Monday, February 11, 2013

Review: Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1) by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1)
Author: Isaac Marion
Published: April 26th 2012
Publisher: Atria
My rating: 4 stars!
R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse. Just dreams.

After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a burst of vibrant color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that R lives in. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.

Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead and the blurry line in between.

Now that I've read this I kinda wanna slap myself for reading this just recently even though I have seen this a lot of times in goodreads for as long time with all its number of glowing reviews. And it was all because I thought it was corny and it just felt a little 'meh' on me - I mean a zombie and a teenage girl? Eww, right? Only until I realized that the movie adaptation will be out this month (and saw a zombie Nicholas Hoult in action) did I decide to finally give this book a try.

And boy, oh boy, did I want to drop on my knees and beg some forgiveness for being too judgmental. Because this book has just flat-out and completely proven me wrong! I mean, yes there were still those gory/weird moments and some parts where I don't know if I should take it seriously or just laugh it out but what I loved was that Marion was also able to make it into a very sweet, adorable and surprisingly very poignant and moving story. I have to admit, I did shed some tears while I was reading this. 

Marion's writing was what I enjoyed so much about this book. He wrote R's perspective in such a way that you would instantly connect and understand him. Which is saying a lot since he wrote a guy's pov and not just some guy but a guy zombie's pov. He wrote it so effectively and his prose so beautifully and lovely that compelled me to really adore and appreciate R's character despite the weirdness and absurdity of the situation.

More than anything else, I loved the underlying yet very powerful and thought-provoking poignant messages about hope, love, change and humanity in this book. It was something I wasn't expecting when I started this but it was what I had greatly appreciated about this book in the end. I loved how Marion made us delve deeper into the story and see the more important and bigger values and issues in it.


14 comments:

  1. Great review!! I'm kind of feeling the same way about waiting so long to read this book. I mean I've seen reviews before, but I keep putting it off. (still haven't started it) BUT. Now your review has made me want to read it even more.

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  2. Your first paragraph describes exactly how I feel about this book, and I kind of feel the same about the movie. But like you, I'm seeing how people are really enjoying it so I'll probably pick it up sometime, and I probably will actually see the movie too lol. Which to do first though? :D Great review Eunice.

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  3. Love your review Eunice! I have the same reason why I didn't read this book despite it's growing popularity in the blogosphere. It just didn't appeal to me. But because of all those unending good reviews about this one and because the movie is coming out soon, I decided to read it! haha


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  4. Aw, Eunice! I'm so glad you loved it. Before reading the book, I was turned off by the idea of a romance in a zombie book too, so you aren't alone. But it just goes to show that great writing can convince you that anything is possible. :)

    The film is very cute, too. I think you'll enjoy. :)

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  5. Amazing review Eunice!!!!! That's fantastic you gave this book despite not liking zombies (I don't like zombies either). and that's the reason why i haven't read this yet, but you definitely convinced me too! Glad the writing was able to make R's character relatable.

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  6. Ahahaha it's so cool that this book proved you wrong, Eileen! I love it when a book completely takes me by surprise and turns my world upside down, and it sounds like that's what this book did to you. :) I LOVE ZOMBIE BOOKS OMG! And zombie books with romance? 0.0 It does sound kinda creepy, but I wanna hear more about it! :D Lovely review Eunice. :)

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  7. I'm so excited to see the movie adaption of this - it looks amazing! But it would be lovely to read the book first like you have!

    I'm really glad that this book turned out a lot better than you were expecting. It sounds like a really sweet, thought-provoking novel and now I really want to read this. I definitely don't read enough zombie books, and think I'll start with Warm Bodies.

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful, persuasive review with us, Eunice. :)

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  8. I read this really recently too and really loved it! I agree, I adored Marion's writing style and reading from R's perspective. I thought the romance worked well, and absolutely adored the originality in it. I can't wait to see the movie! Beautiful review, E. :)

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  9. Eunice I just picked Warm Bodies up the other day and I can't believe I waited so long to give it a try too. I'm not a huge fan of zombie books either, but Warm Bodies is so different, it's hugely fascinating being in R's head! I have a feeling when I finish this I will end up loving it just as much as you did! Lovely review! :)

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  10. I also really loved this book, for the same reasons you've said here. The underlying message of reclaiming humanity and what makes us human combined with R's voice made me adore this book. I was so surprised to love it as much as I did. Wonderful review!

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  11. Between you and Aa'Ishah, I think I'm already kicking myself for having not read this yet. ;) I've seem the movie promotion everywhere recently and think it's about time. Great review!

    On an unrelated note, have you seen the Altered #2 teaser on Jenn's Twitter page? It's a Nick one! :)

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  12. Aw, when it comes to this book, you and I have too much in common! haha
    I decided to read it, too, in January, after I saw the trailer for the movie and thought that Nicholas Hoult made a very cute zombie. And the author's writing is indeed amazing! I loved R and Julie and I can't wait for the sequel (so glad the author decided to write another one <3).

    Love your review!

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  14. My Spanish teacher (oddly enough) keeps raving about this book!! Everyone seems to like it, I'll have to read it soon:)

    Emily from Blue-Eyed Bibliophile

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