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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Oh yes, zombies, you read it right, my biggest nightmare. Still I watch those movies, but this is actually only my second books about them.
25 years ago they started to emerge, humans tried to fight back, and fought for years, but now the land lies kind of dead. People hiding behind barricades, and hunters on the road, fighting one zombie at a time. Among theses are 15 year old Temple, all on her own. All she ever has know has been death and destruction. She moves from place to place, hiding, running, fighting, and soon running from more that just zombies.
I liked Temple, she was kick-ass for sure. But then she grew up in a world that had slowly lost the fight. She is a good with a knife, she says what she thinks, and she remembers those that have fallen. She also feels that there is a darkness within her, but growing up like that who can blame her.
It is not a scary book, there is no real zombie action. She avoids them best she can, she knows their tricks, and they are pretty slow and stupid. The danger here is more from other humans. When society falls so those everything. You learn about those that prayed on other humans, and then the most scary of them all show up, hillbillies, you'll see. But there are also nice people, just trying to get by, and helping each other.
The book had this strange and nice flow to it. It was like it was happening, and like it had happened, would happen. I liked it, he has a talent. It was a good book, and a sad one.
What do I think, well if people just manage to survive, then they will outlive the zombies, or this world will become a barren wasteland. I do wonder, since I do not get that answer.
This was a different sort of zombie book. It reminded me a bit of The Road, I have only seen the movie, but it had the same hopelessness to it, and hope. It is a story about a young woman on the road, aged far beyond her years.
25 years ago they started to emerge, humans tried to fight back, and fought for years, but now the land lies kind of dead. People hiding behind barricades, and hunters on the road, fighting one zombie at a time. Among theses are 15 year old Temple, all on her own. All she ever has know has been death and destruction. She moves from place to place, hiding, running, fighting, and soon running from more that just zombies.
I liked Temple, she was kick-ass for sure. But then she grew up in a world that had slowly lost the fight. She is a good with a knife, she says what she thinks, and she remembers those that have fallen. She also feels that there is a darkness within her, but growing up like that who can blame her.
It is not a scary book, there is no real zombie action. She avoids them best she can, she knows their tricks, and they are pretty slow and stupid. The danger here is more from other humans. When society falls so those everything. You learn about those that prayed on other humans, and then the most scary of them all show up, hillbillies, you'll see. But there are also nice people, just trying to get by, and helping each other.
The book had this strange and nice flow to it. It was like it was happening, and like it had happened, would happen. I liked it, he has a talent. It was a good book, and a sad one.
What do I think, well if people just manage to survive, then they will outlive the zombies, or this world will become a barren wasteland. I do wonder, since I do not get that answer.
This was a different sort of zombie book. It reminded me a bit of The Road, I have only seen the movie, but it had the same hopelessness to it, and hope. It is a story about a young woman on the road, aged far beyond her years.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Temple was born after the dead rose. The few comforts of this desolate world are all she's known. There was a time when she had family -- a found uncle who guided her, a boy who was her brother -- but for now she is alone, moving forward to a destination even she doesn't yet know.
OH. MY. GAWD. This book. Just don't.. like just stop reading this and go get it.
Bell's writing is so taunt that you just move forward page after page, as Temple moves forward to place after place, and you want so badly for her to get what it is so badly she is seeking, even though you can see she already has so much more than what she knows. Many have compared the temperance of the writing -- the pace, the place, the stoic resignation of what is instead of what could be -- to Flannery O'Conner's Gothic sensibilities and I can't help but echo that comparison. The devil of this book is in the details, the ones that got to Temple and the ones that will get to you, of the beauty in the world that is insistent on staying, even after the dead have risen to take its place in the rightful order of things.
I read this book in two short moves and two long bursts and recommend you carve out a similar block of time for yourself. The story doesn't take kindly to those who rest too long.
OH. MY. GAWD. This book. Just don't.. like just stop reading this and go get it.
Bell's writing is so taunt that you just move forward page after page, as Temple moves forward to place after place, and you want so badly for her to get what it is so badly she is seeking, even though you can see she already has so much more than what she knows. Many have compared the temperance of the writing -- the pace, the place, the stoic resignation of what is instead of what could be -- to Flannery O'Conner's Gothic sensibilities and I can't help but echo that comparison. The devil of this book is in the details, the ones that got to Temple and the ones that will get to you, of the beauty in the world that is insistent on staying, even after the dead have risen to take its place in the rightful order of things.
I read this book in two short moves and two long bursts and recommend you carve out a similar block of time for yourself. The story doesn't take kindly to those who rest too long.
The abundance of gone things, it'll bury you.
I highlighted lines and passages in this book like crazy. Like crazy! It was crazy how much certain things spoke to me. This should get optioned immediately; it would make a hell of a film. And Temple is one damn likeable young protagonist. It's more of a 4.5 star book for me, to be honest.
I highlighted lines and passages in this book like crazy. Like crazy! It was crazy how much certain things spoke to me. This should get optioned immediately; it would make a hell of a film. And Temple is one damn likeable young protagonist. It's more of a 4.5 star book for me, to be honest.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I enjoyed this book so much. Until I didn't. The writing was stellar. The protagonist, Temple, is up there with the best girl narrators - Scout Finch, Ellen Foster, Elvis from Rabbit Cake. Kind of a female Huck Finn with mad fighting skills. So the resolution of her story arc felt like a betrayal of her, and of the reader. I don't require happy endings to books, but this was beyond unsatisfying. I have no interest in reading on in this series.
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this, and for the most part, the journey of reading the book was entertaining. It felt a bit like tourism in a post-zombie reality. I also usually am all for endings that aren’t necessarily happy… but the ending to this particular read was so unsatisfying!
I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that was the point?
I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that was the point?
Gory, Gothic, poetical. I don't really like zombies or horror or lushly-vernacularly-written books, so I'm not this book's ideal reader: but I still got caught up in it. If you do like those things, definitely give it a try!
I read this book years ago and it was instantly one of my all-time favorites. The re-read was not nearly as good as I remember though.