Overall I greatly liked/enjoyed the book, enough to keep going in the series.

There were very minor instances where I noticed things could have been edited/worded better, but very few times.

My biggest pet peeve is I got the impression the author doesn't knit. She clearly did some research on the subject but nothing was quite right. For example, calling circular needles "tubular". Lots of instances where the author is describing yarn, but the description doesn't really match what she's saying. She also doesn't use terms that knitters actually use - she talks about taking apart her knitting, but doesn't call it "frogging" - the term knitters actually use to describe ripping back their work.

I'd definitely recommend to the author if she keeps reading this series that she have a beta read who actually knits go over it. Little changes would make the book SO much better!

I love the whole vampire angle. I felt the plot involving the grimoire was just added on to flesh out the plot a little bit - which, the plot did need fleshing out, but the side storyline involving the grimoire seemed very rush.

I wasn't a fan of the ending - grandma & her sister hated each other for fifty years, OK let's have pizza together! Let's not talk about why we've been mad for fifty years, any real discussion whatsoever - or have any conversation about why practicing dark magic is bad (the reason for the fifty year feud in the first place).

Overall, the book is exactly what is claims to be - a fun cozy read, with vampires, witches and knitting.

Review:

Loved it!

I don't review many books five stars but I'd give this one six if I could.

I'm not a runner, but a friend introduced me to the concept of ultramarathons a few years ago and I admit to be a bit horrified and fascinated by the concept. I enjoy zombie books as well, so combining the two was such a novel idea, that I was super excited to read this one.
I devoured it. I seldom finish a book in under a week's time - not because I don't read quickly or a lot, but because I have a short attention span and I'm often reading 5, 6, 7 books at a time... look at how crazy my sidebar "current books" list has gotten at time (fairly recently I was up to 9; at the time of writing this review, I think I'm down to three, which is rather rare for me, but that's only because most of the books in my pile right now are all rather similar dystopian young adult novels).

Anyways, the premise of the story is a widowed mom trying to rescue her son, along with her best friend, from the zombies. The new world, filled with zombies, is shown slowly, which doesn't seem to happen too often in books (and is actually a pet peeve of mine; I don't think zombies will take over the world in 30 seconds, I think it'll take a day or two at least! It should take at least a page in a book too, shouldn't it?). Kate and Frederico are in denial about the truth, but accepts reality quickly enough and gets down to business: running 200 miles to rescue Kate's son.

You can imagine the rest of the book if you've ever read a zombie book before, but the book is nicely done and there are some well thought differences which make this one stand out from the genre.

I hope there's a sequel!
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book received from author as part of a book tour

I had been recommended this series several times over to read, and I finally managed to get around to it (so many books, so little time!) I have never read any of Oliver's other books before.

The premise of this series is that love is a disease. At first, you are just struck with horror by the idea, but then you realize that love - at least "new" love - is definitely a disease!

There's a surgery where they can remove the ability to love from your life, thus "curing" the disease. Problem is, they take away basically all of your emotions, and you are turned into a robot, a zombie, an emotionless shell of a human being. That's just SO scary for me.

The characters are great, the book is well written, and obviously the series is very popular. Overall, I didn't love the book, but I did enjoy it. I felt the pace was a little slow, but the book ends with a big cliffhanger.

I received a copy of the book from the library.

I read this book about a week after reading the first two book in the series, I had to wait to get the book in from the library. It was the longest week in recent history!

I was so excited to see how the series would end, and I admit - I was definitely a little disappointed with this one. I still LOVED it, but it didn't have quite the same amount of, I don't quite know, flavor? that the other two books had. There was just a little something something missing, and instead of reading the book in one night like I did with the first two, it actually took me a couple of nights.

I admit to be dying to reread the whole series again, however, because I suspect that rereading this book a second time will give me new insights into the book.

After watching the movie on vacation this year, I was immediately hooked into this series. This book has been on my to read pile forever, so I grabbed a copy from the library & I think I read the book in one night, immediately requested the next book & read that immediately as well. To say I was enjoying the book would be an understatement.

The book's been reviewed a hundred times, so I'm not really going to say much other than the fact that this was definitely my favorite read for 2012, & this was the book that got me back into reading, after not touching a book for most of the past few months.

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After reading the book, I then listened to the audio version - which was EXCELLENT & I highly recommend.

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reread dec, 2015 - new review
So this is at least the forth time I've read this book.

I first read it in 2012 (review here), then listened to the audiobook (which I strongly recommend) and I'm pretty sure I read it at least one more time after that. I so got hooked on this series, and I finally convinced my husband to read it as well. He finally started the last book, so it was time for me to re-read the entire series so we can obsessively talk about it!

So being a big fan I am not really going to right much of a review, but I am going to mention the fact that even though all of the characters (except Katniss really) are very one-dimensional (perfect Peeta, drunk Haymitch, silly Effie, etc), they aren't really. Yes, Peeta's perfect, but he's just such a nice guy you have to love him anyway. Yes, Haymitch is a drunk, but he's just so committed to helping Katniss live that you can't help but respect him for that, and he tries so hard to be better, to save her. Effie may be silly, but she ends up falling in love with Katniss and Peeta and tries to help them survive in her own way, too. How can you not love the characters?



(though this review is published in January, it was finished in 2015)

Like the first book in the series, this book has been reviewed a bunch of times & I don't have anything new to add, so I won't write a lengthy review. I read this book immediately after watching the movie & reading the first book in the series & loved it as much as I loved the first one. I couldn't believe my eyes as I read the book & watched the story unfold, & when it was over I sobbed because I had to wait to get the next book to read.

I absolutely LOVED this book!

I was first introduced to this book as part of a book tour & was asked to review. I almost passed, because I don't really read Zombie books. I've gotten into Walking Dead, however, and LOVED the cover of this book so much I couldn't resist getting a copy to read.

And I was immediately hooked, from the very first page.

I haven't loved a book this much in a long time.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within an area called the Bastion. She's a soldier and has battled the zombies that surround their area before. The story revolves around Maria, her friend Lindsey who also is a veteran of zombie battles, and her boyfriend and an officer in the Constabulary, Dwayne Reichardt. Their relationship is kept a secret because of his marriage and family, but in the end, Maria's relationship with Lindsey & Dwayne is what keeps her alive.

Frater does a wonderful job of creating a whole world with rich, multi-faceted characters, and kept twisting the plot so you had to keep reading. The last half of the book I couldn't even read at night because it would keep me up at night wondering what was going to happen next! She wrote this as a stand-alone book, but I'd really love to see where Maria and Dwayne are in ten years.