Review by Shellie for ~ Warm Bodies ~ by Isaac Marion; US|UK|Canada.
A darkly funny yet introspective and mildly gory novel about a zombie who becomes emotionally human and falls in love. And it has a great cover!
About: The main character, whose name is “R”, has little or no memories of who he was prior to his “death”. So a letter is all he uses as his name. He does know a few things about himself though - based upon the suit he wears he thinks that he must have been a professional. Better yet, he was probably good looking since his appearance is not “as bad” and he doesn’t smell “as much” as the other zombies he knows. Also he has a growing ability to communicate beyond the prerequisite grunt or moan, which continues to improve as he starts to ponder about who he is and his purpose in “life”.
To complicate things more, while out on a hunt with his zombie “buddies” he gets a taste of a young man’s brains which allows him to see and feel this victim’s (or should I say lunch’s) memories. In doing so he begins to share growing feelings for a feisty and pretty young woman who is his dead meal’s girlfriend. As he explores his growing love interest, the two share a common bond - a desire to look beyond their apocalyptic world. As they do so, inner turmoil and growth abound, all mixed with a lot of drama, some violence, understandable campiness, and light romance.
Thoughts: This novel borders ever so slightly on the literary side, with its interesting and almost too lengthy existential processes – all around R’s personal growth, meanderings, reflections and angst. It is not your usual horror book since it is only mildly scary and delves into the emotional changes of a zombie beginning to remember that he was once a man.
Recommended for readers desiring a “lighter” zombie story, who enjoy some reflection mixed with romance; also for those in need of some farcical fun. It has an unbelievable ending which is also redemptive. I liked this story at 3 stars.
Warm Bodies ~ by Isaac Marion; Hardcover: 256 pages; Atria (April 26, 2011) US|UK|Canada. For more information see our pre-view post including the book.
Appropriate for this book (though it’s almost over) ~ May is Zombie Awareness Month! How funny is that? Found via Apex Publications.
This book will be included in a number of challenges – The Basics (where I explore speculative fiction), and I think it can be squeezed into one of the others.
Thanks for reading!
4 comments:
What an interesting idea! Love the idea of a zombie "growing" as a person! And I agree about the cover - very cool!
BTW - Not sure when you changed your header as I usually read your posts on my google reader, but I really like it! Love the suitcases on the elephant, and is that the Sydney Opera House in the background? Of a desert? Awesome!
Alexia -
I hope you had fun at BEA - can't wait to read all about it!!!
Hope you have pics and are going to include the list of books you acquired.... *hint*
This book is being made into a movie... and is being marketed all over the planet. It was a fun read. Should be interesting to see where it will go.
As for the header - I have no clue what the building is but we loved it!! The artist took a bunch of pictures and put them together to create it. I have a few others that I know you will like that will be shared at some point. Thank you!!!
I just got a copy of this and I'm glad to see you felt it was a lighter, literary zombie story. That's what I was hoping for.
Leslie -
I hope you like it. It was a fun read which is good.
Did I mention that there are some movie rumors about it floating around?
Will be looking out for your post on it.
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