Quoted from GoodReads:
"Zombie Love is the story of a widespread virus, in a way that has never been done before. As people lose loved ones, some decide that sometimes the people you love are the only ones worth fighting for. As factions form, and the world crumbles, people must choose sides. Help or destroy. When a virus is developed as the ultimate cure all by reversing death itself, the world is plunged into a crisis of faith, dedication, and love. In book one we meet Summer Strom, a normal high school teenager who is thrown cruelly into a set of circumstances that nobody should have to deal with. She has to fight back against everybody she knows as she battles for the only thing worth fighting for. Love."
Paperback, 188 pages
Published August 8th 2011 by Jericho Publishing (first published August 6th 2011)
ISBN 061552396X (ISBN13: 9780615523965)
Cover Art: The cover is a little freaky...I think the zombie eyes and open mouth are very creepy looking, but what should I expect from a zombie story? Zombie lovers will definitively appreciate it!
This book is a very fun, quick read. The margins are very large and it gives the pages a unique look. I think that someone who is not a "reader" might find this style less threatening than a full page of text and it just may encourage some adolescents to give it a try. I'm all about getting more kids to read, so for me this was a great bonus.
The story is well written. It has appropriate grammar and sentence structure. It is written in the third person, which for me, gives a book a less intimate feeling. Although you know what the characters are thinking, I think reading it in the third person, puts a certain amount of emotional distance between the reader and the characters.
The writing is descriptive without feeling forced and it flows along well, although it does backtrack at times as the narrator changes. This wasn't a bad thing, just different. The pace is good and the plot is interesting. The narrator changes through the book and I found this a little distracting at times, because I wasn't always ready for the change. These are very minor complaints and they are not meant to imply that this is not a book worth reading. I do recommend that you pick up a copy of this one!
The main characters are Summer and Daniel, whose families dislike one another. Summer and Daniel are both crushing on each other, although neither has been brave enough to act on it. Both characters are insecure but fairly normal teens. They don't have special powers or family secrets or the ability to see ghosts. (A refreshing change from the glut of other paranormal YA books.)
Summer and Daniel do have somewhat dysfunctional parents. Their Mothers are stereotypical from a YA standpoint. One is a helicopter parent and the other is detached and uninvolved, even though she believes that she "lives" for her child. Most teens will relate to some of these traits and sympathize with Summer and Daniels' feelings toward their Mothers.
Summer and Daniel have very little time to discover their affection for each other before Daniel is turned into a zombie. I would have liked to see a little more time for their relationship to develop. It happens very quickly and it makes Summer's devotion to Daniel less believable. Summer's obsession with helping Daniel seems to have no basis. It made her appear kind of silly and immature. If Summer and Daniel had had at least one chapter for their relationship to develop, I think most readers would have found the relationship more realistic and thus, inspire more sympathetic feelings towards Summer. Because of this, I had a harder time liking Summer at first. However, as the story plays out, Summer becomes stronger and smarter. She begins to evolve into a character that I care about.
I really found Daniel to be an interesting character. He has a funny self-depreciating wit. I was really not quite ready for him to become a zombie and I missed his humor throughout the rest of the book.
The ending of the book has an interesting twist and since this appears to the first of a series of books, I am looking forward to see where the author, Eric Soblik takes us in the next book. If you are a fan of zombie stories you don't want to miss this one. If you are not a zombie fan, this book is still entertaining and worth your time. Pick up a copy!
Thanks to Eric Soblik for proving a copy of his self published this book for this review.
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