Diego Conner is at school when his world changes. As soon as his classmates start killing each other, he runs. Then, when he gets home, his parents try to eat him. They aren’t zombies though. They are alive and can be killed. He simply calls them “The Changed”.The only people he knows who haven’t changed are his friends, Sheena and Wes. With their families gone, the fifteen year olds are forced … forced to look out for each other. But how will they survive? Who can Diego turn to? Is it Wes, a born leader or Cali, the only girl he knows? Together, can they find survivors and a new way of life? Can they face a new journey – one filled with brainless, flesh eating monsters? The prison awaits.
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I gave this novel three stars.
I had high hopes for this book, but in the end I felt that it was just okay for me.
In a nutshell, this book is about the zombie apocalypse. Young teenagers Diego, Cali, and Wes traverse the scary landscape six months after the change, trying to figure out what direction they should go in with their new lives. This journey is fraught with action, chills, and heartache as they try to clutch to their humanity and persevere against the odds.
This book had a lot of potential with the elements it started with, but there were some things that detracted from my reading journey.
I think what worked most for me was the concept and general plot. Most of us have seen a number of zombie flicks or The Walking Dead, so we’re not strangers to the concept of a zombie apocalypse. Walking into this felt like seeing an old friend. I liked the general world they were living in. It had plenty of zombies/changed, danger, and of course humans make things more complicated when they pair off in groups or factions. That way of life was reflected well here I think, especially from a teenager’s point of view.
Our main characters are interesting. Diego, Cali, and Wes were part of a band together, and they had a lot of good dialogue between them. You could tell they had history, even if they didn’t have a ton of depth (I mean, they’re teenagers so that’s understandable). Diego was the obvious favorite for me. He battled with what it meant to be human in this world, and I can see why he struggled to keep his humanity but feels forced to change himself, to become hardened in a way. I did think here and there some of the decisions they made were questionable (around the beginning and less throughout the second half), but again they are teenagers and probably don’t know any better. They’re just trying to do what they can.
I think the main thing that made this book less great in my eyes was the writing. Throughout the book the writing felt a bit disjointed. Sometimes sentences would cut off for no reason, or I’d have to backtrack a paragraph or two, only to find that something still felt off about the structure of the writing. Dialogue felt a tad too sporadic for me at times. Conversations could tend to get off subject before veering back to the original point. While I understand that is definitely the case in real life, reading it like that makes it a bit difficult to follow.
There was also something about the pacing that made the events of this book drag, especially with the second half. I wanted things to progress more quickly and found myself antsy to hurry forward because I didn’t like what was currently happening.
Ultimately, this book was alright for me but I didn’t feel wowed or inspired by it. While I can’t quite recommend it, it did have plenty of adventure and battles that a zombie lover might go crazy over. If that’s you, this may just be the right book for you. Happy reading!
I loved this new take on an apocalypse! This author is very talented and makes the stories seem very real, with awesome characters. This is a page-turner, incredibly compelling. What will happen to these teens in the new world? Excellent story!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.