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A review by arthuriana
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
4.0
This is one of those instances where the movie was so amazing and brilliant and awesome that I decided to check out the novel as soon as possible. Thankfully, 'as soon as possible' ended up being a day due to my relentless hunting and pure, dumb luck.
Suffice to say, this is a lot different from the movie. R was still his loveable, zombie self and Julie was still Julie and the Romeo-and-Juliet feel was still there (albeit multiplied by a factor of 3286598820); but it's different--though that doesn't stop it from being good. It's breathtakingly original in its subject matter (I can't really vouch for the number of zombie romances where the male lead is a zombie, but I think it's safe to say that there aren't a lot) and it's fun seeing that idea float and do its thing.
The novel, truth be told, was enjoyable. The world-building could suck you in and it's really well though-out for a zombie novel. Instead of the usual brainless, grunting animated corpses, what we get in Warm Bodies is drastically different: they're still hanging on to the fragile thread that they have with their humanity. They almost have something akin to a community (they even have a school, for God's sake), however primitive it is. The first few chapters does a good job in bringing you into the novel's world.
Take note that I said the first few chapters. This is one of the novels where it had an amazing start, slowed down, then made you feel as if the only good parts in the novel were to be found in the beginning. It's a good thing that the author does a good job in picking up the story back to its original pace and made things exciting and good again. It was a real turn-around, suffice to say--and the slooooooow moments in the story didn't even take up too much pages.
The ending, though . . . I almost gave this book three stars just because of its ending. I feel as if it ended far too abruptly and wasn't given as much thought as the other parts in the novel (yes, even the slooooooow parts). It left me hanging and, when I closed the book, the first thought I had was, "that was it?". It was a real disappointment for me, to say the least, and I had hoped for a more satisfying finish to what is otherwise a brilliant novel.
Suffice to say, this is a lot different from the movie. R was still his loveable, zombie self and Julie was still Julie and the Romeo-and-Juliet feel was still there (albeit multiplied by a factor of 3286598820); but it's different--though that doesn't stop it from being good. It's breathtakingly original in its subject matter (I can't really vouch for the number of zombie romances where the male lead is a zombie, but I think it's safe to say that there aren't a lot) and it's fun seeing that idea float and do its thing.
The novel, truth be told, was enjoyable. The world-building could suck you in and it's really well though-out for a zombie novel. Instead of the usual brainless, grunting animated corpses, what we get in Warm Bodies is drastically different: they're still hanging on to the fragile thread that they have with their humanity. They almost have something akin to a community (they even have a school, for God's sake), however primitive it is. The first few chapters does a good job in bringing you into the novel's world.
Take note that I said the first few chapters. This is one of the novels where it had an amazing start, slowed down, then made you feel as if the only good parts in the novel were to be found in the beginning. It's a good thing that the author does a good job in picking up the story back to its original pace and made things exciting and good again. It was a real turn-around, suffice to say--and the slooooooow moments in the story didn't even take up too much pages.
The ending, though . . . I almost gave this book three stars just because of its ending. I feel as if it ended far too abruptly and wasn't given as much thought as the other parts in the novel (yes, even the slooooooow parts). It left me hanging and, when I closed the book, the first thought I had was, "that was it?". It was a real disappointment for me, to say the least, and I had hoped for a more satisfying finish to what is otherwise a brilliant novel.