Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Soooo... I though I would get back to reviewing books by reviewing a book that had a very different approach. And for that I chose Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. I heard of this book after the movie came out. And for some reason I held out on watching the movie before reading this book. That was a great decision.

'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...

As you can tell from the synopsis, this is a zombie story. What attracted me to this book was that this was a zombie story told through a zombie's perspective. That in itself was a winning plot in my mind. I admit that R is already a different kind of zombie when it comes to the others. He actually thinks. But what was even more interesting was that the zombies were not as mindless as we would assume. The zombies actually had a sort of society. It was like they were a community - they had a place of worship, a school, of course a school where they taught the young how to kill humans but a school none the less and they also had a concept of marriage.

One of the things that Marion made clear early on was that the zombies ate not because they felt hungry for nutrition but they just felt hungry with something other than their stomach. They could relive a persons memory by eating their brains. This is important because this shows that even though they were the living dead, they were trying to experience the life force by eating brains, by having those concepts of humanity that you would think that the living dead might not have. 

When R attacks Perry, a member of a salvage team, and eats his brains something happens. He suddenly decides to save Julie, another member of the team and girl friend of Perry, and takes her with him to his home at the airport. it is through his interactions with her that he sees the changes that happen. He starts speaking longer sentences, he doesn't feel as hungry as before and so on. Another change is that he starts dreaming. It is just Perry's memories at first but he slowly starts dreaming his own dreams. 

On the other end of the spectrum are the Living who have walled up a stadium and are living inside of it. The Living are barely surviving. They guard their borders, send out salvage teams to get necessary items, teach the children to hunt and kill the zombies. The people in charge think it more important to just keep fighting instead of preserving life. It is from this environment that Julie, Perry and their friends hail. There is a part in the book where Julie asks her friends what they dream of doing. Perry, who wanted to previously wanted to be a writer does not see a point in it anymore, he doesn't understand whom it would benefit. What would be the point of writing a story in a world that is in its last leg? This is how the living live now. They live to survive. The zombies were just the last nail in the coffin to a world already ravaged  with wars before the plague.

In the end the dead are more closer to living than the Living are. The dead are moving towards reclaiming all that they had lost in this plague but the Living have lost touch with all the good parts of being human and are just wrapped up, not in hate, but in fear and fear has always brought out the worst in us humans. 

That is why this book isn't just a zombie book. It is more than that. Even I did not expect such deep messages from this book. I mean it's such a small book too. Just 240 pages long. But it packs such a punch. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved it that it made me think so much. If anyone is hesitant to pick this book up because it has got zombies and the like, don't be. It's just that the setting is such that there are zombies. 

I rate this book a 4.5/5

Book Review : Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King

Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

I have been watching a lot of Book Hauls on YouTube lately. And as per usual, I've been reading a lot of blogs about books. And this book has been talked about a lot. And after Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher I thought this would be a good book to read. I have been searching for this book online for a long time. Why not at a bookstore you ask? Here in India Brick and mortar bookstores usually do not stock most of these books. It's usually difficult to get them online too.

That was the case with this book too. Just recently the price was a bit reduced and as it was in my wishlist my Best Friend Chaitra got me this book. So even though I was reading Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden (Which is great by the way) I just HAD to start reading this book. And it's got pretty small chapters so I completed it pretty fast.One of the reasons I got through this book so fast is because I read the book while I commuted to and from work. Considering Bangalore traffic, especially during the rainy season, I had ample time to finish the book.

There might be SPOILERS ahead. Read at your own risk.

Let me get the negative aside first. The beginning was a little slow for me. I mean I knew that Charlie, Vera's Ex-Best Friend had died and that the "Ex-" had been added to Best friend very recently. That was all I knew. Though the reason for the death was alluded to very vaguely it was never explained. But It started picking up about 40-50 pages in. The reason for their estrangement and how/why Charlie died was still not explained but a lot of things were talked about that drew me into the story.

The narrative style of the story was, I will not say unique, but different. And it works. It is mostly in Vera's Point of View but a couple of pages in the middle of her Point of View we get to hear a few things in Vera's father's perspective (Ken), Charlie's perspective and even a landmarks perspective, the Pagoda (a make-out spot) on what happens around it. And the narrative was interspersed with flashbacks to Vera and Charlie's childhood and assorted timelines. This was almost always Vera's point of view.

The things I loved about this book were many. I didn't really have a Best Friend till I was out of school. I finally met a group of people whom I got really close to while I was pursuing my Bachelors degree. That was one of the best times I had in life. And though it did not happen to me (Thank God!) I did see really close friends drift apart (putting it mildly) because of rumors and miscommunication and out and out lying that were floating around. So I understood what Vera went through when Charlie turned his back on her (at least to a certain point).

I get what Vera means by trying to escape her destiny.Of becoming her mother. And I also like that by the end it is she who tries to convince her dad that she is not like her mother at all. I liked the dichotomy of Vera moving away from the life that her mother, or rather her parents had and Charlie moving towards the life that his parents have. And part of the reason he became a bit like his dad was because he was trying to protect Vera from himself.

I liked the way the issue of Vera's drinking was addressed too. And I do not want to ruin the book for anyone so I'll just say this. I thought this book was a contemporary novel but there was another element added to it. Some might say it was because of Vera's drinking, but if you read the book and see the perspective it's written in you'll see that it isn't just a contemporary novel. It is harder to define.

The longer I've had to read this book the more I seem to love it. I would rate this book a 4.5/5. And now I am awaiting The Dust of a 100 dogs by A.S. King. I know that Everybody Sees the Ants would be the next logical book to read but I really loved the premise of this book. So I am now waiting to get that book inthe mail.

Book Review : Constable & Toop by Gareth P Jones

Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour, blessed (or cursed) with an unusual gift. While his father buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot on the 'other side' - there is a horrible disease that is mysteriously imprisoning ghosts into empty houses in the world of the living. And Sam is caught in the middle - will he be able to bring himself to help?

Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones has woven a darkly comic story, a wonderfully funny adventure that roams the grimy streets of Victorian London.

While I was surfing through Goodreads, I came across this book and the synopsis and the cover just made me want to read this  book. There was no reason or logic behind this feeling. I read about the book and I just knew that this would be something I would like. So I ordered the book online at Flipkart. As it was an imported edition they could not procure the book and had to cancel my order. But I did not give up. I really wanted this book (Because I'm stubborn that way). So I placed an order again when the book was available. I received the book last Thursday!!

I took complete advantage of the long weekend this past week and tried to read more and I did. I finished 2 books. The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker and Constable & Toop. I really like books set in England. Most of the books are mostly set in the United States or in a fantasy world and sometimes a different planet. And I really loved Johnathan Strange and Mr.Norrell by Susanna Clarke. This book reminded me a little of that book. Not a lot but a little.

This book was a pretty quick read too. The story seemed simple enough, the haunted houses were missing their residents which was why a 'Black Rot' sets in in the house. The next ghost which enters the house would be trapped in the house. It was only when I started reading the book for a while, that I realized that there was so much more in this story than what meets the eye. The complexities of the relationship between Sam and his father and the contrast between this relationship and the one between Clara and her father. The world of the Ghosts and their bureaucracy. All of this has really made me enjoy this book even after finishing the book a few days.

So even though I thought I would give this book a 3.5 I think I would now give it a 4/5.

Book Review : The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

I had read a couple of good reviews for this book on Goodreads and it was a dystopian novel so I was excited when I saw this book at my local bookstore. You would never guess looking at the cover that this is a Post Apocalyptic novel.

This is a world where the Rabies virus has mutated to such an extent that anyone who contracts the virus either dies or is turned into creatures called "Weepers". They are very aggressive creatures who attack and kill their prey, which is the remaining human population.

I did not love this book as much as I did 'Feed' by Mira Grant but this was still a good read. It was a very quick read too. I liked that this was not a typical zombie movie. This was more of a mutation in humans that are still alive. What happens to these people is more scary. They are alive but have lost touch with humanity. And they are not dumb/unthinking like zombies. They retain the intelligence, if not memories, of being human.

The format in which this book is written is really good. A small snippet of Sherry's life before the advent of the virus. This relates to the title of the book too. I was not a huge fan of the insta-love between Sherry and Joshua. I understand her feelings of security when he is around, I mean he did rescue her. But falling in love in the span of a week or so? That just did not do it for me.

SPOILERS

But one of the relationships I did like was the relationship between the siblings. I want to know more about Tyler and about how his and Rachel's relationship will be. When I picked up this book I was not aware that this was a series. Because I usually try and pick up series that are complete or will be complete in a few more months. Now that I do know this is a series I am interested to see what happens in the rest of the books. Especially to see if the Father turns into a weeper.

I would rate this book a 3.5/5.

Random Thoughts/Rants Contd.

I recently got a hike on my salary (Yaaayyy Me!!!). So you could say I've had a cash windfall this month. So I went a little crazy and splurged on books. In my defense this is probably the 2nd or 3 rd time I have indulged myself the whole one year I have been employed. I usually buy maybe a couple of books a month. But in the past 2 weeks I've bought 24 books. I know, It's crazy. On top of this I have another 7 books in my cart on FlipKart. And my hands are getting itchy again. These are the times when I think 1) Why aren't books cheaper and more available where I am? and 2) Why aren't I richer?

One of the reasons I've been crazy with my online book shopping is, apart from the afore mentioned windfall, is that I have discovered a few wonderful blogs. They are Blog of Erised, Paperiot, Books of Amber. They have great reviews of books. Most of them review YA but these books lead me to other great books. For this I am eternally grateful to Goodreads. I would not have come across so many great books otherwise. I also took part in a Read -A - Thon hosted by Books of Amber. This was so much fun. The rules stated that I would have to read only debut authors. So I tried to complete 3 books but I finished 2. Which is still a great achievement considering the time limit was 4 days.

I read Mila 2.0 and Pivot Point. As you can see both are from the young adult genres. This is something else that I need to  be grateful for. The discovery of great young adult books. after having read these debuts I was really floored. I mean these are debut authors, maybe just a few years older and sometimes even younger than me. And they have come up with such great stories. And it is not just these authors that I am in awe of, but all of them. I mean can you imagine the work that goes into a 250-300 page book?

They have to think up a reasonable storyline, great characters - I mean a story would fall flat on its face if the characters were not well developed. Take the case of Cinder for instance. The basic premise is that of Cinderella, a story that has been around for years and years. No matter that the setting has changed, it is still the same basic story. But Cinder, as a character made a huge difference in this story. And to make Cinder into such a kick-ass heroine, a good background needed to be built for her. I mean part of a persons character is built by the situation in which they have found themselves in life, over time. And the author has to create a world for these people to inhabit. And most importantly in my view, he/she would have to be true to their characters till the end.

This is just unfathomable to me, how one person can come up with all of this. I mean you might think that if you've read one dystopian novel and you've read them all. But that is not true. This is the case with every genre. Yes there are exceptions to this rule but  that is beside the point. One of the authors that I have recently read who has blown me away is Brandon Sanderson. I heard he was finishing the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away. I did not even know of him. Then I was surfing the net trying to find a good fantasy novel to read and I stumbled across the Mistborn trilogy. I read the Final Empire and I fell in love. It has all the elements that make a great story. And Sanderson's world building skills are A-MA-ZING!

This brings me to another thought that has been niggling my brain. A long time ago I had read a short story where an author could bring to life the world that he writes about. He then goes on to write himself into the story (I think there was an episode like that on the X-Files). Anyways, I suddenly thought what if this happens every time someone writes a novel or a story? I mean there is the multiple universes theory right? So maybe the things that an author writes about are things that are happening or have happened in a parallel universe? Something to think about innit? Anyways, this is the end of this slight mental detour. This is rantception at its best :P A rant in a rant.

The above paragraph of detour aside, what I am trying to say is that I truly appreciate all the authors out there who put in a lot of work and effort in to making characters and worlds for us readers to enjoy. books have always been my avenue of escape. The best part is it is an accepted mode of escape. I mean parents actually encourage you to read, unlike watching television.

And it is not just the published authors I would like to thank but also the would be or aspiring writers. Because without them there would not be these amazing blogs out there. The blogging community is so full of talent. I feel like I am worse than an amateur when it comes to blogging. They actually not only write about their passion but also encourage others to follow their passions. They might not directly do so but with the amount of time and effort and love that they put into their blogs I cannot help but feel encouraged to do the same.

I know this blog does not have a great look or have many followers. For all I know no one might be reading this post. But I will try harder. I have always loved reading books and watching movies. I know I do not have the technical knowledge for seriously reviewing a book or a movie. But I do know what I like and do not like. So I will start as I have with reviews that are based on what I felt while watching the movie or reading a book (this is where I showcase my opinion after all). Maybe somewhere down the line I will get good enough that people will actually listen to my suggestions.

So here is a huge thank you to all the authors (published and aspiring alike) and all the bloggers blogging about their passion.

Read-A-Thon

Though I've been on a book reading spree I thought I could use some direction when it comes to reading. So I am joining a Read - A - Thon being hosted by Books of Amber. I came across her blog on Goodreads and she is hosting a Debut - A - Thon. It is a 4 day Read - A - Thon that focuses on debuts. It will start at 12.00AM June 27th Thursday and end at 11.59PM on June 30th Sunday.

My list of books to tackle this Debut -A- Thon are:

1. Altered by Jennifer Rush
2. Pivot Point by Kasie West
3. Pantomime by Laura Lam

Well I'll leave the list at 3 books. It is very ambitious of me to think I can finish 3 books considering Thursday and Friday are working days. But what the hell. I can read during my commute.

Book Review : Mistborn The Final Empire

I have got to say this out loud (figuratively speaking of course). I am LOVING 'Mistborn : The Final Empire'. It has been a long time since I was genuinely excited about a book and I haven't even finished. I'm so glad this is not a stand alone book but a trilogy, a complete one at that. I don't have to wait for the books to come out. I can't believe I came to this book so late. But we have a saying in India - 'Der aye, Durust Aye'. It means - 'I might be late to the party but I'm here to enjoy the party now' :)

A lot of people ask me why I read so much. And a few of my friends look at me askance when I tell them I only read fiction. They think it is too childish and doesn't have any relevance to reality. In my opinion this is the wrong mind-set. And through this book Brandon Sanderson has proved that fiction - fantasy is not childish & that it can be intelligent and make you think. Really think.

Some people might just reject this book by reading the jacket cover or by hearing it's from the fantasy genre. They are doing themselves a disservice. If anyone reads this blog, I'd advise them to pick this book up. This book isn't just about a bunch of people using magic. Its a lot more.

The magic system in this book is great. Sanderson's done a great job with it. It seems simple enough at first glance. The Mistings or Mistborns "burn" metals, that they drink down, to attain powers like soothing or rioting other peoples emotions or to achieve superhuman strength or senses. But as you delve deeper into the magic system it gets more intricate. Not everyone can do this. This system is called Allomancy. There are 8 metals that they can use. Only the Mistborns can use all the metals. The Mistings can only use one metal. And Mistborns are always people with noble blood in them.

The magic system is not all there is to this book. Brandon Sanderson didn't stop at creating a magic system. He also created a social structure. There is the Lord Ruler, the Master of all things. Lord Ruler is said to be immortal, a "sliver of infinity'. He is said to have defeated some evil called the "Deepness". And after that he ascended and attained immortality. He favors the noblemen who supported him before ascension and their descendants. He has also enslaved a whole group of people called Skaa. So this story has political intrigue too.

There is also a thieving crew. This story has a grand heist!! This particular crew is made up of Mistings and 2 Mistborns. And what do you expect the Job these guys are pulling is? They are trying to start up a rebellion amongst the downtrodden Skaa people, to overthrow the tyrannical Lord Ruler.

So there's magic, political intrigue and a thieving crew. What more encouragement does a person need to read this book?

The story is not the only thing done well. If it were then it would not be as good. The characters are well written. Not just the protagonists (Vin & Kelsier) but the supporting characters too(the thieving crew). Sanderson lets the characters grow slowly, but not so slowly that we lose interest. He has paced the story well. We learn something new about the characters almost every page.

Sanderson knows how to keep you on edge. I want to know a lot more about Vin & Kelsier. What is the Deepness? Why is the sun red and why does ash fall from the sky? And why does the mist descend on the final Empire every night?

This is how a book should be. I haven't even finished reading it and I'm already looking forward to the next installment in the series. There will be another entry in my blog once I finish the book so that I can write about Vin, Kelsier and the rest of the crew.

Book Review : Feed by Mira Grant

I have recently started revisiting my obsession of reading books. Over the past 3 years the number of books I've read has dropped. Mostly because I was busy with my MBA and later with work. My Asian drama obsession/addiction might have pushed this other addiction to the backseat but not anymore. I have sorta kinda brought both addictions in balance (if its even possible).

Usually when  read a book I start reading books of the same genre for a while, and if the book has sequels that are out then I tend to read the series continuously. I wanted to finally try reading Steamppunk and read Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This book lead me to Feed by Mira Grant on Goodreads. For one thing I am glad that this is a trilogy that is completed. Secondly, Even though this book falls under the Zombie genre it had very little to to do with Zombies.

There are some people who were unhappy about the book not being too Zombie-centric. But I liked the way it was portrayed. This story was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be all blood and gore but it gave more of an insight into how a presidential campaign would be run and how the protagonists Georgia and Shaun Mason stay true to their journalistic integrity and to the truth. The only spin is that all of this is happening in a world overrun by zombies.

The story behind how the Undead problem came about was something different if not completely unique. Most movies depict the dead waking up from the graves because of a virus(mostly developed as a Bio-terror agent). Here 2 viruses were used separately to cure 2 diseases. One the common cold and the other cancer. The combination of the two is what causes the dead to rise. And in this version, like the virus responsible for the cold, this virus lays dormant and is present in every mammal.

Coming to the characters, I liked the Mason siblings. Of course in this book it was narrated by Georgia for most of the book so her character was to me more fleshed out than the rest. But I got to see through the eyes (or in this case blog) of Shaun and other bloggers and saw the world in their point of view. The characters of Shaun and Georgia, being opposites, that is one is gregarious and throws caution to the wind and the other is cautious and a bit of an introvert, might be done to death. But here, it works. At least for me. What I appreciate is that this did not mean that they were a complete unbeatable duo in the work they chose. They still needed someone else to complete the team.

The classification of bloggers in the field of journalism was a good touch. The Newsies, Irwins and Fictionals. The sum of them was better than the parts which was a nice message saying that though they could do well alone but were the best when all three worked together.

---------Spoiler Ahead-----------

People might say its hard to be relate to the part of Georgia's character that was ready to give her all for her ideals, which was the truth. Maybe they are right. It is difficult for us to believe in such a person existing in present times. But isn't it human nature to hope? Also for me its books like these that inspire us to do better. All of this comes from a place in the human nature that strives to be better. Also when someone asked the protagonist if it was worth it the answer was no. To that person the loss of all the lives of all the people involved was something that should not have happened. Shaun just wants his sister back.

All in all I'd give this book a 4 out of 5. I look forward to reading "Deadline" the second part of the trilogy.