I added this to my tbr in July 2016. I read the blurb and requested it from my library. By the time I started reading this (Jan. 2017), I had forgotteI added this to my tbr in July 2016. I read the blurb and requested it from my library. By the time I started reading this (Jan. 2017), I had forgotten what the book was about which is how I like to start a story. If I was intrigued enough to put a book on my tbr, I try not to re-read the blurb before diving in.
Unfortunately I was sick when I started this so it took me a while to get 10% (I try getting to this mark in one sitting before deciding whether to continue reading or go on to something else). By that time I had shed so many tears that I wanted to give up. The descriptions of the life of this little girl saddened me to a point that I did not want to continue. This was heart-wrenching. Maybe it was due to my illness but my money is on the story.
So, I did something that I usually avoid – I went back on here looking for a reason to go on (this sounds so dramatic). I read the beginnings of a couple of reviews and decided to keep going. I’m glad I did. I went on to shed more tears, some were even tears of joy. This turned out to be a beautiful story and a pleasant surprise.
I cannot say enough about Ada, the MC. She was remarkably well written and while I have never been a teenage girl, I’ve had a few cousins and friends that were and I saw bits of them in Ada. Her behavior was believable based on her upbringing. My heart went out to her when she socialized with her peers, tried to be like them or was in the presence of a boy.
“Snap out of it, she wanted to tell him. Wake up.”
I am a fan of mysteries and am usually good at figuring out the who, if not the why of a story but not with this one. I didn’t put much effort into figuring out who David was. I enjoyed the writing so much that I let the story come to me; and what came, I did not see coming.
The writing is superb. Even with the feelings it elicited, I felt compelled to continue. It lulled me into a state of curiosity and a sense of security; I needed to know what happened next and knew that whatever occurred, it would be okay.
At the point that I wanted to dnf this, my internal conversations went something like this:
“Come on man let this go. No one will think any less of you.” “I want to but I also want to see this through.” “Dude, you did not sign up for this. We can handle a little robot girl but this… this prose is like, literary. This is deep.”
I’m glad I ignored this.
Ada and her story will stay with me for a long time.
Borrowed this from the library and renewed it three times because I kept putting it off. I was about to return it, unread, until I read the back coverBorrowed this from the library and renewed it three times because I kept putting it off. I was about to return it, unread, until I read the back cover a 4th time and decided why not.
I am so glad I read this. I love the MCs so much that I am saddened that their story is over and there's no need for a part deux....more
I didn't want this book to end. I hated that I had to sleep because it meant having to put this book down. The story is that good. I loved that way thI didn't want this book to end. I hated that I had to sleep because it meant having to put this book down. The story is that good. I loved that way the author fed me her world in bite size pieces. I bought into her dark world and the dangers that all kids faced.
I liked Ruby and Liam, and Chubs grow on me but my heart belonged to Zu. I wanted nothing more than to hold and protect her. There were scenes where she broke my heart and others where she had me grinning from ear to ear.
The story and the twists had my stomach in knots and reading through tears, but the journey was worth it. ...more
I'm a wreck. Good thing I get to write a review and not have to record one via podcast; I couldn't manage many words without sounding like a 12-year-oI'm a wreck. Good thing I get to write a review and not have to record one via podcast; I couldn't manage many words without sounding like a 12-year-old boy who got his ding ding caught in his zipper.
A, hopefully, coherent review will be forthcoming when I get settled down. This sneaked up on me. One minute I'm expecting zombies that I know are not coming, and the next my heart is in my throat. ...more
But you gotta look at the world that is and try not to get bogged down by what it ain't.
Zombie Literature with Southern Twang, Charm, and Hospitality
I
But you gotta look at the world that is and try not to get bogged down by what it ain't.
Zombie Literature with Southern Twang, Charm, and Hospitality
In one of my updates on goodreads, I wrote that this isn't your typical zombie story and it isn't. There is little in the way of killing zombies and the associated gore. This is a story of adventure, redemption, and miracles. Oh, and the prose is to die for.
Our MC is 15-year-old Temple AKA Sarah Mary Williams and this is her story.
The apocalypse occurred 25 years ago so Temple only knows this life filled with slugs (zombies). She never learned to read and write so she speaks with poor grammar but often spews wisdom that is beyond her years.
They don't bother you so much, she says, if you can stay out from between their teeth.
I absolutely loved her charm and her naivete. In her travels, she befriends another survivor whom she takes under her wing in a matter of speaking.
If I ain't evil, then what am I? Cause my hands, see, they ain't seem to got no purpose except when they're bashing in a skull or slittin a throat. That's the whole, all around truth of the matter. Them meatskins, they kill - but they ain't get any satisfaction out of it. Maury, you sure are wanderin a lonely earth - full of breach and befoulment - but the real abomination is sittin right next to you.
She's troubled by some of the things she's had to do to survive and believes the only place for her is outside amongst the meatskins. She doesn't get too comfortable in safe communities. I got the feeling she'd rather have the entirety of the US to roam than be confined to an enclosed community. No matter how safe that community may be. It also doesn't help that a killer is after her.
The prose is beautiful. The flow, the words, the dark pictures it painted in my mind. I found myself re-reading passages because the language was gorgeous. The only issue I had was the lack of punctuation for dialogue but I got used to that rather quickly.
There they sit, at a rickety card table attached with brackets to the inside wall of the boxcar so it doesn't spill over with the starts and stops, playing Omaha poker and drinking booze out of tin mugs, or sitting with their legs out the open side of the car, watching the landscape go by and breaking down their guns to clean them, or carving miniature figures out of basswood with pocketknives. There they are, the new knights-errant of this blasted homaloid - lost men who find lost men and carry them to safety by their dusty collars.
They belong, Temple thinks. They have they stink of belonging wherever they go. This world is their world, and they take possession of every yard they cover, and they run the sun to its grave every night.
There were many more excerpts that I wanted to include here but I'll leave you with one of my favorite lines;
This girl ain't full service.
I'm writing this 5 days after finishing the story and one thing I found interesting that I couldn't quite put my finger on when reading it was how relaxed (not as cautious as I would expect them to be) the survivors appeared to be when meeting other survivors. I'm used to reading zombie stories that take place during or shortly after the apocalypse where the tension is high and trust for your fellow man is at an all-time low. I suspect that 25 years into this post-apocalyptic society had a lot to do with it.
I highly recommend this even if you don't normally read Zombie or YA stories. Don't let the YA tag fool you, this doesn't read like your typical YA....more
Over 550 pages on my nook for pc and it still wasn't long enough for me. Through Anthony's beautiful story telling and well-defined characters I was aOver 550 pages on my nook for pc and it still wasn't long enough for me. Through Anthony's beautiful story telling and well-defined characters I was able to see, smell, taste, hear and feel the devastation of World War II....more
Loved it. This book delivered everything it promised me in the description. The author does a magnificent job of creating this world where you canWow.
Loved it. This book delivered everything it promised me in the description. The author does a magnificent job of creating this world where you cannot look outside and getting the reader to experience said world.
I'm a fan of great opening lines in a story and this one sucked big time. BUT the rest of the chapter was one of the best and most engaging I have read in a long while. I was dropped into the MC's world and after every paragraph, instead of answers, I had more questions. I couldn't wait to get all up into her business.
Knowing that the protagonist makes it, at least, to the present does not diminish any of the horrific events she had to go through to get here. I still felt the terror she felt of sensing something near her but not being able to take a peek. I kept telling her to "just take a little peek... with one eye." I would be sooo dead in this world. Give me zombies any day :D Which reminds me, I need to hasten my move to Idaho and start working on my bunker.
I am man enough to admit that the last chapter had me in tears(just don't tell my dad, he'll never let me live it down).
If you like psychological/creepy/horror tales, read this. If it's on your to-be-read list, move it up....more
Victor *Nothing Happened*
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