Book Review: Warm Bodies

I first heard about Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion when I saw the trailer for the movie. I watched it and was pleasantly surprised that it actually looked good, despite the kind of ridiculous sounding story line.

What’s the story line, you might ask? Well, it’s a zombie love story.

Yeah. A zombie love story.

And I’m not just talking about two people falling in love while zombies are on the loose. I’m not even talking about two zombies falling in love. I’m talking about a regular girl and a zombie falling in love.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Zombies are gross (true) and girls falling in love with dead supernatural beings has been done (also true).

But the cool thing about this book is that it’s different. It’s fast-paced and refreshing. It’s honest, raw, and unique. It’s a spin on zombies that I haven’t seen before, and it’s nice to see them (some of them at least) acting kind of human.

Even though I really enjoyed this book, I do have to say it read like an outline. I wanted a more fleshed out (ha ha) story. The different scenes sometimes bled into each and it got confusing. The premise lends itself to this sort of writing, but I’m not sure it always worked. I enjoyed the story so much that I wanted more of everything – more of R’s thoughts (he’s the zombie), more interaction with Julie, more confrontations, more backstories, more, more, more.

I guess that’s both a good thing and a bad thing – I left feeling a little let down, a little empty inside. But I also wanted more. I enjoyed living in this world so much that I didn’t want to give it up. I heard he’s going to be writing a sequel, so maybe I’ll get what I want when that gets published.

I do recommend the book, though it seems to fall into a strange category. Those who like love stories a la Twilight might not be totally into this, but those who love zombies might not like this softer version of the genre. It’s good for people who like zombies well enough, but can’t really get into the blood-and-guts that usually come with it.

I’m highly anticipating this movie. Check out the trailer below:

 

It looks weird and creepy and funny and awesome all at once. It captures the essence of the book pretty well, and some of my favorite scenes from the book are in the trailer. I’m also hoping that the filmmakers are able to fill in some of the gaps that left us hanging in the book. The novel is only about 150 pages long, so it was probably fairly easy to adapt into a screenplay. Here’s to hoping that it’s a faithful adaption and that it’s a runaway success!

Have you read the book? Looking forward to the movie? If this isn’t usually your cup of tea, would you be willing to give it a shot?

P.S. Here’s a review of the movie from someone who got to see it early. It’s a little spoilery, so I’d avoid it until you’ve read the book!

Book Review: Noble Intentions Season One

If you’re familiar with my backlog of posts, you’ll know that I write about a little bit of everything. I tend to focus on TV and movies, plus art and travel. I also like to post about writing, and every once in a while I throw in something random to make you smile.

I think I’ve done a grand total of two book reviews so far. It’s not because I don’t read – I do! (Though, maybe not as much as I should.) My main reason for not doing so is that I often skip over these things on other people’s blogs. Along with author interviews. I know, I know – it’s terrible! But the thing is, I follow your blog because I want to hear YOU, not someone else.

So when I do an interview or a book review, you know I mean it. It’s not just to fill space or because someone agreed to talk with me. It isn’t because I can’t think of anything to say. It’s because I feel like I’ve found something that needs to be shared with the rest of the world.

Enter L.T. Ryan. He wrote Noble Intentions: Season One. This is a collection of five separate “episodes” that have been put into one volume. They are standalone stories, but each one is part of the whole.

Here’s my disclaimer: I edited three out of the five books for Lee. Does that make me biased? Maybe. But I have plenty of friends and acquaintances who have written books that I’ve critiqued and I haven’t featured them. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think they good enough for my blog (I would NEVER think that). It just means that I think Lee’s book is different. I can’t stop thinking about it, and my only outlet is my blog.

Noble Intentions follows the story of Jack Noble, assassin for hire. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t feel remorse. He does it for the money and his conscience is clean. Until one day when he stops to help a lost child. He doesn’t know why he did it, but it begins a series of events that will take him all around the world.

And that’s just in the first episode.

I can tell you that Jack is a pretty awesome character. He’s a cold blooded killer, but you can’t help but like him. He’s smart, funny, and someone you definitely don’t want to piss off. But the best thing about him is that even deep down under all that blood on his hands, he’s still a good guy. He still cares about a handful of people.

His best friend’s name is Bear. He’s is probably a terrifying guy to look at, but he’s got his own soft spots too. And Mandy is one of them – she’s the little girl that Jack accidentally took in. Then there’s Clarissa. She’s not a damsel in distress at any point of the story, and you know that if there’s one girl who can keep up with Jack, it’s her.

If you read this book, you’ll travel to different countries, hear different languages, and meet a whole slew of characters. They’re all different, all unique, and all lend themselves to this story.

But, you might ask, how’s the writing? It’s quick and to the point. Jack’s a hired gun – he doesn’t have time to beat around the bush. His thoughts are like words on a flash card: factual and concise. No time is wasted and his actions are always calculated. This story is funny, smart, and exciting. It’s a page turner. And before you know it, you’ll be at the end of season one and you’ll be begging for season two. I’m sure of it.

Lee recommends the story for anyone who likes Jack Reacher, John Rain, or Jason Bourne. Even if you’re not usually into those sorts of things, I would still tell you to give it a try. It’s an adult novel about an assassin, so there is violence and strong language but nothing is vulgar.

So, without going on and on about how great this series is (which I could mostly definitely do), please just trust me on this and give it a try. I don’t get anything out of it except maybe the knowledge that my opinions can sway you guys into action. And that’s always a good feeling.

If you want to just try out the first episode, you can find it on Smashwords and Kobo FOR FREE. I love free stuff, don’t you?

If you want to buy season one, you can purchase it for $4.99 right here.

You can see my reviews of each one on the book’s Amazon page. If anyone has any questions or wants me to go into any more detail, the comments are open to you! A second series is in the works now and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

If you do end up purchasing any of the books, please see this post by Fabio, which gives a GREAT list of how you can help out authors after you buy from them.

You can also find Lee’s website here and the Facebook fan page for Mr. Jack right here. If you end up reading any of his books, please feel free to leave a comment for the author and I’ll be sure to pass along your kind words!