4.5 stars

Riveting. Engaging. Amazingly written.

I was honestly hooked from the very first lines of the book. The authors waste no time putting us right in the middle of the jeering accident and what is going through Evening Spiker’s mind as it all happens. She’s barely coherent, trying to process the accident and her surrounds. It’s quite REAL in the sense that nothing is flourished with “pretty” writing. Eve’s thoughts seep through the page in ways that kept me readily engaged with the story. It almost seemed like I was there, watching everything through her eyes.

I haven’t read too many sci-fi books, but this definitely has won a special place in my heart of favorite books. It’s entirely different from what I normally read. In sci-fi anything is possible. With that kind of mind set and world ideology, Eve is able to create a boy; a project that her mother set her to do while she stays at Spiker Bio. It’s only supposed to be a project, right?

Wrong.

At this part of the story, I was totally cut off guard. I honestly didn’t think that he’d be REAL. Okay, so maybe some part of me suspected it.

But this book isn’t all about Eve creating the perfect boy. That plot line is in a sense a sub-plot to the deep secrets that are part of Spiker Bio. With the help of Solo (the boy who takes her to Spiker Bi0) , Eve finds out the startling truth that is a part of her, and also the circumstances of what really happened to her father.

There is a little bit of everything for everyone in this book. There is a strong female protagonist who is has a little bit of sass and is wholly realistic. I loved how she has internal battles with herself. It makes her relatable and the thoughts that ran through her mind are things that we (as the reader) would question as we read. For the record, I really like that about Solo too. He has his share of p.o.v’s in the book, and it definitely made me love him. He was such a guy. There is also some mystery, heart-pounding action, a dash of romance that would certainly make anyone fall head over heels over Eve & Adam.

I applaud both Michael and Katherine for their beautifully written novel. It was a captivating read that wouldn’t let me set it down. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t stop reading it unless I was crashing from lack of sleep. The ending had me grinning from ear to ear because it was as perfect as it could be.

Jessica Bailey is plagued with vivid dreams of condemned and exalted angels as she stands trials for people who have died. She has had the nightmares since she was a little girl and has had the unimaginable fear of angels of all kinds. Her fear comes from her dreams as she hears their distant manical laughter whenever she so much as lays an eye or is around statues of cherubs or stone angels. But then things start to change as Alex and Cole come into her life. Alex gives Jessica a sense of safety, warmth, and understanding – things that she has never known. While Cole is the polar opposite, giving off an air of attraction, wariness, and distant familiarity. He has an agenda that may very well lead to Jessica’s own death and trial in front of the beings she has feared since she was young.

This was a really nice and easy read for me. I’ve been reading it for the past week on my kindle app on my iPod and it has kept me company on nights where the lights need to be off. It’s a different twist to the whole angel genre. The angels that are integrated into Branded are beings of immense power who judge the souls of the dead based on their deeds in life. If they lead a good life they are exalted into heaven and granted blue eyes and wings. Those who lead a bad life were condemned; given a branding of an X on their back and black eyes. Jessica has had to live years with standing in place of trials for those souls. With that said she has the branding of an X on her neck and wings – that appear to be an extreme tattoo. No one has every understood her, thinking that she was mentally ill. So much so that her own mother wanted to send her away to an institution.

Even though Jessica has had a hard life it has not ruined who she is. She tries to be normal – as normal as she can. And for me that shows unbelievable strength. When Alex enters her life it is the sweetest thing EVER. He is the embodiment of good and understanding. Jessica trusts him enough to even tell him her secret. But then there is Cole who just reeks of…well, like something is entirely wrong with him. Which there is. It’s pretty obvious and predictable who he really is once he shows up.

On that same page, the entire book was pretty predictable. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but I like being shocked and on the edge of my seat. The other thing about the story was that it was also very redundant. The author seems to reiterate a lot of what is happening more than once – sometimes about three times in the same chapter. But it wasn’t all bad. I kept reading because I liked the tone and voice isn’t that the same thing of the story. It definitely kept me enthralled and if it hadn’t I wouldn’t have kept reading.

Oh! And I also really liked the contrast between light and dark. That element was nicely portrayed in this book.

So if your looking for a different spin on angels then this is definitely a book you should check out! Give it a try and crack it open. It’s really great for those long nights and restless thoughts. Plus, it’s FREE on Amazon

To say that this book was good would be a complete understatement. It was honestly PHENOMENAL. It completely took my breath away and left me speechless and flabbergasted at the jaw-dropping ending. I actually said, “What da fakkk.”

The synopsis of this particular book is pretty self-explanatory. So I won’t bore you by being redundant at least I’ll try not to.. Elysia is a sixteen year old girl who was bio-chemically engineered. She is an exact replica of her First (a human girl who died and made it possible for Elysia to be created). She is made to serve and once she is bought by the Barron’s, Elysia’s sole purpose is to be a sort of replacement for Astrid, the oldest child in the family who left the island of Demesne for University.

At first everything is grand. Elysia is pampered and gets along with Mrs. Barron’s children, Ivan and Liesel. From this interaction with the family, household, and friends – Elysia begins to feel, which should be impossible since she is a clone, unable to be able to feel like a human. But she does and as the story progresses we learn that Elysia isn’t the only one, which leads to the jarring and parallel discontent that I could only compare it to the African American’s wish to be free from being deemed as slaves.

At first, the book to me was slow. There was a lot of world-building involve that I thought dragged. The first day when I picked up the book I honestly wanted to stop reading it all together. But I told myself to keep reading the first chapters because it might get better. I’m so glad that I did. The book picked up tremendously as we followed Elysia through her journey, leaving me completely enthralled and unhinged.

I’ve never read anything similar as Beta in the sci-fi world, which is a major plus in my book. Rachel Cohn gets unique and creative points from moi. It was also brilliantly written as Elysia’s narration slowly transforms from naivety to logical questioning of her existence. It’s done gradually where we see Elysia grow without it being out of blue and unrealistic.

There is just so much about this book that I can go on and on about. There’s a little of everything in the novel. There is, of course, sci-fi – as the setting takes place in the future and where it’s medically advanced to be able to make clones of off people who have died in order for them to be servants to humans. It also falls into the dystopian category because even though the island may seem to be “perfect” it is far from it. Finally, there is romance, humor, action, and unbelievable twists that you will not see coming until the very page or maybe it was just me because yano I am clueless. Lastly, people are not who they seem. You may think you know them…and then, well….THEY DO THINGS THAT ARE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY NOT RIGHT.

Ahh and like I said, THE ENDING COMPLETELY LEFT ME SPEECHLESS. I COULDN’T EVEN PROCESS THE LAST TWO SENTENCES. It was a major twist that I didn’t see coming. I felt like I was hit by a bulldozer.

All in all, I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading and is looking for a new and unique sci-fi dystopian YA novel. It is definitely one of my favorite sci-fi reads so far this year!

Review to come soon! :)

I completely fell in love with Cristian Mihai’s beautiful way of writing. His main character, Chris Sommers, is an embodiment of realism. His persona was much attune to what some of us feel about ambition, love, and the realization of heartbreaking disappointment. I felt a connection to him in a much deeper level than I’ve ever known. Mihai’s writing style just reaches out to you, captures you – without letting go for a moment. It’s also very personal that you just can’t help but love the main protagonist. There were times where it pained me to stop reading because I wanted to note down my favorite quotes from the novel because it was just that amazingly brilliant.

From the very first chapter of the novel, we follow Chris Sommers on his adventure to Paris to find the girl he’s always been drawn to. Everyone loves an unrequited love story, right? When he arrives, he sees Amber, but everything is not as he expected them to be. He is then thrust into the Paris lifestyle where he finds himself and rediscovers events that changed his life, but also Amber’s.

The story itself is thought-provoking with beautiful and lyrical prose on almost every single page. It almost reminded me of F. Scott Fizgerald in that way where there is a story being written but underneath the surface is a message trying to be deciphered. I think it’s the reason why I fell in love with Jazz and am now a fan of his work.

Honestly, I would suggest this book to anyone who purely loves reading and is drawn to contemporary, indie novels. Cristian Mihai has a blog of his own on WordPress so….go forth and stalk him! Goodness. I really hope this doesn’t get me in trouble. If you, Cristian, ever come across this don’t think I’m so psycho. Kay?

Memorable Quotes:

We never perceive the passage of time in the same mechanical manner the ticking of a watch implies. For us time is subjective, a sinuous river, sometimes viscous, almost grinding to a halt as we zigzag our way among pedestrians wearing heavy jackets, and sometimes fast and turbulent, leading our lives with indescribable fury.

Artists never create art for what they might find. Some want to free themselves from nightmares, others want to inspire, or raise questions, or make people understand the world around them. Some want to entertain, others want to get rich, but it seems to me that no matter our reason for choosing to become artists, we all find more happiness in the stories or paintings or songs we create than we find in the real world.

We are all broken beyond repair and neither fame nor money can bring back what’s been taken from us. We all build these wonderful things, we all create art that inspires, that makes people cry or laugh, but, in the end, all we ever want is to be normal. We aspire for greatness because we know we’re never going to find the one person who loves us for who we are.

We are the prisoners of our own ideals. We have to follow a strict pattern, a set of rules and laws, and play the role society designed for us. We are taught that our choices don’t matter, that at best we are insignificant, and at worst we are invisible, shadowy figures wandering around a desolate landscape filled with rigid concrete boxes and bleak lights shivering in the night. I guess that what I’m really trying to say is that our freed is limited only by what we believe to be the perception others have about us.

In the heart-pounding second installment to Under The Never Sky, Veronica Rossi delivers a beautifully written sequel in Through The Ever Night. I’ve been waiting for over a year for TTEN as I got an ARC for UTNS in 2011. I’ll try to not squeal and fan girl for the duration of this review, but I’m already having trouble doing just that. Rossi completely and utterly blew my expectations out of the water with jarring and heartbreaking revelations and the possibility of deep betrayals. Plus, the romance in this book practically seeped through the pages.

Last we left our beloved characters in UTNS, Aria had discovered the shattering revelations that she was half outsider. She had left Perry behind, but after months of being apart they are finally reunited. And oh! It. Is. So. Bittersweet! Lots of things have changed for them both, like the fact that Perry is now Blood Lord of the Tides. His tribe does not welcome Aria (and this is the part where their reunion is bittersweet) and even attempt to kill her.

Aria leaves soon after but not because of the incident. She has a mission: to go in search of information for the still blue. They all need the still blue because the aether storms – which are kind of like intense lightening storms – threatened their lives every day as it has become almost impossible to be safe from them.

Throughout the novel, I just kept stopping and telling Perry that Aria loves him whenever he doubted her love for him. Her leaving without saying a word deeply betrayed him and my heart hurt. It’s one of the many things that Veronica Rossi does exceptionally. She makes you feel for the characters, making you forget about everything else but them. I realized as I was reading that Rossi used the sequel to expand character relationships. The bond between Perry and Aria magnified, but at the same time their love was riddled with doubt on Perry’s part because he just didn’t believe ASLDKFJDL;FKJDK. Then, there is the relationship between Roar and Aria, which at times may have been interpreted as romantic. I was really scared for that possibility. Don’t get me wrong, I love Roar but I am an Perria shipper at heart. Aria as a character has grown immensely both physically and emotionally since UTNS. The same goes for Perry – as he’s trying to handle the duties that come from being a Blood Lord – and some of the other minor characters of the story.

Everything that made Under The Never Sky amazing and fresh was written with sheer brilliance in Through The Ever Night. Rossi added much more depth surrounding Aria and Perry’s world that involved past and present vital information. We got to learn about where the word “aether” came from and the marking ritual that is performed for an outsider with a heightened gift. Those were, of course, the little things.Veronica Rossi does not spare her readers with shocking and agonizing twists.

My favorite thing about Through The Ever Night had to be the development of the relationships between the characters. Aria and Perry’s romance just captured my heart. It was different, seeing Perry rendered to Aria so utterly and completely. Then there is Aria, who was self-less enough to leave Perry to protect him, to protect everything he’s ever known. Roar and Aria’s friendship could only be described as open and comfortable. They have a bond, not quite the same as what Aria has with Perry, but it’s different in it’s entirety. Aria calls Roar her best friend and I couldn’t agree more.

The last ten chapters or so were filled with heart-racing action and shocking events. My heart literally was heavy until the very end. I consumed those pages and felt sad when I realized that there was no more. I’m definitely looking forward to reading what Veronica Rossi has in store for us in the anticipated conclusion, Into The Still Blue. If you have never read this series, I urge you to go forth and read it! You won’t be disappointed and the idea for her world is unique, creative, and captivating. You’ll become utterly obsessed as I have, which is a healthy sort of obsession. Right? :)

Amazingly wonderful from the very first page. There was never a dull moment with the story, and I was intrigued with the horror, romance, and comedy. This book has everything a devoted reader enjoys. I was never full aware of the extent of the Jack the Ripper murders and the story conveyed just enough factual information that I literally believed what Rory was going through. Her special abilities caught me off guard because I was not paying attention whatsoever about that. I honestly thought that she saw some form of hybrid ghost vampire, but that was just me and my crazy imagination.

I honestly just loved the whole story, and absolutely cannot wait till the sequel! Sad part is that I have to wait a whole year :/

Definitely recommend this to anyone! Such a great read, and you will be captivated from the very beginning until the end :)

Originally on Books Forget Me Knot.

I honestly don’t even know what to say. Finishing the breathtaking and heart-pounding conclusion to Anna Godbersen’s Bright Young Things trilogy was bittersweet. It’s been days since I read the last sentence of the novel which left it’s unique mark on me. I couldn’t imagine a better, full-filling ending to one of my favorite historical fiction series’.

With that said, it’s very hard to be non-spoilery when this is the final book in the series, but I will try.

The Lucky Ones begins where Beautiful Days left off – with only a few weeks gap. Astrid and Charlie have just returned from their honeymoon, Letty is moving out of Dogwood to stay with Valentine O’Dell and Sophia Ray (two of the silver screen’s stars!), and Cordelia is having a world-wind romance with celebrity pilot, Max Darby. At first, things are new, thrilling, and exciting for our 3 lovely protagonists, but it too soon becomes dark and comes crashing down.

Astrid is realizing a darker side to Charlie as he delves deeper into his bootlegging business. She begins to see that marriage isn’t what she always thought it would be. After witnessing Charlie murder a man, her feelings for him start crumbling. Cue in Victor-I-Don’t-Recall-Last-Name. He is one of Charlie’s bodyguards who has been assigned to look after Astrid and her well being. Sparks begin to ignite between the two, while Victor harbors a secret of his own. The secret was something that I suspected but didn’t really know if I was right. There weren’t many clues as to who he really was until the raid. I was very happy who Astrid chose at the end. I would have done the same if I was torn between Charlie or Victor.

Moving on to Cordelia. Her relationship with Max Darby completely jeopardizes his good name and reputation. We learned in Beautiful Days that Max is a negro (not my words). His mother is black, while his father was a white man – there is not history of this or what happened to his father. Anyways, that sole reason could jeopardize what he’s built with his career. And it does. Oh, boy it does. You really got to see the bad side of people concerning this topic. People who loved Max Darby for who he was as a pilot turned on him. And it was all Cordelia’s fault. Why? She’s famous. She’s the long, lost daughter of the recently deceased Darius Gray. He was a renowned bootlegger in the city. Being known comes at a price with photographers and reporters in the darkest of corners just to take a picture of her. That’s how Max’s secret became known to the public.

Ah. Finally, there is sweet and naive Letty. Though, I’m just as naive. When Valentine O’Dell signs on to teach Letty the valuable assets it takes to make it in the movie business, Letty falls for the mega-silver screen actor. It’s not one-sided as Valentine also returns Letty’s feelings. But…well, things aren’t what they seem. I thought that Valentine O’Dell’s love for Letty was real. But I was wrong. He plays her. PLAYS HER. I just wanted to hit him with a shoe. And you know how Letty finds out? From Sophia Ray – Valentine’s wife! Yep. Although, I have mixed feelings about Valentine’s intentions…I honestly believe that his belief in Letty’s talent was real. He genuinely seemed captivated by her singing, dancing, and acting. She is a star as her friends and strangers have said. My only regret is that I wish that I could be able to see Letty perform because it just seems magical; the way that Godbersen describes those scenes – it’s like I’m there.

Oh! And if your wondering about Grady (since things between him and Letty didn’t end on a good note in Beautiful Days) you will be happy to know that he makes appearances and….*sigh* It ends on a good note! One that will leave your heart bursting with glee!

If it isn’t already obvious, I’m a huge fan of Anna Godbersen’s work. I loved her Luxe series, which I read a few years ago. When I found out she was writing another historical fiction series I immediately researched and jumped on board the journey. I don’t regret one bit of the time I spent reading and getting to know Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, following them on their adventures in the dazzling city of New York in the last summer of the Jazz Age.

Godbersen’s writing is brilliantly poetic and it’s one of the reasons why I love her work so very much! Her use of metaphors and similes are to die for! Also, her novels have a little bit of everything for everyone. It’s submerged in romance while history takes a vital part in her world. There is also jaw-dropping drama, suspense, and mystery. Plus, I think that Anna Godbersen is a master crafter of points-of-views. No girl’s perspective is the same as the other, and it’s something she does very well. Plus, she writes vividly to the time her novels takes place and stays true to it.

If you haven’t read the concluding novel to The Bright Young Things series I say, What are you waiting for? Go grab yourself a copy! I assure you that the ending is fulfilling. The only part that’s bittersweet is that it’s OVER. DONE. FINITO. But I loved it nonetheless and I’m very sad to let all the characters go. I will be patiently awaiting for Godbersen’s next project and hopefully be re-reading The Luxe which takes place in New York, 1899.

Originally posted on Books Forget Me Knot.

I’m going to try very hard not to be all gushy and a flat out girl. Even though, it is what I am. Sorry folks, can’t argue with biology.

Flat-Out Love was a book that was recommended to me by my Kindle Paper White the day I received it in the mail. I checked it out and after deciding that it was a good gamble I bought it. Needless to say, I do not regret my decision. I absolutely fell in love with Jessica Park’s unique, witty, and quirky writing style. It’s a fresh and new read that will have readers fully engaged and enthralled until the last page.

After Julie Seagle finds herself apartment-less in Boston, her mother, Kate, comes to the rescue. Kate contacts an old friend from college who resides in Boston and has her daughter there faster than you can say Nietzsche Is My Homeboy. Cue in incredibly smart, techy, cute, and sweet Matthew Watkins. It’s in that moment that Julie’s life becomes interwoven with the Watkin’s. She never expected to get close to them. Never expected to think of them and their house as home. And she most certainly did not expect to fall in love with Finn Watkin’s, the older son who she has never met but knows fully like she’s never known another boy before.

There’s a secret surrounding Celeste and what happened to her. Celeste is the youngest daughter in the family. She’s rather quirky and very mature for her age. From the moment that she walks into the Wakin’s home there is some mystery surrounding Celeste. Everyone seems to be walking on egg shells around her and oddly go around with her protective nature over Flat Finn – a life size cut out of her older brother. You see, Finn is traveling the world and Flat Finn is a way for Celeste to deal with her brother being away.

Of course, there is something more. The secret itself broke my heart because I didn’t see it coming whatsoever. I had my own theory, but I was very wrong. I mean how could I think that Matt had some sort of personality disorder? I am the worst at coming up with theories.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself here. Let’s talk characters. I loved Julie Seagle, she reminded me of my best friend Anna with her witty facebook status and how just….intellectual she was. Julie is passionate, funny, and witty. I loved her bantering with Matt. It just made me gush like a crazed teenage girl. Also, Julie was very relatable to me as a person because she was around my age. She’s just starting college and with that comes her journey on unknown territory, trying to navigate her way around school, friends, and matters of the heart.

Moving on to Celeste Watkins, who is a central character to the story. She’s a fragile young girl, trying to figure out who she is, trying to be a normal teenager. Her journey of self-discovery and healing is one that I will remember for a long time.

Then there are the novel’s two love interests, Matt and Finn. *sigh* Can I just have them? I mean…either one will do. Up first is Matt. I just loved how Matt was so brainy, techy, and sweet. He’s very protective of Celeste and loves her so much. It’s an admirable quality in a boy. And I think it’s just the sweetest thing ever. He’s also very broken…and I didn’t realize this until the very end when there is a scene where everything just falls apart and I just wanted to hug him close to me and tell him that everything would be okay, that I loved him.

See what I mean! This book….*sigh*

Next is Finn *cue in loving sigh* …who is just so dreamy. He’s that boy who we’ve never met in person but fall in love with because of his personality. Or that boy you’ve been writing love letters to but don’t know who he is. Have any of you experienced that sort of thing? I have and…it can be so sweet at first and then shattering. Because you realize it just can’t work. Which is what happens in the novel but on a whole different level. Like I said, my heart was completely broken and I was trying to stifle my heart breaking cries at 2 in the morning! I didn’t want to wake up anyone with my blubbering whale noises.

Lastly, Mr. and Mrs. Watkins play a vital part in the novel because…well, they are never around. Which arises a few questions in how it affects Celeste and Matt. All the members of the Watkins family are emotionally scrambled. They’ve lost who they were because of something that happened, something that emotionally unhinged them all.

There are of course other characters like Kate Seagle, Dana, Seth, and Mr. Seagle who play an integral part to the story and Julie’s life. Her relationship with her father is jarring and tugged at my heart strings.

I can’t fully express how much I loved this story! Indie books are a hit or miss in my opinion. Sometimes you come across really horrible ones that just make you lose your faith in self-publishing. But then there are others that are beautiful and utterly amazing. Flat-Out Love is one of those books. I recommend it to anyone, both young adult and adults. It’s witty, uniquely crafted, mysterious, humorous, devastating, dipped in social media, and wildly addicting. You just can’t go wrong.

Originally posted on my blog Books Forget Me Knot.

Thrilling. Gripping. Heart-pounding. A story that will have you hooked from the beginning and an ending that will leave you speechless.

I haven’t read a zombie book since the final book in Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth series. I loved her twist to zombies and the romance weaved into her books, creating an epic and unforgettable series. With that said, it was going to be pretty hard to find another zombie book that I’d completely and utterly fall in love with.

But ladies and gentleman, Sean Beaudoin did it. Beaudoin creates and enticing and heart-racing novel from the very first page, not letting you go for an instant. It’s an exhilarating roller coaster ride with a jarring and surprising ending I didn’t see coming.

At first, I was wary because it was very different then what I normally read. But once I got over that fact I couldn’t put the book down until I was absolutely finished. As I was reading about Nick “Nero” I felt like I was watching everything from a camera lens; the scenes unfolding right before my eyes. Beaudoin’s writing style is unique all on it’s own and can’t be confused with anyone’s.

Not only is his writing brilliant and full of witty, dark, twisted humor – his characters are quirky and originally out of this world. The Infects exceeded all my thoughts and expectations and let’s just say, that I have probably had my last bite of KFC.

When Nick corrupts the processing at Rebozzo’s he is sentenced to a juvenile camp, Inward Trek, and given a camp name: Nero. One the way to the camp everything is all fine and dandy until horror strikes the next morning. Nero wakes up to see one of his camp counselor’s munching down on another. Things get even more freakier and bizzare when zombies appear left and right! Before Nero and his band of misfits realize it, they’ve got a full fledged Zombie-A-Pocalypse on their hands. They do what any normal human being scared for their life would do in a situation like that. Run.

Along the way, Nero gives us very detailed and insightful ZOMBRULES. For example:

ZOMBRULE #1: Always assume there’s a zombie or six in the bushes when the orchestra begins to ramp up. Because – and this is vital – you can hear the moaning and you smell the flesh, but the sound track is like GPS – weather’s it’s speed metal or Doris Day, theme music is the one sound that will never let you down.

ZOMBRULE #15: Bedtime is when bad things happen, and dream time is even worse. Drink coffee, pound Red Bulls, snort speed, tell ghost stories, poke each other with sharp sticks, staple open your eyelids, redo that sudoku, teach yourself to cobble, learn Javanese verb conjugations, memorize Deuteronomy, guzzle sixty-two hours’ worth of 5-hour ENERGY, and/or stay up till dawn playing strip poker instead. Do. Not. Go. To. Sleep.

Another thing that made this novel brilliant was Nick/Nero’s witty, insightful, and deep observations about himself and society as a whole. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I”m taking Sociology this semester or not, but I found subtle instances where Nick blatantly says Screw You to society, especially the last chapter of the novel. I liked that part very much because…well, society has done the same to us. I won’t go into much detail, but that is how I saw it. I might be very wrong…but if there is something deeper going on I believe that that was the point.

The build up to the story was pure genius. Without Nick’s story there wouldn’t be the rising action where zombie’s are unleashed and the characters have to fight for their lives to survive. There were instances where they wanted to give up, but Nick quickly pulled the plug on that thought, which I admired. It was one of my favorite parts of the entire story. Nero is an unlikely hero, much like his name was during ancient Rome.

This book is just everything you would want out of a zombie story. It has plenty of blood and gore and witty dialogue. It’s thought provoking, has a dash of romance (where I was shipping Nero and Petal FTW) and heart-pounding suspense. Like I said at the beginning, I was really unsure about this book but Sean Beaudoin won me over in a heartbeat, writing a unique and creative story that left me completely unhinged and excited to read some more of his works.

Memorable quotes:
But Petal Gazes was a whole other universe, a different orbit, a brighter sun. She was a tenth straight espresso, pure feedback, wet-toe-in-socket beautiful.

Thing is, he’s right. Bleeding hearts? Liberals? The collapse of empire is always fueled by good intentions, the rubble presided over by the strict and the cold.

You can’t keep Z around like house pets. Leaving Petal down here ready to turn was bullshit. Like dangling James Bond over a shark tank and running away instead of just shooting his dumb ass. Sooner or later she gonna escaped, and I’m not getting eaten over that kind of foolishness.