Scan barcode
avocaho's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
shannon_reidwheat's review
3.0
Rated a 3 but more like 2.5. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but just couldn't get into it. I did slog thru it, only to be disappointed by a lackluster ending.
paulineerika's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I like to say that Mike Flanagan writes stories about human emotions and relationships under the guise of horror. The same can be said about this book. It's not really a horror story in the way you might expect and the zombies aren't the monsters. This is a story about loss and grief and all the pain that comes with love. Those last chapters dealing with Auntie E and Zharie and then Zharie and Devin? My God. It's heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time, plus I loved the millennial pop culture references sprinkled in. (Shout out to those The Used lyrics!)
It is a slower paced and more introspective than you might think, reading the synopsis, so just as a heads-up if you're expecting something more like a thriller or even a suspense novel.
It is a slower paced and more introspective than you might think, reading the synopsis, so just as a heads-up if you're expecting something more like a thriller or even a suspense novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
parchmints's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
breereads87's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
iammaya's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
At first I was like "Oh this just isn't my genre... well let's continue" and so I continued and realized that yeah, I'm not the target audience for this book, but also this book really didn't know what its target audience was either. Was it trying to get the people who like zombie stories? Was it trying to be for people who like coming-of-age romances? Was it trying to be about grief? The book spends so much time doing nothing but hanging out and posting on a blog that no one reads only for the last twenty pages to be so much plot?? That still manages to not change a single thing about the story? Idk... idk.........
gggina13's review
3.0
2.5 stars unfortunately
This book is just very very goddamn metaphorical and I am not a metaphorical kind of person. Like I wanted the zombies to be actual zombies; instead they are all in Zharie's mind lol
Zharie's mom died almost a year ago, and since then, Zharie sees zombies. This book is about Zharie processing grief and also processing life changes such as moving in with her aunt, stopping going to dance class that she attended with her mom, and just like living life without her mom in general.
Zharie meets this cute boy named Bo that also turns into a zombie from time to time. She gets to know him and his friends. He is a sweet character and is probably the most likeable in the book by far. Zharie's only other friend is her best friend that she met online and hasn't met in person, but she's still Zharie's best friend and I think the representation of online friendship was sweet.
It just...... the major conflict between Zharie and Bo is blown far out of proportion, personally. Zharie also has a fight with her aunt and her aunt acts really, really shitty towards her and there's not really much of a conclusion there like Zharie apologizes and the aunt kind of doesn't... that's not fully unrealistic I guess, it just sucks. Zharie has extreme mental illness, she has all these hallucinations and kind of just odd thought patterns sort of like synaesthesia related stuff and she never seeks any kind of therapy or medical attention. It's just like girl you are fully seeing zombies like rotting zombies with their faces melting off and you KNOW they're not real but you're still scared of them because they're scary like pleaseeeeeeeee seek professional help
The book just generally isn't for me - I recommend if you're more a fan of poetic and kind of dreamy stories I guess.
This book is just very very goddamn metaphorical and I am not a metaphorical kind of person. Like I wanted the zombies to be actual zombies; instead they are all in Zharie's mind lol
Zharie's mom died almost a year ago, and since then, Zharie sees zombies. This book is about Zharie processing grief and also processing life changes such as moving in with her aunt, stopping going to dance class that she attended with her mom, and just like living life without her mom in general.
Zharie meets this cute boy named Bo that also turns into a zombie from time to time. She gets to know him and his friends. He is a sweet character and is probably the most likeable in the book by far. Zharie's only other friend is her best friend that she met online and hasn't met in person, but she's still Zharie's best friend and I think the representation of online friendship was sweet.
It just...... the major conflict between Zharie and Bo is blown far out of proportion, personally. Zharie also has a fight with her aunt and her aunt acts really, really shitty towards her and there's not really much of a conclusion there like Zharie apologizes and the aunt kind of doesn't... that's not fully unrealistic I guess, it just sucks. Zharie has extreme mental illness, she has all these hallucinations and kind of just odd thought patterns sort of like synaesthesia related stuff and she never seeks any kind of therapy or medical attention. It's just like girl you are fully seeing zombies like rotting zombies with their faces melting off and you KNOW they're not real but you're still scared of them because they're scary like pleaseeeeeeeee seek professional help
The book just generally isn't for me - I recommend if you're more a fan of poetic and kind of dreamy stories I guess.
whatnoimnotjess's review
3.25
there were parts of this book i loooooved and parts i really didn’t, but i’m glad i read it and would love love love to see this as an animated movie!
kd_reading's review
emotional
reflective
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
4.5