Carole (Carole's Random Life)'s Reviews > The Reapers are the Angels

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

Somewhere along the way, I have decided that I love zombies. I have to admit that The Walking Dead probably has been a large part of my new found love of all things zombies. When this book came across my feed on Goodreads, I just know that I was going to have to read it. Everyone seemed to absolutely love it and I just knew that I was in for a treat. I liked this book well enough but it didn't turn out to nearly as good as I had been expecting. It may very well be a case of going into a book with unrealistic expectations.

There was a lot that I really did like about this book. It was a really fast and rather exciting read. I liked the fact that this story had a teenager as the main character and romance was not the key point in the story. That gets a few bonus points right away in my book. The world that it was set in was really well thought out. I really liked the fact that Temple, the main character, has never known a world different than the one she is in. She takes things as they are and is able to adapt really quickly to just about any situation. Temple was a wonderfully written character.

Another thing that I really enjoyed in this story was the fact that it took place in so many vivid locations. Every single one of the places that Temple finds herself in during the course of the story is unique. I would expect that in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, there would be a lot of different ways to deal with the situation evolving. I thought that every single environment that was a part of the story seemed very authentic.

Unfortunately, there were a few things that didn't work very well for me. This book was depressing. I don't know why I expected a zombie apocalypse book to be anything but depressing but I have to admit that I did. When I finished this book, I kind of wanted to curl up into a ball and just be left alone. If that was what the author was trying to do with the story, he did a great job but that's just not the kind of book that I enjoy reading. I also didn't care for the way that Temple addressed the man who she ending up bring with her during the bulk of the book. I understand that Temple has had to make it on her own in this scary world so I am sure that little lessons like treating others with respect were not covered but I can't help but cringe anytime I see a passage where someone with a disability is not treated with respect. That was a major turn off for me with this book.

All in all I would probably recommend this book to others. It is a different take on the zombie idea that is able to keep things interesting. This is the first book by Alden Bell that I have read but I would pick up another one of his books in the future. I did notice that there is at least one more book in this series but to be honest I am not sure if I am going to pick that one up or not right now.

Initial Thoughts
I liked this one but not nearly as much as I had hoped. This book's ending was incredibly depressing for me. I need a bit of time to think about it before I write any kind of review.