Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion (2010)

2.5 stars

This book sounded really interesting when recommended to me on shelfari so I ordered it, however I was pretty disappointed.

This book is told from the perspective of R, a zombie, who is purposeless and very believable as a zombie with no passion in life. His perspective is written so wonderfully, the only problem I had with it was how he had such complex thoughts. However I thought the plot was predictable and not gripping enough for me to read it too often. My favourite character was probably Nora, asides from R and Julie, she was really the only other character who showed some depth and I thought she was definitely needed for when R and Julie were in the stadium, otherwise it would've been very dull and weird. I would recommend this to anyone who likes zombie novels and doesn't mind romance, but otherwise, even though I haven't seen it yet, I would probably recommend the movie as I think it would work better as a movie.

R is a normal zombie with no passion until he eats the brain of Perry Kelvin, a teenage boy who the threat of dying by zombies slowly drove him insane. However Kelvin was in love with Julie, and once R has experienced a significant amount of his memories when eating his brain, he saves Julie from the other zombies and pretends he's converted her and takes her back to his hideout with him. Julie and R become friends after he plays her his favourite music and she teaches him to drive, as this happens he starts to become more animated and falls in love with Julie. After other zombies attack her, Julie must return to the stadium where her overbearing dad controls everyone. R follows her and other zombies want to help as they also become more focused and "alive". Julie, R, and her friends Nora spend some time together until her dad finds out and an army of boneys (skeleton zombies) come after all the other zombies who are reanimating and R and Julie. A boney kills Julie's father and when she and R kiss, his blood starts to flow and he's turned human again.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs (2011)

4 stars

I bought this book because of how much John Green talked it up in all his videos. I wasn't disappointed, I was actually quite surprised by this book.

Even after buying it, I still wasn't really sure what this book was about, so it surprised me with how much fantasy the plot contained considering it's based on historical photos. The plot was really good, and although some of the photos were super scary or obviously fake, I still liked how he based the story around them making it seem a more lifelike and realistic. My favourite character was Olive, I thought her talent was the coolest, and altough she wasn't a very major character I liked how carefree and lovely she was compared to some of the other children. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good fantasy story with a realistic setting, also who doesn't get scared too easily by photos.

Jacob's grandfather has always told him stories about a children's home he hid in during the war, with peculiar children that could do cool things like create fire or fly. Jacob's parents tell him not to believe his granfather but when is grandfather is killed by a monster only Jacob could see he goes to the island to find the house. Once there he finds Miss Peregrine's house for peculiar children in a time loop where they are safe from any monsters that want to eat them. Jacob learns that he is a rare peculiar who, like his granfather, can see the monsters (they are invisible to everyone else). When the monsters capture Miss Peregrine Jacob and his friends get her back but destroy their loop in the process. Jacob decides to stay with the children inside the loop and they decide to time jump to another loop to go save the others that have been taken by the monsters.

World War Z - Max Brooks (2006)

3 stars

I wanted to read this book because of Kristina Horner's video. It was one of the only books I hadn't heard of that she listed and when I looked it up it sounded like it would be pretty good, I was a little disappointed.

I think the fact that I read the last half of the book in a day really affected how much I enjoyed it. Because it's a series of interviews, one or two at a time are really good, but lots of them packed together seems really rushed and it felt like I was being given too much information at once. Asides from having to pace yourself when reading this novel, I thought it was really good. Some of the interviews were really believable and emotional and I like that instead of staying with just a few people, hardly anyone was interviewed twice. There was a lot more wartime terminology and stories than I thought there would be (in hindsight that was kind of stupid of me) so if you want to read this book I hope you enjoy war battles and discussions of weaponry. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a big fan of zombie novels, or anyone who likes a believable wartime story.

This book is also set to become a movie starring Brad Pitt which comes out in June. It looks wildly different to the novel already, so I wouldn't read it just for that reason. Here's the trailer.

This story follows the zombie pandemic that sweeps the world and kills nearly everyone living in it. To kill a zombie you must destory their brain, any other injury and they will continue to attack you. The novel goes through the experience of soldiers, leaders, and victims and tells of how they eventually got the problem under control.