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