Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion Also by this author: The New Hunger
Series: Warm Bodies #1
Also in this series: The New Hunger
Published by Atria Books on April 26, 2011
Genres: Horror
Pages: 256
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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, no identity, and no pulse. Just dreams.
After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a burst of vibrant color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that R lives in. 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.
The 411:
R, zombie, falls for Julie. Complicating the mess is that R just ate Julie’s boyfriend (Perry)’s brain. That is to say nothing of the chaos surrounding them, R’s desire to protect Julie, and the startling discovery they make together about zombies. And humanity. And love.
What We Loved:
At the core, this is a story about enduring love. It just so happens that the enduring love takes place in the middle of apocalyptic conditions with the situation growing more dire by the day.
Um...Not So Much:
This book doesn’t shy away from gore, and there are anatomical drawings scattered throughout, which we loved and hated.
The Boys:
R is adorable. Not just for a zombie, but, the way he thinks, the way he behaves, how his humanity unfolds… it’s compelling. Especially for a zombie. We’re not zombie fanatics. We don’t like to read gore. We shy away from the horror genre. But R drew us in and made us love him. Hard. The way he thinks is pithy and funny and poignant. On being a zombie:
We grunt and groan, we shrug and nod, and sometimes a few words slip out. It’s not that different from before.
also
You might say death has relaxed me.
On his best friend, M:
I’d like to sit down with him and pick his brain, just a tiny bite somewhere in the frontal lobe to get a taste of his thoughts.
And, of course, this made us laugh – their friendship and banter:
I grab my stomach again. ‘Feel empty. Feel . . . dead.’
He nods. ‘Marr . . . iage.’
Of course, R has some deep and difficult moments.
Why do I want to know the names and functions of all the beautiful structures I’ve spent my years violating? Because I don’t deserve to keep them anonymous. I want the pain of knowing them and, by extension, myself: who and what I really am. Maybe with that scalpel, red hot and sterilised in tears, I can begin to carve out the rot inside me.
The Girls:
Julie is smart and sassy, and the way her backstory and relationship with her father unfolded was beautiful.
What We Think Will Happen Next:
According to Isaac Marion’s Amazon page, there is a sequel coming out at some point. We’re excited to see where that picks up. We wish we could even speculate about what might happen next, but the way Marion writes is so lyrical and beautifully composed, we wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess.
Bottom Line:
If you’re into zombies – and even if you’re not – this is a fantastic read. We laughed out loud several times, we cried, and we were so deeply engrossed and invested in the characters and what was happening to R and Julie as time slipped by.
Verdict:
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Cover | |
| Characters | |
| Plot | |
| Writing | |
| Swoon | |
| Overall: | 5 |
