There are only a handful of books that I have read that are zombie themed. Some I’ve hated, and some I’ve loved. This book definitely falls in the latter category.
For 25 years, humans have been hiding away from the dead in isolated enclaves, trying to sustain themselves in this new and undead world. Temple is one of the few that wanders this landscape all on her own. She was born in a world filled with zombies and can’t remember a time before them. But she does have memories of a past, with a kind uncle and a younger brother. As she traverses this dangerous land, Temple will have to battle against the demons within her – as well as those outside.
This was definitely unlike any zombie story I have read. There is so much more to it than just the dangers of being eaten by zombies; in fact, the zombies really didn’t play much of a role and were only there to set the scene. The real story is about how Temple tries to survive in this world, and how the people living in this world have changed with the times. To me, this story was more about the evolution of humans in a time of apocalyptic crisis, rather than the actual apocalyptic event itself. And that made it a really unusual and interesting read. I liked that the story was told from the perspective of this teenage girl, who is so strong and so broken. The things she just assumes are normal, well….they aren’t normal and it breaks my heart to see how she takes it in her stride. This novel has definitely got a Western feel to it, and this is further accentuated by the slang and lack of quotation marks (seriously, there are no quotation marks) so consider that a warning to anyone who is particular on grammar and punctuation! Overall,a gripping story that masterfully depicts the struggles of a teenage girl in an undead world!
Happy reading ~