A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up
falling in love – with a human – in this astonishingly original debut novel.
R is a zombie. He has no memories, no
identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he
enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little
different from his fellow Dead.
Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies, is funny, scary, and
deeply moving.
“I don’t
know what happened. Disease? War? Social collapse? Or was it just us? The Dead
replacing the Living? I guess it’s not so important. Once you’ve arrived at the
end of the world, it hardly matters which route you took.” – R
I fell in love with a zombie.
Yep. My newest book boyfriend is
a gray-skinned, brain-eating, escalator-riding, Frank Sinatra-listening,
sweet-as-all-fucking-get-out, zombie. (He may also need to star in an episode
of Hoarders, but I guess I’ll let him
deal with one problem at a time, and the whole zombie thing seems a little more
important.) I never expected to like this book so much and was beyond
pleasantly surprised – the story of R and Julie was odd and a little bit
creepy, yet wonderfully sweet and endearing.
R isn’t your typical zombie – he
doesn’t enjoy eating people, he only does it because it’s necessary for him to
remain alive…well…not alive, but you get the point. If he’s going to continue
wandering the Earth instead buried beneath it, homeboy has to eat. While out on
a “food run,” R finds Julie and has an overwhelming desire to save her – he
could never have known that in actuality, Julie would be the one to save him.
Warm Bodies was the perfect combination of humor,
romance, violence, and hope. I mean, it’s a romance, but come on – you can’t
expect a zombie book to be completely devoid of gore and cringe worthy moments!
The way Isaac wove details into the storyline was pretty perfect; I want to get
a mental picture in my head without getting bored. One instance in particular
sticks out in my head: the description of the stadium. This required pages of descriptive
details for the reader to really grasp what this “stadium-turned-city” looked
like…and never once did I find myself skimming. Isaac found the perfect balance
between a scarcity and an overload of descriptive information.
The story line was compelling and
original, and the characters were wonderful. I loved R’s charm and compassion,
and Julie’s sarcasm and bluntness were a nice dose of comic relief. The gradual
connection between R and Julie was wonderfully done, and I adored watching her
grow more and more fond of him.
I really, really enjoyed this
novel, and the ending made my heart happy. I can’t wait to see Nicholas Hoult
bring R to life on the big screen next month, and am even more anxious to read the sequel! If you want a paranormal romance
that will blow vampire boyfriends out of the water, pick up Warm Bodies and get ready to have a
charming, unlikely zombie steal your heart. (He won’t eat it, don’t worry!)
Thanks, Laekan!! :)
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