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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Beautifully written especially for a zombie tale.
This book is so beautifully and thoughtfully written, it is almost incidentally a zombie novel, although of course there are some gruesome or horrifying passages. But it's more a novel of a journey, both physical and spiritual, with a southern gothic style. I am so happy to have stumbled across this book.
Une vraie claque. Un coup de cœur. Un livre qui ne me quittera jamais.
There are few things scarier than a post-apocalyptic world where the dead rise from their graves and humanity struggles to survive. Alden Bell’s The Reapers Are The Angels takes readers on a journey through such a hellscape. It’s a story of survival and redemption told through the eyes of a young girl named Temple.
Bell set the novel in an undetermined future where a mysterious virus has decimated much of the world’s population and turned them into the undead. Temple, born after the apocalypse, knows nothing but this bleak existence. She’s a survivor, tough and resourceful, who has evaded the dangers of the world while traveling alone.
On her journey through the ruins of America, Temple encounters various characters, some friendly and some hostile. Her interactions with these characters shape her journey and help her understand the world around her. One of the notable characters she meets is Maury, a disabled man who becomes close to her. Their relationship is heartwarming and adds a layer of humanity to the story.
The Reapers Are The Angels explores the human condition and the meaning of life in a world where death is all around. Bell’s writing style is poetic, and his descriptions of the landscape are vivid and haunting. He captures the atmosphere of a dying world with precision and beauty.
The novel isn’t without its flaws, however. Some parts of the story feel rushed, and there are loose ends that are not tied up. These minor shortcomings, however, don’t detract from the overall experience of the novel.
The Reapers Are The Angels is a must-read for anyone who loves post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s a haunting and beautiful novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Temple’s journey is one of survival and redemption. And the ending kicks you right in the gut.
Bell set the novel in an undetermined future where a mysterious virus has decimated much of the world’s population and turned them into the undead. Temple, born after the apocalypse, knows nothing but this bleak existence. She’s a survivor, tough and resourceful, who has evaded the dangers of the world while traveling alone.
On her journey through the ruins of America, Temple encounters various characters, some friendly and some hostile. Her interactions with these characters shape her journey and help her understand the world around her. One of the notable characters she meets is Maury, a disabled man who becomes close to her. Their relationship is heartwarming and adds a layer of humanity to the story.
The Reapers Are The Angels explores the human condition and the meaning of life in a world where death is all around. Bell’s writing style is poetic, and his descriptions of the landscape are vivid and haunting. He captures the atmosphere of a dying world with precision and beauty.
The novel isn’t without its flaws, however. Some parts of the story feel rushed, and there are loose ends that are not tied up. These minor shortcomings, however, don’t detract from the overall experience of the novel.
The Reapers Are The Angels is a must-read for anyone who loves post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s a haunting and beautiful novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Temple’s journey is one of survival and redemption. And the ending kicks you right in the gut.
RATING: 3.5 stars
Noo, that ending. Why?
But, finding beauty in small things and in a ruined, post-apocalyptic world was pretty cool.
Noo, that ending. Why?
But, finding beauty in small things and in a ruined, post-apocalyptic world was pretty cool.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm pretty sure that's a shot of Milla Jovovich on the cover.
I'd put this on my To Read list back in Sept. 2010. I got around to listening to it a year and a half later, forgetting what it was about. It looked like another fairy/vampire/demons story. I haven't listened to one of those for awhile and figured it was time, though I wasn't prepared to be impressed.
It's actually about zombies. Actually, it is about the people who survive alongside the zombies 25 years after the zombie apocalypse has happened. They're called "meatskins", "slugs", and other fetching things, but they're zombies.
I so hate zombies. I hate zombie movies, zombie stories, zombie anything, really, though I'm always mistaken as someone who likes zombie miscellanea. I don't. I never have. I think zombies are stupid and boring...because they are. I was a little appalled at myself for having put a zombie story on my To Read list (and don't go looking at the zombie crap I've already read and yes, I did love World War Z but, again, it's about survival. And it is choc-full of handy tips. Don't judge me)
At any rate, right after I was done being irritated with myself over tricking myself into listening to a stupid zombie story, I was then glad that past me read enough about this story to know that it would be enjoyable and that I had put it on my list.
I was completely caught-up in this story. It is definitely less about the walking dead chasing people down and eating them, though their shambling selves make up the entire backdrop, and more about the hard-but-cherished life of a lone fifteen-year-old girl who has learned how to live in the only environment she's ever known. Even though she's supremely capable, she lives with guilt and doubt and some self-loathing. She's a restless soul who cannot settle down with other survivors and finds herself living as a nomad in the American south, meeting people who eke out a living in compounds and mansions, people who have hope for the future and plan to rebuild towns or maybe a new race, and people who want to kill her.
I liked Temple's voice, I liked how she handled herself, I liked that she was very capable, I liked that she tried to do the right thing, I like that she understood and accepted the world and her place in it, and I liked that even with all of that, she was flawed and that she took on too much personal responsibility for things that weren't hers. She was a good, strong, but also frustrating character and I appreciate that.
I'd put this on my To Read list back in Sept. 2010. I got around to listening to it a year and a half later, forgetting what it was about. It looked like another fairy/vampire/demons story. I haven't listened to one of those for awhile and figured it was time, though I wasn't prepared to be impressed.
It's actually about zombies. Actually, it is about the people who survive alongside the zombies 25 years after the zombie apocalypse has happened. They're called "meatskins", "slugs", and other fetching things, but they're zombies.
I so hate zombies. I hate zombie movies, zombie stories, zombie anything, really, though I'm always mistaken as someone who likes zombie miscellanea. I don't. I never have. I think zombies are stupid and boring...because they are. I was a little appalled at myself for having put a zombie story on my To Read list (and don't go looking at the zombie crap I've already read and yes, I did love World War Z but, again, it's about survival. And it is choc-full of handy tips. Don't judge me)
At any rate, right after I was done being irritated with myself over tricking myself into listening to a stupid zombie story, I was then glad that past me read enough about this story to know that it would be enjoyable and that I had put it on my list.
I was completely caught-up in this story. It is definitely less about the walking dead chasing people down and eating them, though their shambling selves make up the entire backdrop, and more about the hard-but-cherished life of a lone fifteen-year-old girl who has learned how to live in the only environment she's ever known. Even though she's supremely capable, she lives with guilt and doubt and some self-loathing. She's a restless soul who cannot settle down with other survivors and finds herself living as a nomad in the American south, meeting people who eke out a living in compounds and mansions, people who have hope for the future and plan to rebuild towns or maybe a new race, and people who want to kill her.
I liked Temple's voice, I liked how she handled herself, I liked that she was very capable, I liked that she tried to do the right thing, I like that she understood and accepted the world and her place in it, and I liked that even with all of that, she was flawed and that she took on too much personal responsibility for things that weren't hers. She was a good, strong, but also frustrating character and I appreciate that.
If Huck Finn and Rhee from Winters Bone had a child and then that child was orphaned and dropped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, it might very well be Temple. This book was pretty amazing- sparse, economical writing, totally creepy and gross and weird scenes and a really great protagonist. Very Southern. Two things nagged at me a bit- sometimes the dialect felt a little strange to me and the third (and last) section kind of went "clunk" but on the balance, this one will stick with me for a while.
I generally don't dig anything with zombies in it, but I was motivated to read this as part of a horror novels challenge. And I'm glad I did because it's an amazing book. It's difficult to imagine how a post-apocalyptic setting with zombies can be so horrifying and so heart-breaking at the same time; go no further, "The Reapers are the Angels" manage to do exactly that. I loved every page of this unique, magnificent novel. I loved the strangeness of it, the raw quality of the language and its beauty, the characters, the inevitability of the ending. Overall, an amazing read.