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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
The beginning of this book, I was not impressed: Benny was an annoying brat who only liked "cool" people. He considered his older brother Tom to be a coward and wholeheartedly looked up to the scummy bounty hunters. The only reason he likes his friend Nix is basically because she finally started growing boobs. Thankfully he grows up after his trip to the ruin and realizes everything he believed was wrong and childish. I thoroughly enjoyed when Nix told him off about thinking the bounty hunters were "cool" and how strong she was. She did play the damsel in distress, but always fought back and never gave up and waited to be saved.
The last half of the book I enjoyed. I liked meeting Lilah and hearing her story. Although I guessed that Tom didn't actually die, (in fact when Benny doused him in cadaverine I knew it'd be important.) I enjoyed his reappearance at the camp.
I will read the next book soon.
The last half of the book I enjoyed. I liked meeting Lilah and hearing her story. Although I guessed that Tom didn't actually die, (in fact when Benny doused him in cadaverine I knew it'd be important.) I enjoyed his reappearance at the camp.
I will read the next book soon.
Although it ended a little abruptly, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.
I'm not usually a zombies-and-mayhem-novel kind of gal, but this one is pretty legit. I actually couldn't put it down. (I feel silly saying that, but there you have it.) There were several strong, believable, totally bad-ass female characters and a little bit of philosophy/morality to chew on, though many of the plot twists were highly predictable. I liked it enough to give the next book in the series a try.
I'm not even sure where to begin with this book, so . . .
The concept of this book sounded promising: in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombies, children need to get jobs once they turn fifteen or they'll lose their food rations. And Benny Imura's older brother, Tom, is a bounty hunter who kills zombies for a reward, and would like Benny to train under him.
Unfortunately, the execution of this idea is what lost me. I think a lot of what has to do with it is the book's tone, which is completely and unabashedly preachy. The book told me how to feel, rather than letting me feel it myself. It told me, through Tom mostly (the moral high ground of the book), that killing zombies was wrong because they used to be people. That I should care for the zombies. But it never actually led me through events that made me feel this way. I was just lectured on how I should feel–because the great Tom Imura said so.
On that same note, so much of the book's first half consisted of telling stories to Benny. This happened, then this happened, and it was tragic, and it was awful, and everyone should care about it. After so many stories, I really just didn't care.
Characters tended to be way too poetic and unnatural in dialogue and voice, especially when there was some element of romance or when Tom was trying to preach. The many clichés also turned me off to the writing. There were serious scenes that I just couldn't take seriously.
“What did you do?”
“What we had to do.”
(followed by a deep sigh or some sort of dramatic beat)
Another thing that tends to come hand-in-hand with the post-apocalyptic genre is sexism, and Rot and Ruin is definitely no exception. Beyond the fact that there are no female bounty hunters (you don't have to be explicitly sexist to still be sexist), Benny falls in love with the image of a young girl painted onto a trading card. From then on, he makes it his personal mission to find her–not just because he's curious and wants to get to know her, but because he has a deep need inside him to protect her from everyone. And when the only other main girl, Nix, gets kidnapped, he has another girl to add to his must-protect list.
I was really tempted to give up this book when Nix said, “Look… I'm sorry for being such a girl.” Because that really says so much about what Maberry thinks about girls in general and what he thinks girls think about other girls (or what they should think, since Nix is obviously supposed to be the heroine girls are supposed to look up to if they're reading this book). I really almost quit this book, and I don't do that often.
Okay I need to preface this next part by saying that I'm white, and though Maberry gets props for having his main character a PoC, I'm not so comfortable with the way the half-Japanese Benny Imura was treated. In many ways, Benny's older brother was like the stereotypical East Asian sage character who teaches someone rasher and younger how to fight. It was also interesting how Tom knew so much Japanese fighting terms and how he knew how to fight “like a samurai,” even though his parents died when he was very young (what was he, six?). As far as I know, no one else in Mountainside was Japanese, and Maberry went to lengths to describe everyone's ethnicities (e.g. "despite their very Vietnamese appearances, they were born in America" <--another part I side-eyed the heck out of, actually).
But despite all this, there were some good things. Mainly Nix's ambition and her small moments that didn't revolve around Benny: her ideas about not being ruled by fear and expanding and moving it out of mountainside, etc.
All in all, I don't think this book had strong enough plot, characters, or writing for me to enjoy it fully. It praised toxic masculinity ("it was time for me to become a man" -- by killing people) and forced certain ideas down my throat while being unkind to women . . . and it was just not my thing.
The concept of this book sounded promising: in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombies, children need to get jobs once they turn fifteen or they'll lose their food rations. And Benny Imura's older brother, Tom, is a bounty hunter who kills zombies for a reward, and would like Benny to train under him.
Unfortunately, the execution of this idea is what lost me. I think a lot of what has to do with it is the book's tone, which is completely and unabashedly preachy. The book told me how to feel, rather than letting me feel it myself. It told me, through Tom mostly (the moral high ground of the book), that killing zombies was wrong because they used to be people. That I should care for the zombies. But it never actually led me through events that made me feel this way. I was just lectured on how I should feel–because the great Tom Imura said so.
On that same note, so much of the book's first half consisted of telling stories to Benny. This happened, then this happened, and it was tragic, and it was awful, and everyone should care about it. After so many stories, I really just didn't care.
Characters tended to be way too poetic and unnatural in dialogue and voice, especially when there was some element of romance or when Tom was trying to preach. The many clichés also turned me off to the writing. There were serious scenes that I just couldn't take seriously.
“What did you do?”
“What we had to do.”
(followed by a deep sigh or some sort of dramatic beat)
Another thing that tends to come hand-in-hand with the post-apocalyptic genre is sexism, and Rot and Ruin is definitely no exception. Beyond the fact that there are no female bounty hunters (you don't have to be explicitly sexist to still be sexist), Benny falls in love with the image of a young girl painted onto a trading card. From then on, he makes it his personal mission to find her–not just because he's curious and wants to get to know her, but because he has a deep need inside him to protect her from everyone. And when the only other main girl, Nix, gets kidnapped, he has another girl to add to his must-protect list.
I was really tempted to give up this book when Nix said, “Look… I'm sorry for being such a girl.” Because that really says so much about what Maberry thinks about girls in general and what he thinks girls think about other girls (or what they should think, since Nix is obviously supposed to be the heroine girls are supposed to look up to if they're reading this book). I really almost quit this book, and I don't do that often.
Okay I need to preface this next part by saying that I'm white, and though Maberry gets props for having his main character a PoC, I'm not so comfortable with the way the half-Japanese Benny Imura was treated. In many ways, Benny's older brother was like the stereotypical East Asian sage character who teaches someone rasher and younger how to fight. It was also interesting how Tom knew so much Japanese fighting terms and how he knew how to fight “like a samurai,” even though his parents died when he was very young (what was he, six?). As far as I know, no one else in Mountainside was Japanese, and Maberry went to lengths to describe everyone's ethnicities (e.g. "despite their very Vietnamese appearances, they were born in America" <--another part I side-eyed the heck out of, actually).
But despite all this, there were some good things. Mainly Nix's ambition and her small moments that didn't revolve around Benny: her ideas about not being ruled by fear and expanding and moving it out of mountainside, etc.
All in all, I don't think this book had strong enough plot, characters, or writing for me to enjoy it fully. It praised toxic masculinity ("it was time for me to become a man" -- by killing people) and forced certain ideas down my throat while being unkind to women . . . and it was just not my thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Ableism
I have been meaning to read this for some time. Boy am I glad I finally did! If you like walking dead will enjoy the first in this YA zombie series. I will most definitely read the next book.
I really liked this book. It took a little bit for me to get into because the world had to be set up. It is a post zombie apocalypse setting and history had to be established but once it took off it was filled with action and a little bit of mystery. There were points I felt like there was a little bit of an emotional disconnect but there were other times that left me teary just as they should. This is one I'll definitely keep in mind for boys to read because it is written from a male point of view. Plus what fifteen year old boy doesn't want to read about a zombie apocalypse?
Well thank God for this book! It got me out of a serious reading slump. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but I give it praise for being unique (as far as I know anyway) in the zombie genre. This uniqueness stems from the fact that in this book, they actually humanize the zombies. Usually in zombie stuff only the crazy people do that. But in this book, the sane people respected the zombies because of the fact that they were once humans and didn't ask for their twisted fates. This was really refreshing because usually everyone's all
where zombies are concerned.
And yes, the pacing is pretty glacial in the beginning, but keep reading because it all definitely pays off. We also have some pretty bad ass characters, or actually just one pretty bad ass character: Tom Imura. Man, is he super cool or what?! He's like a male Asian version of Michonne from The Walking Dead.
Hellz yeah. Badassery incarnate.
Another nice thing about this book is the solid character development from our lead, Benny Imura. In the beginning of the story he was a little prick, but that all changes pretty quickly, especially considering the fact that the book takes place over about two weeks.
Lastly, just a little side note on something that really REALLY annoyed me. Why the hell does Nix say "God" so friggin much?! It's like everything that happened to them her reaction of shock was just her going, "God..." I mean, yes, Nix, I know He's everywhere and in everything we do, but slow your roll there sister. Geez.
So yeah, pretty fun, if slightly predictable, book. Definitely worth the read.
where zombies are concerned. And yes, the pacing is pretty glacial in the beginning, but keep reading because it all definitely pays off. We also have some pretty bad ass characters, or actually just one pretty bad ass character: Tom Imura. Man, is he super cool or what?! He's like a male Asian version of Michonne from The Walking Dead.
Hellz yeah. Badassery incarnate.
Another nice thing about this book is the solid character development from our lead, Benny Imura. In the beginning of the story he was a little prick, but that all changes pretty quickly, especially considering the fact that the book takes place over about two weeks.
Lastly, just a little side note on something that really REALLY annoyed me. Why the hell does Nix say "God" so friggin much?! It's like everything that happened to them her reaction of shock was just her going, "God..." I mean, yes, Nix, I know He's everywhere and in everything we do, but slow your roll there sister. Geez.
So yeah, pretty fun, if slightly predictable, book. Definitely worth the read.
Mayberry's writing style is a little cliched, and he seemed to waffle on what age group he wanted to write this book for. At times it was incredibly dark, and at others he steered clear of obvious topics and consequences that would be generally unacceptable for younger readers. In regards to his writing style, I found myself quoting dialogue or descriptions before the narrator read them, because it was patently obvious that he was going to use them.
Both of these issues cost Mayberry's book a star. I enjoyed the story, and found it interesting to come across a post-apocalyptic book where the protagonist wasn't white. This seems to be especially rare in YA fiction.
I believe there is a sequel to the book, and I might pick it up after a spell, but at the moment I am more interested in pursuing other books. Maybe Benny Imura's next adventure will be a little more engaging.
Both of these issues cost Mayberry's book a star. I enjoyed the story, and found it interesting to come across a post-apocalyptic book where the protagonist wasn't white. This seems to be especially rare in YA fiction.
I believe there is a sequel to the book, and I might pick it up after a spell, but at the moment I am more interested in pursuing other books. Maybe Benny Imura's next adventure will be a little more engaging.