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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Wow. What took me so long to read this? This was spectacular. It brought to mind Justin Cronin's The Passage - a similar situation, and the same emotional intensity and psychological depth, with a little girl at the center of it all. Another truly literary riff on the zombie theme and what it means to be human. Outstanding writing, character development, plotting, suspense... its got it all. Highly, highly recommended for adults and teens.
My copy was a Kindle ARC from NetGalley.
My copy was a Kindle ARC from NetGalley.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars, actually.
MR Carey writes graphic novels/comics in his other writerly incarnation, and the influence of this on this YA future dystopian horror/fantasy is that you are immediately, visually, and viscerally drawn into the story.
Although my middle school daughter did not finish the book. So there's that half star the book doesn't get.
I was thinking about the difference in our reactions to the beginning of the book (daughter: "what's going on? Who is she? Why do they point a gun at her? Why are the adults so mean?" and me: Ooo, look what Carey is doing here by setting up Melanie as our POV character in the beginning, he can make us entirely sympathetic to Melanie and her girl-crush on her teacher Ms Justineau while at the same time give massive hints to readers familiar with the paranormal fantasy tropes of what exactly the reason is that everyone treats her like garbage and she isn't let out into the outside world) and I think its based on the fact that I am a long-time fantasy/sci fi fan and so pretty much immediately knew what was up with Melanie.
My daughter didn't, and so the fact that the book doesn't start answering questions until about halfway through really bothered her.
This is mostly a thriller and adventure-through-ruins-of-society kind of story. While Melanie is the main character, we mostly get her POV in the beginning long enough for us to get attached, and then we get shifting POV as she travels with Ms. Justineau, a scientist, and a few soldiers towards the city of Beacon. By the time the POV shifted, it was fine, I was already hooked to Melanie.
Another thing that pleased me about this book was the level of science. There are medical explanations and descriptions of cool med-tech tools used in discovering those explanations for Melanie's condition that totally ring true.
But the thing that stood out for me the most is that this book really delves into human relationships vis-a-vis the difference between the terrible creatures outside the gates, Melanie herself, Caldwell the cruel and detached scientist, and Ms. Justineau. What are the emotions that make us human? At what point is it worth saying "humans" deserve to live and win-out over other creatures if those humans are willing to perpetuate atrocities in order to do so?
And what about the fierce, uncomplicated loyalty and love between mother-figure and daughter?
Cool science, awesomely conflicted and sympathetic heroine, and a movie-worthy visual adventure.
MR Carey writes graphic novels/comics in his other writerly incarnation, and the influence of this on this YA future dystopian horror/fantasy is that you are immediately, visually, and viscerally drawn into the story.
Although my middle school daughter did not finish the book. So there's that half star the book doesn't get.
I was thinking about the difference in our reactions to the beginning of the book (daughter: "what's going on? Who is she? Why do they point a gun at her? Why are the adults so mean?" and me: Ooo, look what Carey is doing here by setting up Melanie as our POV character in the beginning, he can make us entirely sympathetic to Melanie and her girl-crush on her teacher Ms Justineau while at the same time give massive hints to readers familiar with the paranormal fantasy tropes of what exactly the reason is that everyone treats her like garbage and she isn't let out into the outside world) and I think its based on the fact that I am a long-time fantasy/sci fi fan and so pretty much immediately knew what was up with Melanie.
My daughter didn't, and so the fact that the book doesn't start answering questions until about halfway through really bothered her.
This is mostly a thriller and adventure-through-ruins-of-society kind of story. While Melanie is the main character, we mostly get her POV in the beginning long enough for us to get attached, and then we get shifting POV as she travels with Ms. Justineau, a scientist, and a few soldiers towards the city of Beacon. By the time the POV shifted, it was fine, I was already hooked to Melanie.
Another thing that pleased me about this book was the level of science. There are medical explanations and descriptions of cool med-tech tools used in discovering those explanations for Melanie's condition that totally ring true.
But the thing that stood out for me the most is that this book really delves into human relationships vis-a-vis the difference between the terrible creatures outside the gates, Melanie herself, Caldwell the cruel and detached scientist, and Ms. Justineau. What are the emotions that make us human? At what point is it worth saying "humans" deserve to live and win-out over other creatures if those humans are willing to perpetuate atrocities in order to do so?
And what about the fierce, uncomplicated loyalty and love between mother-figure and daughter?
Cool science, awesomely conflicted and sympathetic heroine, and a movie-worthy visual adventure.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
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
Very smartly written and enjoyable overall. Not my favorite though.
3.5 - I did not care for the writing style (positively or negatively). I think the narrative would have more impact if the mc was less special. It would have more concretely hit on the idea of how humanity is taught. The ending was genuinely satisfying, something which I cannot say often.
There's a lot to like. I really appreciated the ending, it's one of those not happy, but really the best you could expect under the circumstances, and Carey made me really understand and sympathize with a very strange girl.
I also really liked the way he handled the disease behind the hungries. I tend to criticize diseases in speculative fiction, but Carey handled it well. Authors tend to overhype what microbes do, and that happens hear, but to a significantly smaller degree than I've seen before. It tends to limit people, or exert very specific controls on them--everything else the hungries do (especially the kid hungries) is built out of human psychology and how it reacts to their odd nature (and that made it so interesting to follow them). I also appreciated Carey invoking evolution, so many authors forget that microbes aren't just killing machines, they're out there to evolve and to survive, like all other life. Evolution for these microbes may work a little faster than I'd like, but just a little.
Okay, that sounds like damning with fate praise, but I really did like that.
I also really liked the way he handled the disease behind the hungries. I tend to criticize diseases in speculative fiction, but Carey handled it well. Authors tend to overhype what microbes do, and that happens hear, but to a significantly smaller degree than I've seen before. It tends to limit people, or exert very specific controls on them--everything else the hungries do (especially the kid hungries) is built out of human psychology and how it reacts to their odd nature (and that made it so interesting to follow them). I also appreciated Carey invoking evolution, so many authors forget that microbes aren't just killing machines, they're out there to evolve and to survive, like all other life. Evolution for these microbes may work a little faster than I'd like, but just a little.
Okay, that sounds like damning with fate praise, but I really did like that.
Tight, well executed, good character development. Hard to say much more because reviewers smartly don't give away even the beginning of the tale. This one has to be read, unwrapped layer by layer, and appreciated for what it is.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
This book was gifted in a Secret Santa game and I am glad I read something far far away from my comfort sone. Books that involve zombies are not really my favorite.
When they said 'Dont judge a book by its cover', they were definitely talking about this one. When I started to read this book I had no idea what I was getting into.
Its a great thriller, a page turner and one that keeps you up all night even after you read it. I needed several days just to recover from reading this one.
The protagonist is just like the book cover, sweet from the outside. Maybe she was sweet from the inside too, but I was always creeped out by her.
If apocalypse , zombie themes interest, pick this one up you wont be disappointed.
When they said 'Dont judge a book by its cover', they were definitely talking about this one. When I started to read this book I had no idea what I was getting into.
Its a great thriller, a page turner and one that keeps you up all night even after you read it. I needed several days just to recover from reading this one.
The protagonist is just like the book cover, sweet from the outside. Maybe she was sweet from the inside too, but I was always creeped out by her.
If apocalypse , zombie themes interest, pick this one up you wont be disappointed.