Review: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Publication date: April 3rd 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 455

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

I had heard so much in the run up to reading this, that I couldn't wait to start reading, but honestly, whilst there was a lot that was really important and good about this book, it was also a bit of a mess.

Let's start with the good. The representation. That cover. The bad ass and wonderful ladies at the heart of this story, who are complex and flawed, and who work their issues out. The sexualities represented, the long hard look at the institutionalized racism, how whip smart and clever Jane is and plays with the expectations of those around her. This book had a huge amount going for it, and was a super important read - one that I heartily recommend for all of the above.

But (you knew there was a but coming) the plot was a shambles. No pun intended.
The first third is great, it carries on at a fair clip, and introduces the reader to the world and the main players. Then everything goes a little wrong and the rest of the novel basically wanders around in lost circles, never really going anywhere, becoming increasingly frustrating to read, and essentially ambles until it can set up the second novel in the final forty odd pages. It completely loses its way, and as a result loses my interest, to the point that I'm not sure whether I want to pick up the second book.

I wanted to love it. As I've said above there was an awful lot to love. But it felt like three different books smushed together - the first third, the rest of the story, and then the story being told in the letter excerpts at the start of each chapter, which felt like a different story entirely. As a result it was just left feeling messy and frustrating, despite everything it had going for it to start.

Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real….
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

There appears to be a little bit of confusion surrounding this book – namely people thinking that it’s going to be some sort of re-telling of Alice in Wonderland, only with zombies (similar to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies et al.) This is not the case, so if you’re looking for a faithful retelling this book is really not for you.
However, if you’re after a good story with a fresh take on zombies and a kick ass heroine then please pick up this book!

Alice in Zombieland and I really did not get along to start with. The first fifty pages or so really took its sweet time to get going. Yes ok there were zombies, there were scary things and ick factors and death, but none of that really grabbed me. I just felt disconnected from it and wasn’t all that inclined to keep reading. Alice herself wasn’t driving the story and I was really worried that this book that I’d been so excited was going to be a disappointment.

And then Alice got to school, and things got good. And when I say good, I mean really good. Suddenly there was a purpose and a drive, both for me to keep reading and for Alice to get up in the morning. This of course had nothing to do with Cole, fantastic bad boy Cole. Ok I’m lying, it had a lot to do with him, but this isn’t one of those books where we’re with the heroine but the real life and soul of the book is the hero. It was like the book found itself with the introduction of Cole. Suddenly there was drive, there was plot and Alice found her snark. She went from being this flat and not particularly likeable character to a ballsy and snark laden girl who could take care of herself. Which I loved. Now this could be that we’re supposed to see how disconnected Alice feels in the first section of the book, hence the lack of awesome, but if that’s the case this book runs the risk of loosing a lot of potential readers with a flat heroine. However, please please push on, because once she gets her groove back I loved her. In fact sassy girls are definitely in abundance in AiZ, which was fantastic. And the eye candy really wasn’t bad either.

I loved that the bad boy trope was taken in another direction. We’re given a group of big, muscled (very sexy) tattooed, partying, school skipping (highly sexy) boys, and yet all their terrible ways are actually due to them trying to protect others who can’t defend themselves, which I loved.

I love the uneasy and highly volatile relationship that develops between Cole and Alice. It was sexy and funny and I loved that he tried to protect her but didn’t stick her in a corner and tell her to let the big boys fight. I would have liked maybe a little bit more time with them getting to know each other, but the rest of the book is so action packed that I’m not sure where more could have been crammed in. However it sets this up really brilliantly for the next book in the series and I can’t wait to see how the two of them get on with some more time and space for development.

The zombies were intriguing. It’s definitely not what I was expecting and not a concept I’ve seen before, and it has real potential to be fantastic. I think I probably need a little more convincing and I look forward to seeing how they are developed in the next book. There were some really fascinating concepts and ideas explored though, and I loved this book for its individuality and originality. I’m curious to see what others make of the twist on the zombie trope though.

I had one problem with this book and that was the adults, most notably Alice’s grandparents. The dialogue between them, with Alice and with any boy that comes within a thirty foot radius of the house not only felt completely unnatural but horribly cringe worthy. I really loathed it, to the point that I tried to skim the bits with her grandparents for fear of needing to wash my eyes with soap afterwards thanks to the mental images they brought up.

All in all the book had a shaky start but quickly redeemed itself with a fascinating take on the zombie genre and some great interweaving of some of the classic Alice in Wonderland elements. Cole takes bad boy to a whole new level and I loved seeing the new kick ass version of Alice emerge. Definitely a book to read in the run up to Halloween.

Books I'm Squeeing About in October

Oh my, how on earth is it October already? This year is passing by in a haze of fantastic books, and soon we'll be into Christmas - but before that, October is my birthday month! So expect a giveaway later on in the month to celebrate! In the mean time, here are some of the books releasing this month which have me incredibly excited and desperate to read them! October is also a fantastic month for pretty covers, as evidenced by the pretties below...

2^nd– Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Published by: Tor Books

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask. 

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin. 

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. 

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey. 

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

So we have a retelling of Jane Eyre, and after that blurb I am more than a little curious. Particularly to see how it can stand up as its own story whilst leaning on the original.  That and it has a gorgeous cover, which always suckers me in...

5^th– Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Published by: Mira Ink

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

Oh, hell, yes. Alice in Zombieland? Seriously? This appeals to the same bit of me that squeed about assassin nuns, and it sounds like it's going to be a pretty awesome ride. This has been a book I've been looking forward to for months, I just hope that it lives up to the hype!

11^th– Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Published by: Corgi

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself. 

I'm in the middle of reading Mystic City at the moment, and I am completely hooked. It's a fantastic world and premise and I'm loving every minute of it - definitely a recommended read, and review to come soon!

25^th– Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Published by: Doubleday

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

Billed as a young adult tale reminiscent of 'The Time Traveller's Wife' this is bound to pull in a lot of readers. From reviews I've seen already it more than lives up to this comparison, and I can't wait to read it and see for myself.

25^th– Emailing Allie by Julie Lawson

Published by: Cyder Press

My name's Julie Lawson - I'm an HR Manager at BMT Publishing. Nearly six months ago my est friend, Allie Rainsbury, left the business.

Recently our MD sent a memo asking all BMT employees to clear their Inboxes and, since I had access to Allie's emails after her departure, I set about reviewing hers.

Her adventures were so entertaining that I didn't want to stop, let alone destroy them forever - instead I am determined to share her story with you.

As a new year dawns, Allie needs various questions answered. Among the most urgent are: Where is her future leading? Why are relationships so complex and confusing? Can she get through a day without five cups of tea? Hilarious, touching and unique, Emailing Allie delves into the life and loves of 31-year-old Allie Rainsbury. Through emails sent to her best-friend Julie, the smooth-talking David Marshall and the enigmatic Scott Cooper (to mention but a few) we are taken on an frenetic, funny and uplifting journey that charts her daily challenges both inside and outside the office.

I finished this book yesterday, and it was completely unexpected - I loved it. It's a fantastic format, Allie's story is told through her email exchanges to her colleagues, family and friends, and it completely pulled me in. It's funny, it's poignant, and it's absolutely fantastic. A quick and brilliant read, and I can't wait to see what more people think of it!

But enough about my excitements, what are you looking forward to this month?

Review: Dearly Departed by Lia Habel

A huge thank you to Harriet at Random House Children's Books for providing me with a review copy.


Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie? 
The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modelled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. 
But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.
The first book in the ‘Gone with the Respiration’ series.

This book is a brilliant example of what a difference a cover can make. The cover is usually the first thing I see, it’s the point of contact where the book grabs me and says ‘look at me! I’m awesome! You’ll never regret getting me!’ either that or ‘steer clear, you’re being judgemental’. I’m bad, very very bad, I do judge books by their covers. I try not to, but as I said, first point of contact!

U.S. Cover

So I first saw this book with the American cover, and I thought ‘hmm, self this looks like a good book, but it is not nabbing my attention enough to get it now, I shall keep browsing.’
Until the other day, the fabulous Harriett over at Random House Children’s Books sent me a copy with the UK cover, and before I even realised it was the same book I was shrieking with joy and saying ‘self, this cover! This book is going to be fabulous! Look at that tag line! Look at the gone with the wind southern belle aspect, and the pasty brooding guy! And the lamps! And, hey look! Are those zombies staggering around in the background?! Dear god this is fantastic!’ And I promptly started reading it. Just like that, perception changed, the book became an immediate I must read this now.

And it was such a good read! I love it when an author has a sense of humour, and is genuinely just having fun and this comes across throughout the book. 

There are moments of genius and moments of sheer ridiculous, and some sharp and witty banter that had me giggling aloud. The sense of fun and amusement on the part of the author comes across so strongly through reading it that it made it an even more enjoyable read for me. Just look at the series title – ‘Gone with the Respiration’ that alone was enough to make me laugh out lout and demand more.

It had a similar feel to some of Gail Carriger’s work, the same humour, the same elegant wit, and parasols, don’t forget the parasols. But because it’s set in the future there was a lot more room to manoeuvre and play with the language and setting. I was a bit hesitant to start with, but actually this worked out incredible well. Take the parasols that have a gas lamp on the top to indicate whether a woman can be dated, is married, or is more interested in other women – genius.

I loved the characters. Nora was a breath of fresh air – she actually freaks when confronted with undead monsters. It takes her a long time to start to trust and be ok with the idea, and when she first emerges from behind her safely locked door, the first thing she demands is guns. I love her for this so much you wouldn’t believe. But as well as being smart and sassy and a little bit pouty at times, she’s incredibly loyal and fights for those she cares about which made her an all round fabulous heroine.

And Bram, oh baby I do not normally like zombie’s but you have to be the most gentlemanly and lovely of them all. And very little decomposing going on, which is always a bonus… I’ll talk a bit more about the romance in a moment, but suffice to say he was intelligent, sharp, gentle and again, fiercely protective (without any stalker aspects, which is always a bonus.)

The host of secondary characters were on the whole pretty awesome. A little more could have gone into making Bram’s crew more distinguishable earlier on, I found myself a bit confused at points who was who, but that does sort itself out part way through.

Even the characters who only got a bit of main time were really well written and believable, for the most part very funny, and a fantastic array of the different facets of society both alive and dead, in this whole new world.

And Pam. Oh boy did she get awesome. I am so excited to see more of the Pam that emerges when everything falls apart. She was actually more interesting than Nora at points, just because of the strength and determination she showed when it came to protecting those she loved, and even those she barely knew that she wanted to help.

Let’s talk about romance – more specifically zombie romance. I’m not a fan. The idea of someone shambling along with bits decomposing and dropping off who would quite like to eat your braaaainssss, and a live human having a romance has filled me with a slightly shuddery feeling in the past, so I’ve steered well clear of zombie romances until last year. Then I read ‘Warm Bodies’ by Isaac Marrion, and my perception changed. All of a sudden it didn’t have to be this slightly disturbing zombie half eating human weird romance. It could be based on more than making out (shock, horror) and be more about the connection between two individuals.

This was also the case with Bram and Nora, and I liked the two of them together, how their relationship and friendship developed. And Ms Habel neatly sidesteps the ick factor by creating a zombie boy who isn’t decomposing – not in the same way. All of a sudden we have a yummy boy (yes he’s still yummy, despite the eyes) who just happens to be dead. He’s still him, he still has a sense of humour and can fight and sing as good as the living boys – actually he seems to have a better moral code than most of the rest of the living boys. And at that stage, where he isn’t decomposing and shambling around screaming brains, where he is still in tact, merely dead, we have the same scenario as most of the human girl with a dead vampire boy books out there – and no one seems to have a problem with the ick factor there.
What I am trying to say (albeit not particularly eloquently) is that the romance, particularly the zombie un-dead element should not be something that makes you judge this book before even fully reading it.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses though, I did have a couple of problems with the book which prevented me from giving it the full five star love. Firstly, the number of point of views. There were five. Now I would have been happy with just Bram and Nora, I think their story was fascinating enough just on its own, with the exterior elements being fed in through them. However then Pamela’s story line got really epic and we wouldn’t have seen that without her point of view, so I was ok with that one too. Wolfe’s and Dr Dearly’s were a bit much though. I didn’t find them as compelling, and I just wanted to skip back to the action. I felt that the things that were revealed through those point of view’s (actually I don’t think anything much was revealed through Wolfe’s) could have been fed into the story in other ways, cutting down the number of characters and points of view which made my head reel a little bit at times.

The other thing was the sheer volume. Don’t get me wrong, I love long books, there’s a lot more scope in them and a lot more can be included, but in some cases in this book I felt like there was just a bit too much. I realise that there was a vast amount of information to be covered throughout the book – there was so much back story and information to get the reader up to speed with the world, but it felt like some of that could have been cut down or cut out. Some of the situations were given time to amble along which meant that the road to epic showdown was a long one, and meant that I put the book down a lot just to have a break even though I was enjoying it so much.

So it was still brilliant, I still loved it, I will still look forward to the sequel with baited breath, but there were a few flaws that made it not quite so dazzlingly brilliant as it could have been. (Although if I did half stars this would be a 4.5 instead of a four.) However if you like Steampunk, humour and an incredibly brilliant plot then this is an absolute must read.

Review: Enthralled - Paranormal Diversions by Melissa Marr & Other Authors

A journey may take hundreds of miles, or it may cover the distance between duty and desire.
Sixteen of today’s hottest writers of paranormal tales weave stories on a common theme of journeying. Authors such as Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and Melissa Marr return to the beloved worlds of their bestselling series, while others, like Claudia Gray, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl, create new land-scapes and characters. But whether they’re writing about vampires, faeries, angels, or other magical beings, each author explores the strength and resilience of the human heart.
Suspenseful, funny, or romantic, the stories in Enthralled will leave you moved.

So I love anthologies but I hate short stories (most of the time.)

The anthology aspect is what made me want this book – the idea of a collection of some of my favourite authors and some new ones all in one place makes me hyperventilate with excitement. It’s like an all you can eat buffet where you can have a little bit of what you know and love, and then be daring and try something completely new that you’ve always looked at and never picked up before.

However, short stories and I really do not get along. There is a very fine line with them, where they either are brilliantly constructed, or they end up not working. So many short stories just leave me feeling dissatisfied because there are too many questions unanswered, too many possibilities and things left unsaid. It aggravates me and makes me want to go and find out what happened next and that’s where it stops being a short story and turns into a novel.

This is why this particular anthology was a little bit hit and miss with me. The finding new authors that I want to read more of part worked perfectly, I now have a long list of new books I want to get. However, so many of these stories were short stories hidden in amongst novels already written and out there – great if you already know the rest of the story, but irritating if you don’t.
As a result I was left feeling a bit put out and lost, because I didn’t know what the hell was going on.

The other side were the stories that were amazing, fresh new characters and concepts, but so much more story to tell than would fit in the pages offered here. So I was left feeling quite bummed after reading, despite the brilliant stories I’d read.

Don’t get me wrong the writing is brilliant, and I am so glad I got this book just so I could read more of some of my favourite authors, but I don’t think it quite did what I wanted it to.

The notable exception was Sarah Rees Brennan’s short story ‘Let’s Get This Undead Show On The Road’ which was perfection. New characters and a new setting to her novels, this was a completely fresh story, which meant that I didn’t feel left behind on back story. The story was brilliantly dark and funny and had a beginning, middle and an end – I know this seems obvious, but whilst I would have quite happily read more about the band, I wasn’t left with the feeling that I’d been cheated and where the hell was the rest of it.
It was brilliant. I love Christian, the morale vampire who could really do with some very serious hugging. Josh who could also do with some serious hugging for being so adorably nerdy, (no one does adorable nerd like SRB) Bradley, who is just made of glittery awesome and knock knock jokes, and Pez, who should perhaps stay away from any household cleaning products in future…

Other fabulous tales included Melissa Marr’s ‘Merely Mortal’ which offered another glimpse into the setting and characters of ‘Wicked Lovely’ and Carrie Ryan’s ‘Scenic Route’ which whilst the setting was from her trilogy of novels, the characters and plot were entirely new.

For making me weep, ‘Bridge’ by Jeri Smith-Ready should get a mention, and I am so getting her novels to find out more about the characters. It was compelling, exceptionally well written, and deeply moving.

The story that perhaps irritated me the most – and see that as a compliment – was ‘The Third Kind’ by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Oh good lord was it awesome, but where the hell was the rest of it???
Seriously, I want a novel out of that story, because there was so much more I wanted to know! The characters were brilliant and funny and real, and the scenario was just so intriguing. I was just incredibly peeved that there wasn’t more!

All in all this was a brilliant collection of stories that gave me the opportunity to window shop some more young adult authors that I haven’t had the chance to read yet. Yes there were irritations and upsets, but they were mostly out of wanting more of them, which I suppose is a round-about compliment really… Anyway, I highly recommend it, either as a window shopping tool, or to just get more of your favourite authors, and prepare to be swept away on some fairly epic journeys.

Review: Graveminder by Melissa Marr

When Rebekkah returns to her small-town home for her beloved Grandmother’s funeral, little does she suspect that she is about to inherit a darkly dangerous family duty on behalf of Claysville’s most demanding residents – the dead.
Everyone in Claysville knows that the Barrows are no ordinary family, but no one can really explain why. When respected matriarch Maylene Barrow dies suddenly her granddaughter Rebekkah returns to the small town she grew up in, where she must face the demons of her past – the suicide of her half-sister Ella, the person she was closest to in the world, and the subsequent break-up of her parents’ marriage. And she also re-encounters Byron, Ella’s old boyfriend, someone to whom she has always felt a deep and mysterious connection.
But the demons of the past are nothing compared with what the future has in store for Rebekkah. Her grandmother has left her an inheritance both wonderful and terrible. An onerous responsibility now rests on her shoulders – one for which she is ill-prepared to say the least.
For behind Claysville’s community-spirited, small-town facade lies a dark secret. One that ties Rebekkah and Byron together in an inextricable bond, and that will require them both to sacrifice everything to keep their friends and neighbours from harm.

Oh my gosh this book was amazing. I love Melissa Marr’s ‘Wicked Lovely’ series, and it was based on that alone that this book was on my wishlist – but after finishing it at some ungodly hour this morning I am oh so glad it was.

The novel walks a brilliantly fine edge between small town American life and horror movie, and strikes just the right balance. There is an underlying tension throughout, and a few nerve wracking moments where I jumped at any noise whilst I was reading, but it’s offset by this cosy small town life where nothing bad could ever happen. It’s equal parts disturbing and comforting.

And the further into the story you get the more the unnerving the contract gets. Never able to leave? You have to apply for permission to have a baby? These things seemed even more weird than the dead rising thing…

And I loved how the dead were dealt with. This isn’t your average ‘hey there are zombies!’ book. It takes the idea of the dead coming back and develops a whole new myth and set of rules for them, and this is where some of Marr’s genius shines through. As with the ‘Wicked Lovely’ series, the world and rule building is her strongest point, and I love watching to see how she tackles something new with this book.

And back to the small town life – I love things like this where small towns have founding families and the same roles are passed down generation to generation. I don’t know why I love it, but I do, so it was great to see that used to very great effect here.

The first half of the novel took its time to set up and get going but it in no way dragged – it was nice to take the time to set the scene and get to know the characters before everyone was plunged into the meat of the story. And once it got going – oh good lord it was fabulous. I loved everything about the ‘land of the dead’ and I wanted more of it. It was fascinating to see how Marr had imagined it, the different characters, the rivalries and bids for power and one up man ship between Charles and Alicia. As I said though, I wanted more! One of my favourite scenes had to be when Alicia and Byron first meet each other – fab!

The novel utilises lots of different narrators to take the story on further, which was a neat way to introduce us to more of the townsfolk and get to know some of them a little bit, and also kept the story moving at a good pace. It kept the tension high when one character is off doing something exciting and we skipped off to find out what someone else was doing, but because I was intrigued by every plot line and every character I didn’t find that annoying, which was a bonus because sometimes skipping off in the middle of big things can be a sure fire way to get me irritated with a book.

I also loved how Marr used a character who was dead by the start of the first chapter to propel the story along. Maylene may not have physically been there for most of the book, but she was a vital part through memories, diaries, letters and simply her absence. I love it when an author uses a character who isn’t present just as effectively as a character who is – and Maylene is definitely one of my favourites. She was just such a perfect grandmotherly type, and such a good contrast against the other characters. Actually all the characters were brilliantly written and used, and I loved noting the differences between Marr’s young adult work and this her first adult novel.

And in an age where every book seems to be part of a series it was nice to have a standalone book. If there ever is a sequel I’d love to read it, but the way everything finishes left me satisfied – enough questions left unanswered that I didn’t feel it had all been solved too neatly, but enough tied that I wasn’t frustrated.

So all in all I loved it. It was great writing, a fabulous plot and really well drawn characters. And enough action and sparkling wit to keep it light and moving along briskly. ‘Graveminder’ quickly established itself as a favourite before I was even half way through, and I can guarantee that this is a book I will come back to time and time again. If you’re looking for something a bit different and haven’t got time to deal with a whole big saga of story, ‘Graveminder’ is a brilliant read with a mix of everything to keep you interested. 

Review: The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.
Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.
Except, Catcher has his own secrets—dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah—can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

This book was one of the most tense and stressful ones I’ve read. Seriously, I didn’t realize until I’d finished and relaxed just how stressful it was to read – but it was so worth it, because this book is absolutely brilliant.

I love Carrie Ryan’s books, she’s an incredible writer, her prose is beautiful – haunting and morbidly terrifying all at the same time. But her true talent lies in her ability to make me feel for the characters, and the situations she puts them in to. See above and the levels of stress…

The first book in the series ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’ introduced us to a world that was sunk into despair and destruction. The undead roamed the world beyond the fences, and it seemed as though the village we were introduced to was the only piece of civilisation left. It was a brilliant book, the high terror of the undead making it a thrilling ride, and the clear cut way that Ryan set out that no-one was safe. No matter the love story or romance, people could die no matter what.

Then the second book 'The Dead Tossed Waves' gave us a fresh narrator and more threats. This time it wasn’t just the un dead that washed up on the beach and pressed against the fences, now it was the authorities that were chasing them, and it became horribly clear that actually when the world ends, self preservation comes above everything else.

And then here we are with the third book, and it’s not just a few undead pressing at fences and moaning. No this time it’s a horde. The entirety of New York city awash with undead until people are forced to travel over the rooftops or underground. And even then it’s no safe. The sheer scale of destruction and force that Ryan describes is real and electrifying, and absolutely horrific. She’s not afraid to shy away and make everything fluffy and ok and have a happy ending. There is always a terror that there is no hope – which is fairly easy to slip into when not even a third of the way through the book the main characters are trapped in the last out post of civilization with the entire city overrun with dead. I mean how do you get out of that situation? I genuinely thought that was it. That everything would be futile and they’d be battling against the inevitable, but Ryan is able to pull even the tiniest slivers of hope out of terrible situations.

Again the threat from the authorities is back, but it’s even worse than last time – the sports, the attitude, the horrors that Annah faces are so horrible I can’t even really describe it. Everything is bleak, and I admired her strength that she kept fighting even through all of this. And what for? For love, for a chance at happiness, for life. It’s just so heart breaking and achingly beautiful all at the same time.

I loved the flip side of getting to know the other half of the twin set. Gabry’s point of view guided us through the second book, and now we got to see her twin Annah’s side to life. In the second book I didn’t like the sound of this other twin, the selfish one that left Gabry alone in the forest. So it was strange to suddenly find myself caring about her and seeing Gabry as the nasty one, because she had had an easier time of it and she had already found love. Annah was tortured, and was the hardest and most brittle narrator we’ve had, but she’s also seen more, in some ways survived more, and it was fascinating to grow form that tiny perspective of the village in book 1 to come to this massive city and watching it destruct.

Annah suffered from so many normal problems of teenage girls – feeling ugly, un-beautiful, broken and hard and impossible to love, and terrified to care about others in case they let her down. I cried for her, and was so amazed at her tenacity to keep going, and I think of all the narrators, she ultimately has become my favourite.

And I loved the ending. Through all of the horrors of the book (and let me tell you, it does not let up until the last page or so.) it was nice just to take a breath and go you know, it might maybe just about be ok. Ryan isn’t afraid to waft the possibility of a happy ending at you, and then go, no, not yet – let’s put some more high terror in there before any of that mush happens.

So after all that, it was amazing to finally come to the conclusion (as far as I’m aware) of the series. I think of all the books this was my favourite, but it only became that because of the build-up we’ve had over the previous two books. Without those behind it I don’t think the impact would have been the same. So if you’re looking for a new dystopian series, get going with the first book ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’ and if you’re already immersed in the series, go and get hold of ‘The Dark and Hollow Places’ it’s an incredible finale to a truly great series.

Review: The Dead - Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Gabry lives a quiet life, secure in her town next to the sea and behind the Barrier. She's content to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. Home is all she's ever known and, and all she needs for happiness. But life after the Return is never safe and there are threats even the Barrier can't hold back. Gabry's mother thought she left her secrets behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but, like the dead in their world, secrets don't stay buried. And now, Gabry's world is crumbling. One night beyond the Barrier . . . One boy Gabry's known forever and one veiled in mystery . . . One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past.

Carrie Ryan’s writing is incredible, no question. The first book ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’ was genuinely terrifying and beautiful and the sequel ‘The Dead Tossed Waves’ is, if possible, even better.

I love that we get a second insight into Mary’s life, without another book based entirely on her. Instead we follow her daughter Gabry, who has been raised in safety and is terrified of the world beyond the barrier. Gabry’s transformation throughout the course of the book is fascinating to watch. She turns from this meek little mouse of a girl into a fighting spirit who is desperate to protect anyone she loves. I occasionally got a little frustrated by her whining, but just trying to put yourself in her situation and you can understand why she’s struggling so much.

We don’t get to see much more of the world than we did in the first book, but there’s a lot more explanation and fleshing out of details that were only touched on in the first. It made the world a lot more real and terrifying, and suddenly the threat doesn’t just come from the unconsecrated, it comes from the people who are policing this broken world. The threat is on all sides, and I was on tenterhooks all the way through.
Ryan has proven before that she isn’t afraid to break up love, that killing people is not a problem, and that makes everything that bit scarier, because no one is safe.

Her writing is a thing of beauty. The prose is incredible, the emotions are spot on, and you really feel the writing. You feel every heart wrenching moment when Gabry feels as though she might break apart from the wrongness of it all. You truly feel the struggle as she tries to reconcile the feelings that she had with the feelings she used to have. There are circles that are joined up, completed and extended from the first book so that some storied are brought to a close, whilst opening up the possibilities of new ones.

It looks like the third book will be picking up shortly after this book left off, so I’m looking forward to seeing how all the different storylines will pan out. ‘The Dark and Hollow Places’ is going to be released on the 7^th April 2011, so put the date in your diary when questions will be raised, hopefully some will be answered, and I may pass out from the sheer stress in the book. But it will so be worth it.

Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

‘R’ is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow dead.
Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows – warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can’t understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.
This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won’t be changed without a fight…

This blurb doesn’t do the book justice. It’s rare, but it has happened before that I’ve gotten a little way into a book and realized that in a way, this book is going to change my life. All books change our lives in some way, but it’s more obvious with some than with others.

There were four things that made me pick up this book.

1) The cover. Some of the blood vessels are raised, and it kind of makes me squirm a little every time I pick the book up, but it’s simplicity used incredibly effectively. And a nice break away from the Twilight esq covers that have flooded the bookstores recently.

2)Have you seen the recommendations on this book?! Simon Pegg, Stephenie Meyer, Audrey Niffenegger and Nick Harkaway. Wow.

3) The awesome self-deprecating ‘About the Author.’ I normally find these so frustrating and smug, and this was a refreshing change.
“Isaac Marion was born in north-western Washington in 1981 and has lived in and around Seattle his whole life, working a variety of strange jobs like delivering deathbeds to hospice patients and supervising parental visits for foster-kids. He is not married, has no children, and did not go to college or win any prizes. Warm Bodies is his first novel. “
Finally an author who has written a brilliant novel without the list of achievements that makes me feel completely useless. There is hope after all.

4) The first page. Go and read it. Now.

The prose is exquisite. A blend of humour, morbid decay and depression; it suited my mood perfectly. But as the story progresses some of the idle beauty is lost as R starts to regain his consciousness and becomes more focused on the human world around him. That doesn’t detract from the book at all, but having fallen in love with the style of the first stage of the book, it was strange adjusting as more people were involved and R began to interact with the living again.

The book has so many different levels to it. On first sight, it’s just a fantasy book about zombies, but it is so much more than that. It’s a love story, it’s an apocalypse story, it’s a story about two men who are in love with the same woman, both of whom are dead. It’s about desperation, re-birth and hope. It’s beautiful, it’s tragic and the writing is brilliant.

It’s disturbingly gross at the same time, Isaac doesn’t shy away from the fact that R is a zombie, he is dead, he is surrounded by the dead and desiccating, and they eat people to stay alive. That does diminish over time, but there is no sugar coating when it happens.

I’ve never been a fan of zombies; they scare the pants off me so I was hesitant about the content. But whilst the terror is still there, it was a very different view on zombies to the stereotype that you often see in films. But whilst there was a more human look on the inner workings of a zombie, instead of just looking at the mindless shuffle and groaning, there was still a terror element in the form of the Boneys. There did need to be another threat, and they work really well, and are incredibly well written and terrifying.

That’s another thing – there is no explanation how or why, or even when! And I’m so relieved. A lot of books try to really get into the breakdown. There’s a curse, or a medical condition, or testing gone wrong. There was none of that here, just an acceptance that this was how things were, and always had been. Well, for the memory spans of the characters. And whilst things do change, there is no real cure, or again, explanation. It just happens. And it works.

I’ve been really lucky with debut authors over the last few months, and Isaac Marion is no exception. And again, I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – with the standard this high in his first novel, I cannot wait to read his next offering. His writing is brilliant, and I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve found this book. It crosses so many genres that no matter what you enjoy reading, you should try this book: Fantasy, romance, an insight into existence? Go get and see for yourself.