A solid entertainer written in a very good style. Don't expect astounding plot originality: the expert genre reader will probably anticipate most of the plot twists and even the ending. The sweetness is in the style, and in the focus on characters. This is particularly true of the first part. It's in the first chapters that I fell in love with the novel and the people who live (no pun intended) in its pages. This coup de foudre made me forgive the imperfections in the rest of the book, when characters slip from three full dimensions to interesting but flat posters of themselves with clichéed "development" or, in one case, to hardwired-villain, single-minded, one-dimensional caricature. Actually, I have to admit that it was this character who delivered one of the few surprises during its final appearance: I did not expect a certain dialogue to happen.
By the way, I appreciated the way the dilemmas posed by the starting situation were developed, without manicheism, giving to each character, even the more dislikeable, time and space to display their reasons and the human roots of their own points of view.
All in all an agreeable experience, to which the mastery of the narrating voice in my audiobook version contributed more than I had realised at first. She manages to bring all characters to life without falling into excess. You can always identify who's talking without clues, since their first line in the scene. Standing ovation. ( )

This is an extraordinarily good post-apocalyptic novel. I don't want to give too much away so I'll just say that even if genre fiction isn't your bag, read it. There is so much in here about what it is to be human, parent-child relationships, ethics in research... plus it's very well written. Loved it loved it loved it. ( )

Good story, fun to read, read it in two days. Writing was kind of awful, though. ( )

It was ok, nothing more. A friend had talked it up as being sci-fi, but it wasn’t really. Or rather, if one categorises it as sci-fi, then it’s under post-apocalyptic zombie sci-fi.

I found everything after they left the base a bit tedious, and I didn’t actually like the shift in POV between characters. I would have much preferred only Melanie’s narrative.

Speaking of Melanie, I must agree with Dr Caldwell on the matter of her humanity. She’s a zombie, sorry I meant to say *hungry*, not a little girl.

Hungry is one of the more stupid terms for zombies yet, and it contrasts harshly and unfavourably with the rather intriguing concepts of what the zombie virus in this novel actually is.


I didn’t enjoy the ending but as the author had written their way into a corner, there wasn’t really any other possibility than the special hungries like Melanie inheriting the earth.
( )

I think this is a DNF despite the pre-release fanfare because I can't engage w/ the story and already feel like I know where its going.