Actually more like a 3.8 star. This novel kept me interested enough to finish it in a couple of days and was full of a lot of great information in addActually more like a 3.8 star. This novel kept me interested enough to finish it in a couple of days and was full of a lot of great information in addition to a well-told story that I've heard is almost 100% scientifically accurate. However, it somehow failed to hit me in the feels when it could have packed a serious punch and I suppose that's because the storytelling was a touch clinical. ...more
You know that feeling when you're cold and cozied up with a book and you really REALLY want a GOOD cup of tea, and you get it in your hand an3.5 stars
You know that feeling when you're cold and cozied up with a book and you really REALLY want a GOOD cup of tea, and you get it in your hand and it smells perfect and is nice and warm - and then you take a sip and think that maybe it's a bit weak or hasn't been stirred properly but you don't mind 'cos it's still tea? Then you get to the midway point and realise that whoever made it not only forgot your sugar but didn't leave the teabag in long enough, and now you have to finish this weak cup of tea 'cos it's winter and you need it and you're too lazy to make another one, but you don't really want to and it leaves a blah taste in your mouth?
Delirium was my inadequate cup of tea.
The makings of an awesome novel are there: Dystopia CHECK YA sexy-boy CHECK Enemies to overcome CHECK fantastic writing a definite check, and yet… it left me feeling meh, which annoys me because a few times there it really got me going- teary-eyed and all but… no, the bag needed to be left to seep for longer.
There are 2 major flaws with this story 1) the Concept 2) The heroine and those are kind of the only things I'm looking for to shine in a YA Dystopian. Luckily for the story, my 3rd biggest priority is the guy and Alex was loveable enough to keep me turning pages, even when I sort of felt like leaving the heroine back a few chapters where she could stare blandly at the wall and not care about anything without putting me out.
This is a tale about a world without love and it seemed like such a shocking concept to me- SO out there- that I absolutely had to see how anybody could spin such a theorem up into a believable novel. But the thing is, it never got there. Every SINGLE time I heard the words: 'amor delirium nervosa' Note I said HEARD because this was an audible book that I listened to so I have no idea how anything is actually spelled) my eyes started rolling. Oh there are plenty of Dystopian novels about worlds devoid of love or compassion, but when that's the POINT of the society- a concept that we're expected to believe the mass-majority once fully supported, you leave the land of the feasible. Human beings, en masse can be very, very stupid but the idea that they'd volunteer for lobotomy's to cut out their 'love duct' and then bother with having children or going through with the whole wedding thing after is just stupid. Come on… having babies would become a clinical thing where you laid down with a stranger and people would live in dorms. And no WAY would so many kids and teenagers be so damned accepting of it, regardless of what example was being set. It would become a pre-op vs post-op society, where the kids (young hormonal adults especially) would be fenced off from the opposite sex completely and against many vehement wills until they got their procedures done. THAT was the story I was looking for, but what I got was this polite, shell-shocked teenage girl excited by the thought of having her heart cut out but slowly being convinced that a world without love was a bad thing.
Which brings me to point two- the heroine. Oh Laina… you were about as thrilling as watching 'grey' paint dry. This novel probably would have jumped up a whole star, maybe even 1.5, if Hanna had been the main character, and I feel as though the writer became aware of this 75% of the way through the book because suddenly, Hanna the side-kick stopped being interesting and started baa-ing a bit too. I get that Laina's been sort of scarred by watching her mother fall victim to the dreaded 'love' disease but there's no excusing how long it takes this girl to realise that love is a good thing, especially seeing as how she feels for Hanna and little Grace.
I get where the author wanted to go with this, and it's admirable that she chose a heroine who wasn't spectacularly special… I guess… but regardless of how real you want a story to feel, you have to take into account the fact that people are reading this because they want to be entertained first and foremost (educated comes after) so if you're going to focus on real, plain and boring characters for a first-person perspective, then they need to be heavy hitters in some sense. Laina wasn't beautiful or brave or magical (and YA Dystopian heroes usually need to be at least ONE of the above) which could be forgiven if she were especially kind, or headstrong or generous or clever or… or just anything! Couldn't she have saved the dog, and nursed it back to health in secret? Couldn't she have made plans to take Grace with her? Couldn't she have brought something to the table to not only steal my heart, but convince me of why Alex fell so hard for her?
I hate leaving negative reviews, I really do especially when the author writes so beautifully ( and she honestly does- there's nothing clumsy, stereotypical or generic about Oliver's story-telling craft) and the world building is so intriguing, but I fear if people aren't warned against certain parts of a book before they begin it, then they're reactions tend to fall on the harsh side, as mine has. Something was really REALLY working in the first 6 chapters of this novel and the last few, so I hope that the author has managed to tap into that again for the rest of the series and hold it, but for the time being I can't help but feel that if Alex had died in the end then (which would have upset me, no doubt) and the series left as a stand-alone with a Romeo and Juliet dynamic, it would have packed a better punch.
But it was still my cup of tea… just a lukewarm one that needs to steep for longer.
I will add that listening to this on audio was a definite plus- the narrator's voice was awesome and really brought Oliver's words to life. ...more
This was a truly awesome zombie series. Just that right balance of romance, action and inevitable waiting around in contemplation. there are a lot of This was a truly awesome zombie series. Just that right balance of romance, action and inevitable waiting around in contemplation. there are a lot of things that I could say about the third instalment in this review (some I did leak out in my progress reports) but I'm going to hold it all in, otherwise it'd be spoiler central.
A lot of very cool things happen in this book. A lot of really, really shitty things happen too. I'm personally not impressed with one particular plot twist, but the author sort of found ways to make up for it (emphasise on 'sort of' not 'did') and still managed to tell a pretty awesome series.
Somehow, I don't know how, this assemble;age of 3-4 star novels ended up equalling out as a five star (Five ZOMBIE stars that is:Twilight it ain't) series for me because it was perfect for what it was supposed to be and delivered everything you need in a zombie series.
This was just a straight-up good Zombie book, and has basically everything I look for in a Zombie adventure: Lots of time in cars5 Zombie Stars
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This was just a straight-up good Zombie book, and has basically everything I look for in a Zombie adventure: Lots of time in cars on the highway, lots of foraging, the building of forts and the banding together of people. It's nicely paced- so it goes minute by minute and day by day without skipping large sections of time, the zombies are how zombies ought to be with nothing fancy thrown into the mix, and the writer's got the goods as far as world building goes and paints (what one can only presume) is a fairly realistic account of how things would play out when the shit virus hits the fan.
The characters are the best aspect of the book for me. I like the shifting, third-person POV, because it's defined clearly, and the characters whose POV you do get to experience things through are incredibly likeable, albeit, they can get on the whiny side- lots of survivor guilt, guilt over killing humans before they can turn, guilt for the people they couldn't protect… etc etc, but that begin said, still a huge improvement over the uber-male zombie books when no one gives a f%$# about anyone.
For all intents and purposes, I think Katie is supposed to be the main character, but it's Jenny who I think really adds some spark to what could have been an otherwise generic story.She's a bit crazy and has a lot of issues, but though her mind doesn't work well- I like the way it works :)
It took a while for me to realise that this series was going to be told from a primarily female POV, and was also written by one, and though my husband is a huge fan of this series, he has grumbled occasionally, that the she-power is a little much. While I don't agree that anything the women do can be considered extra-ordinary or uber-feminazi, I will admit that the male characters tend to come down on the 'soft' side of things. (Travis and his gun issues, for instance- WTF?) Nothing wrong with that, because naturally there would be men who would struggle to hold their S$%# together during a Zombie apocalypse too, so I'm not going to blame the two female leads for dwarfing men with their strength. It would take a lot of guts and killer instincts to survive an ordeal like this- and we're reading a story from a Survivors side of things, right? If not, there would be three paragraphs and then a lot of demonic growling…
What's wrong with it? Not much. Travis can get on my nerves sometimes (I really like strong men- which is possible without them having to come off as Rambo and Travis can be a bit spineless, so Juan's my favourite) and I had some issues with how quickly Katie rebounded. Okay, you like men and women too, so by all means- have at this new dish now that your wife is dead, but while she was humming and hawing about it being too soon for her to be considering jumping into someone else's arms- I tended to agree and couldn't believe that she was even contemplating it yet. I think maybe two weeks had lapsed between death of a wife, and want of another partner? That's okay in Jenny's 'battered wife' case and would even make sense if Katie's wife was still alive, and Katie's feelings were merely splitting (proving them to be not so strong in the first place)… but the emphasis on her desire for Travis struck me as highly inappropriate for a grieving widow, and didn't make sense given how much time Katie spends grieving, moping, sulking… etc etc over her darling Lydia. As much as I like the emerging relationship, I wish that the writer had left the notion of her having any feelings for Travis- at all- until at least the second novel, and then maybe a month down the line.
In the same vein- I don't think that Jenny has mourned the loss of her children nearly enough, and the fact that she forgot her step-son for even ten minutes horrified me. I have a step-daughter and I can tell you that worry for her would be at the top of my priority list despite how much I was grieving or in shock over the loss of my biological children. it sort of made her look like a shitty mother, and I'm wondering if maybe that was the author's intentions. No one's perfect, after all, and Jenny has clearly been in need of a mental tidy for awhile, but I hope this issue is touched on again. In the very least, I'd like to see her go into shock once or twice when encountering a zombie child. I mean, my kids are alive, and I still can't stomach zombie kids in movies.
But i digress- these are only minor criticisms in an otherwise awesome story. I'm already onto book two, so it';s a page turner, no doubt, and would like to commend Rhiannon Frater for pulling off an incredibly suspenseful and often nail-biting series, without having to go all game Of thrones or Walking Dead, and kill off all of the important or favoured characters to add to the shock value!
I was in a crazy place when I wrote this. When I started, everything was cool, but by a few chapters into it, I'd buried my future brother-in-law, reaI was in a crazy place when I wrote this. When I started, everything was cool, but by a few chapters into it, I'd buried my future brother-in-law, realised I was pregnant and had been forced to go through a major life upheaval. I never allow my characters to reflect much of me, but the writing in this definitely reflects how I was feeling toward the world and all themes within the Eden Chronicles, a crisis of faith, a major life upheaval, depression and also, the feeling that life may never be good again.
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Oh! And SLEEPINESS! The sort of insane, fatigued, mind-melting exhaustion that only women in the first trimester of a pregnancy could ever hope to understand. I became a barely functioning narcoleptic- I truly was afraid to leave the house, lest I pass out behind the wheel like old mate from Moulin Rouge.
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Actually I might stick with the Luhrman-esque gifs for this review, because he is a major source of inspiration for me for The Eden chronicles. Bright, colourful, tragic and beautiful… I hope, with elements of all of my favourite works thrown in. Memoirs of A geisha, Romeo and Juliet, Gone With The Wind and, yeah.., a bit of Tarantino I guess, because I like to shock people a little.
Now, I'm going to say off the bat that there are going to be a lot of people who don't like the way this plays out, and I can tell from reading various status updates across twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.
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However, there's not a whole lot I can do about the people I'm going to piss off- only hope and pray that I can back on track after, via character development which is what motivates all of my works nowadays. Spoiler alert- no one dies, and as far as I'm concerned, redemption is available to every single one of my characters, no matter how shocking some of their actions may be. The tagline of the series is 'There's no such thing as good or evil, only different coloured feathers…' and I didn't realise how much I believed that until I was halfway through this series. Case in point- books 1 & 2 were supposed to have been just the one novel, but character development begged me to invest in the scenes that I might have breezed over with my original premise. And I'm so glad I did, for I truly have discovered diamonds within the rough within the supporting characters. Karol Barachiel, most notably, is one of my very favourite characters to write, and I'm looking forward to taking his character somewhere… befitting such a prince charming (lol), and the most pious characters within the series are going to learn the price of a superiority complex the hard way!
After all- God's not around, so someone has to dole out the punishments! Might as well be me!
All that being said, none of the plot twists that I throw into this came out of nowhere, which was probably why it was so hard for me to write. The things that certain characters have to do, ugh it was painful and often had me welling up, but they're absolutely necerssary. In fact, I ended up feeling sorry more for the characters who do the evil things, than the people who suffer the repercussions of their actions! Ahhh Kohen… you have so far to go!
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Unfortunately, the most potent, kindle-throwing scenes within it are the ones that I've built the story around in my mind, and without them, the book would be nothing. I am definitely going somewhere with it though so please, try and suspend judgement until the series conclusion- keep an open mind, an open heart- and be afraid, lol. Be VERY afraid, because Happily Ever Afters don't come cheap in my head!
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And on a final note, I do feel the need to remind readers that though Larkin was a child in the first book, and a teenager in the second, this is by no means a young adult story- she'll be an adult by the end, and will evolve accordingly. So if she's driving you crazy now regarding the erm, choices she's making, keep in mind that what a seventeen year old does is one thing… but an adult woman (one scorned at that) is a different creature entirely, and Larkin's love story is NOT going to be Larkin's actual story. Oh no, she's got more important things to do than fantasise about escape a cage! So don't give up on her yet!...more
I nabbed a copy of 'Shamblers' last week, partially because the author was courteous enough to offer me a copy in e3.7 if you want to get technical :)
I nabbed a copy of 'Shamblers' last week, partially because the author was courteous enough to offer me a copy in exchange for a review, but also because I'm a zombie author myself who hasn't actually read many, so with all of the titles out and about to choose from, it was good to have a bit of motivation. That being said, I bought a copy myself, as I always do, so I would feel free to review it candidly.
Shamblers was a pretty good novel, and if I was more likely to err on the side of 'blooey-bloke' action books, this probably would have warranted damn close to a five star. In fact, I know that my husband, who has pretty much read every zombie novel available on audio, would ( and will, when he puts down the Game Of War app for ten bloody minutes) love this, so stand-by for his review that will come along eventually. Unfortunately for the author, I am a girl who was a cheerleading captain and a is a musical theatre enthusiast, so I favour the zombie books that are a little bit more female-friendly; either serious classics, like The Passage or Cell, or narrated from a female POV, like Feed or The Forest Of Hands And Teeth. You know, a little 'chick' softening around the edges of the sores… or a nice white bandage or something ;)
But that is me. Shamblers ticks all the right Zombie apocalypse boxes: Gory, full of action, shoot 'em ups and knock 'em downs and with a nice, quick pace. There were a lot of things that were really terrific about the story, for example, I really appreciate the fact that the protagonist isn't this big macho man who creams everyone without breaking a sweat; he gets king hit, locked in a basement and seriously injured or screwed over often and so it reads as realistic. I liked the idea of the story in general, how it focused on a few characters meandering around the countryside, looking for a good base camp, only to lose it either to the shamblers, or the desperate humans who want that piece of territory too.
And I very much enjoyed the plot twists, especially the point-of-view switcheroo in the middle, which brought a fresh dynamic to the story. The transition was seamless; the author did very well at putting a different slant on two separate streams of consciousness, effectively putting you right in the drivers seat of two different mind-sets, and I applaud that because not many writers can pull that off. Another great positive is the fact that, although the entire story has a rather depressing morale, you don't FEEL depressed reading it because it's a fun, action-packed adventure with a fantastic ending.
I wasn't overly impressed with the sexual element of the storyline (too short, too manly-man 'I have lots of inches' wham-bam for me) , but it's not often that a male author can nail sexual chemistry in a way that a female reader will be able to sink into and let's face it; the target audience for this novel is NOT going to care and would probably write it the exact same way anyhow so most of y'all can probably disregard that. But for a girl, the female characters were a little too one dimensional for me so although I enjoyed it and no other chicks will too, it's as sexy as any action novel/ movie can be expected to be.
And this would make a pretty good movie :) There were some very inventive weapon choices in there, and the bad guys are kind of fun so nothing about the novel feels stale or recycled to me.
Overall, Shamblers was a nice quick read, fits into the genre perfectly, brings something new to the table and was incredibly well-written- no 'Indie author' red flags at all. Pick it up if you're a fan of the genre and need a light-hearted escape from the heavy emotional hitters like David Moody (I needed an energy drink and a vacation after Autumn to cheer the hell up) - you won't regret it. ...more
'Civilisation slipped into its second kind of dark age on an unsuspecting trail of blood.'
I'm a huge Stephen King fan so it's no shocker that I loved 'Civilisation slipped into its second kind of dark age on an unsuspecting trail of blood.'
I'm a huge Stephen King fan so it's no shocker that I loved Cell. I got exactly what I was looking for- a traditional post-apocalytptic tale with a twist!
Cell starts as abruptly as most Zombie novels- the 'incident' occurs by the end of the first chapter and it's done well. I loved the fact that it happened somewhere I know- somewhere I've been. It made it very easy to picture how it goes down.
Clay is as likeable as is his sidekick. You care for this man- are both happy and then disappointed for him- by the end of the first chapter. You get the impression that he was a bit of a man-child; separated because his graphic novels weren't selling and his wife had grown impatient, and then when he gets published- celebrates with an ice cream cone and intends to buy himself and his son a comic book as their own reward. How adorable! And yet the first thing he'd done was buy an overpriced and thoughtful gift for the woman who had left him, and is anticipating telling her of his change in fortune in that idyllic way artists do! So right from the start, you're on his side :)
I think the initial 'zombiefying incident' is crucial to these stories. And I am so sick of the same thing happening over and over again which is why I got a kick out of the phone thing. 'The Pulse' appears to be a sort of technical terrorism but as always, there's that grey supernatural fog of his ( A grey haze of Dandelion fluff- a pocket fog) drifting across the novel, clouding things and making you question the true source of the agitation while you try and think around corners.
The story is about one man trying to get back to his child. Okay that's pretty typical but really, in the end, what else have we got to fight for? And it follows the protagonist as he collects a few hangers-ons and attempts to cross state lines with them in toe. But unlike most Zombie movies, when the characters are just trying to get to high and far ground to set up camp, King's ensemble actually try and do something; they try to help and save the world a little bit.
What I love about Stephen King novels is the level of class he manages to inject into these horrific situations. He can be gruesome without being brutal, gory without turning your stomach. His eloquence brushes over the most gut-wrenching details the way shock sedates the mind when real tragedy strikes. And he does this in Cell. The horror is like a shadow, always lurking but never really descending to blacken out hope.
In many ways, this was reminiscent of The Stand, but The Stand was epic too and one of my favourites so I can forgive that ;) There's a parallel between the two stories when it comes to the force threatening the world: Don't read this if you want to know exactly what the hell happened or who 'happened' it, because King is as coy as ever. There's a representative of the evil, but he seems to be more of a puppet, than the puppeteer. There's an ending, but it seems to be the mental sort of 'Choose Your Own Adventure' where the reader gets to fill in the blanks by themselves. For me-the eternal optimist- it ended on a high, hopeful note. But I'll never know if that's the tune he wants me whistling ;) The man's a bit sadistic.
In the end it was classic King all the way and a quick read despite its size. he did what I love the most; I just worship King's ability to make day scarier than night, and then night scarier still. Dried blood is so much creepier under the sun, isn't it? ...more
I had some major misgivings when the second instalment of this trilogy began from a new point of view focusing on a whole new set of chGloomily pretty
I had some major misgivings when the second instalment of this trilogy began from a new point of view focusing on a whole new set of characters and I actually had to re-read the beginning a few times because I kept losing interest. And I am referring to the first few pages- that is all. Once the first scene was set things got engrossing again and I have to say that although the storyline was very similar to the first-a brand new love triangle, one girl, two guys, major anguish and catastrophe-I liked TDTW even better than the first. In fact I really enjoyed Gabry as a heroine, and the way she grew was wonderful.
Carrie Ryan writes YA romance so well. She really captures those butterflies and even if the rest of the story was crap (which it certainly isn't) I would still want to finish it and rate it high because of the bittersweet romances playing out amongst the undead. She writes carefully, prettily and simply making even the most bleak circumstances movingly and gloomily beautiful. And though this series is just one heartbreaking disaster after the other it finally found its hopeful voice towards the end of this book and I am excited to see how it plays out; I only hope it plays out well. Please please Ms Ryan- give us a Happily Ever After! ...more
I loved this book. I can't say that enough. It's difficult to ascertain exactly why because not much happens in TFOHAT. Best book I've read in a year.
I loved this book. I can't say that enough. It's difficult to ascertain exactly why because not much happens in TFOHAT. It's like so many others and unlike all of them at the same time. Story lines start heading in one direction and veer off in another. The heroine is selfish. The supportive characters frustrating and not nearly enough back story shared to explain what is going on or why they got there....
But I just loved it!
I guess you could chalk it up to an intriguing love triangle. Well-written tension, and incredible scene setting on the author's behalf. But as an author, this is one of those books that comes along and makes you think:
WHY THE HELL DIDN'T I WRITE THIS?
It's haunting and beautiful and much like 'The Village' which is one of those movies that just resonated with me and has never lost its grip.
Read if you like Zombies, love triangles, YA fiction, haunting characters and mystery. ...more
Much in the style of Jamie McGuire's Red Hill this is a Zombie/Dystopian book that stands out from the rest for the fact that is like any others I havMuch in the style of Jamie McGuire's Red Hill this is a Zombie/Dystopian book that stands out from the rest for the fact that is like any others I have read yet :) It's more suspense then horror, and the emphasis on emotional drama actually overrides the whole 'walking-dead' aspect.
Off the bat-Gotta high five the author for the 'Steve Irwin shout-outs' for foolishness and bravery :)
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Aussie Aussie Aussie! That's right down here, we eat the ZOMBIES mate ;)
Feed is about people trying to love their lives after the world as they knew it has ended. Though there are many survivors from pre break-out, there are many post, and this is where our protagonists hail from. They are a team of young bloggers questing for status, and when they land the dream blogger job-following around a candidate for the President of the U.S.A, they pack up and join a caravan-following the senator from one town to the next as he campaigns. While they are doing this, they are trying to report honestly, stay alive not only from the Zombies they encounter, but the live virus living inside all of them which can erupt at any given time. Thus, their lives revolve around travel, important functions and tedious blood-testing rituals for securities' sake AND drama when both the truth and security fail them time and time again.
Feed starts out a few decades after the apocalypse has happened but unlike other dystopian books I've read, there is no mystery regarding what had gone down which I find very refreshing. I get frustrated when there's a 'disconnect' between the old world and the new but this is written in a way that keeps both worlds within a singular, though distant focus.
And it's believable. I always thought that the Zombie genre as a whole Od'd on the part where they wipe us out completely. In Feed-there's quite a lot of hope. Survivors are scattered everywhere in large groups and not only has the internet survived-it has become the centre of our existence and seems to be the only reason why we still have an existence at all. Blogging has all but replaced traditional media. To me, that sounds like as much of a nightmare as a Zombie apocalypse, but the author spins it so you feel comforted by the blogging frenzy. The people are the path to the truth and those who are most reliable are public figures with heavy influence. Think Perez Hilton famous-that's what these guys are aspiring to.
I love the characters. The heroine and hero are a brother/sister powerhouse, who have been raised by a husband/wife powerhouse and are trying to get both out from under their parent's thumbs, and out of their parents shots. 'George' Georgia Mason and her brother Sean are incredibly down to earth and likeable and they don't 'go up the stairs' in the horror movie sense, so you don't spend the entire book cringing while they take incredibly unnecessary risks. For the most part, Georgia is the narrator for this book in first person perspective, but there are excerpts from the blogs of Sean, their tech whiz Buffy (Love the full name) and another later recruit, Rick, to give additional insight. I won't get into the other characters because I cannot do so without spoilers but let's say, the author makes it difficult to truly get attached to anyone in this book because everyone seems to have a slightly corrupt or cardboard streak. But I love the head of security dude Steve.
Feed has a great vibe. If you are a blogger, you are going to love this. I learned a lot of stuff about how these networks work and the reflection cast by the media rings very true and will probably make you want to switch off the news for a few days. There's no romance-which is a bit sad because I kept waiting for it and seeing twists where there were none-until the end and you see a 'Oh crap' moment coming and it was not something I anticipated so I am both pissed at, and impressed by, the writer for having the guts to go for it.
This was an engrossing, hard-to-put-down and by all means, prolific and brilliantly written story, for sure. I will read the rest of the trilogy but it could have stood alone or even, have been separated into two different instalments for how the mood of the story shifted, but I digress.
This is a high 4-like a 4.8. The only issue I had with Feed is that it had a slight tendency to repeat certain processes undertaken by the characters in too much detail, too often. Like with the logging into networks and blood-testing...I knew where they were going with it but some chapters could definitely have been whittled down a lot. And though the author made a point about computers being our saviour, the protagonists of this book are already fairly zombie-like thanks to their reliance on being logged in. Don't know if it was on purpose but I giggled a few times.
But definitely the Best 'non-gory' Zombie book yet (The zombies only hold influence over a very small part of the plot) , just beating Red Hill. Read it if you enjoyed Red Hill, I am Legend, The Passage or if you just like a lot of action and suspense without the romance :)
Well this was a helluva book. I was really excited to read an apocalypse/zombie tale from a romance writer and I was not disappointed. If there is sucWell this was a helluva book. I was really excited to read an apocalypse/zombie tale from a romance writer and I was not disappointed. If there is such a thing, this is definitely a girl-friendly zombie story. In Red Hill, a virus has broken out via flu shots and the infection escalates so quickly that you're into it by the second chapter...which is pretty typical of apocalypse stories. And I say 'stories' not books because I've only really read one another infection novel-The Passage by Justin Cronin. Other than that, I'm referencing movies. The story is told from alternating 1st person POV and it is executed flawlessly! Plot is good-several small groups of people in dysfunctional relationships are fleeing the contamination zone with the idea of getting to the same property-Red Hill, a farm house owned by a doctor. Half of the story is the journey there, these different groups within the same area all attempting to migrate to Red Hill believing that it is a defendable, sustainable and isolated safe-haven. We all have a place in mind I think-a bolt-hole in case of Zombies, so it's nice to see how many people have the same idea, but makes me think I need to change mine so I don't end up fighting others for it ;) The second half of the story is pretty painful, as all of these different-stroking folk attempt to co-exist. And no it's not like the movies-they're not out to kill each other for a crust or anything. But it's more about how people will relate to one another when the primary goal is survival. It raises the question: 'So if he was the last guy on earth...?' The writing is great. I can't fault Jamie McGuire. The characters are intriguing but nothing entirely original there. And though the story-line adheres to the typical apocalyptic formula, there are some nice variations thrown in to keep it interesting. One issue I had is that the Zombies lose their scare factor pretty early in. Maybe it's the pace at which they walk or how easy they are to kill or the fact that they're referenced as 'Teds' and 'Shufflers' but instead of being terrified when they came into a scene, I was imagining this:
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In truth I was a little more scared of the heroine, Scarlett by the end then the 'shufflers.' But I would be her in this same situation. And probably find myself as Zombie bait given the trouble she causes in the name of good.
What I liked most about this book was that it wasn't horrific in the typical sense. The zombie gore is kept to a minimum. Rather, the damage inflicted is the emotional kind. I was on the edge of my seat a lot more in regards to the characters personal lives and as it turned out, that was a safe place to be. Though the violence is less, the global impact less terrifying and nightmare-inducing and the usual : 'Oh god what if one jumps out of the closet...?' not as all-encompassing, this book will upset and shake you. Once again (god I'm having bad luck with this lately!!!) I have to put my mummy-bonnet on and caution anyone over-sensitive to take a deep breath before reading this. There are some very upsetting themes in this book. Well, for me there was. Two scenes in particular had me cringing and you really can't get too attached to anyone because a lot of people die so sadly yes, it loses a star because I'm the HEA kinda girl. But there is a hopeful thread woven between the tragedies and I really couldn't turn pages fast enough! I was in a dressing room for my 4 year old's stage debut this afternoon hurrying through the last two chapters and crying out: 'No!' 'Oh yes!' 'NO!" And it's pretty hard to get an audible reaction out of me! Jamie McGuire has a real gift for building personal tension-whether it be worry, sexual pre-occupation, a crush or heartbreak, she gets it so right that you cannot help but become emotionally entangled with her books. I probably will read this again, and can't recommend it highly enough!
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