Review: Warm Bodies

[lavanille]

I got around to reading Warm Bodies last week. School is going to be intense this semester so I'm cramming in all my fun reading while I can. And this book is pretty fun.

I dislike romance for its inherent cheesiness. (I have a thing for unhealthy relationships in novels and the relationship in Warm Bodies is remarkably healthy and mature, so you wouldn't expect it to click with me would you?) But on the other hand it's an action-romance between a zombie and a strong female lead, so you really can't go wrong.

I'm very critical of how women are written sometimes, but I felt Julie had some extremely endearing moments. There were times it felt like she was becoming a vehicle for R's character arc, but her strong moments make it well worth it and she kicks ass in her own unique and genuine ways. More than once, this book surprised me and it was always because of Julie.

Marion has a really different take on the undead lifestyle, which is refreshing even for someone like me who loves zombie literature. You can make so many parallels to the modern condition with zombies, but most authors seem to get swept up in making it all about violence and isolation. Frankly, you can only read about so much fantastic doom-and-gloom before every story starts to feel the same. Kudos for breaking the mold, Isaac Marion.

I don't know if I'll bother seeing the film, but I do recommend the book if you're in the mood for a light-hearted weekend read.


8/10 severed thumbs up