I am currently on my 'Zombie-a-thon' so will do the reviews for previously read zombie books too.

Well this is absolutely amazing and one of my favourite books ever! The fact that it has zombies in it is just a bonus. Temple is one of the most raw, honest , and insightful characters I have ever come across in a YA novel. I felt so much emotion reading about this brave girl and her simple views on living in this ruined world.

“Truth be told, the inward gaze is something she's not too fond of. But there are secrets that lurk in the mind, and she doesn't want any of them sneaking up on her. Sometimes it pays to take a deep look inside even if you get queasy gazing into those dark corners.”

The writing is so beautiful which creates a wonderful juxtaposition to the horrors Temple faces in this ugly and infected land.

“...and she's thinking of rage, like an ember or a burning acid swallowing up her knotted viscera. Blindness like the kind that leads men to perpetrate horrors, animal drunkenness, the jungles of the mind."

“It has become something to her, that memory—something she can take out in dismal times and stare into like a crystal ball disclosing not presages but reminders. She holds it in her palm like a captured ladybug and thinks, Well ain’t I been some places, ain’t I partook in some glorious happenings wanderin my way between heaven and earth. And if I ain’t seen everything there is to see, it wasn’t for lack of lookin. Blind is the real dead.”

"Blind is the real dead". Honestly people, the book has so many wonderful observations like that.

It was this book that started me on my "Zombies are metaphors" crusade. Because they are guys! They totally are! Zombie stories are often an analysis of the human condition, whether it be in relation to the origins of the zombies (a result of apathy, greed, military arrogance etc) or in the way humans respond in times of crisis (self-preservation, survival of the fittest, communities coming together etc).

Anyway, this book won't be for everyone because at the end of the day it is simply about a girl making her way across a devastated country and encountering different types of people on her journey.

I loved it. ( )

I hummed and haahed between 4 and 5 stars for this - clearly I really enjoyed it. I enjoy most post-apocalyptic media in general, although admittedly the zombie craze is not my favourite (excluding The Walking dead comics & tv series) - I usually prefer the post nuclear or plague types. In a way this had the feel of the plague types though as it had gorgeous descriptions of the world 'after' and less of the 'hide / run away / escape' that zombie books often have - I'm into the whole empty world / few survivors thing. The zombies themselves are not even remotely the focus of the book, which is probably how I prefer it (see again, The Walking Dead).

I very much enjoyed the play between the two main characters - Temple and Moses - and thought they were both well visualised and believable. It's basically a series of Temple's encounters as she travels the world that remains, and her thoughts and musings, and they were a great, interesting little series of vignettes of how the world has progressed. Yes there's some 'sillyness' and suspensions of disbelief - this does seem to be a book you either 'get' or don't get and hate it - lots of 5 star or 1 star reviews. Having read some of both, I do see both sides, but am happy to, personally, dismiss the faults and quibbles. I had no problems with the lack of speech marks, as it wasn't a difficult read, and I've not read enough Cormac McCarthy to be annoyed by that (only The Road, duh) and I had no problems with believing that gas may remain in some distant out of the way petrol stations or that some electricity generators would still work - after all it's only 25 years after, not hundreds. We are, after all, reading a book where most of the people in the world are zombies. Suspension of belief required.

I'm one of those people who are bright but not intellectual, if you see what I mean. Although I know I should enjoy the classics, I often don't, and since becoming a mum and having no peace of mind to sit down and concentrate on a book without interruption, I've probably got even worse at being able to enjoy books that you have to concentrate on, as I can't enjoy it when I'm being constantly interrupted or asked for things. I mean, there's not that many intellectual 'clever' p-a books...so taking that into consideration, I didn't find the prose 'purple' just thoughtful, didn't realise it was trying too hard, just felt like a young girl in a hard life that was far too empty of distractions. When you're alone with your thoughts...This book was an easy read but a an exciting and thoughtful one. Had no idea it was a young adult book but I'm in my mid thirties and it didn't bother me. It seemed to have fairly adult themes but then I grew up reading Judy Blume so who am I to judge? :D ( )

Summary: A young girl, grown up in a post-apocalyptic zombie world; travels America meeting its inhabitants and finding her own brand of philosophy.

Things I liked:

Style: The style is a bit like the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, very lyrical (possibly purple prose at times), but a refreshing contrast to the violent world of zombies and survival. The style underpins the beauty that the girl, Temple, sees in the world despite her survival driven existance.

Story elements:

I liked Temple and the Dummy; Temple and the Mose; Temple and the Cowboy. Great character pairings. I liked the choice to make this a road trip story with significant stops along the way.

Pace:

The story moved at a good pace, not slow, not frenetic, the style helped with this. It just made the character seem really laid back.

Ending:

Bold choice killing the narrator it felt right, but wow, did not really see that coming in the way that it did.


Things I thought could be improved:


People seemed a bit to nice: Maybe I'm a big fat cynic, but everyone they meet seems to be basically come on in and share my food and shelter and they're all, sure thanks for having us. I didn't really buy it. But it eased off as the story went on.

Some of the language of the woman/child temple (who supposedly had been born post-zombie-disaster seemed to be strongly referenced to pre-zombie-disaster concepts (like beautiful women spending heaps of time putting on makeup for example). This seemed misplaced and I found it distracting from both the character and the story.

Highlight:

Probably the final show down. I also really liked the bit when the train shows up, I think trains in Zombie land is a great idea . ( )

Nacida una década después de la aparición de los zombis, Temple ha pasado sus quince años de vida entre esas criaturas, sabe cómo evitarlas y defenderse de sus mordiscos. Pero, por encima de todo, sabe que algunos hombres pueden resultar mucho más temibles que cualquier horda de muertos vivientes. Tras pasar unas semanas escondida en un islote, la muchacha es adoptada por una de las comunidades humanas que siguen subsistiendo a lo largo de Estados Unidos. Pero una noche, mientras se resiste a ser violada, asesina a uno de sus miembros y se ve obligada a huir con Moses, el vengativo hermano del difunto, siguiendo sus pasos.

Interesting. Still processing my feelings on this one. One of the blurbs on the back said something to the effect of if Flannery O'Connor wrote a zombie novel. I don't really agree with that as there is significantly less humor in this than in O'Connor. It could be lumped into the Southern Gothic I suppose. It really, though, reminds me of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. It sort of has that spiritually devastating effect that lingers after you've finished reading. ( )