I saw this feature film years ago and loved the premise. The book did not disappoint and the characters came alive (pardon the pun) with depth and nuance that I didn’t experience in the film.
SYNOPSIS
R is having a no-life crisis—he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may occasionally eat people, but he’d rather be riding abandoned airport escalators, listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collecting souvenirs from the ruins of civilization.
And then he meets a girl.
First as his captive, then his reluctant guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R’s gray landscape, and something inside him begins to bloom. He doesn’t want to eat this girl—although she looks delicious—he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they can’t imagine, and their hopeless world won’t change without a fight. from Goodreads.
REVIEW
A zombie-romance, a zom-rom? A rom-zom? I am not sure whether this story was more zombie or romance but either way, I loved it. And, like so many weird and wonderful books, I discovered this gem after seeing the movie. I swear, I get so excited when I see the words, “Based on __________________book).”
Like most source materials for movies, this book gives the reader more depth that the movie. I cannot claim to be a huge fan of zombie stories and so the departure from the norm didn’t bother me at all. I was slightly more aggravated by the perpetual parallels to Romeo and Juliet as it felt like this is one of those ideas that came along at the same time as Pride and Prejudice Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Zombiehunter. Luckily, Warm Bodies did not catch my eye when I read those other books and so the comparisons to Shakespeare’s tragic tale of lost love just fell to the margins.
Instead, what stands out in this book for me is the idea of hope. While we live in this pandemic world it was a roll of the dice to pick up a zombie story, or really anything with world wide infections but the over reaching theme boiled down simply to hope. One character lost theirs and had nothing left. Hope, and the excess amounts Julie possesses, spark a change in R that spread quickly with monuments effects on their world.
Whether you are a fan of the zombie genre or are seeking an off-beat romance during this Halloween season, Warm Bodies is sure to deliver.
Tell me, please! Are there other Rom-Zoms out there?
Silver Button Books 