another edition
4.0
I actually liked this book the most out of the three. I really enjoyed reading in the perspective of the other characters, especially Karen. In the other books, I didn't think much of her, just thought she was a kind girl, but she's so much deeper than that, I love her, she's a total sweetheart.
I thought the plot was pretty good, but I feel like I still have so many questions and this is the last book. How is Karen healing? What is Pete up to? So many questions!!
I thought the plot was pretty good, but I feel like I still have so many questions and this is the last book. How is Karen healing? What is Pete up to? So many questions!!
jesslyntimm's review against another edition
4.0
This book was surprisingly a lot better than I had imagined. Passing Strange is mostly in Karen DeSonne's point of view but switches between 1st and 3rd perspective. Which I found a little annoying.
It takes place almost RIGHT after the second book, Kiss Of Life. We find out what happens to Karen after she was shot. The book goes through a journey leaving off from the 2nd book. Most of the conflict revolves around the Guttridge death and Pete's crazy psycho clan thing he has goin' on called One Life.
Although I found One Life slightly disturbing, it didn't occur to me that this clan was such a huge part of the plot. Pete is the Reverend's favorite, which calls for Pete to do everything he asks. Which includes killing all zombies (He even has a list). Pete has such a huge roll in this book. He goes through an a huge time period where I thought he wasn't going to come back from Crazy Town. Towards the end, he apologizes to everyone and I thought he was fine and maybe normal? But, nooo, things changed. . . .
Overall, this book had several boring parts to be honest. But it also had very suspenseful and mysterious parts to it that made you not want to put it down.
This book could be considered a stand-alone but it would probably confuse several in some areas.
It takes place almost RIGHT after the second book, Kiss Of Life. We find out what happens to Karen after she was shot. The book goes through a journey leaving off from the 2nd book. Most of the conflict revolves around the Guttridge death and Pete's crazy psycho clan thing he has goin' on called One Life.
Although I found One Life slightly disturbing, it didn't occur to me that this clan was such a huge part of the plot. Pete is the Reverend's favorite, which calls for Pete to do everything he asks. Which includes killing all zombies (He even has a list). Pete has such a huge roll in this book. He goes through an a huge time period where I thought he wasn't going to come back from Crazy Town. Towards the end, he apologizes to everyone and I thought he was fine and maybe normal? But, nooo, things changed. . . .
Overall, this book had several boring parts to be honest. But it also had very suspenseful and mysterious parts to it that made you not want to put it down.
This book could be considered a stand-alone but it would probably confuse several in some areas.
impybelle's review against another edition
4.0
If the one thing that kept you from truly loving the Generation Dead novels was a little too much Phoebe and a little less Karen, this is the GD book for you. Most of the book is told from Karen's point of view (with occasional blip from Pete, whom you might recall was Adam's murderer but since Adam turned zombie, Pete didn't really get charged properly.) and a lot of questions you might have had about her are answered.
For instance, Karen is a firm believer in "fake it 'til you make it." She comes across as calm, cool, and definitely collected in the other books, but once you see things from her side, you realize she's just as messed up as everyone else. It's just that she's learned to hide it better. Karen, you see, is a master at passing. She passes for alive, in many senses of the word. Without Tommy around, Karen has to find her own role to play in things.
So she gets a job at Wild Thingz! and somehow ends up dating Pete. She's spying on him, he's losing what's left of his mind, and things don't unravel quite as quickly as you'd imagine, given that he's not shy about sharing his hatred of the differently biotic and his plan to off Phoebe and lay the blame at Adam's feet.
Which was probably the worst thing to say to Karen since she's a little in love with Phoebe herself.
Karen's parts of the books are told as if she's sharing her story with the one who got away. Only they didn't get away so much as Karen pushed them away, afraid of things changing (which they already had) and how the rest of the world would see them. Karen's quick to point out that she didn't die of a broken heart, she died because she fell into a fit of blue-tinged depression she couldn't find her way out of, but the broken heart might be what brought her back.
That's the other fun thing. Karen isn't just good at passing, she can actually heal wounds. When she's shot at the start of the book, she's more than a little worried about her little sister's reaction to her new face, but after a nap (which is unusual enough) she wakes up and has begun to heal. Later, Karen will use this to her advantage, but it does begin to make her wonder what makes her so special and why?
Despite knowing that Karen's and Pete's plans are going to blow up in their faces, it's still incredibly interesting to watch exactly how that plays out. You're given enough insight into Pete's mind to decide if you feel a bit sorry for him, but not so much that you're sure whether he's changed enough to have actually earned that sympathy or not.
But my favorite bit is the end, when Karen goes 'home' to the one she's been dedicating her story to, and her best friend/could have been girlfriend, reacts the way most people who would kill to have one more day with someone they've lost would: she hugs her tightly and there are tears.
For instance, Karen is a firm believer in "fake it 'til you make it." She comes across as calm, cool, and definitely collected in the other books, but once you see things from her side, you realize she's just as messed up as everyone else. It's just that she's learned to hide it better. Karen, you see, is a master at passing. She passes for alive, in many senses of the word. Without Tommy around, Karen has to find her own role to play in things.
So she gets a job at Wild Thingz! and somehow ends up dating Pete. She's spying on him, he's losing what's left of his mind, and things don't unravel quite as quickly as you'd imagine, given that he's not shy about sharing his hatred of the differently biotic and his plan to off Phoebe and lay the blame at Adam's feet.
Which was probably the worst thing to say to Karen since she's a little in love with Phoebe herself.
Karen's parts of the books are told as if she's sharing her story with the one who got away. Only they didn't get away so much as Karen pushed them away, afraid of things changing (which they already had) and how the rest of the world would see them. Karen's quick to point out that she didn't die of a broken heart, she died because she fell into a fit of blue-tinged depression she couldn't find her way out of, but the broken heart might be what brought her back.
That's the other fun thing. Karen isn't just good at passing, she can actually heal wounds. When she's shot at the start of the book, she's more than a little worried about her little sister's reaction to her new face, but after a nap (which is unusual enough) she wakes up and has begun to heal. Later, Karen will use this to her advantage, but it does begin to make her wonder what makes her so special and why?
Despite knowing that Karen's and Pete's plans are going to blow up in their faces, it's still incredibly interesting to watch exactly how that plays out. You're given enough insight into Pete's mind to decide if you feel a bit sorry for him, but not so much that you're sure whether he's changed enough to have actually earned that sympathy or not.
But my favorite bit is the end, when Karen goes 'home' to the one she's been dedicating her story to, and her best friend/could have been girlfriend, reacts the way most people who would kill to have one more day with someone they've lost would: she hugs her tightly and there are tears.
missprint_'s review against another edition
3.0
Karen DeSonne is good at fooling people. She's passed as the normal girl, the responsible daughter, and even the happy girl. The was before she killed herself.
That was before she came back.
Now, Karen is making the most of her second chance at life--or whatever it is when the dead start walking around.
Things go horribly wrong when her dead friends' planned social protest turns into a shootout after the zombies are accused of murder. Karen makes it away, but many other zombies in Oakvale are forced into hiding when it becomes illegal to be dead and walking around.
Karen knows that zombies had nothing to do with this crime. And she knows where to go to clear their names. In order to get the proof and help her people, Karen is going to have to wear the ultimate disguise. She'll have to pretend to like Pete Martinsburg--a known zombie killer. But Karen's pretended to like people before. The hard part, the part that could land her in a whole world of trouble, will be pretending she's alive. Karen's fooled everyone close to her at least once, but will she be able to pull off the charade of a lifetime (or un-lifetime) in Passing Strange (2010) by Daniel Waters.
Passing Strange is the third installment in Daniel Water's quirky series about the walking dead in Oakvale (preceeded by the first book Generation Dead and Kiss of Life). This book is a departure from the first two in the series and would be a good place to start the series without missing a lot . . . except that this one is so much less than the first (and even the second) book.
Waters has abandoned his usual alternating perspectives and instead spends most of the book narrating in Karen's voice. Unfortunately that voice is vacuous and sadly under-developed, particularly when compared to the writing from the other books (or even the third person parts in Passing Strange). Karen has had a complete personality shift from earlier in the series with seemingly no reason except to titillate readers. A girl who had previously seemed strong and grounded, comes across as flighty and insipid.
The entire book was erratic and a shocking departure from its two tightly written and well-put-together predecessors. Sometimes Karen is talking in present tense, sometimes the past tense. Sometimes she addresses a mysterious "you" to no effect.* To make matters worse story threads that were raised in the earlier books are largely abandoned and sloppily set aside.
This book is a must read for anyone who has been following the series and wants to know what's happening with their favorite zombies and their traditionally biotic friends (unless that includes Tommy or Phoebe who are barely in this one) but it is also a vast disappointment after Waters' clever, sharp debut.
*The person is revealed by the end of the book but she isn't speaking directly to the person the way a character does in A Conspiracy of Kings so it really makes no sense at all.
Possible Pairings: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, Tamar by Mal Peet, Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
That was before she came back.
Now, Karen is making the most of her second chance at life--or whatever it is when the dead start walking around.
Things go horribly wrong when her dead friends' planned social protest turns into a shootout after the zombies are accused of murder. Karen makes it away, but many other zombies in Oakvale are forced into hiding when it becomes illegal to be dead and walking around.
Karen knows that zombies had nothing to do with this crime. And she knows where to go to clear their names. In order to get the proof and help her people, Karen is going to have to wear the ultimate disguise. She'll have to pretend to like Pete Martinsburg--a known zombie killer. But Karen's pretended to like people before. The hard part, the part that could land her in a whole world of trouble, will be pretending she's alive. Karen's fooled everyone close to her at least once, but will she be able to pull off the charade of a lifetime (or un-lifetime) in Passing Strange (2010) by Daniel Waters.
Passing Strange is the third installment in Daniel Water's quirky series about the walking dead in Oakvale (preceeded by the first book Generation Dead and Kiss of Life). This book is a departure from the first two in the series and would be a good place to start the series without missing a lot . . . except that this one is so much less than the first (and even the second) book.
Waters has abandoned his usual alternating perspectives and instead spends most of the book narrating in Karen's voice. Unfortunately that voice is vacuous and sadly under-developed, particularly when compared to the writing from the other books (or even the third person parts in Passing Strange). Karen has had a complete personality shift from earlier in the series with seemingly no reason except to titillate readers. A girl who had previously seemed strong and grounded, comes across as flighty and insipid.
The entire book was erratic and a shocking departure from its two tightly written and well-put-together predecessors. Sometimes Karen is talking in present tense, sometimes the past tense. Sometimes she addresses a mysterious "you" to no effect.* To make matters worse story threads that were raised in the earlier books are largely abandoned and sloppily set aside.
This book is a must read for anyone who has been following the series and wants to know what's happening with their favorite zombies and their traditionally biotic friends (unless that includes Tommy or Phoebe who are barely in this one) but it is also a vast disappointment after Waters' clever, sharp debut.
*The person is revealed by the end of the book but she isn't speaking directly to the person the way a character does in A Conspiracy of Kings so it really makes no sense at all.
Possible Pairings: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, Tamar by Mal Peet, Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
crlntm's review against another edition
4.0
I think I enjoyed this book more than I did the other two. Although it wasn't as action-packed, I like Karen a lot more than Phoebe and Adam. I also liked how we saw a bit more of Tak.
carlq's review against another edition
3.0
“I don't want to die, I thought. Not again.”
― Daniel Waters, Passing Strange
Passing Strange is the third book in the Generation Dead series. Passing Strange offers the reader an entirely new perspective, following Karen rather than Phoebe. This allows the story to explore directly from the point of view of one of the "Zombies", offering an interesting and exciting insight into the emotional impact of returning from the dead and surviving in the world without the rights offered to those living.
One of the greatest aspects of passing strange is its exploration of depression and other mental health issues and their effects on a person and their family, pre and post death.
Passing Strange Ends in a place that could work somewhat as a (Unsatisfying) conclusion however leaves the story open for a continuation of the series (There are a number of short stories and collection that tells stories but no direct continuation of the series currently)
Overall, Passing Strange is a great 3rd act to the Generation Dead story whose strength lies much more within the character exploration than the overall story.
― Daniel Waters, Passing Strange
Passing Strange is the third book in the Generation Dead series. Passing Strange offers the reader an entirely new perspective, following Karen rather than Phoebe. This allows the story to explore directly from the point of view of one of the "Zombies", offering an interesting and exciting insight into the emotional impact of returning from the dead and surviving in the world without the rights offered to those living.
One of the greatest aspects of passing strange is its exploration of depression and other mental health issues and their effects on a person and their family, pre and post death.
Passing Strange Ends in a place that could work somewhat as a (Unsatisfying) conclusion however leaves the story open for a continuation of the series (There are a number of short stories and collection that tells stories but no direct continuation of the series currently)
Overall, Passing Strange is a great 3rd act to the Generation Dead story whose strength lies much more within the character exploration than the overall story.