Book Review: The New Hunger by Isaac Marion

TItle: The New Hunger
Author: Isaac Marion
Series/Novel: Warm Bodies Series (Book #1.5)
Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Fiction
Pages: 170
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books
Year Published: 2013

"The end of the world didn't happen overnight.
After years of societal breakdowns, wars and quakes and rising tides, humanity was already near the edge. Then came a final blow n one could have expected: all the world's corpses rising up to make more.
Born into this bleak and bloody landscape, twelve-year-old Julie struggles to hold on to hope as she and her parents drive across the wastleands of America, a nightmarish road trip in serach of a new home. 
Hungry, lost and scared, sixteen-year-old Nora finds herself her brother's sole guardian after her parents abandon them in the not-quite-empty ruins of Seatle.
And in the darkness of a forest, a dead man opens his eyes. Who is he? What is he? With no clues beyond a red tie and the letter 'R,' he must unravel the mystery of his existence- right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the monster howling in his belly. The New Hunger is a glimpse of the past and a path to an astonishing future..."

My Rating 5/5

Although it's been a while since I read Warm Bodies, I saw this book on Book Outlet and it reminded me of the first novel. I looked back at the review and remembered why I had loved that book so much and decided to purchase this novella. It was an interesting read and it really went in depth about the characters you learn more about in Warm Bodies. I thought it was interesting to revisit the story and to see how the characters came to be who they are in the first book. This being said, I would not read The New Hunger before Warm Bodies if you are just beginning the series as it spoils the end of the first book. I also found that this book really shows the coming together of characters and the falling apart of the world in a vivid way that was far different than what I remembered from the first full book. I think that it helped pull me back into the series and I look forward to reading the next book in the series which is set to come out in 2017. I hope to see more of the characters and how they tackle the crumbling (or by this point crumbled) world around them.

Thanks for reading,
Love,
Sidny 

Spoiler: The New Hunger by Isaac Marion

So it's been about 2 years since I read the first book in this series and was surprised to find a novella on bookoutlet. I purchased it after rereading the review and spoiler along with some other finds. When I got it I realized how quick of a read it would be and read it quickly after a day at the lake. It was a great quick read for anyone looking for one and while it was a prequel to Warm Bodies I would not suggest reading it before the first book as it spoils the ending.

This novella tells the story of Nora, R and Julie as they come toward a final destination where they all will eventually meet. It's interesting to see how each of them had a different lifestyle during "the end." Obviously R's perspective is different from Nora's or Julie's but it was still an itneresting point of view to take in such desperate times. I also found it's writing to be more spooky than in the first book. In the first book I noticed that the story was more wrapped in horror than in humor which really brought me back to being interested in this series. The end is disturbing to picture without the graphic writing, but with it I held on Isaac Marion's every word.

Characters:
Nora: Her character makes so much more sense now that I know her background as well as her struggle through the uprising of the end. I was devastated to see her try to explain why her parents had left to her little brother as well as when he was captured. Although I knew it would happen eventually I wasn't quite ready for it when it did.... nice more Marion, nice move.

R: What an interesting perspective!?! I was especially sad to see how he came to be a zombie but it doesn't answer all my questions about what happened to those he was found with... what had happened before things had gone terribly wrong, I wonder.

Julie:It was tough seeing her humanity slip away as she had to kill to stay alive. It was also sad to see her hope get destroyed over and over again, but I was glad to see what her family had been through. If I reread the first book, I think it will help me to appreciate their characters even more. 


Moments to Remember:
Final Line: "Earth has a few more revolutions to make."

Thanks for reading,
Love,
Sidny

Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion

Series: Warm Bodies (Book #1)

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Pages: 239

Publisher: Emily Bestler Books Atria

Year Published: 2011

First Line: “I am dead, but it’s not so bad.”

“R is having a no-life crisis- he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may occasionally eat people, but he’d rather be riding abandoned airport escalators, listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collection souvenirs from the ruins of civilization.

And then he meets a girl.

First as his captive, then his reluctant house guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R’s gray landscape, and something inside him begins to bloom. He doesn’t want to eat this girl- although she looks delicious0 he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they can’t imagine, and their hopeless world won’t change without a fight.”

My Rating: 5/5

Hey guys! Happy first half of the week! Whatever day and time it is wherever you are.. I can’t even keep track of the time here never mind.

So let’s get right to the point. I think that a lot of people associate this book with a fluffed up version of zombies. And to an extent they have that correct.. It isn’t the thriller book, or a book all about the end of days. This book is mainly about hope. Not just young love as I expected it to be, but real honest to god hope. The thing that pushes us and makes us human. I was extremely impressed and quickly fell in love with this book and it’s characters. It made me think without a doubt about people close to me and the future, but not in a scary way just in a what if sort of way. I would suggest this book to anyone looking for a fun and quickish read.

THANK YOU ISAAC MARION FOR SHOWING A SHIMMER OF LIGHT IN A DARK, DESILATE FUTURE!

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo

Spoiler: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

This book was a really surprising read. I had was expecting a book that I would hate because usually when I read about zombies they scare the crap out of me. And in this one, well it was scary it was a far more humorous look at them. As our narrator is a zombie. And thank goodness it was. I can’t imagine this book being written another way. I loved it! So let’s talk about the best part, the

♥Characters♥

♥R: He’s an interesting character to say the least. Even before he meets Julie the fact that he goes and gathers Senatra records and collects random things makes me smile. Oh and that he rides escalators for fun! Hilarious. I wasn’t surprised when he fell for Julie, just surprised that Perry still was around in his head just egging him on.. I think that was the most interesting part. The way their thoughts combined and he began to understand what humanity really is. Oh, and the fact that true love prevailed; I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t love that. When we found that his kids changed back I cried. No lie. Oh and how they’re changing the world, fantastic!!!!

♥Julie: She’s had an obvious tough life, but none the less she preservers. I love that she has so much hope, and how she opens that up for people, in fact to many people who have no hope left. I was surprised to learn about how her dad was and what he changed into when things collapsed. I was also surprised when she got over Perry so quickly, but I guess if you’re with someone who constantly is saying goodbye, when it happens it isn’t such a shock. In the end she made the right choice. Yay!

♥Perry: He was quite the guy. I think that if he had been born in a different time then maybe things would have been different for him. He would have strived in our current environment where there is nothing but hope, but when he was pressed into a tough situation and had lost everything he just started to give up. And isn’t that sad?

♥M: I really hope he ended up with Nora, it’s certainly an intriguing thought. He seems like a sweet guy all in all. Lady killer… haha literally.

♥Nora: I wonder how she could hook up with Perry and then just be his friend and how Julie would ever handle that. That’s just madness in my mind but at the end of the world, I guess anything is possible….

♥ Grigio: Before he died, I think he was already lost. Sad really.

♥Moments to Remember♥

♥Pg. 54

“’I… find things… sometimes. But we don’t… seek.’

‘Really,’ Julie says. ‘Well that’s a fucking tragedy.’ She continues to dig through my records, but her tone starts to escalate as she speaks. ‘You don’t think about new things? You don’t seek? What’s that even mean? You don’t seek what? Music? Music is life! It’s physical emotion- you can touch it! It’s neon ecto-energy sucked out of spirits and switched into sound waves for you ears to swallow. Are you telling me, what, that it’s boring? You don’t have time for it?’”

♥Pg. 109

“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 for sure, that despite the best efforts of historian 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.”

♥Pg. 112

“’Do you think it’s stupid?’

‘What?’

‘To fall in love.’

He pauses, the puts his walkie away. ‘What do you mean, Pear.’

‘Like… now. The way things are now. I mean everything’s so uncertain… is it stupid to waste time on stuff like that in a world like this? When everything might fall apart any minute?’

My dad looks at me for a long time. ‘When I met your mom,’ he says, ‘I asked myself that. And all we had going on back then was a few wars and recessions.’ His walkie starts crackling again. He ignores it. ‘I got nineteen years with your mom. But do you think I would’ve turned down the idea if I’d known I’d only get one year? Or a month?’ He surveys the construction, shaking his head slowly.”

♥Pg. 218

“’Want some wine? It’s an ’86 Mouton Rothschild. I’d describe it as yummy with notes of fucking delicious.’”

♥Final Line: “Because we want it.”

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo