Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies
by Isaac Marion
Published: November 1, 2011




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, noidentity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and stragely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. 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.

What the glob. Well, okay. It wasn’t really that bad, only throughout the book I just kept expecting for things to happen, you know? Like, some epic revolution or a grand rebellion, which usually follows these types of scenarios. Only it didn’t. But not in a bad way altogether. It’s actually a weighty factor which makes it an intense read. The remarkable writing and the imposing words and descriptions created circumstances that were unpredictably fickle and different, inducing in effect a fascinating and thought-provoking story. It never goes the way you imagine it to be. Like guessing the wrong lines to a trite, clichéd movie. Oh, I’m not saying it’s old and unoriginal, or dull for that matter. It’s actually quite the opposite—very unusual and unexpected.

R is a very remarkable character, as the name stands witness. Ironically, I was, in point of fact, dispirited when I was just starting the book. Zombies don’t appear to have very stable memories, or even have strong ability for recognition and impression whatsoever. My thoughts at first were that this book wouldn’t lead me anywhere fascinating. Only, as I got further and R had these attractions to Julie and he develops feelings and such, things started to get way interesting. And despite his difficulty to form words and talk, you’d be legitly caught by the colourful and imaginative contemplations forming inside his loquacious, eloquent, pretty head. Despite his zombie-ness, which usually gives us the image of a gray, grunting, decaying creature, I give Isaac Marion a deep bow for creating R as an extremely charming, mysterious, and funny, book-boyfriend-worth zombie. The kind that leaves you totally fan-girling for hours on end.

The romance suited my preferences, too—the type that leaves no room for flourishes and ridiculously cheesy lines—just the real deal, but still making it tremendously swoon-worthy. Isaac Marion is a John Green doing fictional romance in some parallel universe.

In the negative, there were also some confusing parts, especially on his memory flashbacks, which was something I expected would be a significant part of the story at least, and in my momentous excitement, I was left hanging instead helplessly begging for more. Nope, not a cliff-hanger, I just think that (maybe) this book would be better off as a series, considering its beautiful story and... demanding readers.

But don’t fret just yet! I can truly say the plot is really incredible as a whole—combining a dystopian environment with the typical zombie story, and topped off with an extraordinary and exciting zombie-love—which makes it a refreshing read and renders it unique among all other mainstreaming YA books that presently crowds the book nation. I’d be sure not to be left out in watching the movie so you better start reading, too. I bet my whole family you won’t be regretting this book. Heart captivation guaranteed. :)

Words!

“I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I'm drowning in ellipses.”

___________

“I try to think of things to say but nothing comes, and if something did come I probably couldn’t say it. This is my great obstacle, the biggest of all the boulders littering my path. In my mind I am eloquent; I can climb intricate scaffolds of words to reach the highest cathedral ceilings and paint my thoughts. But when I open my mouth, everything collapses.”

____________

"When the entire world is built on death and horror, when existence is a constant state of panic, it’s hard to get worked up about any one thing. Specific fears have become irrelevant. We’ve replaced them with a smothering blanket far worse."

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