Warm Bodies: A Novelvolume 1 (Warm Bodies, #1)

by Isaac Marion

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love with a human, in this 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. Not just another zombie novel, this is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

• ISBN10: 1439192324
• ISBN13: 9781439192320
• Publish Date: 1 November 2011 (first published 14 October 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[Hillary]

 



I tried reading a zombie novel before, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I could have sworn that I had a post for it but I guess I don’t. I did not really like it. I am not sure what it was. I heard about the upcoming movie to this book and decided to give it a try.I liked this book much better than The P AND P one.

Warm Bodies has a zombie named R. That’s all he can remember of his name. He lives in an abandoned airport with other zombies. One day he goes out to feed with a group and comes upon a group of humans still actually alive. He saves one girl from the group, Julie and brings her back with him to keep her safe. What follows is R and the rest of the zombies start getting in touch with their human side and they start to become less…..zombie like.

I had a few questions at the end of the book. Like what happened to make the zombies come to be. What happened to almost make the human civilization come apart? I heard this was a series so I hope we find out more background info in later books.

This was a fun fast read. I read it in one day. Perfect for those times you want something a tad serious with a little brain fluff.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[stefu1]

I'm kinda rusty at reviews so I'll do it in bullet format

~To be honest, I love anything that involves zombies so I was all for a Zombie Romance book.

~I was one of the people who watched the movie before I read the book so I went in expecting a fru fur book
~It was not, and It was even better.

~The book was way more realistic than the movie and was a lot more darker. The book also seems to have a more emphasis on family and community that the movies does
~In the book, it was also more slow passed, but you did get to "hear" R's thoughts better and more eloquently than in the movie.
~it's sadder than the movie like when R's wife cheats on him and when Julie's dad refuses to accept the change and dies with that belief
~It's more compassionate and loving in the friendship and family aspect Like when R thinks about the safety of his adopted children and M

~In some ways the movie was a lot cleaner than the book *hint hint*
~There is a physical difference in R he wears slacks and a tie instead of jeans and a hoodie and keeps his hair in better shape

but all in all I really liked this book and think it was pretty great.

Rating:


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[nitzan_schwarz]

To my utter shock and bewilderment, I absolutely adored this book! Warm Bodies was everything I thought it will be and more. Much more. It's filled with depth and emotions; fear, love, confusion, hate, hope. Beautiful words and writing, together with characters that will blow your mind away.
I've never read any Zombie books before, as I'm not a fan of the creature itself or the gore that usually follows in it's wake, but after watching the movie's trailer, I couldn't resist. I am so glad about that! If you're like me, worried and reluctant at the prospect of brain eating Zombies, fear not and read it!

This is a story of change, and how it happens in three simple steps: Wanting. Taking. Living.

This story grabbed me from the first sentence. It is beautifully written, very flowing, engaging and captivating. I was surprised by this, because in my prejudiced mind good literature and Zombies don't really go together. Stupid, I know, but this is my first Zombie book, so I hope you'll forgive me.

Anyway, the hero of the story is R. He's a zombie. And not a vegetarian one (and he doesn't sparkle in the sunlight, either!). At first, he's just like all the other Zombies, more or less; he's got deeper thoughts, thoughts that make him feel to us, who are in his head, as alive as anyone can be. He's more human than the rest of the Zombies are, but he can't express his thoughts. He acts like all the rest of them; groans, moans, and wonders aimlessly in the space. And most importantly - he can't resist The Hunger, that need for human flesh. Which is why he is such an unlikely hero.
What's more unlikely, though, is how much you'll love him when you read this book. And it's not even a character you grow to love. It's a character you fall for instantly...

To Read the Rest of my Review Go to my Blog; Drugs Called Books

[nannah]

Maybe it's 3.5, maybe, but there's a lot that pushed it back down to three.

But first, I'm going to cover what I really, really liked about Warm Bodies:

Perry Kelvin. He was a great, fleshed-out character, and I wanted more of him every time he was mentioned. There was great care put into the Perry/R dynamic that wasn't present throughout the rest of the book, in my opinion, and I hungered for it in a way comparable to zombies hungering for brains and memories. I loved, loved loved the way that eventually the voices switch from italics to quotes as the book progresses. That is, Perry's thoughts starts off in quotations because he begins more real than R (who's thoughts are in italics, more voiceless), and later R switches to quotations because he's more realized now than Perry. It's brilliant and subtle. I adored it. If the rest of the book were so gorgeous and subtle, I would've given this the easiest five stars of my life and would probably be out buying every version of this book right now.

But there were things that I really didn'tlike. Like the zombies in the beginning not acting enough like zombie monsters for there to be a noticeable enough change at the end of the book. I get that R needed to be relatable but I don't think he really needed a "zombie society" with a structured marital system. I thought And there were pictures that just didn't fit right, or were almost quite laughable, like the "scary" skeletons handing out polaroid pictures.

The climax fell flat. To be honest, I couldn't even quite tell you what resolved the climax. Why did the skeletons all just wander away (which in itself is kind of a disappointing resolve in itself)? I just . . . I don't understand! What was the point of making the (thing) with Grigio almost erotically slow? Maybe it was all for effect, but if so, I didn't feel anything. I feel like Perry and R should have had a part in this climax, but Perry wasn't there, and it wasn't much about R. This all just didn't seem to work for me.

Now to the worst bits. I don't know how these little tidbits made it to publishing. But there were some really horrible language and sentences that I just couldn't handle: fat-shaming and some sexist language. At one point, R and Julie somehow come onto the topic of zombies eating overweight people. Yes, that's right, because this somehow needs to be talked about? And do you know what R does? R sticks his tongue out, points to it, and gags. He gags Apparently even zombies are picky, and they won't eat overweight people because they have to "pick around the fat" or something. I couldn't believe my eyes.

And wait, that's not even the worst one. Just wait. I found this gem on page 132: "Julie studies me dubiously, like a photographer forced to consider a chubby model." Never mind the mentioning of an emotion outside of dialogue (in adverb form!), this is absolutely horrendous. I actually gasped. Only the fact that this was a library copy kept this book from sailing across the room.

And then we come to some sexist language. It was kind of pervasive in undertones throughout the entire book (and I really wasn't surprised this was written by a guy), but sometimes there were things that came up that were completely unnecessary. Such as mentioning how Julie was as "unpretty as I've ever seen her" or something like that. Dude, R, you're a zombie. Even if he weren't, Marion still doesn't need to have that observation mentioned in his main protag's thoughts. It's just . . . all like an undercurrent in this book. I was so sick of Marion at the last page. I just feel like he's this massive fat-shaming, sexist douchebag, and the last thing I want to do is read more of his books to see what else he unconsciously writes into his dialogue/prose.

All in all, there were a lot of sweet parts in Warm Bodies, however, and I did love the ending about the real cure. That was lovely. I do love Nora, and there were beautiful moments in the book that I drank up and treasured. However, there were also disgusting crap that destroyed the narrative and parts that didn't quite make sense that really clashed with what I loved.

See review at Miss Book Reviews.

Warm Bodies is a sweet post apocalyptic romance that just so happened to have a zombie as the main character.

R is a zombie. He has no memory of his life before he became one of the walking dead that now rule the world, he does not even remember how he was turned. But from the lack of injury to his body he figures he turned by natural causes and not too long ago as he hasn’t started decomposing yet. The only thing R can remember is that his name has something to do with an R; therefore he has held onto that bit of humanity and kept something of his name from his previous life.

One day when he goes out hunting, among the group of humans he and a group of other zombies are currently in the middle of eating, he discovers a girl. After just having devoured her partner, for reasons he can’t comprehend then and there, he decides to save her rather than eat her. And so his zombie life changes.

The main thing I liked about Warm Bodies was the humour; the blunt, dark humour. I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading this. R was an interesting and likeable narrator and to be honest that is the main reason I was able to finish this book. At the times I wondered where the story was going and what the story was even about his narration kept me reading.

Warm Bodies was sweet in places, scary in others and sometimes downright creepy. Yet I still found myself enjoying this. That was all. I didn’t love this and I didn’t hate this, I simply enjoyed this. It isn’t action packed or filled with graphic horror scenes, it’s about a zombie just trying to figure out why he isn’t happy in his life and why he has taken an interest in his food.

I recommend Warm Bodies to anyone wanting to read a post apocalyptic zombie novel that is more on the romantic comedy side rather than the horror side. It was sweet, super quick to read, and humorous – an enjoyable light read!

Miss J
x

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

When I first heard about Warm Bodies, I was SO eager to read it, because it just sounded awesome. Then I saw the trailer for the movie and wow! Even more excited! So it was quite clear to me I'd be diving right in as soon as it arrived. I did, and I LOVED it!

R is a zombie. He doesn't know how he died, he has no memories of his previous life, nothing. All he knows is his Dead life, stumbling around, almost conversations with a few syllables and grunts with fellow zombies, living in an airport, spending hours going up and down on the escalators in between going to the city to feed. Not that he enjoys it. For R is a conflicted zombie, and hates being the cause of death, but he won't have the so-called life he now has unless he does. On one trip to the city with a bunch of zombies, in the midst of feeding on humans, R lays his eyes on Julie, and everything changes. Instead of eating her, he saves her. And so begins a tentative relationship between Dead and Living.

Warm Bodies is an extremely surprising book. As I said, I saw the trailer before I read the book, so I was expecting comical. Comical I got, R has a unique voice, and although he has trouble speaking out loud, he thinks just like anyone else would, and narrates his story with a comical tone, showing the ridiculousness of a zombie's life. However, Warm Bodies is also extremely poignant. Upon meeting Julie, he starts to question his life, his existence, and develops more of a conscience, and as his feelings for Julie grows, the impossibility of his situation dawns on him, and can be really heartbreaking.

It's also kind of sad because not one person has a great life. Julie has been through, and is still going through, some serious issues herself. Nora, Julie's friend, hasn't had an easy life either. And we also get the story of Perry, a boy R kills and eats. When a zombie eats a human's brain, they get flashes of memories from that person's life. But with Perry, it's like R relives moments of his life, and Perry won't "stay" dead. He keeps coming back to R in his mind to show more of his tragic story. And through Perry's memories, R gets to find out more about who Julie is, and falls not just for present Julie, but past Julie too.

I wasn't expecting Warm Bodies to be as much of a post-apocalyptic novel as it was. There are zombies, yes, and they're killing off the population, but they aren't the only problem. Civilisation as we know it had already collapsed; governments fell, the need to survive at all costs came about, and violent disputes broke out. The whole purpose of life was to survive, not live. And life is difficult.

Despite all this, there moments of light and beauty. There is the comical tone, and there's the moments between R and Julie that are just lovely. Being inside R's head as he discovers he has feelings for Julie is just beautiful, as you watch him metaphorically melt. He's such a sweetie! Such a good, good guy, and I wanted to give him such a hug! There are also moments where something will be said by one of the characters, or thought by R, that I was just bowled over by, moments that really spoke to me, which were just amazing!

At 239 pages, it's a super quick read, but so much happens! There's comedy, romance, action, excitement and some graphic violence! It's a thrilling, exciting and beautiful read, and one I highly recommend! I am more than excited to get my hands on the prequel to Warm Bodies, The New Hunger, which will be published by Vintage sometime in the foreseeable future, and on Warm Bodies #2 once Marion has written it. Seriously, Warm Bodies is now right up there with my favourites!

Thank you to Vintage for the review copy.

[littleread1]

A feel good Zombie book? Yes.

I don't know what else I can say about this story that hasn't already been said. Warm Bodies is such a unique telling of a classic, with a new spin on zombies, that it is like nothing you've read before.

R is a zombie. He eats brains, and whatever other flesh he can get to. But brains are his favorite, because for the few moments while he is eating, he is able to remember what it is like to be alive, through the poor person he is eating's memories. Things really change for him when he makes a knee-jerk reaction and saves a girl, Julie, and brings her home.

I found R to be very sweet, the whole living dead thing notwithstanding. Personally, I didn't know how I was going to feel about a zombie romance, and am happy to report I was pleasantly surprised. I think that had a lot to do with how Marion had the romance progress, SLOW. I mean almost too slow for many stories, but it was perfect for this story.

If you haven't read this book yet, and I don't know why you wouldn't, pick it up. But know, it is still a zombie book. There is some gore and blood and brains. But there is also beauty and love.

[Quirky Cat]

Not what I expected, but still very good!

[Kelly]

Strangely gruesome but utterly heartwarming. Poetically written and beautiful, as someone against it all tries to change the world, starting with himself.