Review | Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion 

Release Date: Release of Movie cover January 31st 2013 Originally October 2010

Publisher: Random House 

Genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic 

Series: Warm Bodies 

Pages: 214

Format: ebook (NetGalley) 

Rating: ★★★★

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. 

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight... Source NetGalley Description

Warm Bodies isn't your typical zombie novel. Yes there are the blood thirsty zombies and the survivors, but where this one stands apart from all the rest is that it's narrated by R, who is in fact a zombie. Following his usual daily routines of ridding escalators in the abandoned airport where he lives, having rather brief conversations with his zombie best friend M, and heading out on the hunt for dinner, he stumbles upon Julie (after eating the brain of her now ex-boyfriend.) Their chance meeting changes something within R and ultimately the world. 

I loved this take on zombies! Now if you know anything about me and my usual reading habits, I have a rather big thing for anything apocalyptic or zombie related, but there does come a point when you crave something slightly different and Warm Bodies has it all. 

R is one of the most interesting, intelligent and extremely witty characters I've ever had the pleasure to read about. He captures your interest from the first page explaining the new world, his 'friends' and his surroundings in such a unique way. For a zombie that at first glance has lost everything human he has some alarmingly insightful and comical thoughts about life. As I'm sure you have guessed I adored R, so I won't go into anymore detail about him, you'll just have to read the book to fall in love with him yourself. 

The twists Isaac Marion puts on the post apocalyptic genre is brilliant if slightly predictable. The ending I've got to say didn't really surprise me. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it because I truly did, but if you're after a little shock factor then I'd probably recommend not watching the movie trailer for Warm Bodies before you read the book. Nahh only joking, but really other than the predictability and the slightly sceptical romance I loved this book. The whole concept was wonderful and R's narration made up for any tiny issues I might have had. 

I recommend this book 100%. It will branch out to a wide spectrum of readers, from the gore loving, to the romance lovers and even to those who cringe at the idea of zombies. Honestly give this book a go. Step out of your comfort zone and read something a little different. I can safely say that you won't be disappointed. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this review and keep an eye out on my youtube channel for my video review which will be up in the next few weeks. 

Happy Reading! 

*SPOLIER SECTION BELOW*

DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK! 

The only part I struggled with in Warm Bodies was the relationship that formed between Julie and R. For me falling in love with R was pretty easy, but I'm not sure that if I was in Julie's situation I would have been so quick to fall. For Julie, R was something different, behind his appearance she could see R's intelligence growing, she could see his human side becoming stronger but without R's inner dialog I'm not too sure what Julie fell for. Julie and R's outward conversations consisted of very brief dialog which I honestly don't think were particularly swoon worthy. Though the majority of the time his actions did speak louder than words, they weren't anything more that what an overly protective animal would do. Ok, I'm speaking out of turn here so I'll reel myself in, but all I wanted to say is that for me the romantic relationship in this book wasn't 100% believable if I was to step out of R's head.