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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I was skeptical - it is after all, a zombie book - but it wasn't about zombies at all - it's about struggle and hardship, love and trust, and human strength. Sure, there are some zombies in the book, but they aren't the real monsters. People are - and then there are the heroes that have to fight them.
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.
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Though I’m rather ashamed to say and admit it, I have never read a zombie book before up until now. Rot & Ruin is honestly the first zombie, and dystopian novel that I have ever read, and I have to be quite honest…I was not let down one bit. Of course my judgment might be slightly thrown off due to the fact that this is my first, but I can still say the least that I wasn’t disappointed with this book.
Before reading this book, I had still known a good amount of things about zombie. Had watched shows on the History channel and seen various movies with stuff like that. All of which, I’d only put one thought into a zombie. They’re mindless, soulless, flesh eating monsters. After reading Rot & Ruin though I found myself pleasantly surprised by Maberry’s ability to actually bring out a new perspective in zombies. In the book a zombie is seen by many of the townspeople as not monsters (though they are still deathly afraid of them) but as a trapped soul. In many cases as well, family in the book who had a family member rise from the dead as a zombie, requested that that family member not be killed. That’s the part that I liked. That Maberry made these flesh eating monsters…people. He did a wonderful job executing it throughout the novel, and having the characters beliefs around it form out as well about the zombies.
Up until now too I’ve never really read any true books with really good action scenes. When it came to this book through, I was literally pressing my nose into it, trying to absorb every single action and word. In many spots for the beginning the book moves slow. There’s a lot of explaining to do when it comes to things so it takes a good chuck to get everything cleared up. But then there are stories incorporated into it as well, making the book glide along and rescuing you from that sometimes slow spot. And then…you get to part three and four of the book. That is when I have to say I couldn’t put it down. The action comes in, and the big climatic scenes that you never see coming! It’s a page turning. One hundred percent turn on for me as a book lover. If the book makes me want to skip out on math and stay up extra late, well, then to me it’s a keeper.
Now, the characters in this book actually interested me some. Not really because of them being different or strange in a way, but because of Maberry’s ability to make them so realistic. Benny, our main character, to me was a very likable person. His emotions were very relatable to me, and I absolutely loved reading about his struggle in the Ruin when he started to train with his brother. If anything though Nix was a character that made me frustrated. AT certain points she’s always claiming that Benny is in love with another girl, while we get the usual of the boy saying he’s not, over and over again while the girl just keeps accusing him. It was something that really got under my skin and I wished could have been different. But still, Nix had very raw emotions and stories throughout the entire book that just managed to make you love her even when she could be a nag.
Overall it’s a very promising book. Book number two, Dust & Decay is out as well, but because of a really cruddy library system (CURSE YOU!) I will not be reading it for quite a while… ):
Two thumbs up for Rot & Ruin!
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Though I’m rather ashamed to say and admit it, I have never read a zombie book before up until now. Rot & Ruin is honestly the first zombie, and dystopian novel that I have ever read, and I have to be quite honest…I was not let down one bit. Of course my judgment might be slightly thrown off due to the fact that this is my first, but I can still say the least that I wasn’t disappointed with this book.
Before reading this book, I had still known a good amount of things about zombie. Had watched shows on the History channel and seen various movies with stuff like that. All of which, I’d only put one thought into a zombie. They’re mindless, soulless, flesh eating monsters. After reading Rot & Ruin though I found myself pleasantly surprised by Maberry’s ability to actually bring out a new perspective in zombies. In the book a zombie is seen by many of the townspeople as not monsters (though they are still deathly afraid of them) but as a trapped soul. In many cases as well, family in the book who had a family member rise from the dead as a zombie, requested that that family member not be killed. That’s the part that I liked. That Maberry made these flesh eating monsters…people. He did a wonderful job executing it throughout the novel, and having the characters beliefs around it form out as well about the zombies.
Up until now too I’ve never really read any true books with really good action scenes. When it came to this book through, I was literally pressing my nose into it, trying to absorb every single action and word. In many spots for the beginning the book moves slow. There’s a lot of explaining to do when it comes to things so it takes a good chuck to get everything cleared up. But then there are stories incorporated into it as well, making the book glide along and rescuing you from that sometimes slow spot. And then…you get to part three and four of the book. That is when I have to say I couldn’t put it down. The action comes in, and the big climatic scenes that you never see coming! It’s a page turning. One hundred percent turn on for me as a book lover. If the book makes me want to skip out on math and stay up extra late, well, then to me it’s a keeper.
Now, the characters in this book actually interested me some. Not really because of them being different or strange in a way, but because of Maberry’s ability to make them so realistic. Benny, our main character, to me was a very likable person. His emotions were very relatable to me, and I absolutely loved reading about his struggle in the Ruin when he started to train with his brother. If anything though Nix was a character that made me frustrated. AT certain points she’s always claiming that Benny is in love with another girl, while we get the usual of the boy saying he’s not, over and over again while the girl just keeps accusing him. It was something that really got under my skin and I wished could have been different. But still, Nix had very raw emotions and stories throughout the entire book that just managed to make you love her even when she could be a nag.
Overall it’s a very promising book. Book number two, Dust & Decay is out as well, but because of a really cruddy library system (CURSE YOU!) I will not be reading it for quite a while… ):
Two thumbs up for Rot & Ruin!
Love a good zombie book!
Favorite Quote:
"The truth is the truth. What changes is what we know about it and what we're willing to believe."
Favorite Quote:
"The truth is the truth. What changes is what we know about it and what we're willing to believe."
I think this I great book. I generally like books that are a girl view so I can relate but I liked it a lot. I had the book sitting in the living room and my dad snagged it before I could. Read books one and two in two days. And he's 48. He couldn't wait for me to catch up so he could talk about it. Good for a diversity of ages and gender friendly
This is probably my favorite Zombie-themed YA Series ever. So good! I recommend it to basically every teen that comes into the library.
This was an excellent zombie apocalypse story that was very refreshing to read. With a much more human aspect to the main characters that other zombie books have failed at for me.
The main characters are Benny and Tom, two brothers that have survived a zombie apocalypse and who are now having to live in the aftermath. One of the brothers, the older one Tom has learned to survive outside of the small community of survivors and goes into the ruin to help others put their now zombie family members at ease. whereas Benny is the younger brother and has been kept in the community to finish his education.
There are some secondary characters but they are only really there to show the extent to which different people can be affected by the zombie apocalypse.
The storyline is excellent and brilliantly written, it puts a whole new more human spin on the horrors people would have to survive after a zombie apocalypse. The pacing is very good and I look forward to reading the other books in the series. I'm starting the second one tonight.
5 stars
The main characters are Benny and Tom, two brothers that have survived a zombie apocalypse and who are now having to live in the aftermath. One of the brothers, the older one Tom has learned to survive outside of the small community of survivors and goes into the ruin to help others put their now zombie family members at ease. whereas Benny is the younger brother and has been kept in the community to finish his education.
There are some secondary characters but they are only really there to show the extent to which different people can be affected by the zombie apocalypse.
The storyline is excellent and brilliantly written, it puts a whole new more human spin on the horrors people would have to survive after a zombie apocalypse. The pacing is very good and I look forward to reading the other books in the series. I'm starting the second one tonight.
5 stars
I couldn't finish this, I just got so frustrated with "we can't just kill zombies even though they pretty much ended the world as we know it and probably have diseases and want to eat us because they used to have loved ones" and I had to stop. It's possible it could have something to do with my "zombie-loving" phase ended before I read this book, but since I already owned it, I thought I might as well.
So this was a reread, but it's been 10+ years since I've read it. I have to say, its just as great as I remembered. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.
*3.5*
It book was like a bumpy rollercoaster. So many parts were just...boring, and sometimes the writing sucked. At other times, however, I was flipping pages super fast and the writing was beautiful. Therefore, I gave this book a medium score. I liked it overall, though, and I'm planning on reading the second one (mainly because I already own it, but...).
It book was like a bumpy rollercoaster. So many parts were just...boring, and sometimes the writing sucked. At other times, however, I was flipping pages super fast and the writing was beautiful. Therefore, I gave this book a medium score. I liked it overall, though, and I'm planning on reading the second one (mainly because I already own it, but...).