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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very dry, as one might imagine a decaying mass of once living flesh to be.
Not as good as the first book. Actually, a prequel? Meh.
4.5 Stars
Spoiler Free TLDR:
It's a really really good zombie book for people who don't like zombie books.
---
Christian/Conservative Content Advisory;
Major Spoilers:
-3 uses of "a**"
-7 uses of "sh**"
-16 uses of "f**k"
-2 uses of "h**l"
-2 uses of "d**k"
-8 uses of "God/Christ"
-MC sees a person lying dead next to him, a bullet hole in her forehead. He stands up, as a revolver falls from his hand. He notices four other people dead in the same manner, and out of anger starts kicking them
-MC sees bodies hanging dead over a wall
-MC finds a bleeding person with a gaping hole in stomach
-MC and family kill another family
-16 year old MC and 7 year old brother share a joint
-MC has finger cut off after it is bitten
-MC watches brother get eaten
-I mean... this is a book about zombies. We see body parts snapping and zombies feasting on creatures and grotesque hints of how zombies became zombies.
---
Thoughts and Spoilers Below:
This book follows three main MCs;
-The Tall Man: A newly born(?) Zombie trying to understand what he is and how he fits in with society.
-Nora: Abandoned by her parents, she attempts to survive with her seven year old brother and worries what survival will morally cost her brother
-Julie: A 12 year old girl who drives across the USA with her parents looking for some sort of new home. She attempts to cling to some sort of childlike hope while her parents serve as the antithesis
The writing is fantastic. The Worldbuilding is absolutely bleak, very 'Fallout: New Vegas' vibes. The characters themselves have very little growth, but they are realistic to how you would expect people to act and interact in an apocalypse.
I'm not a huge fan of Contemporary-based fiction nor zombies, and this book is both. But it kept my attention the whole way through, keeping me attached to the characters to see them out all the way to the end.
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Characters' Rating: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5
------
Notable Quotes:
-A dead man lies near a river, and the forest watches him. Gold clouds drift across a warming pink sky. Crows dart through the trees—dark pines and cedars that hover over the dead man like morbid onlookers. In the deep, wild grass, small living things creep around the dead man’s face, eager to eat it and return it to the soil. Their faint clicks mingle with the rush of the wind and the screams of the birds and the roar of the river that will wash away his bones. Nature is hungry. It is ready to take back what the man stole from it by living.
But the dead man opens his eyes.
-Lying next to him is a woman. She is beautiful, her hair pale and silky and matted with blood, her blue eyes mirroring the sky, tears drying rapidly under the hot sun. The man tilts his head, studying the woman’s lovely face and the bullet hole in her forehead. For a brief moment he feels a sensation that he doesn’t like. His features bend downward; his eyes sting. Then it fades and he stands up. The revolver in his hand slips through his limp fingers and falls to the ground. He starts walking.
-“Well…fine. But only because I really don’t want anyone to know I like Kevin.”
“Yeah, because he’s ugly.”
“No, because he has a girlfriend.”
“But he is ugly.”
“I like ugly. Beauty is a trick.”
Addis snorts. “No one likes ugly.”
“I like you, don’t I?”
-“But I’m blackmailing you!”
“No deal.”
“Then I’m gonna tell everyone you like Kevin.”
Nora stops walking. She cups her hands to her mouth and sucks in a deep breath. “Hey everyone! I like Kevin Kenerly!”
Her voice echoes through long canyons of crumbled highrises, gutted storefronts, melted glass and scorched concrete. It rolls down mossy streets and bounces off piles of rusted cars, frightening crows out of a copse of alders that sprouts through the roof of an Urban Outfitters.
Her brother scowls at her, betrayed, but Nora is tired of this. “We were just playing a game, Addy. Kevin’s probably dead by now.”
-Even with the powerful protection of a 2-watt bulb against the endless ocean of creeping night, he still sounds scared. And she can still hear his stomach, growling louder than any monsters that may lurk in the dark.
Nora reaches across their makeshift bed and squeezes her brother’s hand, marveling at its softness. Wondering how mankind survived as long as it did with hands this soft.
-She is twelve years old but has a woman’s weathered poise. Her abyss-blue eyes have a piercing focus that some adults find unsettling. Her mother ties her hair in a ponytail but Julie pulls it out, letting it fall into a loose mess of yellow and gold. She has fired a gun into a human head. She has watched a pile of bodies set alight. She has starved and thirsted, stolen food and given it away, and glimpsed the meaning of life by watching it end over and over. But she has just turned twelve. She likes horses. She has never kissed a boy.
-She knows that knowing wouldn’t change anything. Death will introduce itself in its own time, and when she has shaken its hand and heard its offer, she will try her best to bargain with it.
-He looks up from his meal and sees the big man watching him through the book-fire’s flames. He understands that they will travel together now. They will look for other creatures like themselves and gather more and more so that they can eat more and more. And he understands that no matter how many they gather, even if they become a mob of thousands, each and every one of them will be alone.
Spoiler Free TLDR:
It's a really really good zombie book for people who don't like zombie books.
---
Christian/Conservative Content Advisory;
Major Spoilers:
-3 uses of "a**"
-7 uses of "sh**"
-16 uses of "f**k"
-2 uses of "h**l"
-2 uses of "d**k"
-8 uses of "God/Christ"
-MC sees a person lying dead next to him, a bullet hole in her forehead. He stands up, as a revolver falls from his hand. He notices four other people dead in the same manner, and out of anger starts kicking them
-MC sees bodies hanging dead over a wall
-MC finds a bleeding person with a gaping hole in stomach
-MC and family kill another family
-16 year old MC and 7 year old brother share a joint
-MC has finger cut off after it is bitten
-MC watches brother get eaten
-I mean... this is a book about zombies. We see body parts snapping and zombies feasting on creatures and grotesque hints of how zombies became zombies.
---
Thoughts and Spoilers Below:
This book follows three main MCs;
-The Tall Man: A newly born(?) Zombie trying to understand what he is and how he fits in with society.
-Nora: Abandoned by her parents, she attempts to survive with her seven year old brother and worries what survival will morally cost her brother
-Julie: A 12 year old girl who drives across the USA with her parents looking for some sort of new home. She attempts to cling to some sort of childlike hope while her parents serve as the antithesis
The writing is fantastic. The Worldbuilding is absolutely bleak, very 'Fallout: New Vegas' vibes. The characters themselves have very little growth, but they are realistic to how you would expect people to act and interact in an apocalypse.
I'm not a huge fan of Contemporary-based fiction nor zombies, and this book is both. But it kept my attention the whole way through, keeping me attached to the characters to see them out all the way to the end.
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Characters' Rating: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5
------
Notable Quotes:
-A dead man lies near a river, and the forest watches him. Gold clouds drift across a warming pink sky. Crows dart through the trees—dark pines and cedars that hover over the dead man like morbid onlookers. In the deep, wild grass, small living things creep around the dead man’s face, eager to eat it and return it to the soil. Their faint clicks mingle with the rush of the wind and the screams of the birds and the roar of the river that will wash away his bones. Nature is hungry. It is ready to take back what the man stole from it by living.
But the dead man opens his eyes.
-Lying next to him is a woman. She is beautiful, her hair pale and silky and matted with blood, her blue eyes mirroring the sky, tears drying rapidly under the hot sun. The man tilts his head, studying the woman’s lovely face and the bullet hole in her forehead. For a brief moment he feels a sensation that he doesn’t like. His features bend downward; his eyes sting. Then it fades and he stands up. The revolver in his hand slips through his limp fingers and falls to the ground. He starts walking.
-“Well…fine. But only because I really don’t want anyone to know I like Kevin.”
“Yeah, because he’s ugly.”
“No, because he has a girlfriend.”
“But he is ugly.”
“I like ugly. Beauty is a trick.”
Addis snorts. “No one likes ugly.”
“I like you, don’t I?”
-“But I’m blackmailing you!”
“No deal.”
“Then I’m gonna tell everyone you like Kevin.”
Nora stops walking. She cups her hands to her mouth and sucks in a deep breath. “Hey everyone! I like Kevin Kenerly!”
Her voice echoes through long canyons of crumbled highrises, gutted storefronts, melted glass and scorched concrete. It rolls down mossy streets and bounces off piles of rusted cars, frightening crows out of a copse of alders that sprouts through the roof of an Urban Outfitters.
Her brother scowls at her, betrayed, but Nora is tired of this. “We were just playing a game, Addy. Kevin’s probably dead by now.”
-Even with the powerful protection of a 2-watt bulb against the endless ocean of creeping night, he still sounds scared. And she can still hear his stomach, growling louder than any monsters that may lurk in the dark.
Nora reaches across their makeshift bed and squeezes her brother’s hand, marveling at its softness. Wondering how mankind survived as long as it did with hands this soft.
-She is twelve years old but has a woman’s weathered poise. Her abyss-blue eyes have a piercing focus that some adults find unsettling. Her mother ties her hair in a ponytail but Julie pulls it out, letting it fall into a loose mess of yellow and gold. She has fired a gun into a human head. She has watched a pile of bodies set alight. She has starved and thirsted, stolen food and given it away, and glimpsed the meaning of life by watching it end over and over. But she has just turned twelve. She likes horses. She has never kissed a boy.
-She knows that knowing wouldn’t change anything. Death will introduce itself in its own time, and when she has shaken its hand and heard its offer, she will try her best to bargain with it.
-He looks up from his meal and sees the big man watching him through the book-fire’s flames. He understands that they will travel together now. They will look for other creatures like themselves and gather more and more so that they can eat more and more. And he understands that no matter how many they gather, even if they become a mob of thousands, each and every one of them will be alone.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
More of a prologue than a prequel, or perhaps an overture. It's well rendered, and although lacking an overall narrative arc, the story is moving.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I was intrigued despite my finer feelings by Warm Bodies. So I wanted to read Marion's next book, which is a prequel to Warm Bodies, though, like other reviewers, I'd recommend reading that one first, anyway.
Marion really is a very fine writer, concerned to challenge his readers to look beyond the often hideous and frightening appearance of his characters, to find their common humanity, to tease out what is goodness and how a 6 year old might react under the stress of death and destruction and a little dope.."Good people see past their own fucking lives" says little stoned Addis, of his deserting parents:"They aren't just hunger and math. They aren't just animals...Good people are part of the Higher" he says in that deep growl and, just for a moment, Nora swears the colour of his eyes is changing. "Good people are fuel for the sun."
And then Marion goes on to push us even harder on the subject of goodness and humanity, by showing that a zombie, maddened by hunger, can also want to challenge his destiny, to become something more than the soulless survival Ken doll that poor Julie's father has become, because he knows no other way to be strong, and his wife does not wish to live in this world..
Good, deep thinking is gifted to us from the pen of Marion, and he demands nothing less from his readers; his books, original and thought provoking, are easy reading but sophistocated in content. This one is much darker than its successor, and has no humour, but remains entertaining.
Marion really is a very fine writer, concerned to challenge his readers to look beyond the often hideous and frightening appearance of his characters, to find their common humanity, to tease out what is goodness and how a 6 year old might react under the stress of death and destruction and a little dope.."Good people see past their own fucking lives" says little stoned Addis, of his deserting parents:"They aren't just hunger and math. They aren't just animals...Good people are part of the Higher" he says in that deep growl and, just for a moment, Nora swears the colour of his eyes is changing. "Good people are fuel for the sun."
And then Marion goes on to push us even harder on the subject of goodness and humanity, by showing that a zombie, maddened by hunger, can also want to challenge his destiny, to become something more than the soulless survival Ken doll that poor Julie's father has become, because he knows no other way to be strong, and his wife does not wish to live in this world..
Good, deep thinking is gifted to us from the pen of Marion, and he demands nothing less from his readers; his books, original and thought provoking, are easy reading but sophistocated in content. This one is much darker than its successor, and has no humour, but remains entertaining.
I decided to read this book before watching or even reading warm bodies as it is the prequel. I was hooked from page one and only put it down when I absolutely had to. It is a much shorter read than what I was expecting but that means it got me that much closer to "Warm Bodies".
There were times where I was a bit creeped out. This book was simply amazing. The insight and detail into the character's heads gave me a new view on Zombies, the Zombie Apocalypse as well as the survivors.
Two thumbs up and 5 shining stars. I have already recommended this book to all my fellow Zombie nerds and book friends.
There were times where I was a bit creeped out. This book was simply amazing. The insight and detail into the character's heads gave me a new view on Zombies, the Zombie Apocalypse as well as the survivors.
Two thumbs up and 5 shining stars. I have already recommended this book to all my fellow Zombie nerds and book friends.
This book is poetic. I know this might sound bizarrr as we are talling about zombies and the end of humanity but it is so beautifully written it IS poetic.
Characters are great and I found it easy to connect with them. It is a great prequel. It is not an essential reading to understand Warm Bodies but if you liked it, then read this one. It gives so highlights on how was the world before Warm Bodies.
The most amazing thing in this book is that, despite of all despair, violence and darkness, there is a detail that reminds that there is hope. It is only a tiny candle in a huge ocean of darkness but it is here.
Characters are great and I found it easy to connect with them. It is a great prequel. It is not an essential reading to understand Warm Bodies but if you liked it, then read this one. It gives so highlights on how was the world before Warm Bodies.
The most amazing thing in this book is that, despite of all despair, violence and darkness, there is a detail that reminds that there is hope. It is only a tiny candle in a huge ocean of darkness but it is here.