Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

April 26, 2011 by Atria

Hardcover, 241 Pages

Borrowed/Library

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Review

It’s the future or maybe its the present. The human race has been almost depleted by Zombies. Whether by succumbing to de-braining, having your brains ate or having the plague that turns you into a zombie, theres really no running from the monsters in this world.....the outlook is bleak and the reality of life hangs on a limb.......(literally and maybe even chewed on....)

Zombies scour the alleyways and back roads for any chance to consume human flesh and brains, the only thing that gives the Dead a true moment of happiness. While eating brains, the zombie in mid-munch gets a flash of their victims life, they feed on the memories and the reminder of what being human was like, giving them the sensation of being alive. No zombie understands the impulse to feed, especially R- our surprise victor- who would rather ride the escalators, listen to his Sinatra records and ponder how he became a corpse. He and the others, all who are in various stages of decay,  know that eating the living is an uncontrollable need, while most days are full of moaning, groaning and drooling, once the crave starts and once the human smell hits, the monster inside truly takes over. They gather and go in groups to find humans, the larger the group, the better they can overcome taking humans down.

On such an outing, R kills a man named Perry and while eating his brain has a flash so intense that it immediately alters his perception. R even beforehand wasn’t the A-Typical zombie, he longed to understand why he couldn’t form words and speak, he felt guilt over killing humans and he desperately wanted his human man back. So when flashing on Perry's life, all the things R was struggling with come to surface with a more powerful grasp, he's able to remember his own thoughts and starts forming real human emotions. The strongest aspect to Perry’s memories were of Julie, his first love and the relationship that consumed him as a teenage boy, once these memories transfer to R, he also cant help but love the sensitive, tough by life girl. He decides in that moment and after to protect Julie and fight for his own humanity, he cant understand it, he cant even talk about it but he will save her and maybe even save the world..........

What a wonderful surprise, to find a gem in a brain eating hero. I love a great end of the world zombies have taken over story, probably because one zombies do not scare me and two because theres something about the human spirit in the most dire circumstances (war, famine, zombie apocalypse) that bring out the will to survive. Humans can endure so much and we are much more strong than we think, here in Warm Bodies, while the lazy days of American obesity and fast food restaurants are of the wayside, Marion presents a picture of what humanity has to hold onto. WB's ultimate message was to live life to the fullest and never give up on what makes the human spirit hope for. R’s observance of the humans and his determination to live was the entire unique aspect of the novel. The way "R" could anchor me to my own human emotions, gave the book among the guts and gore a quiet quality I have not found in other zombie novels.

Dont mistake me, its very violent and full of brain eating and arms ripping off, but the love story (which is not physical instant love but more of an awakening) balances the gloom and darkness. Marion did a fantastic job weaving Perry’s memories with R’s present reality and blending the two characters as almost one person/zombie. While R experiences the intense flashbacks from consuming Perry’s brain, he becomes stronger in his own humanity, no matter how lost it has become. Feelings begin diving to the surface, his hunger dulls and his love for Julie intensifies as does the fight to live. So what am I saying here readers, that a zombie can teach us a lesson?…..Yes that’s preciously right and a good one at that.

 

Rating

 

Warm Bodies is recommended to adults and is not suitable for young readers. Contains: Mega-Violence- with blood, guts, gore, gross zombies in action, romance, mild sexuality, graphic language, death, depression, war, the human condition, love and lots of braaaiiiinnnnssss......

 

5/5- Science Fiction-Zombies