Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel (Gone with the Respiration, #1)

by Lia Habel

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

• ISBN10: 0345523318
• ISBN13: 9780345523310
• Publish Date: 18 October 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 470
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

This has been on my to-read for way too long, and I'm so glad that I finally read it. It felt oddly timely, since the world has been mostly destroyed by a virus and other natural catastrophe. Civilization has rebuilt in South America, and has fallen back to Victorian times. But with zombies and technology.

There are five narrators here, which always makes me suspicious. It usually means that someone is going to die or that they're a mole. I'm not saying that this is what happens, but, lots of perspectives. Captain Wolfe only has two short chapters, and they're nonessential. Nora's not really dead father has a handful of chapters as well, but those easily could have been a recap saved for when he was rescued near the end. It also would have allowed for a good plot twist of revealing he's alive 300 pages in rather than 30 pages.

Our main characters are Nora and Bram. Bram kidnaps Nora to save her from being kidnapped by someone even worse. And he is one of the undead who retained their personality and brain functions. She's the daughter of the scientist who has been working on a vaccine for the Lazarus virus. Our secondary character, Pamela, is Nora's best friend who's stuck at home during a zombie invasion and allows us to see what's going on in the real world while Nora is being held with the zombie army.

This book is 470 pages, which is quite long for a YA novel, but I was never bored. Oddly, it took be nearly 2/3 of the book to even realize that nothing important had been happening. I was just enjoying it so much! The relationship between Nora and Bram and the other "good" zombies reminded me of that Disney Channel movie, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. It was just fun, despite all of the violence and gore. A very strange combination, but it worked.

Ultimately, I just really enjoyed Dearly Departed. I normally don't like Steampunk, and zombies tend to be hit or miss, but this one was 100% hit! While this could work as a standalone with a bit of an opening ending, I'm eager to find out what happens next.

[Chelsea]

Cover
Love this cover. The colours are gorgeous and I love the girl on the cover. I’m a big fan of Victorian styles.

Initial Thoughts
So this book sounds like it’s going to be Twilight, except with zombies. Before you stop reading this review, I’m going to tell you it was the complete opposite. I was pleasantly surprised when I started getting really into the book.

My New BFF
The main character Nora, would be my bestest friend. She’s amazing! She’s in this Victorian-like society where woman are only around to be pretty and make babies. She still makes the best of it though! She likes to watch the ongoing war and she’s a great fighter. I love that she never cares what people think of her either. She’s always asking questions and manages to always get an answer. She was a great heroine to follow around.

My Crush
Clearly Bram. The love interest of the story. Even though he is a zombie, he was still amazing. I don’t think I could be as chill as him if I was a zombie. He knows he’s not alive but he doesn’t believe he’s a monster. He accepts the fact that he’s in this army because he’s expandable and he doesn’t care. I love how he went to save whoever Nora wanted without asking questions. He was a very human like zombie.

Writing Style
The writing was really well done. I just had a few issues with the plot and characters. The plot was kind of slow starting out. The action started right away but I found I wasn’t sucked into the book until about half way. I was a little disappointed in the romance though. There wasn’t as much as I would have liked. The author kind of hinted at romance but then the book ended without me being satisfied.

I loved most of the characters. I found the villains to be boring though. There wasn’t anything special about them, just typical bad guys who want to kill everyone. The story was told in several points of views which I don’t think worked in this case. Did we really need ALL those characters telling the story?

Closing Thoughts
I really did enjoy this book even though there were some flaws. I didn’t realize that this book was the first of a series until the very end so that threw me off a little. I’m kind of excited to read the next one though. I enjoyed the concept of zombies that don’t go crazy. They’re more like vampires except the whole decaying body thing. That was a little gross, but they made it work with all their crazy medical stuff. I liked the steampunk style that the book was written in too. It was like a futuristic steampunk victorian futuristic book. Sounds confusing but it worked. I think I gave this book 4 stars because of the world. I thought it was really original.

[Kelsenator]

Check out the full version of this review on my blog at Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf

I have shortened this version of the review a tiny bit compared to my original.

The setting is in a futuristic world, where everyone had been ravaged by war and the survivors decided to start over in certain groups, and try to keep the peace. They model themselves after the old Victorian age, since they see it as the Golden Era where things were better, with the long dresses and classes and grace. They do however have modern, if almost better technology than we do now.

The Punks, a group living past the border does not agree with their ways, and thinks that eventually they will end up recreating what has happened in the past, so they fight each other. Unknown to the innocent people of New Victoria, their real enemy is their own dead, after the Laz virus decided to start spreading.

One thing I liked about this book was the Zombies. The author made some of them still act human. They are still technically dead, but some could still speak, think, and with certain medication and care their decomposition could be halted for years. They even had their memories from before too. There are still the mindless zombies who went insane and would sooner eat you, but I like the contrast.

Each chapter is seen through the eyes of the different characters: Nora, Bram, Pamela and more. I’m glad the author decided to do it this way, as there were multiple events folding at once that came together in the end. The characters themselves were awesome, Nora with her boldness and being really short, Bram being an awesome Zombie in uniform, and Pamela the friend who kicks butt.

For those that don’t like Zombies, this one isn’t bad on the scary factor, and there’s a bunch of humour, and like I mentioned the good Zombies. So try it out, because there’s a mix of Victorian era, Steampunk, and romance mixed in too.

[inlibrisveritas]

This is one of those books where you look at the summary on the back and immediately question the possibility of it being a good book, you feel curious but it's apprehensive. At first it's not so bad. Victorian Steampunk, those two things mesh extremely well. Now throw in the zombies and feel the apprehension rise. And if you aren't already edgy on this, put in a dash of romance. Now...how do you feel? I took this as a challenge from Ms. Habel. I personally love to hate zombies, I see them as a threat to my well being, Ms.Habel upped the game by telling me I could love them. My response was to laugh, but now that I have finish the book I respectfully bow to Ms. Habel. A job well done.

The writing is from first person p.o.v. and there are alternating perspectives through out. I normally don't really find this type of story telling attractive because it can easily become confusing or bog you down. I would say the Habel managed to make it pretty easy to keep up with, each perspective change is also a different chapter. I enjoyed seeing how things were progressing from each persons angle. Nora is a great main character, I wouldn't say her reactions are entirely normal for the whole book but given the circumstances that can surely be excused. Bram is also delightful and though my instinct was to immediately hate him and wish him dead, I came to adore him. I did get a little tired of their angst but it's completely understandable and not that frequent. I do feel that it needs to be said that the romance is not the forefront in this book. It is a major part of Nora and Bram's roles but it does not demand all of your attention and the plot is never hidden underneath it. The other characters were equally enjoyable minus a few like Wolfe and Averne. I wasn't entirely fond of Pamela and didn't enjoy her point of views as much as I did the others, but she grew on me as the story progressed.

Speaking of the plot I find it be pretty original and the genre mash-up that you are presented with isn't one that you normally see. I loved the world building, and thought that the history for this setting was very unique. The zombies were also something I found to be handled expertly. I loved the difference between the zombies like Bram and those who will chew on your leg, the fact that it was explained scientifically also won points with me. Though I will admit that intelligent zombies really does send up a huge red flag to me, just makes me cringe thinking about it. Anyway, the major conflict I also found to be fairly interesting and in truth I was more interested in what was going on there then what was going on between Bram and Nora. Don't get me wrong, I found their relationship to be very sweet and I enjoyed them both but I love the extent of the human/zombie conflict.

Overall I can't wait for the second book and I will be buying it as soon as it hits shelves. Also as a side note I love this cover, and I want that parasol. I will say that my rating for this is more like a 4.5 then an actual 4, there were some minor details.

I received this from Del Rey and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Dearly, Departed is a YA horror novel with a splash of romance. It contains elements of steampunk, fantasy and a post-apocalyptic dystopia. This is Lia Habel’s debut novel and despite some flaws, I found it to be refreshing and delightful.
The futuristic world of New Victoria is fascinating. It’s exactly how you might picture the world in 2195 with a few twists. The place is riddled with technology. Some neighborhoods are built below ground, complete with holographic skies and trees that blow in the wind. There are micro-chip ID’s, digital diaries and flat screens everywhere. The homes, transportation, clothing and social classes all resemble the late 1800’s to early 1900’s Victorian era in England. Habel’s history of how this new world comes to be is interesting and believable. I love this world she creates, and could easily immerse myself in it. There has been an on-going war with outsiders known as the “punks”. This war has consisted of propaganda and border skirmishes, stemming from a difference of opinion in social statuses and government.

The zombies in this world are caused by the “Laz” virus. Habel’s explanations regarding zombies, their cravings, classifications and needs are clever. When reading a zombie book, I expect slow moving, mindless, flesh craving monsters. Habel provides these and they are referred to as the “Grays.” She also provides us with smart, witty, caring zombies. These zombies are part of "Company Z." They are comrades, they like music, care about clothes, music and the living. They may be dead, but they don't want to be dead-dead.

The story is told from the POV of five characters. I enjoyed reading the different perspectives, including those of the villain. My problem is that it pulls the reader into too many directions and makes the overall flow of the story cumbersome. If the story had been limited to the POV of Bram and Nora, it would have been brilliant. Nora Dearly is a strong, witty, brave, young woman. I like that Habel made her fearless. She is a girl of privilege, who lost her mother early in life, was pushed away by her father and eventually lost him. She was left in the care of her self-serving Aunt and she could just as easily have been a spoiled, hateful, brat. Captain Bram Griswold is sixteen years old and leader of "Company Z." He is brave, charming, smart, thoughtful and dead. The romance between Nora and Bram is sweet, innocent and heart-breaking. Habel makes you believe a romance between a zombie and a human is possible. It is pure magic. Despite the fact that I disagree with Pam having her own POV, I loved this spunky, lower class, zombie kicking girl. I hope to see more of her in future books.

The overall theme is compelling and I became immersed in the storyline. Dearly, Departed starts off slowly, as Habel lays the ground work for this tale, but stick with it. The middle was riveting and the ending set the stage for book two. I enjoyed Habel’s writing style and imagination. Her characters each have their own voice and personality. The banter between them is witty and I love how she combined Victorian era dialect with modern futuristic dialect. The details regarding this world, the war and the disease are wonderful. I question the validity of some of the characters and sub-plots in the novel, but since this is to be a series, I will take a wait and see approach.

I will definitely be reading book two of this series entitled Dearly, Beloved. It is my hope that it will deliver all that Dearly, Departed was capable of. Without the above mentioned flaws this book would have easily received a five coffee cup rating from me. I thoroughly enjoyed Dearly, Departed and recommend it.

I want to thank netGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC, in exchange for my unbiased review.

my full review and others @ http://kimbathecaffeinatedbookreviewer.blogspot.com/