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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
*Slight spoilers?*
I enjoyed this book. The writing has a good flow and the story was interesting and fresh (which in a world of zombie related media, can be hard to do.)
HOWEVER. As a young woman a little alarm bell starts going off in my head when I’m reading a book where an older male protagonist (34 in this case) becomes interested in a much younger girl (Rita, 23). I shut this early warning down to prevent it from influencing my thoughts on the book because 23 is actually a pretty respectable age as far as this ‘hot young girl who’s mature for her age and definitely pursues me’ trope goes. I put aside the feelings I got that a big part of Rita’s purpose was to satisfy a fantasy, because again, as far as this trend goes I’ve read far worse and I appreciated the fact that she at least wasn’t a helpless young girl barely on the side of legal.
BUT BETH?!
She’s brought in so late that she can’t have any real use to the plot apart from providing the fulfilment of best friend Jerry’s book-long goal: sex. (I can’t find Jerry’s exact age, but I’m pretty sure it’s around 20. If not and this is some type of ‘Romeo and Juliet law’ thing then this is NOT made clear enough). Even then, I could ignore that... but Beth is 16. There’s literally a line (p. 237) that says: ‘True, Beth is only sixteen, but somehow I doubt anyone is going to charge Jerry with statutory rape.’ In reference to the likely outcome that the two will hookup and zombies have no legal rights and are not considered people in this world. Is this line meant to comfort me?? This just put the nail in the coffin for me and I don’t think anything will be rising again from within.
The thing that really annoys me about the Beth situation is the fact that it’s so easily avoided. Why couldn’t Beth be 18 at least? Is that really so much to ask for? The fact that she’s 16 serves the plot in no way, there’s absolutely no reason she needs to be this age, it just reflects back in a gross way on the author who made that totally unnecessary decision. I won’t be reading anything further by S. G. Browne (and no, I’m not saying that to sound intimidating or to Send A Message, I know this review is likely going into the void.) because Beth’s inclusion as (essentially) an underage sex doll makes me feel icky, and there are plenty of authors out there who don’t.
Like I said, I liked the book, and I was willing to ignore the Rita thing giving me ‘ugh of course’ vibes, but the Beth thing dropped my rating by a star. I can’t decide whether it’s a good thing or not that she was barely mentioned after the party where it was suggested they would have sex, but it gave me about 50 pages to forget about how much the situation annoyed me at least which bumped my rating up by a star.
I enjoyed this book. The writing has a good flow and the story was interesting and fresh (which in a world of zombie related media, can be hard to do.)
HOWEVER. As a young woman a little alarm bell starts going off in my head when I’m reading a book where an older male protagonist (34 in this case) becomes interested in a much younger girl (Rita, 23). I shut this early warning down to prevent it from influencing my thoughts on the book because 23 is actually a pretty respectable age as far as this ‘hot young girl who’s mature for her age and definitely pursues me’ trope goes. I put aside the feelings I got that a big part of Rita’s purpose was to satisfy a fantasy, because again, as far as this trend goes I’ve read far worse and I appreciated the fact that she at least wasn’t a helpless young girl barely on the side of legal.
BUT BETH?!
She’s brought in so late that she can’t have any real use to the plot apart from providing the fulfilment of best friend Jerry’s book-long goal: sex. (I can’t find Jerry’s exact age, but I’m pretty sure it’s around 20. If not and this is some type of ‘Romeo and Juliet law’ thing then this is NOT made clear enough). Even then, I could ignore that... but Beth is 16. There’s literally a line (p. 237) that says: ‘True, Beth is only sixteen, but somehow I doubt anyone is going to charge Jerry with statutory rape.’ In reference to the likely outcome that the two will hookup and zombies have no legal rights and are not considered people in this world. Is this line meant to comfort me?? This just put the nail in the coffin for me and I don’t think anything will be rising again from within.
The thing that really annoys me about the Beth situation is the fact that it’s so easily avoided. Why couldn’t Beth be 18 at least? Is that really so much to ask for? The fact that she’s 16 serves the plot in no way, there’s absolutely no reason she needs to be this age, it just reflects back in a gross way on the author who made that totally unnecessary decision. I won’t be reading anything further by S. G. Browne (and no, I’m not saying that to sound intimidating or to Send A Message, I know this review is likely going into the void.) because Beth’s inclusion as (essentially) an underage sex doll makes me feel icky, and there are plenty of authors out there who don’t.
Like I said, I liked the book, and I was willing to ignore the Rita thing giving me ‘ugh of course’ vibes, but the Beth thing dropped my rating by a star. I can’t decide whether it’s a good thing or not that she was barely mentioned after the party where it was suggested they would have sex, but it gave me about 50 pages to forget about how much the situation annoyed me at least which bumped my rating up by a star.
My friend Preslee recommended this book to me. It had dark humor. Some parts were amusing and other parts caused me to cringe.
Just last week I wrote a review on another zombie novel citing that ultimately they are all the same. Breathers instantly proved me wrong!
The story follows Andy, a recently deceased Breather (Breathers being living humans) turned Zombie. He is no Hollywood Zombie, as he so adamantly pushes, just wanting to be accepted in a society that reviles him. He does what he can to get along, living in his parents basement, attending UA (undead anonymous) meetings, and drowning his sorrows in his father's extensive wine collection.
Throughout the novel Andy becomes increasingly frustrated with having food thrown on him (feeling especially insulted when its a cheap taco bell burrito), frat boys hazing zombies, and being locked up in a cage for simply going on a walk. Zombies have been around for most of modern history, having been sent out on the frontlines in WWII, descriminated by both Whites and Blacks DURING the African American rights movement, etc. Today if they don't behave they are sent off to research facilities where they become a plastic surgeon's midterm.
Soon Andy and his new "family" of fellow zombies get an unknowing taste of "venison". This new meat begins to have positive side effects on their decaying bodies and soon they realize a change in social status is long over due...
Full of humor, love, and gore (like Shaun of the Dead, this novel is called a RomComZom, romantic comedy with zombies), I was blasting through the pages laughing out loud on the subway while rooting for what until now was the enemy!
The story follows Andy, a recently deceased Breather (Breathers being living humans) turned Zombie. He is no Hollywood Zombie, as he so adamantly pushes, just wanting to be accepted in a society that reviles him. He does what he can to get along, living in his parents basement, attending UA (undead anonymous) meetings, and drowning his sorrows in his father's extensive wine collection.
Throughout the novel Andy becomes increasingly frustrated with having food thrown on him (feeling especially insulted when its a cheap taco bell burrito), frat boys hazing zombies, and being locked up in a cage for simply going on a walk. Zombies have been around for most of modern history, having been sent out on the frontlines in WWII, descriminated by both Whites and Blacks DURING the African American rights movement, etc. Today if they don't behave they are sent off to research facilities where they become a plastic surgeon's midterm.
Soon Andy and his new "family" of fellow zombies get an unknowing taste of "venison". This new meat begins to have positive side effects on their decaying bodies and soon they realize a change in social status is long over due...
Full of humor, love, and gore (like Shaun of the Dead, this novel is called a RomComZom, romantic comedy with zombies), I was blasting through the pages laughing out loud on the subway while rooting for what until now was the enemy!
Zombies are a very popular subject matter these days, with movies, horror novels, anthologies, and many graphic novels being written, created and published about the living dead. Many of them seek to terrify the reader with gruesome details, while the movies involving the undead running at ridiculous speeds attempt to make viewers scream. Then there are those stories that feature zombies – and vampires and werewolves – in a lust-filled, sexual mishmash that I really don’t want to think about.
And then there’s Breathers.
Breathers is a fun, funny, and at times serious look at the life of someone who one day wakes up and is a zombie. How much would your life change? How would your parents not only think of you, but treat you? Would they allow you to live in their home (formerly your home)? What about your social life?
Breathers is the story of Andy Warner who has just this happen to him. It’s a world where zombies are seen as less than real people . . . because they aren’t. They have no rights, no respect from anyone, and are hounded and ridiculed by all who see them. Andy lives with his parents, in the basement, where he’s not allowed to interact very much with them, certainly not eat with them or engage in social gatherings. When outside, he must keep away from crowded areas, and is not allowed to socialize with large groups of zombies. His “un-life” is pretty much pointless.
But that all changes when he begins attending a help group known as Undead Anonymous. There he befriends some fellow zombies and gets close to a girl named Rita. The help group is allowed by the government as it helps to enforce the laws telling zombies what they can and cannot do; mostly cannot. And then things begin to change when they bring some new friends along who share this tasty venison that miraculously seems to make the zombies feel better and even heal the wounds that caused their deaths.
S. G. Browne has created a very entertaining, tongue-in-check and matter-of-fact novel about zombies and how they would be treated by the human race who has done so well in the past with anything that is different. Browne is never over the top or preachy, but many of his words echo off events and reactions of humanity’s past. And ultimately it does leave one asking themselves a question: how would you treat a zombie if they knocked on your door?
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
And then there’s Breathers.
Breathers is a fun, funny, and at times serious look at the life of someone who one day wakes up and is a zombie. How much would your life change? How would your parents not only think of you, but treat you? Would they allow you to live in their home (formerly your home)? What about your social life?
Breathers is the story of Andy Warner who has just this happen to him. It’s a world where zombies are seen as less than real people . . . because they aren’t. They have no rights, no respect from anyone, and are hounded and ridiculed by all who see them. Andy lives with his parents, in the basement, where he’s not allowed to interact very much with them, certainly not eat with them or engage in social gatherings. When outside, he must keep away from crowded areas, and is not allowed to socialize with large groups of zombies. His “un-life” is pretty much pointless.
But that all changes when he begins attending a help group known as Undead Anonymous. There he befriends some fellow zombies and gets close to a girl named Rita. The help group is allowed by the government as it helps to enforce the laws telling zombies what they can and cannot do; mostly cannot. And then things begin to change when they bring some new friends along who share this tasty venison that miraculously seems to make the zombies feel better and even heal the wounds that caused their deaths.
S. G. Browne has created a very entertaining, tongue-in-check and matter-of-fact novel about zombies and how they would be treated by the human race who has done so well in the past with anything that is different. Browne is never over the top or preachy, but many of his words echo off events and reactions of humanity’s past. And ultimately it does leave one asking themselves a question: how would you treat a zombie if they knocked on your door?
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
So this isn't the best zombie book out there. Like the stars say, it was okay...at best. I really wanted to like this book, from the description and the cover, I really wanted to like it. But it just wasn't what I was expecting.
I can say it was a pretty creative idea for a book, having zombies be just like everyone else, still human in a way, just stuck in a decaying body, unable to die. It's like a mix of Warm Bodies and a short story that's in the New Dead anthology, that I can't remember the name of. But of course this book is not anywhere near as well writen as Warm Bodies or that short story.
As I read this, I felt like there was something between the lines. This felt very much like a analogy to civil rights movements. This book is all about how the zombies still feel like people but they are no longer treated like people and how they have to fight for their rights.
So okay it's exactly an analogy for civil rights movements. But it just could have been executed so much better. Also one of my biggest pet peeves in read a novel is when the author feels it necessary to add in lame jokes or small mentions of modern day real life things or people. Unless you are Stephen King or an author as amazing as him, don't try to bring real life into your novels like that it just comes off as out of place and annoying.
As for this novel, if you are a zombie lover, this isn't a must, it can be interesting, it's a easy read but it's most likely not the kind of zombie book you are looking for.
I can say it was a pretty creative idea for a book, having zombies be just like everyone else, still human in a way, just stuck in a decaying body, unable to die. It's like a mix of Warm Bodies and a short story that's in the New Dead anthology, that I can't remember the name of. But of course this book is not anywhere near as well writen as Warm Bodies or that short story.
As I read this, I felt like there was something between the lines. This felt very much like a analogy to civil rights movements. This book is all about how the zombies still feel like people but they are no longer treated like people and how they have to fight for their rights.
So okay it's exactly an analogy for civil rights movements. But it just could have been executed so much better. Also one of my biggest pet peeves in read a novel is when the author feels it necessary to add in lame jokes or small mentions of modern day real life things or people. Unless you are Stephen King or an author as amazing as him, don't try to bring real life into your novels like that it just comes off as out of place and annoying.
As for this novel, if you are a zombie lover, this isn't a must, it can be interesting, it's a easy read but it's most likely not the kind of zombie book you are looking for.
I'm a sucker for all things zombie, so I just had to pick up this book.
Breathers ended up being better than I expected. There are shades of social commentary in here. Think of how many human being we treat as "unpeople": the homeless, illegal immegrants, the mentally infirm. These people are out and about in our society and are either ignored or harassed, just like the zombies in Breathers. Unfortunately, the whole social commentary idea is left to wither on the vine. The last quarter of the book lapses into a kind of satire on the media that doesn't quite work. Still, an interesting book and I'm glad I read it.
Breathers ended up being better than I expected. There are shades of social commentary in here. Think of how many human being we treat as "unpeople": the homeless, illegal immegrants, the mentally infirm. These people are out and about in our society and are either ignored or harassed, just like the zombies in Breathers. Unfortunately, the whole social commentary idea is left to wither on the vine. The last quarter of the book lapses into a kind of satire on the media that doesn't quite work. Still, an interesting book and I'm glad I read it.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this when I was in college and finished it in an afternoon. It was absolutely not your normal zombie novel full of horror and gore, but instead was a romantic comedy featuring zombies as the main characters that are not so different from us. It was such a fun read and has stuck with me for years. If you want something different and lighthearted, check this one out!
Zombies + love story = funny! This was an easy read and very entertaining.
If you like Christopher Moore, you'll enjoy this book. The humor is very dark and parts are a bit gorey but what do you expect when zombies start to eat us breathers?