Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (pub date 4/26/11)
“I am dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it.”
That is the first line in the book, and I soon as I read it, I knew that I was in for an interesting read. This is another treat that I picked up at my local Borders liquidation sale, which goes to show you that you never know what you can find when you’re not really looking for anything.
Warm Bodies is a novel similar to Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament by S.G. Browne (which is awesome, by the way). Set in a war-torn future, it’s the story of a zombie who calls himself ‘R’ (he can’t remember his full name). R spends his days wandering around an abandoned airport, struggling to remember anything about his life before he became a zombie. His day-to-day ennui is broken up by infrequent ”interactions” with other zombies, and the necessary hunts for human brains.
During a hunt, R eats the brain of a teenage boy named Perry Kelvin, and finds himself experiencing some of Perry’s memories. R feels an instant connection with Perry’s girlfriend Julie, and slowly earns her trust and her friendship despite the fact that he isn’t really alive. Later he meets up with some other humans and finds himself undergoing some radical changes.
Warm Bodies is a novel similar to Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament by S.G. Browne (which is awesome, by the way). Set in a war-torn future, it’s the story of a zombie who calls himself ‘R’ (he can’t remember his full name). R spends his days wandering around an abandoned airport, struggling to remember anything about his life before he became a zombie. His day-to-day ennui is broken up by infrequent ”interactions” with other zombies, and the necessary hunts for human brains.
During a hunt, R eats the brain of a teenage boy named Perry Kelvin, and finds himself experiencing some of Perry’s memories. R feels an instant connection with Perry’s girlfriend Julie, and slowly earns her trust and her friendship despite the fact that he isn’t really alive. Later he meets up with some other humans and finds himself undergoing some radical changes.
Warm Bodies is an interesting book from a first-time novelist. It starts out with a comedic tone and slowly becomes more poignant as the story progresses. At times it felt to me like the story moved a little slowly, but it has a good ending and at times make some great points about life, death, and what it means to be human. I think I enjoyed Breathers a little more but Warm Bodies is a good addition to the zombie genre and also a fun read.
