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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Great for young adults wanting to be part of zombie craze. Read as part of YA course.
Oh, man was this ever good. How does a zombie book convey the meaning of family, loyalty and humanity...I don't know, but Mayberry kicked ass figuring it out!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a thrilling, heart wrenching and exciting read. I'm obsessed with anything zombie-related.. a show, an anime or even a book. I love survival stories, where you've to fight to stay alive. The cover of this book is beautiful and um ig sad?? because the eye shows fear and hunger.. the hairy skin is like too old and rotten.. it's incredible. The book kinda reminded me of AOT. In anime there were Titans and in this book there are zombies. and in both storiesthey showed that real evil is HUMANS, the read and actual, having sense and complete braincells but they lack conscience and they (those evil people) are worse than any titan or zombie.
Jonathan Maberry is one of the ultimate masters of “zombie” fiction. Rot & Ruin is a perfect example of how well his fiction works in this genre. Set fifteen years after “First Night” the name of the zombie outbreak in this book. So this would have to be considered a very post post apocalyptic novel. Humanity has established itself in fenced communities. Only traders and “bounty hunters” leave these safe confines into the outside world called the “Rot & Ruin.” Bounty Hunters like Tom Imura find undead family members for residents and offer them “closure.” Benny, Toms brother reluctantly becomes an apprentice bounty hunter at the beginning of the book.
Like all the best “zombie” books, the interaction between the people is so much more interesting and important than the zombies. I loved this story and I am looking forward to the next book in the series Dust & Decay.
Like all the best “zombie” books, the interaction between the people is so much more interesting and important than the zombies. I loved this story and I am looking forward to the next book in the series Dust & Decay.
ROT & RUIN, acclaimed horror novelist Jonathan Maberry’s first venture into literature for younger readers, is so much more than simply a zombie book. It blends great storytelling, adventure, and tender human moments for an altogether satisfying read that is both exciting and emotional.
Benny starts off as a pretty irritating boy, smugly confident in his narrow-minded convictions, but it is the mark of a great author that Benny eventually grew into a mature and more complex young man, a protagonist that I could really get behind. His interactions with Tom are tense with residual anger over the loss of his parents on First Night—a little childish, perhaps, but alright, believable if we cut him some slack. Other than his relationship with Tom, Benny is a pitch-perfect teenage boy regarding his interactions with others: friends, other grown-ups, zombies, etc., a relatable mix of cluelessness, anxiety, and bravado.
The world of Mountainside and the Rot and Ruin is a well-realized one, with plenty of opportunities for secrets, hideaways, and dramatic showdowns. All that Benny knew used to be only what was within the fence that surrounds Mountainside, but as his apprenticeship takes him far out into the Rot and Ruin with his brother, his worldview grows, and with that opportunities for more exciting things to happen. Maberry has brilliantly constructed a world that will never feel too claustrophobic for ideas: there will always be more things for Benny and his friends to discover out there.
And can I just mention how awesome it is that Benny is half-Japanese, half-Irish…and it’s not a big freaking deal? Get out your lassos so you can get me down from where I’m floating over the moon!
ROT & RUIN is not flawless: Tom comes off as a bit too perfect, and there are some epic monologues in there that couldn’t hide the fact that they were pushing an agenda. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the heck out of my time spent reading this book, and may even dare say that this book will probably appeal to younger fans of The Hunger Games, those who are craving another thrilling yet firmly humanistic series.
Benny starts off as a pretty irritating boy, smugly confident in his narrow-minded convictions, but it is the mark of a great author that Benny eventually grew into a mature and more complex young man, a protagonist that I could really get behind. His interactions with Tom are tense with residual anger over the loss of his parents on First Night—a little childish, perhaps, but alright, believable if we cut him some slack. Other than his relationship with Tom, Benny is a pitch-perfect teenage boy regarding his interactions with others: friends, other grown-ups, zombies, etc., a relatable mix of cluelessness, anxiety, and bravado.
The world of Mountainside and the Rot and Ruin is a well-realized one, with plenty of opportunities for secrets, hideaways, and dramatic showdowns. All that Benny knew used to be only what was within the fence that surrounds Mountainside, but as his apprenticeship takes him far out into the Rot and Ruin with his brother, his worldview grows, and with that opportunities for more exciting things to happen. Maberry has brilliantly constructed a world that will never feel too claustrophobic for ideas: there will always be more things for Benny and his friends to discover out there.
And can I just mention how awesome it is that Benny is half-Japanese, half-Irish…and it’s not a big freaking deal? Get out your lassos so you can get me down from where I’m floating over the moon!
ROT & RUIN is not flawless: Tom comes off as a bit too perfect, and there are some epic monologues in there that couldn’t hide the fact that they were pushing an agenda. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the heck out of my time spent reading this book, and may even dare say that this book will probably appeal to younger fans of The Hunger Games, those who are craving another thrilling yet firmly humanistic series.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Definitely a teen to young adult book. No complicated themes or spectacular coming of age story but a simple fast paced zombie story with a lot of back stories. It's not targeted for me so I found the teenagers obnoxious and simple minded but it might play for a more youthful audience. I didn't care for the teen love angle but that's me. Im not a romance reader at any age. Story is fast paced and maybe is the beginning of an exciting series. As characters mature, this series might become quite good.
dark
tense
fast-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
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Yes, this was a zombie book, but it seemed different than most zombie books. Instead of starting the book right when the zombie apocalypse began or soon after, it starts about 14 years after it happened. It's a very different point of view when you see the world through someone's eyes who doesn't even remember what the world was like "before". The characters were great and the relationship building between the two brothers was awesome. I liked all the little details Maberry put in like the job options for a 15 year old and how everyone locks themselves into their rooms at night to keep the zombies out and to keep themselves in if they happen to die in the night. You can tell he really REALLY thought everything through. I liked the twist near the end... it helped make up for the fact that a lot of other things that happened were easy to see coming. Looking forward to picking up the sequel at some point.