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Warm Bodies #1
Warm Bodies
'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...
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...
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2010
About the author
Isaac Marion
31 books4,351 followersAfter 9 years, 4 books, and 1 pretty good movie, R and Julie's story is about to reach its conclusion.
THE LIVING, book 4 of the Warm Bodies Series, is available now.
isaacmarion.com
THE LIVING, book 4 of the Warm Bodies Series, is available now.
isaacmarion.com
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March 21, 2011
Ten Reasons to Read WARM BODIES
1. It is a zombie book. But not like that. In the spirit of honesty, I had this book as an advanced review copy for literally months before I picked it up. It had glowing reviews from Stephanie Meyer, so I figured it couldn’t be that gross, and a glowing quote from Audrey Niffeneggar, so I figured it had to be well-written. But . . . zombies. Hopeless gore. I have a pretty strict disinterest in zombies that I break only for Carrie Ryan’s books. I’m not going to tell you this isn’t a zombie book, because it is -- there is brain eating and arms falling off and shotguns and gray matter and OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO EAT FOR DINNER - YOU!? and all the traditional zombie nihilism. But I will tell you this: it doesn’t feel like a zombie book.
2. R, the narrator. What really makes this book not feel like a zombie book is that it’s told from R’s point of view -- and he’s a zombie. It’s not glorified or toned down, but R makes the book different because he’s different. Somewhere in the core of his zombie brain, there’s a bit of R left, and watching that struggle against the delightfully metaphorical zombiesm is just . . . lovely and agonizing. In a good way.
3. Did I mention metaphor? Well, let me do it again. The metaphor that the zombies stand for is not deeply hidden in WARM BODIES, and it’s equal parts lesson and warning. It also happens to be something I deeply, deeply believe in. I don’t want to say it’s about self actualization, because who even knows what that means outside of a Meg Ryan movie. It’s about living life to the fullest and feeling everything you can and not being afraid. Maybe that does sound a little like a Meg Ryan movie.
4. It’s short. It’s not that I don’t like long books -- I love ‘em. But there was something very satisfying about reading this perfectly paced slender novel in three or four hours. It makes me think I’m going to do it again.
5. The book begins with R saving a girl -- Julie -- from certain death from both himself and other zombies. Oh how easy it would be for this to descend into pure cheesiness. How easy it would be for them to stop being real people. How easy it would be for Julie to be a construct instead of a real girl worth saving. But Isaac Marion veers away from all that. If at some points R becomes dangerously sentimental, it’s noted with a wry smile. It’s all rather delightful at some points. There’s one scene that’s sort of . . . Wall-E with dead people.
6. R’s so nice. No, really. He’s like . . . nice. If he wasn’t dead, I’d be all, what a nice boy you are, playing Sinatra for your girlfriend.
7. Pretty prose bonus round! “I dream my necrotic cells shrugging off their lethargy, inflating and lighting up like Christmas deep in my dark core. Am I inventing all this like the beer buzz? A placebo? An optimistic illusion? Either way, I feel the flatline of my existence disrupting, forming heartbeat hills and valleys.”
8. There’s a Mercedes convertible in it. As if we even NEED reasons 1-7 or 9-10 anymore.
9. No, really, really, it does not read like a zombie book. Your mom would read it. Probably. Well, it really depends on your mom. Back up. Have I steered you wrong before? No. No, I haven’t.
10. You’ve been looking for a book where you finish it with a smile on your face, haven’t you? I know it. Well, this is it.
1. It is a zombie book. But not like that. In the spirit of honesty, I had this book as an advanced review copy for literally months before I picked it up. It had glowing reviews from Stephanie Meyer, so I figured it couldn’t be that gross, and a glowing quote from Audrey Niffeneggar, so I figured it had to be well-written. But . . . zombies. Hopeless gore. I have a pretty strict disinterest in zombies that I break only for Carrie Ryan’s books. I’m not going to tell you this isn’t a zombie book, because it is -- there is brain eating and arms falling off and shotguns and gray matter and OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO EAT FOR DINNER - YOU!? and all the traditional zombie nihilism. But I will tell you this: it doesn’t feel like a zombie book.
2. R, the narrator. What really makes this book not feel like a zombie book is that it’s told from R’s point of view -- and he’s a zombie. It’s not glorified or toned down, but R makes the book different because he’s different. Somewhere in the core of his zombie brain, there’s a bit of R left, and watching that struggle against the delightfully metaphorical zombiesm is just . . . lovely and agonizing. In a good way.
3. Did I mention metaphor? Well, let me do it again. The metaphor that the zombies stand for is not deeply hidden in WARM BODIES, and it’s equal parts lesson and warning. It also happens to be something I deeply, deeply believe in. I don’t want to say it’s about self actualization, because who even knows what that means outside of a Meg Ryan movie. It’s about living life to the fullest and feeling everything you can and not being afraid. Maybe that does sound a little like a Meg Ryan movie.
4. It’s short. It’s not that I don’t like long books -- I love ‘em. But there was something very satisfying about reading this perfectly paced slender novel in three or four hours. It makes me think I’m going to do it again.
5. The book begins with R saving a girl -- Julie -- from certain death from both himself and other zombies. Oh how easy it would be for this to descend into pure cheesiness. How easy it would be for them to stop being real people. How easy it would be for Julie to be a construct instead of a real girl worth saving. But Isaac Marion veers away from all that. If at some points R becomes dangerously sentimental, it’s noted with a wry smile. It’s all rather delightful at some points. There’s one scene that’s sort of . . . Wall-E with dead people.
6. R’s so nice. No, really. He’s like . . . nice. If he wasn’t dead, I’d be all, what a nice boy you are, playing Sinatra for your girlfriend.
7. Pretty prose bonus round! “I dream my necrotic cells shrugging off their lethargy, inflating and lighting up like Christmas deep in my dark core. Am I inventing all this like the beer buzz? A placebo? An optimistic illusion? Either way, I feel the flatline of my existence disrupting, forming heartbeat hills and valleys.”
8. There’s a Mercedes convertible in it. As if we even NEED reasons 1-7 or 9-10 anymore.
9. No, really, really, it does not read like a zombie book. Your mom would read it. Probably. Well, it really depends on your mom. Back up. Have I steered you wrong before? No. No, I haven’t.
10. You’ve been looking for a book where you finish it with a smile on your face, haven’t you? I know it. Well, this is it.
April 30, 2011
The protagonist of Warm Bodies is R, a zombie who cannot remember his name beyond that single letter. He is verbose compared to other zombies, although his main recreation is still riding escalators around the airport in which he lives. I kind of felt like the escalator riding was a shout out to Dawn of the Dead and it made me happy. The first few chapters of the book are the strongest parts of the book. I think they must have been polished over and over again and they contrast the rest of the book so sharply that it can only suffer in comparison. Still, R's thoughts are a little too well-connected for a zombie, which made me feel like it was a mistake to tell this first person. The book would have been more of a success with me if his evolution from man eater to Romeo was a little more gradual instead of part way there. Given the number of pages we go through before we meet R's love interest and the catalyst for all the changes he goes through, I think he ought to have been more... zombie-ish.
The zombies didn't feel much like zombies to me. They had the ability to form relationships, albeit very basic ones, and to have a somewhat structured community. There was a church in which R is married and there is a school that his adopted children attend to learn how to be better zombies. The logic behind this is that children lack the instincts to be good zombies, to know how to kill and where to bite. Ummm I didn't really buy that too much. If next to none of their personality and memories are retained wouldn't a child zombie just be so many infected cells directed by the virus? This is one of those books where I had to buckle up and stop asking questions because I wasn't going to get any decent answers.
After the intial zombie world establishing is out of the way the story is just a weird retelling of Romeo and Juliet. If Bella constantly comparing herself to Juliet in New Moon annoyed you then this book will probably give you a rage blackout. You'd think after New Moon a book couldn't be more in your face about retelling that story, but you'd be wrong. Sure, Bella and Edward watch the movie all cuddled up together and he repeats the play line for line in her ear at the beginning of New Moon, but at least Stephanie Meyer didn't give Bella the middle name Juliet to like seal the freaking deal.
R(omeo) kills (and eats) Perry (Paris) who is trying to protect his girlfriend Julie(t). In Isaac Marion's world zombies enjoy brains because it gives them brief flashes of human memory. R gets Perry's memories of Julie. Essentially all he knows about Julie beyond that she's warm and delicious is from Perry. Perry's memories and feelings for Julie motivate R to save her, even attacking his bestest zombie buddy M(ercutio). And since I want to get my effing Romeo and Juliet references out of the way now, I'm just going to let you know Julie's best friend is named Nora. Nora wants to be a nurse. I thought all the Romeo and Juliet crap was done by the time I got to Nora and I almost had a seizure when I realized there was more. Believe me, I'm sparing you by telling you in advance.
There are more Romeo and Juliet references sprinkled throughout the book with all the finesse of a two-year-old flower girl throwing balled up, crumpled hunks of flower petals on the floor as she stomps her little way toward the alter, but none of them bothered me as much as the repetitive transparency of the names.
So, back to R and Julie. He saves her from M (who Julie calls a 'fat fuck' for the rest of the book), smears dead blood all over her face to hide her from the zombies and takes her back to zombie HQ at the airport. Julie goes along with this because her options are kind of limited to R or being devoured by a pack of zombies. I don't really know how she managed it without hysterics, the story is told more or less from R's POV, but she was a little too levelheaded about the whole experience given that her boyfriend and most of her friends just became chow.
R shoves Julie inside the airplane he lives in to keep her safe from the other zombies. He goes off to hang out with M. Together they eat the brain of another teenage boy who had been in the group with Julie and Perry. The experience isn't anything extremely altering for R, but luckily he's still got some of Perry to gnaw on. You see, he didn't eat all of Perry's brain in one sitting. No, he carries the rest around with him to much on slowly so he can, um, savor the experience? Sorry, bad Lucy.
Again, R experiences Perry's memories of Julie and this is where the author fumbles. I can forgive the cheesy quality of retelling Romeo and Juliet. I can forgive a zombie society that actually is a society, but there comes a point when as an author you have to man up and deal with the circumstances of the story you're writing. R is a zombie. Zombies are monsters. R is a monster. He ate a teenage boy who loved Julie and he is IMMEDIATELY and CONSTANTLY absolved of any guilt.
Perry's life force was either so vibrant that it changed R or his love for Julie such a unique experience that it changed R, who has eaten hundreds of other brains. Something about Perry was that catalyst, but Perry and Julie's relationship is downplayed forever after as being 'almost over' and his life as something he was pretty much ready to forfeit. This is all done to forgive R. I would have preferred R's story be about finding redemption for what he'd done and learning to fight the virus and change his nature.
By eating Perry's brain, R gets to steal his memories and experiences -- the grief after his mother's death, the world's upheaval, and most importantly meeting and falling in love with Julie. He even experiences the first time Perry and Julie make love. It was creepy and sad and if the author had owned it then the whole thing could have been awesome, but instead we got the constant downplaying and reduction of Perry's life and value as a person. By downplaying Perry's love for Julie and Perry's death all the author did was downplay the catalyst for R's change and the story absolutely, without a fucking doubt, suffered for it.
R is forgiven for Perry's death four or five times throughout this 239 page novel. Oh yeah, I'm quoting some of it baby.
Page 55:
"Anyway," she says, "whoever killed Perry... I just want you to know I don't blame them for it."
I tense again. "You... don't?"
"No. I mean, I think I get it. You don't have a choice, right? And tot be honest... I'd never say this to anyone, but..." She stirs her food. "It's kind of a relief that it finally happened."
I frown. "What?"
"To be able to finally stop dreading it."
Yep, don't worrying about eating the first boy she loved. It's better to rip that bandaid off. *rips out hair* Icing for that cake is that it's not long after he's dead. Later in the memories/dreams stirred by consuming Perry's brain the ghost/lingering memory of the dead kid forgives him saying he was ready to go. Later Nora echoes Julie's sentiments about it not really being R's fault since it's the virus. Sometime after Nora absolves him of guilt he finally confesses to Julie and she forgives him for a second time. You can't tell, but I'm rolling my eyes.
Look, Suzanne Collins owned the dark world of The Hunger Games when she brutally killed off right in front of us. J.K. Rowling pulled no punches when she threw off that tower. R was a monster and Marion should have owned it. If he had let R evolve from being a monster he would have found redemption instead of being handed it on page 55.
Beyond those complaints. R and Julie's romance meant absolutely nothing to me. You can ask what romance when you read it. Julie, all in all, was a bad romantic lead. she should have been more Helen of Troy and less blah. For me this book failed as a zombie novel and it failed as a romance, which is what it's being marketed as.
There were a few technical problems with the grammar. They weren't rampant problems, but my eye is untrained and I did notice them. Also, Isaac Marion portrays stilted zombie speech with ellipsis so get prepared to never want to see three dots in a row ever again.
Warm Bodies is an amazing looking book. The cover is stunning and inside there are black and white anatomy shots beneath the start of each new chapter. These small inked drawings of various bits of the human body are what you'd find in a biology book, but for some reason they're all the more interesting inside a zombie book. It's a pretty book, but it's also kind of thin to be marked up to $24.00 USD. Most hardcover YA novels are marked on cover as $17.99 or $19.99 so that was a bit of a price jump for a book that is thinner than average.
One star for me, but I can see how other people might like some of it, especially if you're a watered down monsters and classic romance retellings.
The zombies didn't feel much like zombies to me. They had the ability to form relationships, albeit very basic ones, and to have a somewhat structured community. There was a church in which R is married and there is a school that his adopted children attend to learn how to be better zombies. The logic behind this is that children lack the instincts to be good zombies, to know how to kill and where to bite. Ummm I didn't really buy that too much. If next to none of their personality and memories are retained wouldn't a child zombie just be so many infected cells directed by the virus? This is one of those books where I had to buckle up and stop asking questions because I wasn't going to get any decent answers.
After the intial zombie world establishing is out of the way the story is just a weird retelling of Romeo and Juliet. If Bella constantly comparing herself to Juliet in New Moon annoyed you then this book will probably give you a rage blackout. You'd think after New Moon a book couldn't be more in your face about retelling that story, but you'd be wrong. Sure, Bella and Edward watch the movie all cuddled up together and he repeats the play line for line in her ear at the beginning of New Moon, but at least Stephanie Meyer didn't give Bella the middle name Juliet to like seal the freaking deal.
R(omeo) kills (and eats) Perry (Paris) who is trying to protect his girlfriend Julie(t). In Isaac Marion's world zombies enjoy brains because it gives them brief flashes of human memory. R gets Perry's memories of Julie. Essentially all he knows about Julie beyond that she's warm and delicious is from Perry. Perry's memories and feelings for Julie motivate R to save her, even attacking his bestest zombie buddy M(ercutio). And since I want to get my effing Romeo and Juliet references out of the way now, I'm just going to let you know Julie's best friend is named Nora. Nora wants to be a nurse. I thought all the Romeo and Juliet crap was done by the time I got to Nora and I almost had a seizure when I realized there was more. Believe me, I'm sparing you by telling you in advance.
There are more Romeo and Juliet references sprinkled throughout the book with all the finesse of a two-year-old flower girl throwing balled up, crumpled hunks of flower petals on the floor as she stomps her little way toward the alter, but none of them bothered me as much as the repetitive transparency of the names.
So, back to R and Julie. He saves her from M (who Julie calls a 'fat fuck' for the rest of the book), smears dead blood all over her face to hide her from the zombies and takes her back to zombie HQ at the airport. Julie goes along with this because her options are kind of limited to R or being devoured by a pack of zombies. I don't really know how she managed it without hysterics, the story is told more or less from R's POV, but she was a little too levelheaded about the whole experience given that her boyfriend and most of her friends just became chow.
R shoves Julie inside the airplane he lives in to keep her safe from the other zombies. He goes off to hang out with M. Together they eat the brain of another teenage boy who had been in the group with Julie and Perry. The experience isn't anything extremely altering for R, but luckily he's still got some of Perry to gnaw on. You see, he didn't eat all of Perry's brain in one sitting. No, he carries the rest around with him to much on slowly so he can, um, savor the experience? Sorry, bad Lucy.
Again, R experiences Perry's memories of Julie and this is where the author fumbles. I can forgive the cheesy quality of retelling Romeo and Juliet. I can forgive a zombie society that actually is a society, but there comes a point when as an author you have to man up and deal with the circumstances of the story you're writing. R is a zombie. Zombies are monsters. R is a monster. He ate a teenage boy who loved Julie and he is IMMEDIATELY and CONSTANTLY absolved of any guilt.
Perry's life force was either so vibrant that it changed R or his love for Julie such a unique experience that it changed R, who has eaten hundreds of other brains. Something about Perry was that catalyst, but Perry and Julie's relationship is downplayed forever after as being 'almost over' and his life as something he was pretty much ready to forfeit. This is all done to forgive R. I would have preferred R's story be about finding redemption for what he'd done and learning to fight the virus and change his nature.
By eating Perry's brain, R gets to steal his memories and experiences -- the grief after his mother's death, the world's upheaval, and most importantly meeting and falling in love with Julie. He even experiences the first time Perry and Julie make love. It was creepy and sad and if the author had owned it then the whole thing could have been awesome, but instead we got the constant downplaying and reduction of Perry's life and value as a person. By downplaying Perry's love for Julie and Perry's death all the author did was downplay the catalyst for R's change and the story absolutely, without a fucking doubt, suffered for it.
R is forgiven for Perry's death four or five times throughout this 239 page novel. Oh yeah, I'm quoting some of it baby.
Page 55:
"Anyway," she says, "whoever killed Perry... I just want you to know I don't blame them for it."
I tense again. "You... don't?"
"No. I mean, I think I get it. You don't have a choice, right? And tot be honest... I'd never say this to anyone, but..." She stirs her food. "It's kind of a relief that it finally happened."
I frown. "What?"
"To be able to finally stop dreading it."
Yep, don't worrying about eating the first boy she loved. It's better to rip that bandaid off. *rips out hair* Icing for that cake is that it's not long after he's dead. Later in the memories/dreams stirred by consuming Perry's brain the ghost/lingering memory of the dead kid forgives him saying he was ready to go. Later Nora echoes Julie's sentiments about it not really being R's fault since it's the virus. Sometime after Nora absolves him of guilt he finally confesses to Julie and she forgives him for a second time. You can't tell, but I'm rolling my eyes.
Look, Suzanne Collins owned the dark world of The Hunger Games when she brutally killed off right in front of us. J.K. Rowling pulled no punches when she threw off that tower. R was a monster and Marion should have owned it. If he had let R evolve from being a monster he would have found redemption instead of being handed it on page 55.
Beyond those complaints. R and Julie's romance meant absolutely nothing to me. You can ask what romance when you read it. Julie, all in all, was a bad romantic lead. she should have been more Helen of Troy and less blah. For me this book failed as a zombie novel and it failed as a romance, which is what it's being marketed as.
There were a few technical problems with the grammar. They weren't rampant problems, but my eye is untrained and I did notice them. Also, Isaac Marion portrays stilted zombie speech with ellipsis so get prepared to never want to see three dots in a row ever again.
Warm Bodies is an amazing looking book. The cover is stunning and inside there are black and white anatomy shots beneath the start of each new chapter. These small inked drawings of various bits of the human body are what you'd find in a biology book, but for some reason they're all the more interesting inside a zombie book. It's a pretty book, but it's also kind of thin to be marked up to $24.00 USD. Most hardcover YA novels are marked on cover as $17.99 or $19.99 so that was a bit of a price jump for a book that is thinner than average.
One star for me, but I can see how other people might like some of it, especially if you're a watered down monsters and classic romance retellings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2011
What makes us human? Is it merely a collection of living flesh and tissue and bone, or is it also consciousness and memory and feeling? R, the young zombie who narrates this novel, isn't really sure. But after meeting Julie, a human girl he impulsively saves and hides away in an abandoned plane, he begins to experience thoughts and feelings that he'd forgotten he'd ever had.
Warm Bodies is a wistful love story that is creepy, sad, sweet, and disturbing in equal measure. The notion that it is possible to write a philosophical zombie novel seems quite unbelievable, but the author has accomplished this feat with astonishing ease. Being in R's head is a revelatory experience; he is matter-of-fact, pensive, humorous, and troubled at various different times. After his shockingly violent introduction to Julie, he also becomes animated and severely conflicted and full of yearning. A story like this obviously requires that readers suspend a fair amount of disbelief, but the focus here isn't on the technical aspects of survival anyway, but more on the idea that the desire for dignity and tenderness have just as much to do with humanity as does a collection of blood and muscles and cells.
The gentle sentiment in this story took me completely by surprise, especially as it contrasts so sharply with the visceral feedings that keep the zombies alive. The nourishment comes not only from the nutritional content that is necessary for survival, but also from the associated memories and emotions that each morsel of brain matter contains. This startlingly original idea creates an incredible amount of anguish and guilt and longing for R, and as he becomes more and more deeply attached to Julie, it's impossible to remain unmoved by his plight.
I keep saying I'm not a zombie person, but some of the best books I've read recently have featured them in prominent roles. After being blown away by Feed, Deadline, and The Reapers Are the Angels, I wasn't really sure whether there was still another great zombie story I'd be excited about, but Warm Bodies is a brilliant addition to the non-typical horror, intelligent zombie novel canon. I think that the reason these stories have struck such a chord with me is that they're attempting to explore ideas that are bigger than the issues that are actually on the page. Whether the books are delving into the right to information or the value of life or the struggle to keep the human spirit alive, the presence of the zombies is almost incidental. It's the fundamental questions these novels raise about the nature of humans and humanity that make them such great --and moving--works of literature.
Warm Bodies is a wistful love story that is creepy, sad, sweet, and disturbing in equal measure. The notion that it is possible to write a philosophical zombie novel seems quite unbelievable, but the author has accomplished this feat with astonishing ease. Being in R's head is a revelatory experience; he is matter-of-fact, pensive, humorous, and troubled at various different times. After his shockingly violent introduction to Julie, he also becomes animated and severely conflicted and full of yearning. A story like this obviously requires that readers suspend a fair amount of disbelief, but the focus here isn't on the technical aspects of survival anyway, but more on the idea that the desire for dignity and tenderness have just as much to do with humanity as does a collection of blood and muscles and cells.
The gentle sentiment in this story took me completely by surprise, especially as it contrasts so sharply with the visceral feedings that keep the zombies alive. The nourishment comes not only from the nutritional content that is necessary for survival, but also from the associated memories and emotions that each morsel of brain matter contains. This startlingly original idea creates an incredible amount of anguish and guilt and longing for R, and as he becomes more and more deeply attached to Julie, it's impossible to remain unmoved by his plight.
I keep saying I'm not a zombie person, but some of the best books I've read recently have featured them in prominent roles. After being blown away by Feed, Deadline, and The Reapers Are the Angels, I wasn't really sure whether there was still another great zombie story I'd be excited about, but Warm Bodies is a brilliant addition to the non-typical horror, intelligent zombie novel canon. I think that the reason these stories have struck such a chord with me is that they're attempting to explore ideas that are bigger than the issues that are actually on the page. Whether the books are delving into the right to information or the value of life or the struggle to keep the human spirit alive, the presence of the zombies is almost incidental. It's the fundamental questions these novels raise about the nature of humans and humanity that make them such great --and moving--works of literature.
May 23, 2012
Made the list for
Best Badass Zombie Books...
http://badassbookreviews.com/the-best...
Lessons learned from R (who happens to be a zombie)
1. Sometimes you are up, and sometimes you are down. That is until the power goes out and you are stuck.
2. Freaking out is not going to help, instead get married!
3. Sometimes a little brain goes a long way, unless of course you just ate the last of it, and then you are so screwed.
4. It is not our words but our actions that speak loudest regarding who we are.
5. A name is just that. Your identity is what people remember about you when you leave the room.
6. Sometimes humans are scarier than zombies!
I'll eventually do a real review but I just adored R and for the time being will leave this review like this.
Best Badass Zombie Books...
http://badassbookreviews.com/the-best...
Lessons learned from R (who happens to be a zombie)
1. Sometimes you are up, and sometimes you are down. That is until the power goes out and you are stuck.
2. Freaking out is not going to help, instead get married!
3. Sometimes a little brain goes a long way, unless of course you just ate the last of it, and then you are so screwed.
4. It is not our words but our actions that speak loudest regarding who we are.
5. A name is just that. Your identity is what people remember about you when you leave the room.
6. Sometimes humans are scarier than zombies!
I'll eventually do a real review but I just adored R and for the time being will leave this review like this.
January 29, 2013
I finished this book awhile ago, but I've been avoiding writing my review. The only reason I can think of is that I really don't want my first read glow to go away. You know that time after you read a really spectacular book when you're just sitting around, thinking about how wonderful it was and going over passages you loved? I think I've been doing that for two weeks now. Every time I think about Warm Bodies, I wonder at how good it was.
Warm Bodies follows R, a zombie unlike those we normally read about. R thinks, deeply, about things, speaks five syllables in a row, and has real dreams. He can't remember his life, but has a fascination with life; longing to know who he was and what he did. When R eats the brain of a teenage boy, he experiences flashbacks into the boy's life, mostly featuring his first love, Julie. R becomes enthralled with Julie and they begin a tenuous relationship unlike any in this barren world before. As Julie and R become closer, both experience impossible changes; changes that could possibly affect the entire world.
Words cannot explain how much I loved R and his voice. From the first page, I knew his narration was different. Because he can't speak but a word or two at a time, most of his narration comes straight from his thoughts. There are pages filled with R simply talking about what he does all day, and it's riveting stuff. My favorite descriptions come when he talks about groaning, mostly in the beginning of the novel.
R is also genuine and eager. Perhaps this is because he's dead, and things can't really get much worse? Whatever reason, it makes him endearing and utterly likeable, despite being a zombie. It's hard to believe I would ever feel anything but disgust for a zombie, but it happened with this book.
I also liked Julie. A lot. She's a kick-butt kind of girl, the kind we don't get to read about much in books where the protagonist is male. The girl can take care of herself. She's also got a sense of humor, something that many authors would be tempted to eliminate when writing a serious zombie novel.
UPDATE: Apparently he's writing a sequel now, so I suppose this doesn't apply anymore... I'm not going to complain! :) Can I also point out that I love that it's a standalone book? Don't get me wrong, I'm a major series lover. But I also just love books and authors that just don't need to leave you aggravated and desperate for a sequel that many times you don't particularly want. I like the way it ended; it was open in a way the reader can interpret for themselves, but in a slightly leading way.
Isaac Marion is taking a different approach to the zombie novel, one that could have been disastrous. Warm Bodies is anything but. It is well-written, poignant, funny, and memorable. Easily my favorite read this year.
More reviews on my blog: Paper Cuts
Warm Bodies follows R, a zombie unlike those we normally read about. R thinks, deeply, about things, speaks five syllables in a row, and has real dreams. He can't remember his life, but has a fascination with life; longing to know who he was and what he did. When R eats the brain of a teenage boy, he experiences flashbacks into the boy's life, mostly featuring his first love, Julie. R becomes enthralled with Julie and they begin a tenuous relationship unlike any in this barren world before. As Julie and R become closer, both experience impossible changes; changes that could possibly affect the entire world.
Words cannot explain how much I loved R and his voice. From the first page, I knew his narration was different. Because he can't speak but a word or two at a time, most of his narration comes straight from his thoughts. There are pages filled with R simply talking about what he does all day, and it's riveting stuff. My favorite descriptions come when he talks about groaning, mostly in the beginning of the novel.
R is also genuine and eager. Perhaps this is because he's dead, and things can't really get much worse? Whatever reason, it makes him endearing and utterly likeable, despite being a zombie. It's hard to believe I would ever feel anything but disgust for a zombie, but it happened with this book.
I also liked Julie. A lot. She's a kick-butt kind of girl, the kind we don't get to read about much in books where the protagonist is male. The girl can take care of herself. She's also got a sense of humor, something that many authors would be tempted to eliminate when writing a serious zombie novel.
UPDATE: Apparently he's writing a sequel now, so I suppose this doesn't apply anymore... I'm not going to complain! :) Can I also point out that I love that it's a standalone book? Don't get me wrong, I'm a major series lover. But I also just love books and authors that just don't need to leave you aggravated and desperate for a sequel that many times you don't particularly want. I like the way it ended; it was open in a way the reader can interpret for themselves, but in a slightly leading way.
Isaac Marion is taking a different approach to the zombie novel, one that could have been disastrous. Warm Bodies is anything but. It is well-written, poignant, funny, and memorable. Easily my favorite read this year.
More reviews on my blog: Paper Cuts
December 10, 2020
The Written Review
New week, New BookTube Video - all about the best (and worst) literary apocalypses to live through!
Cold Hands, Warm Heart
"R" spends his time at the airport, taking long walks and scooping brains out of skulls. He's a zombie but unlike most of the ones he's met, he can think about more than just his stomach.
Julie is one of the last humans living in the settlement. She's finally old enough to go out on a raiding mission but when she does, her team gets ambushed almost immediately.
As R chomps on the brain of Julie's boyfriend (Perry), he experiences the memories. Seeing Julie from Perry's perspective changes something truly and wholly within R.
Without really knowing why, R knows he has one new priority - protect Julie.
For a zombie love story - this one was rather sweet and not nearly as gorey as I would've expected. The love between Julie and R is quick but not unbelievable. Julie's best friend (Nora) was just the right amount of sassy and badass. I really enjoyed this one!
Audiobook Comments
The voice actors did not do a great job of reading, and by listening to this book opposed to reading, I began to notice all those little flaws that I hadn't the first few times through.
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April 8, 2024
What an entertaining delight! I first heard of this book through the movie trailer. I was very skeptical about this, yet oddly curious at the same time. A zombie who falls in love.... I did not know what to expect getting into this. What I ended up experiencing was a story like no other.
'R' is a zombie with personality. Not very common, right? Even the other zombies think he is odd. He longs for memories...for life. When he eats the brain of a young man named Perry and saving a human girl, things begin to change for him. He gets flashbacks of Perry's life, giving him a familiarity to the girl, Julie, he saved. He learns of Perry's relationship to Julie and his own feelings toward her begin to manifest themselves.
The writing is very well done. There is a certain eloquence to the artistic imaging Isaac Marion has set up for us. The story is all told from R's perspective. While his spoken words may be few, his thoughts are many. He has am amusing, dry sense of humor that keeps the reader engaged in what is happening around him. We see his life at the airport, including a marriage, adopting kids, and even zombie "sex." Let me tell you, never have I heard of such things working the was they do in a zombie society. Then again, I never read of a zombie society. So this was a very unique experience.
The only downside for this was that while the first half to two-thirds of the books were well written and is almost poetic in nature, the rest seems more rushed. The world seems to lose its aspect, the writing style itself even seems to shift. Maybe it was because R didn't know what to think of his own thoughts by this point. Personally though, I wish the story was drawn out a bit more to give the same attention to the ending that the beginning received.
So, overall, I was quite happy with this one. If you have seen the movie, yet never read the book: Go read the book. Much better than the movie. The humor and personality portrayed is beautiful here. Very creative storytelling. I've even re-read it, so I find it worth adding to the collection.
2024- Audiobook. The narrator does a decent job with this. Bit monotonic at times, but then I think it is a bit intentional. We are getting a stories from a zombie after all. "Argh...brains..." Lol. This is still such a strange tale. It is harder with the memory scenes in listening and sometimes tales a minute to realize we are getting Perry's events and not R's. The Bonies are creepy as heck and this book has the most bizarre wedding and quick-turn family ever!
'R' is a zombie with personality. Not very common, right? Even the other zombies think he is odd. He longs for memories...for life. When he eats the brain of a young man named Perry and saving a human girl, things begin to change for him. He gets flashbacks of Perry's life, giving him a familiarity to the girl, Julie, he saved. He learns of Perry's relationship to Julie and his own feelings toward her begin to manifest themselves.
The writing is very well done. There is a certain eloquence to the artistic imaging Isaac Marion has set up for us. The story is all told from R's perspective. While his spoken words may be few, his thoughts are many. He has am amusing, dry sense of humor that keeps the reader engaged in what is happening around him. We see his life at the airport, including a marriage, adopting kids, and even zombie "sex." Let me tell you, never have I heard of such things working the was they do in a zombie society. Then again, I never read of a zombie society. So this was a very unique experience.
The only downside for this was that while the first half to two-thirds of the books were well written and is almost poetic in nature, the rest seems more rushed. The world seems to lose its aspect, the writing style itself even seems to shift. Maybe it was because R didn't know what to think of his own thoughts by this point. Personally though, I wish the story was drawn out a bit more to give the same attention to the ending that the beginning received.
So, overall, I was quite happy with this one. If you have seen the movie, yet never read the book: Go read the book. Much better than the movie. The humor and personality portrayed is beautiful here. Very creative storytelling. I've even re-read it, so I find it worth adding to the collection.
2024- Audiobook. The narrator does a decent job with this. Bit monotonic at times, but then I think it is a bit intentional. We are getting a stories from a zombie after all. "Argh...brains..." Lol. This is still such a strange tale. It is harder with the memory scenes in listening and sometimes tales a minute to realize we are getting Perry's events and not R's. The Bonies are creepy as heck and this book has the most bizarre wedding and quick-turn family ever!
August 22, 2013
This is not a young adult novel.
I mean, it is about a young adultish human and zombie who fall in love and set about to change the world with love. But this is not a young adult novel.
It has themes of young love and disaffected youth and hopeful new beginnings but this is not a young adult novel, people!
Regardless of what it is, it’s a pretty good novel, but I have a confession. This is going to translate in people’s minds as me being simplistic and unable to handle the deeper, more complicated themes of this book – but I don’t care.
I liked the movie better.
Major fans of the book are going to virulently disagree with me – but I thought it actually managed to streamline the story highly effectively, keeping the spirit of the novel without deviating from anything important. In fact, the way it restructured some events, I actually thought, created a more emotional impact.
But the book itself is still pretty good, though I wonder at some of the weird turns it takes. Like zombie sex. Lots of zombie sex. Nice to know that even zombie women experience objectification. Comforting. Guess some things never change. Objectification and unsatisfying sex straight into the un-life.
R is adorkable, and if I never have to type the word again, it will be too soon. But he is. In the midst of his mid-death crisis with an unfulfilling zombie-marriage and two little tykes to drag him down, life seems empty and unfulfilling. R wants to be alive again. He even gets a sports car and kidnaps a young girlfriend. Luckily, unlike reality, this is fantasy so it’s all okay. As opposed to the time I kidnapped my own young girlfriend and got a sports car. That turned out to be a big mistake.
alt="YOLO!"/>
I love Julie. I mean, she’s a total idiot, a dreamer and so far removed from reality that it might as well be the third nipple she never had. But she was a wonderful character nonetheless, who I completely adored. I adored everyone, almost as much as I adored the writing. Which was pretty evocative, raw, kind of gross – but in a good way.
The only thing I struggled with in this book was that I felt the pacing and overall narrative flow of the movie made so much more sense and was a lot tighter, stronger and more powerful. Otherwise, if you like zombies, existential crises, stories of young people improbably overcoming impossible circumstances and weird zombie sex, then this is the book for you!
Just don’t call it a young adult novel, okay?
This review, and others like it can also be found on my blog, Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.
I mean, it is about a young adultish human and zombie who fall in love and set about to change the world with love. But this is not a young adult novel.
It has themes of young love and disaffected youth and hopeful new beginnings but this is not a young adult novel, people!
Regardless of what it is, it’s a pretty good novel, but I have a confession. This is going to translate in people’s minds as me being simplistic and unable to handle the deeper, more complicated themes of this book – but I don’t care.
I liked the movie better.
Major fans of the book are going to virulently disagree with me – but I thought it actually managed to streamline the story highly effectively, keeping the spirit of the novel without deviating from anything important. In fact, the way it restructured some events, I actually thought, created a more emotional impact.
But the book itself is still pretty good, though I wonder at some of the weird turns it takes. Like zombie sex. Lots of zombie sex. Nice to know that even zombie women experience objectification. Comforting. Guess some things never change. Objectification and unsatisfying sex straight into the un-life.
R is adorkable, and if I never have to type the word again, it will be too soon. But he is. In the midst of his mid-death crisis with an unfulfilling zombie-marriage and two little tykes to drag him down, life seems empty and unfulfilling. R wants to be alive again. He even gets a sports car and kidnaps a young girlfriend. Luckily, unlike reality, this is fantasy so it’s all okay. As opposed to the time I kidnapped my own young girlfriend and got a sports car. That turned out to be a big mistake.
alt="YOLO!"/>I love Julie. I mean, she’s a total idiot, a dreamer and so far removed from reality that it might as well be the third nipple she never had. But she was a wonderful character nonetheless, who I completely adored. I adored everyone, almost as much as I adored the writing. Which was pretty evocative, raw, kind of gross – but in a good way.
The only thing I struggled with in this book was that I felt the pacing and overall narrative flow of the movie made so much more sense and was a lot tighter, stronger and more powerful. Otherwise, if you like zombies, existential crises, stories of young people improbably overcoming impossible circumstances and weird zombie sex, then this is the book for you!
Just don’t call it a young adult novel, okay?
This review, and others like it can also be found on my blog, Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.
November 25, 2018
Much better than I expected - especially after the start. I really wasn't going to sure if I would care for this one because it seemed a little silly at first.
But, after I got into it, it started to have some interesting action sequences and some really deep introspection on the human condition.
But, after I got into it, it started to have some interesting action sequences and some really deep introspection on the human condition.
March 14, 2017
4.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Warm Bodies (2010), our world has been overrun by the zombies, and the few humans who are left are fighting a rearguard action. They huddle in walled enclosures, sending out occasional armed expeditions for food and supplies. Regular school classes have fallen by the wayside, replaced by classes and demonstrations on how to best kill a zombie permanently (head shots).
R is a zombie who doesn’t remember his past life, except that his name maybe started with the letter R. He can speak a few syllables, more than most of his zombie companions, and think complex thoughts that his tongue can’t share. R and hundreds of other zombies live in an abandoned airport, going on group hunts to the city to try to find food, in the form of humans. When they eat the brains of the Living, they experience fragments of the human’s memories, and it energizes them.
R and his friend M lead a zombie hunting party to the city one day and come across a group of humans who have ventured out of the stadium where they live. R attacks and kills Perry, the young man leading the group. As he bites into Perry’s brain, he’s hit with Perry’s memories of moments with his girlfriend Julie. When R recovers from these visions, he sees Julie cowering in a corner. Against all his zombie instincts, he rescues Julie from the other zombies and leads her back to his home, a 747 commercial jet parked at the end of a boarding tunnel. As R and Julie get to know each other better, Julie gradually loses her fear of R, R edges back toward humanity, and the two develop an unlikely friendship. But their relationship is a threat to those around them, both the humans and the Boneys, the animated and malignant skeletons that lead the zombie horde.
R is a zombie with a heart ― even if it’s not beating ― and philosophical thoughts that he can’t really share, since a zombie’s conversational abilities are so very limited. But he finds his tongue and heart are loosened as he gets to know Julie. And as R continues to snack on bits of Perry’s brain that he saved for later, many of Perry’s thoughts and memories are shared with him; kind of like in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, Perry is often a separate voice in R’s head. But R’s feelings are his own. R’s narration is intelligent and engaging, dealing with the horrors of his murderous lifestyle with self-deprecatory humor that, together with the slowly developing romance, lightens the otherwise bleak post-apocalyptic setting.
I got all the way to the end of Warm Bodies before I realized how many connections Isaac Marion has made to Romeo and Juliet. R and Julie are the star-crossed couple, with the zombies and humans playing the roles of the houses of the Montagues and Capulets. Perry is the analogue of Paris, Juliet’s ill-fated lover; Julie’s best friend Nora takes on the Nurse’s role as Juliet’s confidante; and R’s zombie friend M stands in for Mercutio, Romeo’s friend.
Despite the many character connections, the plot of the story is Isaac Marion’s own original creation. It’s a quirky but moving mixture of science fiction and fantasy, shifting from a fairly straight zombiepocalypse near-future setting to something that is a little more meta, fantastical and symbolic in the end, not to mention heart-warming.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review, along with The New Hunger (the prequel novella) and The Burning World, the 2017 sequel. The publicist was feeling generous, so I totally scored. Lots of reading yet to do, but this first book definitely didn't disappoint.
Content advisory: Though Warm Bodies is classified as a YA book by the publisher (not the author), it contains adult language and themes, and fairly graphic and gruesome violence. Not recommended for younger or more sensitive readers.
In Warm Bodies (2010), our world has been overrun by the zombies, and the few humans who are left are fighting a rearguard action. They huddle in walled enclosures, sending out occasional armed expeditions for food and supplies. Regular school classes have fallen by the wayside, replaced by classes and demonstrations on how to best kill a zombie permanently (head shots).
R is a zombie who doesn’t remember his past life, except that his name maybe started with the letter R. He can speak a few syllables, more than most of his zombie companions, and think complex thoughts that his tongue can’t share. R and hundreds of other zombies live in an abandoned airport, going on group hunts to the city to try to find food, in the form of humans. When they eat the brains of the Living, they experience fragments of the human’s memories, and it energizes them.
R and his friend M lead a zombie hunting party to the city one day and come across a group of humans who have ventured out of the stadium where they live. R attacks and kills Perry, the young man leading the group. As he bites into Perry’s brain, he’s hit with Perry’s memories of moments with his girlfriend Julie. When R recovers from these visions, he sees Julie cowering in a corner. Against all his zombie instincts, he rescues Julie from the other zombies and leads her back to his home, a 747 commercial jet parked at the end of a boarding tunnel. As R and Julie get to know each other better, Julie gradually loses her fear of R, R edges back toward humanity, and the two develop an unlikely friendship. But their relationship is a threat to those around them, both the humans and the Boneys, the animated and malignant skeletons that lead the zombie horde.
R is a zombie with a heart ― even if it’s not beating ― and philosophical thoughts that he can’t really share, since a zombie’s conversational abilities are so very limited. But he finds his tongue and heart are loosened as he gets to know Julie. And as R continues to snack on bits of Perry’s brain that he saved for later, many of Perry’s thoughts and memories are shared with him; kind of like in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, Perry is often a separate voice in R’s head. But R’s feelings are his own. R’s narration is intelligent and engaging, dealing with the horrors of his murderous lifestyle with self-deprecatory humor that, together with the slowly developing romance, lightens the otherwise bleak post-apocalyptic setting.
I got all the way to the end of Warm Bodies before I realized how many connections Isaac Marion has made to Romeo and Juliet. R and Julie are the star-crossed couple, with the zombies and humans playing the roles of the houses of the Montagues and Capulets. Perry is the analogue of Paris, Juliet’s ill-fated lover; Julie’s best friend Nora takes on the Nurse’s role as Juliet’s confidante; and R’s zombie friend M stands in for Mercutio, Romeo’s friend.
Despite the many character connections, the plot of the story is Isaac Marion’s own original creation. It’s a quirky but moving mixture of science fiction and fantasy, shifting from a fairly straight zombiepocalypse near-future setting to something that is a little more meta, fantastical and symbolic in the end, not to mention heart-warming.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review, along with The New Hunger (the prequel novella) and The Burning World, the 2017 sequel. The publicist was feeling generous, so I totally scored. Lots of reading yet to do, but this first book definitely didn't disappoint.
Content advisory: Though Warm Bodies is classified as a YA book by the publisher (not the author), it contains adult language and themes, and fairly graphic and gruesome violence. Not recommended for younger or more sensitive readers.
May 24, 2011
This was a big surprise, though not entirely a pleasant one.
Try imagining the most disgusting relationship in the history of mankind. Are you done yet? Need some help?
Now multiply that feeling of disgust by ten. Or even better, by a hundred. Oookay. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty nauseous here.
If you’ve got it, try thinking of a way to make that feeling and that relationship adorable. You heard me! Adorable. I thought it was impossible too, but I was very wrong. Isaac Marion actually did it.
R is a zombie. He and many others of his kind live in an old airport. A small group goes out regularly to hunt the Living. None of them remember anything from their previous lives, not even their own names. They aren't supposed to have feelings and they don’t speak. Some of them are pretty intelligent and observant, they just can't articulate thoughts into words.
Here’s how our R describes them:
Eating is not a pleasant business. I chew off a man’s arm, and I hate it. I hate his screams because I don’t like pain, I don’t like hurting people, but it’s the world now. This is what we do. Of course if I don’t eat all of him, if I spare his brain, he’ll rise up and follow me back to the airport, and that might make me feel better. I’ll introduce him to everyone, and maybe we’ll stand around and groan for a while. It’s hard to say what friends are any more, but that might be close.
I don’t know why we don’t speak. I can’t explain the suffocating silence that hangs over our world, cutting us from each other like prison-visit Plexiglas. Prepositions are painful, articles are arduous, adjectives are wild overachievements. Is this muteness a real physical handicap? One of the many symptoms of being Dead? Or do we just have nothing left to say?
A love story from a zombie’s POV really isn’t for everybody. Marion’s prose is beautiful and breathtaking at times, but he describes his world in gory details. It’s often bloody, smelly and disgusting. But, as it turns out, it’s also very sweet, gentle and simply adorable.
Through the memories of a guy whose brain he ate, R falls in love with a Living girl named Julie. He soon saves Julie from other zombies and hides her in an airplane to keep her safe. Step by step, Julie helps him remember what it was like to be alive.
If you think you can handle zombies carrying pieces of brain in their pockets and other zombies trying to have sex but not quite succeeding, you should really read this book. You won’t be sorry.
Favorite quote:
She smiles. Her eyes are classic novels and poetry.
Try imagining the most disgusting relationship in the history of mankind. Are you done yet? Need some help?
Now multiply that feeling of disgust by ten. Or even better, by a hundred. Oookay. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty nauseous here.
If you’ve got it, try thinking of a way to make that feeling and that relationship adorable. You heard me! Adorable. I thought it was impossible too, but I was very wrong. Isaac Marion actually did it.
R is a zombie. He and many others of his kind live in an old airport. A small group goes out regularly to hunt the Living. None of them remember anything from their previous lives, not even their own names. They aren't supposed to have feelings and they don’t speak. Some of them are pretty intelligent and observant, they just can't articulate thoughts into words.
Here’s how our R describes them:
Eating is not a pleasant business. I chew off a man’s arm, and I hate it. I hate his screams because I don’t like pain, I don’t like hurting people, but it’s the world now. This is what we do. Of course if I don’t eat all of him, if I spare his brain, he’ll rise up and follow me back to the airport, and that might make me feel better. I’ll introduce him to everyone, and maybe we’ll stand around and groan for a while. It’s hard to say what friends are any more, but that might be close.
I don’t know why we don’t speak. I can’t explain the suffocating silence that hangs over our world, cutting us from each other like prison-visit Plexiglas. Prepositions are painful, articles are arduous, adjectives are wild overachievements. Is this muteness a real physical handicap? One of the many symptoms of being Dead? Or do we just have nothing left to say?
A love story from a zombie’s POV really isn’t for everybody. Marion’s prose is beautiful and breathtaking at times, but he describes his world in gory details. It’s often bloody, smelly and disgusting. But, as it turns out, it’s also very sweet, gentle and simply adorable.
Through the memories of a guy whose brain he ate, R falls in love with a Living girl named Julie. He soon saves Julie from other zombies and hides her in an airplane to keep her safe. Step by step, Julie helps him remember what it was like to be alive.
If you think you can handle zombies carrying pieces of brain in their pockets and other zombies trying to have sex but not quite succeeding, you should really read this book. You won’t be sorry.
Favorite quote:
She smiles. Her eyes are classic novels and poetry.
September 1, 2015
I was quite skeptical, as well as intrigued, when I was sent "Warm Bodies" to review. I would never have imagined putting "zombie" and "romance" in the same sentence. I assumed the putrid decomposition of flesh and the eating of brains would have been a bit of a turn off.
After reading the first page I didn't know whether I would be able to take this book seriously: a zombie romance? And with quotes like these...
"My friend 'M' says thie irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off. "
"None of us are particularly attractive, but death has been kinder to me than some. I'm still in the early stages of decay. ..."
... my lips were twitching with suppressed laughter. But after only a few more pages I wasn't laughing any more, other than from the brilliant intentional dry sense of humour which was scattered throughout the book.
"Warm Bodies" was a total surprise. I didn't expect it to be so heart-warming or to love the hero as much as I did considering he's a brain munching zombie. I knew going in that this was a book about zombie romance, but it's not in the 'paranormal romance' style. It has a bittersweet edge - along side the sweet endearing thoughts of "R" there's lots of wonderfully descriptive detail on zombies eating humans, which was completely disgusting but I loved it all the same. I was right there with "R".
The reader stays inside the mind of "R", the hero of the piece, and I say 'hero' because that's exactly what he is. He does eat people, yes, and he shuffles along with only one thought and that's to munch his way through humanity, but things begin to change for "R" when he meets Julie. Unfortunately their meeting comes at an unfortunate moment, after "R" bites down on the skull of Perry, her boyfriend.
Nobody knows what caused the dead to rise. But "R", who remembers nothing of his former life before becoming one of the living dead, has glimpses of the lives he kills when eating their brains. Memories of his victims flicker by in his mind and he treasures them. But after meeting Julie, and eating Perry, things begin to change.
With each bite of cerebrum, Perry comes alive in "R's" mind and "R" sees Perry's life from childhood until the very moment he dies. He also sees Julie as part of Perry's memories and for some reason when he comes back to reality and sees her crouching and shivering with fright against the wall, he doesn't devour her but instead takes her hand and leads her back to his home.
"R" lives in an aeroplane at an abandoned disused airport with many other zombies, they call their gathering a 'hive'. They are also organised by another creature called the 'Boney's' - they are not nice! The zombies are also hunted by the few remaining humans, one of which is Julie's father. Julie and a few thousand other humans live in a stadium and have done for many years. It's a community where children are born with soldiers protecting the parameters. Not much of a life, but survival all the same.
There's a surprising amount of action in "Warm Bodies" and the story moves at an exciting pace. And when Julie and "R" become friends something miraculous happens and everything starts to transform for zombies and humans alike. The story ends a little ambiguously for my taste, but there's hope and the promise of new beginnings.
VERDICT:
I devoured this book and enjoyed it from beginning to end. It's quite somber, but contains delicious bittersweet moments that we can identify with regarding our own humanity and mortality. This book wants to make you think about who we are, what we are and what a gift life is and how we shouldn't take it for granted. As well as lots of brraaaaaaains - nom nom! ;)
After reading the first page I didn't know whether I would be able to take this book seriously: a zombie romance? And with quotes like these...
"My friend 'M' says thie irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off. "
"None of us are particularly attractive, but death has been kinder to me than some. I'm still in the early stages of decay. ..."
... my lips were twitching with suppressed laughter. But after only a few more pages I wasn't laughing any more, other than from the brilliant intentional dry sense of humour which was scattered throughout the book.
"Warm Bodies" was a total surprise. I didn't expect it to be so heart-warming or to love the hero as much as I did considering he's a brain munching zombie. I knew going in that this was a book about zombie romance, but it's not in the 'paranormal romance' style. It has a bittersweet edge - along side the sweet endearing thoughts of "R" there's lots of wonderfully descriptive detail on zombies eating humans, which was completely disgusting but I loved it all the same. I was right there with "R".
The reader stays inside the mind of "R", the hero of the piece, and I say 'hero' because that's exactly what he is. He does eat people, yes, and he shuffles along with only one thought and that's to munch his way through humanity, but things begin to change for "R" when he meets Julie. Unfortunately their meeting comes at an unfortunate moment, after "R" bites down on the skull of Perry, her boyfriend.
Nobody knows what caused the dead to rise. But "R", who remembers nothing of his former life before becoming one of the living dead, has glimpses of the lives he kills when eating their brains. Memories of his victims flicker by in his mind and he treasures them. But after meeting Julie, and eating Perry, things begin to change.
With each bite of cerebrum, Perry comes alive in "R's" mind and "R" sees Perry's life from childhood until the very moment he dies. He also sees Julie as part of Perry's memories and for some reason when he comes back to reality and sees her crouching and shivering with fright against the wall, he doesn't devour her but instead takes her hand and leads her back to his home.
"R" lives in an aeroplane at an abandoned disused airport with many other zombies, they call their gathering a 'hive'. They are also organised by another creature called the 'Boney's' - they are not nice! The zombies are also hunted by the few remaining humans, one of which is Julie's father. Julie and a few thousand other humans live in a stadium and have done for many years. It's a community where children are born with soldiers protecting the parameters. Not much of a life, but survival all the same.
There's a surprising amount of action in "Warm Bodies" and the story moves at an exciting pace. And when Julie and "R" become friends something miraculous happens and everything starts to transform for zombies and humans alike. The story ends a little ambiguously for my taste, but there's hope and the promise of new beginnings.
VERDICT:
I devoured this book and enjoyed it from beginning to end. It's quite somber, but contains delicious bittersweet moments that we can identify with regarding our own humanity and mortality. This book wants to make you think about who we are, what we are and what a gift life is and how we shouldn't take it for granted. As well as lots of brraaaaaaains - nom nom! ;)
October 16, 2012
With the new season of The Walking Dead back on tonight, I thought I'd go back and take a look at some killer (hah) zombie fiction. The closest book to the show Walking Dead that I've read is The First Days, so if you're needing more of that gory, survivalist-type of zombie book, I'd check that one out.
This book, however, is fresh in my mind due to the author himself making some recent comments that he's not altogether thrilled about some book stores shelving his book as Young Adult instead of Adult fiction.
As a reader who reads both YA and adult, I was sort of put off by this. After all, don't bite the hand that feeds you, right? A big portion of readers who have gravitated toward this book are YA readers. I even found out about the book through YA friendly readers.
Does the book read like adult or YA? Well, I have it shelved as New Adult/College because the female is on the younger side (19), but the male lead is hinted at being older. I honestly think the book would work for readers of both YA and adult fiction. It's an easy read but there's nothing young feeling about the book, other than getting to dodge a bullet on some of the extraneous world building that can happen in adult books, which is a bonus in my opinion. What makes this book stand out is some of the dry humor and the amusing take on a zombie love story. This may not be a hardcore zombie book, but sometimes different is perfectly okay!
Original Non-review March 2012
Every so often, I decide to bypass writing a review, in favor of letting the book speak for itself. These quotes could probably sell you far better than my own words would.
I notice a female on the opposite conveyor. She doesn't lurch or groan like most of us; her head just lolls from side to side. I like that about her.
.....
Eating is not a pleasant business. I chew off a man's arm, and I hate it.
Of course if I don't eat all of him, if I spare his brain, he'll rise up and follow me back to the airport, and that might make me feel better. I'll introduce him to everyone, and maybe we'll stand around and groan for a while.
.....
We sit against the tiles of the bathroom wall with our legs sprawled out in front of us, passing the brain back and forth, taking small, leisurely bites and enjoying brief flashes of human experience.
'Good...shit,' M wheezes.
.....
He is gaping at a late-night soft-core movie. I don't know why he does this. Erotica is meaningless for us now. The blood doesn't pump, the passion doesn't surge. I've walked in on M with his 'girlfriends' before, and they're just standing there naked, staring at each other, sometimes rubbing their bodies together but looking tired and lost.
.....
"Why is it beautiful that humanity keeps coming back? Herpes does that too."
.....
I suck in air and attempt to sing. "You're...sensational..." I croak, struggling for a trace of Frank's melody.
There's a pause and then something shifts in Julie's demeanor. I realise she's laughing.
"Oh wow," she giggles. "That was beautiful, R, really. You and Zombie Sinatra should record Duets, Volume 2."
I cough. "Didn't get...warm-up."
This book, however, is fresh in my mind due to the author himself making some recent comments that he's not altogether thrilled about some book stores shelving his book as Young Adult instead of Adult fiction.
As a reader who reads both YA and adult, I was sort of put off by this. After all, don't bite the hand that feeds you, right? A big portion of readers who have gravitated toward this book are YA readers. I even found out about the book through YA friendly readers.
Does the book read like adult or YA? Well, I have it shelved as New Adult/College because the female is on the younger side (19), but the male lead is hinted at being older. I honestly think the book would work for readers of both YA and adult fiction. It's an easy read but there's nothing young feeling about the book, other than getting to dodge a bullet on some of the extraneous world building that can happen in adult books, which is a bonus in my opinion. What makes this book stand out is some of the dry humor and the amusing take on a zombie love story. This may not be a hardcore zombie book, but sometimes different is perfectly okay!
Original Non-review March 2012
Every so often, I decide to bypass writing a review, in favor of letting the book speak for itself. These quotes could probably sell you far better than my own words would.
I notice a female on the opposite conveyor. She doesn't lurch or groan like most of us; her head just lolls from side to side. I like that about her.
.....
Eating is not a pleasant business. I chew off a man's arm, and I hate it.
Of course if I don't eat all of him, if I spare his brain, he'll rise up and follow me back to the airport, and that might make me feel better. I'll introduce him to everyone, and maybe we'll stand around and groan for a while.
.....
We sit against the tiles of the bathroom wall with our legs sprawled out in front of us, passing the brain back and forth, taking small, leisurely bites and enjoying brief flashes of human experience.
'Good...shit,' M wheezes.
.....
He is gaping at a late-night soft-core movie. I don't know why he does this. Erotica is meaningless for us now. The blood doesn't pump, the passion doesn't surge. I've walked in on M with his 'girlfriends' before, and they're just standing there naked, staring at each other, sometimes rubbing their bodies together but looking tired and lost.
.....
"Why is it beautiful that humanity keeps coming back? Herpes does that too."
.....
I suck in air and attempt to sing. "You're...sensational..." I croak, struggling for a trace of Frank's melody.
There's a pause and then something shifts in Julie's demeanor. I realise she's laughing.
"Oh wow," she giggles. "That was beautiful, R, really. You and Zombie Sinatra should record Duets, Volume 2."
I cough. "Didn't get...warm-up."
November 20, 2012
amazing book, just read it!
October 27, 2018
'Living!' he sputters. 'Eat!'
I shake my head. 'No.'
'Eat!'
'No!'
The end of the world as we know it from a zombie’s point of view.
R lives at the abandoned airport at a 747 aeroplane. He likes collecting things from the past before almost all the people died or became zombies and loves listening to old records.
I go to the record player. The Sinatra record is still going, skipping on a blank inner groove, so I nudge the needle to 'Come Fly With Me'.
He has no memories, no past, no future. He enjoys taking trips to the city with his friend M and the order airport zombies and feeding with available alive humans. He specifically enjoys eating brains because he can watch like a movie the memories of the person that the brains belonged to.
One day he kills someone and he eats his brains as usual and that specific someone had a girlfriend. And just like that R is in love. He saves the girlfriend of the deceased, he takes her back to his 747 home and he looks after her i.e. he doesn't eat her, he doesn't let the other zombies eat her and he provides shelter and food for her.
Julie doesn't understand why she is still alive but I have to admit that she is very cool and apathetic about the whole situation.
‘Do you really not remember what it was like before? All the political and social breakdowns? The global flooding? The wars and riots and constant bombings? The world was pretty far gone before you guys even showed up. You were just the final judgement.'
'But we're ... what's killing you. Now.'
Julie starts to realise that R is more than he looks and acts.
When Julie goes back to her people, R will follow her.
'But I had to go home, remember? You were supposed to say goodbye.'
'Don't know why you ... say goodbye. I say... hello.'
So, this story could be considered a manifest evidence of
...the hope that dies last,
...the humanity that finds ways to survive,
...unbroken souls and meaningful memories that influence the life of people,
...unconditional love that brings together two persons that are the furthest apart,
...life that always wins over death ,
...forgiveness and understanding,
...dreams and desires that worth more than everyday routine.
I just consider it a very sweet love story.
I shake my head. 'No.'
'Eat!'
'No!'
The end of the world as we know it from a zombie’s point of view.
R lives at the abandoned airport at a 747 aeroplane. He likes collecting things from the past before almost all the people died or became zombies and loves listening to old records.
I go to the record player. The Sinatra record is still going, skipping on a blank inner groove, so I nudge the needle to 'Come Fly With Me'.
He has no memories, no past, no future. He enjoys taking trips to the city with his friend M and the order airport zombies and feeding with available alive humans. He specifically enjoys eating brains because he can watch like a movie the memories of the person that the brains belonged to.
One day he kills someone and he eats his brains as usual and that specific someone had a girlfriend. And just like that R is in love. He saves the girlfriend of the deceased, he takes her back to his 747 home and he looks after her i.e. he doesn't eat her, he doesn't let the other zombies eat her and he provides shelter and food for her.
Julie doesn't understand why she is still alive but I have to admit that she is very cool and apathetic about the whole situation.
‘Do you really not remember what it was like before? All the political and social breakdowns? The global flooding? The wars and riots and constant bombings? The world was pretty far gone before you guys even showed up. You were just the final judgement.'
'But we're ... what's killing you. Now.'
Julie starts to realise that R is more than he looks and acts.
When Julie goes back to her people, R will follow her.
'But I had to go home, remember? You were supposed to say goodbye.'
'Don't know why you ... say goodbye. I say... hello.'
So, this story could be considered a manifest evidence of
...the hope that dies last,
...the humanity that finds ways to survive,
...unbroken souls and meaningful memories that influence the life of people,
...unconditional love that brings together two persons that are the furthest apart,
...life that always wins over death ,
...forgiveness and understanding,
...dreams and desires that worth more than everyday routine.
I just consider it a very sweet love story.
January 16, 2013
**SPOILER ALERT**
I so wanted to like this. I read the first half very quickly and enjoyed it; I was curious to see where it was going to go. I found it initially an interesting concept - zombie as not a mindless entity. It was a little confusing with Perry, but I did appreciate the idea that zombies crave and eat the brain at least in part to relive memories. That was a new twist, for sure. As soon as I realized where the author was going with the plot, though, I started to lose interest. I mean, I get that it is hard to come up with a new take on the zombie novel, and I am all in favor of peace, love and harmony, but the idea of love being the cure to the zombie plague just made me roll my eyes. I appreciate the theme of "if we took the time to understand our enemies, we could progress toward peace" but it just didn't work for me here.
Also, the whole, painfully obvious -Romeo & Juliet- thing made me want to retch. The zombie is "R(omeo)", the girl he is in love with is Julie(t), her previous boyfriend who R eats is Perry (Paris), and R's best friend is M(ecrutio). I mean, really, obvious much?
And what's with Julie being so forgiving of R killing Perry? He killed him and ate him and she just kinda shrugs it all off? The death of the first boy she ever loved? No no no. Perry winds up being portrayed as the monster when all he's trying to do is, hello? Survive in a zombie apocalypse!! And R, the *actual* monster, gets off easy because he falls in love. Right.
Zombie war ended by teenage love. Glowing yellow eyes after being infused by love. Zombie Jesus, anyone?
Failed zombie book, failed romance story. A disappointing finish for me, sad to say.
I so wanted to like this. I read the first half very quickly and enjoyed it; I was curious to see where it was going to go. I found it initially an interesting concept - zombie as not a mindless entity. It was a little confusing with Perry, but I did appreciate the idea that zombies crave and eat the brain at least in part to relive memories. That was a new twist, for sure. As soon as I realized where the author was going with the plot, though, I started to lose interest. I mean, I get that it is hard to come up with a new take on the zombie novel, and I am all in favor of peace, love and harmony, but the idea of love being the cure to the zombie plague just made me roll my eyes. I appreciate the theme of "if we took the time to understand our enemies, we could progress toward peace" but it just didn't work for me here.
Also, the whole, painfully obvious -Romeo & Juliet- thing made me want to retch. The zombie is "R(omeo)", the girl he is in love with is Julie(t), her previous boyfriend who R eats is Perry (Paris), and R's best friend is M(ecrutio). I mean, really, obvious much?
And what's with Julie being so forgiving of R killing Perry? He killed him and ate him and she just kinda shrugs it all off? The death of the first boy she ever loved? No no no. Perry winds up being portrayed as the monster when all he's trying to do is, hello? Survive in a zombie apocalypse!! And R, the *actual* monster, gets off easy because he falls in love. Right.
Zombie war ended by teenage love. Glowing yellow eyes after being infused by love. Zombie Jesus, anyone?
Failed zombie book, failed romance story. A disappointing finish for me, sad to say.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2021
I thought this book was amazing!
It has some extremely philosophical passages that had me rereading several of them again and again. Zombies as a metaphor for our disconnected world is not new, but this author's mind is fascinating. I love the way he thinks and the way he writes and conveys his ideas so clearly. He just makes so much sense! And he does all this while telling you the most entrancing story involving a zombie and a beautiful girl. It's Romeo and Juliet with a major twist!
The movie adaptation of this novel was also amazing: funny, gruesome and downright metaphorical. I loved watching the emotional "awakening" of the zombies. Those scenes were both comical and touching.
I've read quite a few of this author's books. I like the way he sees the world, and how he believes we can generate positive change. Nothing makes me happier than a dystopian novel that actually ends on an upbeat note. It would have been so easy to be defeatist and point out that humanity got everything it deserved. But, thankfully, Isaac Marion is made of stronger stuff and still holds out hope for us all. Highly recommended - the series of books and the movie!
It has some extremely philosophical passages that had me rereading several of them again and again. Zombies as a metaphor for our disconnected world is not new, but this author's mind is fascinating. I love the way he thinks and the way he writes and conveys his ideas so clearly. He just makes so much sense! And he does all this while telling you the most entrancing story involving a zombie and a beautiful girl. It's Romeo and Juliet with a major twist!
The movie adaptation of this novel was also amazing: funny, gruesome and downright metaphorical. I loved watching the emotional "awakening" of the zombies. Those scenes were both comical and touching.
I've read quite a few of this author's books. I like the way he sees the world, and how he believes we can generate positive change. Nothing makes me happier than a dystopian novel that actually ends on an upbeat note. It would have been so easy to be defeatist and point out that humanity got everything it deserved. But, thankfully, Isaac Marion is made of stronger stuff and still holds out hope for us all. Highly recommended - the series of books and the movie!
May 12, 2018
It’s official: this book is fuckin whack. But somehow good?!?! I don’t really understand how this works but it does… and why did it take me so long to read it?? Isaac Marion is strangely great at giving a zombie perspective.
R + Julie for life and death.
R + Julie for life and death.
November 25, 2018
The world has been distilled. Being dead is easy.
This is a fantastic book. I watched the movie first because I thought it looked funny and now it's one of my favorite films. I decided to read the book, because as the old adage goes, "The book is always better than the movie."
Oh how that's true.
This humanized (quite literally) the zombies and their plight, while making epic comparisons to the state of survival versus living. What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be undead?
This book is so much more than a Romeo and Juliet zombie drama. This is so much more than the Twilight with zombies. It's about how love is what makes us human, sometimes quite liteRally.
"You should always be taking pictures, if not with a camera then with your mind. Memories you capture on purpose are always more vivid than the ones you pick up by accident."
June 5, 2015
I read this book to complete the #TBRTakedown challenge of reading a book outside my comfort zone. I've never been into zombie movies and until this book, I've never read any books with zombies. Overall, I just thought this book was okay.. Some parts really grossed me out... Parts of it seemed rushed and like we didn't get to learn a lot about the world.. Or there just wasn't enough world building I suppose... I did think it was interesting and I liked the changes the main character, R, went through... If you are really into zombie movies/books you'll probably like it.
January 10, 2013
I fell in love with a zombie. There, I said it out loud and I’m not embarrassed. Isaac Marion’s novel, Warm Bodies, is a romance. Yes, a zombie romance! Now before you all get grossed out on me, hear me out. In this author’s post-zombie apocalypse world, you first meet R. R isn’t your typical zombie that shuffles around mumbling “Braaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnnssss!” until he stumbles upon his next meal. You step right into R’s shoes. In this world, zombies are dead (of course), and they are really reduced to the basic human needs, like food, love, companionship. But these zombies think and wax poetic about the important things in life (or afterlife in zombies’ case), but it's all inside their head since they can only utter monosyllabic words. Zombies group together in hives, where they socialize, form hunting groups to bring back kills for those unable to hunt for themselves, adopt babies and even get married.
The main character, R is a zombie first and foremost. Although he isn’t as decayed as some of the others, he can’t remember much of his life. He can’t even remember his name, only that it started with an R. His hive is a dilapidated airport that has sporadic electricity. One of his favorite things to do is ride the moving walkways back and forth, thinking about the meaning of things that he can’t verbalize. He has made an airplane into his own little home, where he collects records and other memorabilia that he finds on hunting trips.
It is on one of these hunting trips from the airport into the nearest big city that R stumbles upon a small group of humans that are out on a scavenging trip at a pharmaceutical business. Once inside, they overtake the small group and R kills a teenage guy named Perry. In Marian’s zombie verse, the zombies actually get a glimpse of the human’s thoughts and memories when they eat the brain. Once R consumes a small part of Perry’s brain, he has vivid flashes of Perry’s memory, especially Perry’s girlfriend Julie. She happens to be on the salvaging trip along with a few others. Surprised by these new feelings that he has for this human, he brings Julie back to the airport to protect her.
But Julie isn’t the only thing that R brings back with him. He’s pocketed Perry’s brain and he slowly doles out portions to himself so he can savor the feelings and memories of Julie. As R spends more time with Julie, he slowly starts to gain some of his humanity back, starting with speech. Throughout the novel, you get to know Perry through each little piece of him that R consumes. You also learn that zombies can be pretty articulate inside their head, but they can’t verbalize it so much.
Some things are standard in tales of zombies, such as moaning, blood and guts, mindless hunger. But Isaac Marion doesn’t dwell on these items; he lets you see just how complex a zombie really can be. Throughout R’s growing relationship with Julie, the author explores how humanizing love can be, even when you’re surrounded by constant death and decay. And no matter how trapped inside yourself you are, there’s always a way to come back into the world of the living.
Originally posted on Bewitched Bookworms
The main character, R is a zombie first and foremost. Although he isn’t as decayed as some of the others, he can’t remember much of his life. He can’t even remember his name, only that it started with an R. His hive is a dilapidated airport that has sporadic electricity. One of his favorite things to do is ride the moving walkways back and forth, thinking about the meaning of things that he can’t verbalize. He has made an airplane into his own little home, where he collects records and other memorabilia that he finds on hunting trips.
It is on one of these hunting trips from the airport into the nearest big city that R stumbles upon a small group of humans that are out on a scavenging trip at a pharmaceutical business. Once inside, they overtake the small group and R kills a teenage guy named Perry. In Marian’s zombie verse, the zombies actually get a glimpse of the human’s thoughts and memories when they eat the brain. Once R consumes a small part of Perry’s brain, he has vivid flashes of Perry’s memory, especially Perry’s girlfriend Julie. She happens to be on the salvaging trip along with a few others. Surprised by these new feelings that he has for this human, he brings Julie back to the airport to protect her.
But Julie isn’t the only thing that R brings back with him. He’s pocketed Perry’s brain and he slowly doles out portions to himself so he can savor the feelings and memories of Julie. As R spends more time with Julie, he slowly starts to gain some of his humanity back, starting with speech. Throughout the novel, you get to know Perry through each little piece of him that R consumes. You also learn that zombies can be pretty articulate inside their head, but they can’t verbalize it so much.
Some things are standard in tales of zombies, such as moaning, blood and guts, mindless hunger. But Isaac Marion doesn’t dwell on these items; he lets you see just how complex a zombie really can be. Throughout R’s growing relationship with Julie, the author explores how humanizing love can be, even when you’re surrounded by constant death and decay. And no matter how trapped inside yourself you are, there’s always a way to come back into the world of the living.
Originally posted on Bewitched Bookworms
November 12, 2012
Update: Just saw movie trailer....i laughed out loud...and squealed. Here is the link ---> http://youtu.be/qrI8YIZsBok
HOLY. MOTHER. OF. ALL. THAT. IS. GORGEOUS.
Could any amount of my insignificant words fully encompass the greatness of this book? The answer here is no, no because the words printed on each copy of Warm Bodies are already tuned to a vast perfection greater than the sky itself. Isaac Marion..I applaud you, I give you ten million standing ovations, I declare you to be a master of words, an enchanter of souls, a rainbow at the end of a hurricane. Dear God and all the deities that exist, Mr. Marion...is such a truly, inexplicably, amazing writer.
"Are my words ever actually audible, or do they just echo in my head while people stare at me, waiting? I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I’m drowning in ellipses."
I suppose that from my opening paragraph you all have it pretty clear that I REALLY liked this book, but not for the reasons you may think. Let me start off with a summary of the plot so I can go into more detail on why I fell in love with this book. Alright, so Warm Bodies is sort of a Romeo&Juliet meets Twilight meets a zombie apocalypse meets universal human truth and philosophy. R, a zombie introduces us to an apocalyptic world, where everything is going to shit and zombies go around eating the brains of the living. R gets the munchies one day and goes off to get some dinner with his best friend M; R ends up eating the brains of a young guy named Perry. Something crucial to the storyline is the fact that zombies need to eat people to stay alive, they also like eating the brains because they get to sort of "see" the memories of the person who's brain they are eating. Turns out Perry has a girlfriend named Julie, so when R eats Perry's brain he gets flashbacks that make him want to keep Julie safe. He takes her back to his house to protect her from the rest of the zombies and then things start getting weird, and confusing, and beautiful, and new and I wont ruin it so this is all you get (haha). I have to admit that the plot is very original. Zombies are painted in a very different light in this book, being described more as "humans with diseases" rather than a "spawn of the dead" type thing. Right from the beginning I knew I wasn't going to sleep until I finished this book. I read for 4 hours straight. I regret nothing.
"Outside our walls were hordes of men and monsters eager to steal what we had, and inside was our own mad stew, so many cultures and languages and incompatible values packed into one tiny box. Our world was too small to share peacefully; consensus never came, harmony was impossible. So we adjusted our goals."
What you have to understand here is that while I did think the plot was amazingly original it is not what drew me in and gripped my heart. What has me reeling and panting from the book high is the style, the content, the ideas that the author incorporated into this piece of literature that should be taught in schools, read by millions and shared by the world. Put the zombie-human-romance aside and you get the huge question of existence. Why are we here? Who the hell are we? What is the purpose of us getting up every damn morning if our lives are doomed to end? What does the name we are given do for our identity? If the world went to hell, would we fight to get it back or would we let it rot along with us? These answerless questions are all brought to the surface by this book. The author takes no prisoners. He makes us analyze our humanity without us even noticing. The style of writing is breath-taking. The way this author uses words to display emotion and thought and even action is something few authors can do. Its raw talent and polished training all at once.
"Underdeveloped, murky, faded to sepia like centuries-old film, scenes from my old life flicker in the void of sleep. Amorphous figures walk through melting doorways into shadowy rooms. Voices crawl through my head, deep and slurring like drunken giants. I play ambiguous sports, I watch incoherent movies, I talk and laugh with anonymous blurs."
If this book had just been about a zombie who falls in love with a girl I would have probably given it 3 stars...but this book is hardly as simple as that. Its lyrical. It flows. It describes so much in such a compact space. This book is one big metaphor that you start discovering as you read. Its the "Who are you and what made you?" question that envelops the characters. The awkward pull of feeling warmth towards something that should cause repulsion. The ying and yang of all we are, all we hope to be, and all we will ever be.
"We will cry and bleed and lust and love, and we will cure death. We will be the cure. Because we want it."
Not all of you will get as intertwined as I did with this book, but I do recommend it. You don't have to sit there and philosophically analyze it if you don't want, it is a very entertaining read regardless. The movie also comes out February 2013 so I'm looking forward to that. I loved this book, I think everyone should definitely read it. And I could write so much more but this is already a freaking novel I will just control myself and stop. For now...I'll go to bed and dream of zombies who are capable of love...and humans who are so flawed it can't help but be beautiful.
HOLY. MOTHER. OF. ALL. THAT. IS. GORGEOUS.
Could any amount of my insignificant words fully encompass the greatness of this book? The answer here is no, no because the words printed on each copy of Warm Bodies are already tuned to a vast perfection greater than the sky itself. Isaac Marion..I applaud you, I give you ten million standing ovations, I declare you to be a master of words, an enchanter of souls, a rainbow at the end of a hurricane. Dear God and all the deities that exist, Mr. Marion...is such a truly, inexplicably, amazing writer.
"Are my words ever actually audible, or do they just echo in my head while people stare at me, waiting? I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I’m drowning in ellipses."
I suppose that from my opening paragraph you all have it pretty clear that I REALLY liked this book, but not for the reasons you may think. Let me start off with a summary of the plot so I can go into more detail on why I fell in love with this book. Alright, so Warm Bodies is sort of a Romeo&Juliet meets Twilight meets a zombie apocalypse meets universal human truth and philosophy. R, a zombie introduces us to an apocalyptic world, where everything is going to shit and zombies go around eating the brains of the living. R gets the munchies one day and goes off to get some dinner with his best friend M; R ends up eating the brains of a young guy named Perry. Something crucial to the storyline is the fact that zombies need to eat people to stay alive, they also like eating the brains because they get to sort of "see" the memories of the person who's brain they are eating. Turns out Perry has a girlfriend named Julie, so when R eats Perry's brain he gets flashbacks that make him want to keep Julie safe. He takes her back to his house to protect her from the rest of the zombies and then things start getting weird, and confusing, and beautiful, and new and I wont ruin it so this is all you get (haha). I have to admit that the plot is very original. Zombies are painted in a very different light in this book, being described more as "humans with diseases" rather than a "spawn of the dead" type thing. Right from the beginning I knew I wasn't going to sleep until I finished this book. I read for 4 hours straight. I regret nothing.
"Outside our walls were hordes of men and monsters eager to steal what we had, and inside was our own mad stew, so many cultures and languages and incompatible values packed into one tiny box. Our world was too small to share peacefully; consensus never came, harmony was impossible. So we adjusted our goals."
What you have to understand here is that while I did think the plot was amazingly original it is not what drew me in and gripped my heart. What has me reeling and panting from the book high is the style, the content, the ideas that the author incorporated into this piece of literature that should be taught in schools, read by millions and shared by the world. Put the zombie-human-romance aside and you get the huge question of existence. Why are we here? Who the hell are we? What is the purpose of us getting up every damn morning if our lives are doomed to end? What does the name we are given do for our identity? If the world went to hell, would we fight to get it back or would we let it rot along with us? These answerless questions are all brought to the surface by this book. The author takes no prisoners. He makes us analyze our humanity without us even noticing. The style of writing is breath-taking. The way this author uses words to display emotion and thought and even action is something few authors can do. Its raw talent and polished training all at once.
"Underdeveloped, murky, faded to sepia like centuries-old film, scenes from my old life flicker in the void of sleep. Amorphous figures walk through melting doorways into shadowy rooms. Voices crawl through my head, deep and slurring like drunken giants. I play ambiguous sports, I watch incoherent movies, I talk and laugh with anonymous blurs."
If this book had just been about a zombie who falls in love with a girl I would have probably given it 3 stars...but this book is hardly as simple as that. Its lyrical. It flows. It describes so much in such a compact space. This book is one big metaphor that you start discovering as you read. Its the "Who are you and what made you?" question that envelops the characters. The awkward pull of feeling warmth towards something that should cause repulsion. The ying and yang of all we are, all we hope to be, and all we will ever be.
"We will cry and bleed and lust and love, and we will cure death. We will be the cure. Because we want it."
Not all of you will get as intertwined as I did with this book, but I do recommend it. You don't have to sit there and philosophically analyze it if you don't want, it is a very entertaining read regardless. The movie also comes out February 2013 so I'm looking forward to that. I loved this book, I think everyone should definitely read it. And I could write so much more but this is already a freaking novel I will just control myself and stop. For now...I'll go to bed and dream of zombies who are capable of love...and humans who are so flawed it can't help but be beautiful.
April 6, 2011
R and Julie’s story is probably the strangest, creepiest, yet sweetest and most hopeful thing I’ve come across in ages. You see, WARM BODIES is a zombie romance, literally. Instead of the expected survivors falling for each other given the end of days shtick, we have an actual zombie love story. The concept had me questioning would I buy it? Or better yet, would Julie? Even if the background was not as clearly explained as I want it to be, MAN, would I like to pick the brain of the person behind this story!
His zombie world reminded me of Tom Imura in R&R. Tom 'quiets' the undead for those left behind. Marion kicks the concept of suffering creatures up a couple of notches. Here zombies, dead though they may be, retain a semblance of their past lives. I repeat: a semblance. Take any normal human thing and reduce it to its most basic. Zombies love, zombies crave and hunger… and as R establishes, zombies think.. (a lot.)
But that isn’t even the most interesting bit! Let me back up, the zombies offered up in this one can be summed up thus, You are what you eat. Well, sort of. When they consume, they see catch flickers of their victims’ memories and experiences. With that concept in place, we meet R the MC-zombie who surprisingly waxes on and on about his/their existence, being. Driven by some inexplicable anger, he leads his fellow undead on a hunt where he meets then eats Perry. The surprise is Perry’s memories are sharper and clearer to R than anything he had previously, uh… consumed. It is Perry’s memories, that compel him to protect Julie, the deceased’s girlfriend. It gets weirder, I promise.
The confusing in a cool way parts involved R re-living/ remembering Perry. So all at once, we see one of them spiral into apathy, and the other (R) regain bits and pieces of his humanity. This was probably the most interesting thing for me. My problem was R’s waxing poetic/philosophical about the situation, purple prose. But seeing Perry lose hope through R’s eyes was a rather unique experience. I could definitely feel R’s confusion about what he saw, but Perry’s dissatisfaction/apathy came across loud and clear too.
So here are three things I’m paraphrasing form WARM BODIES to describe it and how it made me feel: I felt confused. I felt afraid. YET I anticipated; I wanted to know what was in store for them.
The Gist:
The biggest CON, apparently the musings of a zombie tend toward purple. Fortunately, I encountered PRO’s a-plenty to have me continue.
3.5/5
His zombie world reminded me of Tom Imura in R&R. Tom 'quiets' the undead for those left behind. Marion kicks the concept of suffering creatures up a couple of notches. Here zombies, dead though they may be, retain a semblance of their past lives. I repeat: a semblance. Take any normal human thing and reduce it to its most basic. Zombies love, zombies crave and hunger… and as R establishes, zombies think.. (a lot.)
But that isn’t even the most interesting bit! Let me back up, the zombies offered up in this one can be summed up thus, You are what you eat. Well, sort of. When they consume, they see catch flickers of their victims’ memories and experiences. With that concept in place, we meet R the MC-zombie who surprisingly waxes on and on about his/their existence, being. Driven by some inexplicable anger, he leads his fellow undead on a hunt where he meets then eats Perry. The surprise is Perry’s memories are sharper and clearer to R than anything he had previously, uh… consumed. It is Perry’s memories, that compel him to protect Julie, the deceased’s girlfriend. It gets weirder, I promise.
The confusing in a cool way parts involved R re-living/ remembering Perry. So all at once, we see one of them spiral into apathy, and the other (R) regain bits and pieces of his humanity. This was probably the most interesting thing for me. My problem was R’s waxing poetic/philosophical about the situation, purple prose. But seeing Perry lose hope through R’s eyes was a rather unique experience. I could definitely feel R’s confusion about what he saw, but Perry’s dissatisfaction/apathy came across loud and clear too.
So here are three things I’m paraphrasing form WARM BODIES to describe it and how it made me feel: I felt confused. I felt afraid. YET I anticipated; I wanted to know what was in store for them.
The Gist:
The biggest CON, apparently the musings of a zombie tend toward purple. Fortunately, I encountered PRO’s a-plenty to have me continue.
3.5/5
June 26, 2011
4 1/2 stars.
I only read this book because I was expecting blood, gore and mild necrophilia.
Instead, I got a beautifully poetic book full of immaculately developed characters and gorgeous prose that demolished the well-worn cliches of zombie literature and everything I thought I knew about those old shufflers.
Man I hate it when I don't get what I want.
Pfft.
I only read this book because I was expecting blood, gore and mild necrophilia.
Instead, I got a beautifully poetic book full of immaculately developed characters and gorgeous prose that demolished the well-worn cliches of zombie literature and everything I thought I knew about those old shufflers.
Man I hate it when I don't get what I want.
Pfft.
January 2, 2014
I'm sorry I can't properly introduce myself, but I don't have a name any more. Hardly any of us do. We lose them like car keys, forget them like anniversaries. Mine might have started with an 'R', but that's all I have for now.
None of us are particularly attractive, but death has been kinder to me than some. I'm still in the early stages of decay. Just the grey skin, the unpleasant smell, the dark circles under my eyes. I could almost pass for a Living man in need of a vacation.
Isaac Marion's debut novel is narrated by a zombie named R. He isn't your typical zombie with a single-minded craving for yummy yummy brains; he has thoughts, feelings, a conscience, and most importantly, love. After falling head over heels for a human named Julie, R starts a chain of events that might change the world forever.
Warm Bodies (the book) was released in 2011. It's prequel (which I read first), The New Hunger, wasn't released until 2013. The books are very different and do not have to be read in order. The New Hunger is narrated from the perspective of the survivor trying to adjust and survive in the world during/after the Zombie Apocalypse. Warm Bodies on the other hand is narrated from the perspective of one of the living dead. The two books work well together in telling the full apocalypse story.
The thing I love most about both of these books is their eloquently written and smooth flowing narrative. Marion's writing is simply poetic.
First, you have the humor:
The spread of the zombie virus, although medical in theory, perhaps is just another way of personifying what happens when we allow ourselves to be governed by things which do not matter, and, in effect, become no more than human shells acting out a life of falsehood, always in search of external, spiritless rewards.
In 2013 Warm Bodies (the movie), was released. After finishing the book, I moved on to the movie, and it is a pretty good adaptation of Marion's work.
R - played by Nicholas Hoult (who you may remember as the child in the movie About A Boy)
If you crave zombie stories like zombies crave brains, you should have read this book yesterday. But if shambling, decaying, bloodthirsty creatures of horror aren't necessarily your thing, there's still plenty to enjoy about Warm Bodies.
So before you shamble off to the couch to stare blankly at a television screen and feast on warm, butteredbrains popcorn, pick up the book and read Warm Bodies and experience a zombie story with brains and heart.
(This is my last review for books read in 2013. Thanks to all of you who have liked and commented on my reviews. Best wishes for a joyous, fun and informative reading year in 2014.)
None of us are particularly attractive, but death has been kinder to me than some. I'm still in the early stages of decay. Just the grey skin, the unpleasant smell, the dark circles under my eyes. I could almost pass for a Living man in need of a vacation.
Isaac Marion's debut novel is narrated by a zombie named R. He isn't your typical zombie with a single-minded craving for yummy yummy brains; he has thoughts, feelings, a conscience, and most importantly, love. After falling head over heels for a human named Julie, R starts a chain of events that might change the world forever.
Warm Bodies (the book) was released in 2011. It's prequel (which I read first), The New Hunger, wasn't released until 2013. The books are very different and do not have to be read in order. The New Hunger is narrated from the perspective of the survivor trying to adjust and survive in the world during/after the Zombie Apocalypse. Warm Bodies on the other hand is narrated from the perspective of one of the living dead. The two books work well together in telling the full apocalypse story.
The thing I love most about both of these books is their eloquently written and smooth flowing narrative. Marion's writing is simply poetic.
First, you have the humor:
“I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I'm drowning in ellipses.”To the more thought provoking:
“My friend "M" says the irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off.”
“I am dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it. ”These words express so well what it means to be a zombie: to live in an eternal state of apathy, not alive, not truly dead, just there.
“The past is made out of facts...I guess the future is just hope.”R's chronicles of life, surprisingly articulate and thoughtful for an undead, soon lead us to the realization that, for R at least, there is still hope for a revival of the human spirit.
“It frustrates and fascinates me that we'll never know for sure, that despite the best efforts of historians and scientists and poets, there are some things we'll just never know. What the first song sounded like. How it felt to see the first photograph. Who kissed the first kiss, and if it was any good.”
“There's no benchmark for how life's "supposed" to happen. There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, it's up to you how you respond to it.”Such symbolism throughout the novel leaves readers with more than one new perspective on the shape of today's society, and on what really matters in day-to-day life.
The spread of the zombie virus, although medical in theory, perhaps is just another way of personifying what happens when we allow ourselves to be governed by things which do not matter, and, in effect, become no more than human shells acting out a life of falsehood, always in search of external, spiritless rewards.
In 2013 Warm Bodies (the movie), was released. After finishing the book, I moved on to the movie, and it is a pretty good adaptation of Marion's work.
R - played by Nicholas Hoult (who you may remember as the child in the movie About A Boy)
If you crave zombie stories like zombies crave brains, you should have read this book yesterday. But if shambling, decaying, bloodthirsty creatures of horror aren't necessarily your thing, there's still plenty to enjoy about Warm Bodies.
So before you shamble off to the couch to stare blankly at a television screen and feast on warm, buttered
(This is my last review for books read in 2013. Thanks to all of you who have liked and commented on my reviews. Best wishes for a joyous, fun and informative reading year in 2014.)
July 20, 2016
finished and I loved it!!
I'm so freakin excited to be starting this!!! Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a love for all things zombies. So when my sis told me about a zombie romance, I said hell yeah I need to read this!!! I'm ready for some Zombie love!! Buddy read with Marta, Brenda and Rosanna!
**********************************************************
Can't wait to meet the very interesting and very dead "R"
I'm so freakin excited to be starting this!!! Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a love for all things zombies. So when my sis told me about a zombie romance, I said hell yeah I need to read this!!! I'm ready for some Zombie love!! Buddy read with Marta, Brenda and Rosanna!
**********************************************************
Can't wait to meet the very interesting and very dead "R"
July 11, 2023
This actually was quite good despite me not liking books with zombies 99% of the time.
April 10, 2016
3.5 stars
A philosophical zombie love story is not something I expected! I thoroughly enjoyed this and the prose was gorgeous (albeit a bit purple, but enjoyable still). I REALLY WISH I READ THIS WHEN THE SEQUEL WAS ALREADY OUT THOUGH. I have so many questions I need answered!
A philosophical zombie love story is not something I expected! I thoroughly enjoyed this and the prose was gorgeous (albeit a bit purple, but enjoyable still). I REALLY WISH I READ THIS WHEN THE SEQUEL WAS ALREADY OUT THOUGH. I have so many questions I need answered!
October 26, 2016
Wholly unexpected, thoroughly enjoyable. Full review to come...
May 6, 2021
The beginning of this was a five-star read for me. Off the charts clever and I was completely able to suspend disbelief and believe this "zombie" could have such a smart inner dialogue. The keyword in that sentence is "inner". Once R meets and begins to interact with Julie I lost interest.
This approach to zombies was new and I really enjoyed it. The fact that a herd of them just hung out in, and used as a base of sorts, the local airport made a lot of sense to me. I even liked the idea that R had a home of sorts in his own airplane. He was a collector and needed a place to store his junk. I got it.
Where Marion lost me was Julie's immediate and complete forgiveness of everything R was or had done. I can see not blaming him for being what he is. He saved her and that's admirable no matter the weird reason. Just writing off the incident that made it necessary for him to save her is what I didn't buy. Then her hanging around and later dragging him around in some loyalty inspired by his heroics...too far-fetched for me.
I also didn't buy the "magic" of R and Julie's relationship. I won't spoil it for others, but it just seemed silly. There was no explanation, just...magic, in a world where magic didn't belong. There should be a writing rule, you can have supernatural creatures (vamps, weres, fairies, etc.) and magic, but NOT zombies and magic. It just doesn't work. Especially emotional magic. Silly.
Oh! I also want to mention the fact that Marion absolutely beat the reader over the head with the Romeo and Juliet references. Geez! A little subtlety goes a long way.
This approach to zombies was new and I really enjoyed it. The fact that a herd of them just hung out in, and used as a base of sorts, the local airport made a lot of sense to me. I even liked the idea that R had a home of sorts in his own airplane. He was a collector and needed a place to store his junk. I got it.
Where Marion lost me was Julie's immediate and complete forgiveness of everything R was or had done. I can see not blaming him for being what he is. He saved her and that's admirable no matter the weird reason. Just writing off the incident that made it necessary for him to save her is what I didn't buy. Then her hanging around and later dragging him around in some loyalty inspired by his heroics...too far-fetched for me.
I also didn't buy the "magic" of R and Julie's relationship. I won't spoil it for others, but it just seemed silly. There was no explanation, just...magic, in a world where magic didn't belong. There should be a writing rule, you can have supernatural creatures (vamps, weres, fairies, etc.) and magic, but NOT zombies and magic. It just doesn't work. Especially emotional magic. Silly.
Oh! I also want to mention the fact that Marion absolutely beat the reader over the head with the Romeo and Juliet references. Geez! A little subtlety goes a long way.
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