Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

My goal this summer is to complete a first draft of a book. I think if I’m going to seriously pursue being a writer in life I need to start now, get in the habit of MAKING time for that.  My friend Gabi said to me today that she heard people get less busy when they go to college. WE’LL SEE BOUT THAT. I hope she’s right heehee.

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, but he has 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 blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.

What makes Warm Bodies so loveable, is the idea of being in the zombie’s mind instead of on the outside and R – oh boy does he have a heart. The writing in this book uses lots of cacophony at the beginning, but as the protagonist develops and slowly falls in love, the lyrical paragraphs turn from gruesome to appallingly romantic.

There are several underlying themes that I think make the book, for example the focus on  hope. There are two characters that strongly contrast their views on the current zombie apocalypse, one bitter about the world, one who is a beacon of hope to everybody – especially a certain zombie boy.

Even though R can’t express himself much to other characters in the book, his mind is as colourful as Julie’s heart and reading his thoughts are what make this novel so pleasurable. You’ll never care this much for a zombie ever again!

Loved it :) As well as the last half of the movie I saw. I recommend this book, a 5 OUT OF 5.  Took me a couple days to finish because I was glued to the pages. http://www.isaacmarion.com/ There is a link to Marion’s website.

-MRR

out.