Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies
Author: Isaac Marion
Publisher: Atria
Age Group: Adult
Category: Paranormal
Release date: April 26, 2011
Pages: 246 (ARC)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Won

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

Warm Bodies is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.  The author shows a completely different side of the zombie- an emotional one.  The story follows a zombie called "R".  Like every other zombie, he can't remember the name he was called by when he was alive, other than the first letter.  Before Julie, he was like most of his kind.  He hunted and ate the living, but when he eats his last brain, that person's memories come to life in his own head.  This is where the feelings are really beginning to show.  When R meets a girl named Julie, his entire world is turned upside down.  This isn't your typical paranormal romance.

Julie, as it turns out, is the girlfriend of the boy R killed.  While consuming his brain, he realizes that he feels the need to protect her from his other zombie friends.  Terrified, she obeys him and follows him to his home- the airport, where many other zombies live as well.  The more time R spends with her, the more he learns how to communicate.  Finally, the others catch on and find this girl, so she tells R that she has to leave or else the humans will eventually find her and won't think twice about killing every zombie in sight.  R accompanies her on her journey back home and realizes that he has more feelings for her than he's felt in his entire undead life.

R is an incredible character.  He's sensitive and understanding and everything a zombie shouldn't be.  But it works.  His thoughts are so genuine and heartfelt and he's shown wanting to live a life more than anything.  Can a zombie ever fully "live" a life like the rest of us?

The story was very different from most I've read.  I was so intrigued with the plot that I could do nothing but focus on it.  I caught myself laughing and smiling a lot.  Why are zombies so funny to me?  There's a part that describes the zombie "sex" that really got me. There wasn't much romance, but that's good, because it didn't overshadow the most important part of the book.   Overall, the story takes a turn that I don't think anyone would expect from a novel about zombies.