Review: “Warm Bodies” by Isaac Marion

This will be one of the last “normal” entries I write before going into a huge comic-con-palooza that will have you all very captivated but also very jealous  For a preview of what and who I hope to be seeing you can see my schedule rundown for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Speaking of comic con, I am actually writing this entry from the line waiting to get into preview night.  It’s times like these that I’m thankful for my MacBook Air, free wifi, and a little down time!  I’m sorry for the static on this blog lately but with all the cleaning and prepping that’s required for a vacation for this family of four it gets a little crazy!

The book that I’m reviewing, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, was recommended to me by my beautiful friend Robin.  I really want to get her to guest review on the blog so everyone make sure to comment about how wonderful her taste in books is!  I saw the movie before I read this book which I usually consider a bit of a no-no but she convinced me to read it anyway.  Here is the synopsis from its Goodreads page:

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…

This book was so sweet and entertaining.  Just like Robin did to me I would recommend this to people who have seen the movie first because you’ll still be enthralled with this story.

What I loved so much about this book, and lets me recommend it without hesitation to almost anyone, is that it’s so positive.  It’s happy.  It made me feel good.  Who doesn’t want that?  Who can’t recommend that and share it?  R finds hope when there isn’t much around to inspire it and it pays off.  He meets the girl of his dreams and an adventure awaits them.

One of the most creative parts of the book is the role of Perry.  Without revealing heavy spoilers, Perry dies at the very beginning of the book, before you even know who he is.  R (the zombie) eats his brain and that gives R a glimpse into his memories.  He gets more and more of Perry’s consciousness as the book goes on and I found those parts to be my favorite because he learns more and more of what the humans have gone through in the apocalypse almost first-hand because of his memories.  There’s also the point of how he learns to be human from someone who’s already dead, he’s inspired to love and slowly remembers how from a boy who wanted to stop fighting and die.  Ah, what a creative and refreshing book!

Maybe this is because I knew the ending from having seen the movie first but I did feel as though it dragged a little bit.  The ending felt a little more climactic in the movie but just as wonderful and happy!  Can I say happy enough?  What a feel good book this is!

Perhaps I will have to dedicate an entire post to a book-to-movie review but I have to say I thought they did a pretty good job, but then again this is coming from someone who read the book second.   What did you think?  How did the movie compare?  Do you like the idea of a zombie romance?  If you’re interested in this book you can find it on Amazon here and visit the author’s website here and his twitter here.

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