Brad About Books: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

WARM BODIES
Published: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Atria Books
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 239 pages
Source: Amazon.com
Series: Warm Bodies, #1

R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse. Just dreams. 

After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a burst of vibrant color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that R lives in. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world. Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead and the blurry line in between.

I read WARM BODIES for the YT Book Club; want to hear our thoughts? Here's the video!

WARM BODIES is a one of a kind book. Filled with a beautiful prose and an interesting take on the undead, WARM BODIES will fill your heart up with warm and make you think about what it truly means to be alive.

R is such an interesting and different hero! I didn't expect to feel much sympathy for a zombie, to be honest, but I did! I felt sorrow deep inside me for him having to be undead and not getting to experience the wonders of life. But then again, he is a zombie, so there's some things that you cannot feel sorry for. But gosh, he is a great hero! He is such a likeable and easy-going character and a great character to root for.

WARM BODIES was inspired by a few elements of Romeo and Juliet, and some parts were great (I love the character's names and how they represent some of the characters), but other parts were... cheesy. The balcony scene? Very fun, but kind of predictable. A part that I did very much enjoy about this novel was R's home - an abandoned airplane. It was so interesting to see him protect Julie and finally start to regain his heart and humanity.

And the writing style? Gah, it was fantastic. There are some great quotes that can be found in this book, and the way that the author made words string along together and made you think absolutely blew me away. And I loved being inside R's head! He was very original and unique, boosting up his hero-status even more.

But I do have to mention that the ending knocked this book down a star for me. No spoilers here (absolutely none of my reviews contain spoilers for the book I'm reviewing), but everything just sort of... happens without explanation. It was all very confusing and totally let me down.

Overall, WARM BODIES is a very enjoyable reader with some really awesome YA crossovers in this adult novel. Want to know what it means to be human? Read this book!

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