Warm Bodies
by Isaac Marion
Synopsis:
(from Amazon): R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles
through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless
hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood
and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner
life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories,
noidentity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.After experiencing a
teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected
choice that begins a tense, awkward, and stragely sweet relationship
with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the
otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to
protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps
their whole lifeless world.
Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.
Characters:
R: The main character, and a zombie. While his spoken words are a bit... lacking, his thoughts are eloquent, and it's a beautiful juxtapose of what one wants to say and what one does say. Is this really the story of a zombie, or just any teenage boy? Well, except the brain eating bit... LOL!
M: R's kind of pervy zombie friend, and another of the zombies with a hint of memory of what life was like.
Perry: Julie's boyfriend, and the catalyst for this entire story.
Julie: The heroine of this story, and a living girl... she is strong and defiant... but for me, a little unbelievable.
Nora: Julie's best friend. She is a side character who is filled with character.
Julie's Father: He's not in it much, but when he is, he makes an impression.
Bonies: The "other" zombies... a strange, skinless religious faction of zombies that are absolutely terrifying.
Writing:
It pulls you in. The prose are beautiful and the pace is fast... I have to admit, I actually *didn't* want to read this book, but my neighbor gave it to me, and I felt obliged, since it was the first book he ever loaned me... but I am really glad I read it. This was an excellent zombie story. Once I started, I couldn't put it down.
Ending:
An ending that seemed to leave this book open to the possibility of more in the future.
Plot:
Ok, I have to admit... I REALLY love some aspects of the plot... and don't care much for other aspects of it. First... everything from R's perspective, I LOVE. It all makes sense in a zombie sort of way and I think it's a pretty awesome idea. I really, really, really love that bit... but... I have a really hard time believing Julie's half of it. Now, I'm being vague so as to do this without spoilers... but we all know this is a romance of sorts. I find the aspect of her befriending R to be absolutely plausible... I find the idea of her encouraging a romance to be just nuts. This book really takes a lot of liberty with overlooking what a dead body that hasn't been preserved is actually like... and "kissable" is not one of those things, unless, you know, you're into that -_-
I also have to say, I love the way the Bonies were explained... it was really, really terrifying, and frankly, they scare me.
Believability of World:
This is set in our world, post-zombie-apocalypse, so it's a pretty believable setting, and I love that zombies congregate the way they do.
Overall Grade: B+ I've read a lot of zombie stories, and frankly, a lot of them are awful... but this one is actually pretty darn excellent! Check it out!
