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strawverri's review against another edition
4.0
Good! Better than the movie ... in will be reading the 2nd book.
georgiab03's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jgbradbury's review against another edition
4.0
I was skeptical, considering the ominous praise from the author of the dreadful Twilight series. Doubly so, as I kept seeing the descriptors "zombie romance/love story" time and again. But low and behold, I found myself turning the pages faster and faster, delighted to find that author Isaac Marion managed to make a zombie relatable and sympathetic and a female protagonist who wasn't reduced to being simply a lovestruck nitwit. Even the romance (which I couldn't imagine being anything other than unintentionally funny or gross) was handled with care and sprung from a believable scenario that created a genuine sense of pathos. There was also a surprising degree of depth to the material that elevated it way above, uh... similar monster romances aimed at young adult readers. Recommended!
echo_mike's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-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
5.0
blurrypetals's review against another edition
5.0
November 12, 2018:
[re-read in anticipation of the release of the final Warm Bodies book, The Living]
It's a beautiful thing, falling back in love with a book you haven't read in almost exactly 7 years. It's even more beautiful when it's a book like Warm Bodies, because Warm Bodies as a book, as a series, and as a film, is a beautiful thing.
When Isaac Marion made the surprise announcement that he would be self publishing the final book in this series, The Living, after 7 years and many, many struggles with trying to get it traditionally published, I was over the moon, beside myself with excitement, counting the (admittedly very few) days until we would get to see how this series ended at long last.
However, the more I thought about it, I realized I badly needed a refresher. I read this book for the first time in November 2011, then The New Hunger when it was published as a paperback in October 2015, and finally The Burning World in February 2017, and even though this is one of my all time favorite series, I realized I was incredibly fuzzy on many of the details of the ending of Warm Bodies as well as almost all of both The New Hunger and The Burning World. So, in honor of the finale finally less than 24 hours away, I'm re-reading all the books that precede it so I'm good and ready for the wild ride The Living is sure to be.
The thing about this first book in specific that's so magical to me is that it masquerades as something paint by numbers but is, in actuality, a beautiful, moving piece of work that never ceases to lose its meaning to me. Let's not also forget that it's also really funny and weird in all the right ways in all the right places, so sweet diabetics need to be wary of it, and it's one of the most absolutely romantic stories I've ever read. The movie does this book a lot of justice, but one of the biggest things it fails to capture is the never-ending, quiet, and unbreakable trust and eventual love that exists between R and Julie almost from the word, "Go."
Even though this isn't Isaac Marion's first novel, it still has that "newborn baby deer" feeling to it, but not in a bad way. It's good because the world that R inhabits is new and different, and as he traverses it, he's supposed to feel uneasy and unstable. He's growing and changing, just as Isaac was back when he wrote this and as he's continued to write R's story. It's a weirdly amazing and accurate metanarrative that the reader can draw between these books and Isaac as a person.
I think it's needless to say that I'm excited for The Living to finally be in my hands after 7 whole years of waiting for it, but I'm just as excited to revisit The New Hunger and The Burning World, so, for now, this is where I leave you. Catch you in The New Hunger.
November 27, 2011:
Sometimes, when I read a book that is absolutely, completely, and totally perfect, I can't manage to put my love for it into words. I don't find books like that very often. They're difficult to come by, the kind of books that make your heart lurch and pound and ache all at the same time. I've only been lucky enough to find three books that have made me feel this way. The first was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and the second was A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. The third was the genre I tend to veer away from the most. The third was a book I almost didn't end up getting. The third was absolutely magical.
The third was this book. I fell in love with every last page of this novel. The undertones borrowed from my favorite Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, made me giddy with delight, especially Marion's clever use of everyone's names. When R pretended to be living in order to sneak into the Citi Stadium, my jaw simply dropped. Every last paragraph was delightful and carefully crafted, making each passage delicious for my eyes to devour.
I am so utterly thankful for Marion's use of Frank Sinatra in this book. During my reading of it, I was met with many late nights. Since the pages took me into the wee hours of the morning, I was in the mood for something more classic and slow to accompany my reading, so I decided, by the suggestion of R's love of Sinatra, to make a station for the man himself on my Pandora. It's all I've been listening to for the past three days.
Having read this over Thanksgiving break, I have to say, I'm truly thankful for gems like this. I'm so elated that novels like this are out in the world. I'm hopeful that I'll find more like this one...and soon. Need...more brain...food.
[re-read in anticipation of the release of the final Warm Bodies book, The Living]
It's a beautiful thing, falling back in love with a book you haven't read in almost exactly 7 years. It's even more beautiful when it's a book like Warm Bodies, because Warm Bodies as a book, as a series, and as a film, is a beautiful thing.
When Isaac Marion made the surprise announcement that he would be self publishing the final book in this series, The Living, after 7 years and many, many struggles with trying to get it traditionally published, I was over the moon, beside myself with excitement, counting the (admittedly very few) days until we would get to see how this series ended at long last.
However, the more I thought about it, I realized I badly needed a refresher. I read this book for the first time in November 2011, then The New Hunger when it was published as a paperback in October 2015, and finally The Burning World in February 2017, and even though this is one of my all time favorite series, I realized I was incredibly fuzzy on many of the details of the ending of Warm Bodies as well as almost all of both The New Hunger and The Burning World. So, in honor of the finale finally less than 24 hours away, I'm re-reading all the books that precede it so I'm good and ready for the wild ride The Living is sure to be.
The thing about this first book in specific that's so magical to me is that it masquerades as something paint by numbers but is, in actuality, a beautiful, moving piece of work that never ceases to lose its meaning to me. Let's not also forget that it's also really funny and weird in all the right ways in all the right places, so sweet diabetics need to be wary of it, and it's one of the most absolutely romantic stories I've ever read. The movie does this book a lot of justice, but one of the biggest things it fails to capture is the never-ending, quiet, and unbreakable trust and eventual love that exists between R and Julie almost from the word, "Go."
Even though this isn't Isaac Marion's first novel, it still has that "newborn baby deer" feeling to it, but not in a bad way. It's good because the world that R inhabits is new and different, and as he traverses it, he's supposed to feel uneasy and unstable. He's growing and changing, just as Isaac was back when he wrote this and as he's continued to write R's story. It's a weirdly amazing and accurate metanarrative that the reader can draw between these books and Isaac as a person.
I think it's needless to say that I'm excited for The Living to finally be in my hands after 7 whole years of waiting for it, but I'm just as excited to revisit The New Hunger and The Burning World, so, for now, this is where I leave you. Catch you in The New Hunger.
November 27, 2011:
Sometimes, when I read a book that is absolutely, completely, and totally perfect, I can't manage to put my love for it into words. I don't find books like that very often. They're difficult to come by, the kind of books that make your heart lurch and pound and ache all at the same time. I've only been lucky enough to find three books that have made me feel this way. The first was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and the second was A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. The third was the genre I tend to veer away from the most. The third was a book I almost didn't end up getting. The third was absolutely magical.
The third was this book. I fell in love with every last page of this novel. The undertones borrowed from my favorite Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, made me giddy with delight, especially Marion's clever use of everyone's names. When R pretended to be living in order to sneak into the Citi Stadium, my jaw simply dropped. Every last paragraph was delightful and carefully crafted, making each passage delicious for my eyes to devour.
I am so utterly thankful for Marion's use of Frank Sinatra in this book. During my reading of it, I was met with many late nights. Since the pages took me into the wee hours of the morning, I was in the mood for something more classic and slow to accompany my reading, so I decided, by the suggestion of R's love of Sinatra, to make a station for the man himself on my Pandora. It's all I've been listening to for the past three days.
Having read this over Thanksgiving break, I have to say, I'm truly thankful for gems like this. I'm so elated that novels like this are out in the world. I'm hopeful that I'll find more like this one...and soon. Need...more brain...food.
ladyhippolyta's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting- and oddly philosophical- take on the zombie genre. Loved it!
ellipsiscool's review against another edition
5.0
I am not a zombie fan. Never have been. This book is almost an anti-zombie look at zombies. We get inside the head of a "zombie" named R. He is all things considered, besides the fact he is a walking dead man, not really a "zombie." His thoughts are rather deep, he enjoys vinyl because the sound is more "alive," he likes to ride the escalators because they seem to be going somewhere, and he has a friend named M.
Basically he eats some guy's brain and R falls in love with the woman the eat-ee was in love with and miraculously she accepts R as a friend and as they get closer, R gets closer to humanity.
This book was great. I generally detest the zombie genre of hopeless killing and blood squirting in all directions, but here what we are seeing is hope, from all directions and I love that it's written from the zombie's point of view, although at times it's pretty emo.
There are things I really appreciate, the fact that both "sides" are pretty hopeless in the beginning. We see things in the zombie hive that re pretty gruesome, but then later see them replicated almost exactly by the humans. Really the "good" guys, the humans, seem to have lost hope entirely except for a couple of "lights." It's the zombies that realize it's not over yet and they have to convince the humans it's not over yet.
Basically he eats some guy's brain and R falls in love with the woman the eat-ee was in love with and miraculously she accepts R as a friend and as they get closer, R gets closer to humanity.
This book was great. I generally detest the zombie genre of hopeless killing and blood squirting in all directions, but here what we are seeing is hope, from all directions and I love that it's written from the zombie's point of view, although at times it's pretty emo.
There are things I really appreciate, the fact that both "sides" are pretty hopeless in the beginning. We see things in the zombie hive that re pretty gruesome, but then later see them replicated almost exactly by the humans. Really the "good" guys, the humans, seem to have lost hope entirely except for a couple of "lights." It's the zombies that realize it's not over yet and they have to convince the humans it's not over yet.
jgurniak's review against another edition
5.0
There are so many paranormal romances and so many zombie books. So many that they all start to become the same thing over and over again.
The concept of Warm Bodies is both amusing and twisted. It's about a zombie who sees a teenage boys memories while eating his brain and the memories involve a girl named Julie. R, the zombie, finds Julie and brings her back to the airport where he lives.
If you, like me, have a morbid sense of humour then I guarantee you will devour this novel.
I loved everything about it and the movie is also fantastic.
Recommended for all!
The concept of Warm Bodies is both amusing and twisted. It's about a zombie who sees a teenage boys memories while eating his brain and the memories involve a girl named Julie. R, the zombie, finds Julie and brings her back to the airport where he lives.
If you, like me, have a morbid sense of humour then I guarantee you will devour this novel.
I loved everything about it and the movie is also fantastic.
Recommended for all!
candacekell's review against another edition
5.0
Very different from the movie, but I still loved it.