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Blue
Zombie story with plenty to sink your teeth into: romance, supernatural monsters and a good dose of blood and gore.
Blue is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where humans live in colonies high above the ground and have forgotten a lot of what pre-zombie life was like, for instance there are no cell phones or internet etc.
Told through a small collection of voices whose stories unfold and then tie-in together, this is a fresh and modern read which races along and keeps the reader enthralled right to the end.
The main character, Blue is a half-zombie, half-human. The Blue is an interesting state of being: somewhere between ‘normal' and a walking corpse. The Blue is mostly immortal, yet desperately alone.
The author's sense of humour is obvious throughout and her love of science and general nerdy fascinations have given the rules and biology that govern the existence of the zombies in Blue a touch of 'almost-reality'.
Blue is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where humans live in colonies high above the ground and have forgotten a lot of what pre-zombie life was like, for instance there are no cell phones or internet etc.
Told through a small collection of voices whose stories unfold and then tie-in together, this is a fresh and modern read which races along and keeps the reader enthralled right to the end.
The main character, Blue is a half-zombie, half-human. The Blue is an interesting state of being: somewhere between ‘normal' and a walking corpse. The Blue is mostly immortal, yet desperately alone.
The author's sense of humour is obvious throughout and her love of science and general nerdy fascinations have given the rules and biology that govern the existence of the zombies in Blue a touch of 'almost-reality'.
323 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2013
2 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 4, 2013
So, the zombie genre feels somewhat overdone - how many tales can you write about shuffling undead that infect with a bite? Well, this is the debut novel of New Zealand author, Brandy Wehinger, and it is about as light and funny as zombie novels can get. Told through the eyes of a wide cast of characters, we jump from narrator to narrator in a manner that is slightly disorientating, but made less so by the paragraph headers. I do wonder if perhaps it would have flowed somewhat smoother with less narrators, because sometimes it took a while to get your head around who was "talking", but for the most part they added their own point of view to the story, and all tie together into a cohesive whole.
The cover, designed and illustrated by indie artist, Tanya Jade aka "Misery" is sweet and whimsical, giving this book an undeniable charm.
It's cute, it's gory, it moves along at a steady pace and is intriguing all the way. Some of the speech felt a little stilted, and there were far too many threads left hanging, along with an almost throwaway twist that obviously implies there will be more to follow.
Thanks to Random House for the Reading Copy!
The cover, designed and illustrated by indie artist, Tanya Jade aka "Misery" is sweet and whimsical, giving this book an undeniable charm.
It's cute, it's gory, it moves along at a steady pace and is intriguing all the way. Some of the speech felt a little stilted, and there were far too many threads left hanging, along with an almost throwaway twist that obviously implies there will be more to follow.
Thanks to Random House for the Reading Copy!
November 3, 2013
Reposted from http://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/
Zombie romance, y’all: it’s totally a thing. I know, this latest paranormal sub-genre trend can be hard to stomach. At least vampires have that pale, aloof sexiness, and werewolves have the whole alpha-male appeal. But zombies? Casting rotting corpses as romantic leads starts to get uncomfortably close to necrophilia.
The latest attempt to rehabilitate zombies comes from Auckland-based first-time novelist Brandy Wehinger: Blue, a rather sweet and gentle story for tween-age zombie beginners. The cover is absolutely cracking and very pick-up-able, featuring an eye-catching image from artist Misery that sets the horror-lite tone perfectly.
Wehinger aims to side-step the necro-horror and keep her book kiddie-friendly by creating an intermediate species between humans and zombies: blues. Sort of undead but sort of still human, blues retain the consciousness and self-control of humans, while also acquiring the stamina and unstoppableness of zombies. Wehinger encourages us to think closely about how this might work by devoting several chapters to a medical analysis of how the zombie condition is physiologically expressed.
It’s an intriguing concept worth a closer look. If your body is transformed into something entirely other, yet you still retain the memories and thought patterns of your human self, are you still you? What is it that makes us human? Our physiology? The synapse configuration in our brains? Can we be physically something else but mentally still human? Are we our pulses or our memories?
Frustratingly, having posed these arresting questions, Wehinger comes nowhere close to answering them. Her novel, aimed at 10-14-year-olds, is ultimately in service of plot rather than ideas (a striking contrast to Carl Nixon’s The Virgin and the Whale, which I reviewed recently). There is a large cast of characters (alive, dead and in between) and the point of view skips between them, which has the potential to be interesting but ends up being disjunctive and making it hard to form an engaging emotional bond with the protagonists.
The central romance, between the eponymous blue, Katie, and a human, Elliot, is superficial and, again, presents intriguing questions that are never answered: if Katie is sort of undead, are they still the same species? If not, how can they form a committed, loving relationship? Can they reproduce? Are their now-different physiologies sexually compatible? Perhaps if the bond between Katie and Elliot had been more passionate, if I had felt that their love transcended all boundaries, I wouldn’t have minded the author sweeping these thorny questions under the carpet; but, as it was, the romance was so hastily sketched that all I could see were the difficulties.
Wehinger’s prose, as one would expect for a genre novel aimed at the pre-YA market, is simple and easy to digest. The plot ticks along gently and only really gets going in the last few chapters, with an ending that is – inevitably – wide open for a sequel. The world-building is well done, with post-apocalyptic human society fragmented into agrarian tree-dwellers, gunslinging frontiersmen and Salem-esque, morally hysterical villages. Where I thought her writing fell down was in her characterisation, which is too heavy on the telling and too light on the showing.
Overall, although this is a reasonably entertaining (if ultimately unsatisfying) read, New Zealand can produce much better speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, sci-fi and horror) – there’s some great stuff coming out of Steam Press – and much better children’s fiction (thank you, Gecko Press). So the challenge to Kiwi authors is still out there: make living corpses sexy. Any takers?
Zombie romance, y’all: it’s totally a thing. I know, this latest paranormal sub-genre trend can be hard to stomach. At least vampires have that pale, aloof sexiness, and werewolves have the whole alpha-male appeal. But zombies? Casting rotting corpses as romantic leads starts to get uncomfortably close to necrophilia.
The latest attempt to rehabilitate zombies comes from Auckland-based first-time novelist Brandy Wehinger: Blue, a rather sweet and gentle story for tween-age zombie beginners. The cover is absolutely cracking and very pick-up-able, featuring an eye-catching image from artist Misery that sets the horror-lite tone perfectly.
Wehinger aims to side-step the necro-horror and keep her book kiddie-friendly by creating an intermediate species between humans and zombies: blues. Sort of undead but sort of still human, blues retain the consciousness and self-control of humans, while also acquiring the stamina and unstoppableness of zombies. Wehinger encourages us to think closely about how this might work by devoting several chapters to a medical analysis of how the zombie condition is physiologically expressed.
It’s an intriguing concept worth a closer look. If your body is transformed into something entirely other, yet you still retain the memories and thought patterns of your human self, are you still you? What is it that makes us human? Our physiology? The synapse configuration in our brains? Can we be physically something else but mentally still human? Are we our pulses or our memories?
Frustratingly, having posed these arresting questions, Wehinger comes nowhere close to answering them. Her novel, aimed at 10-14-year-olds, is ultimately in service of plot rather than ideas (a striking contrast to Carl Nixon’s The Virgin and the Whale, which I reviewed recently). There is a large cast of characters (alive, dead and in between) and the point of view skips between them, which has the potential to be interesting but ends up being disjunctive and making it hard to form an engaging emotional bond with the protagonists.
The central romance, between the eponymous blue, Katie, and a human, Elliot, is superficial and, again, presents intriguing questions that are never answered: if Katie is sort of undead, are they still the same species? If not, how can they form a committed, loving relationship? Can they reproduce? Are their now-different physiologies sexually compatible? Perhaps if the bond between Katie and Elliot had been more passionate, if I had felt that their love transcended all boundaries, I wouldn’t have minded the author sweeping these thorny questions under the carpet; but, as it was, the romance was so hastily sketched that all I could see were the difficulties.
Wehinger’s prose, as one would expect for a genre novel aimed at the pre-YA market, is simple and easy to digest. The plot ticks along gently and only really gets going in the last few chapters, with an ending that is – inevitably – wide open for a sequel. The world-building is well done, with post-apocalyptic human society fragmented into agrarian tree-dwellers, gunslinging frontiersmen and Salem-esque, morally hysterical villages. Where I thought her writing fell down was in her characterisation, which is too heavy on the telling and too light on the showing.
Overall, although this is a reasonably entertaining (if ultimately unsatisfying) read, New Zealand can produce much better speculative fiction (i.e. fantasy, sci-fi and horror) – there’s some great stuff coming out of Steam Press – and much better children’s fiction (thank you, Gecko Press). So the challenge to Kiwi authors is still out there: make living corpses sexy. Any takers?
January 7, 2014
Blue is one of the most fun books I've read in a long while. If you know your Romero zombies from your pandemic zombies, then this is the book for you. Set many years past the Zombie Apocalypse, Blue jumps between the perspectives of a number of characters on the spectrum to show a complete sci fi world, and knowingly winks at the stereotypes and clichés of the horror genre through a fresh take, blues – solitary zombies who retains the mind of the past life. It has a brilliant international tone, meaning if there was ever a Kiwi book which needs to be made into a film, it's this. - See more at: http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/br...
October 13, 2013
This book kept me interested and had a quick pace. I usually prefer comics and sometimes can't get through an entire book. But Blue has all sorts of different characters and plenty of action which kept my attention. I loved the Gunslingers, references to The Dark Tower series and Garth Ennis's,"Just A Pilgrim" and all the classic zombie movies. Actually, when i was reading it, I kept thinking it would make a great movie.
December 4, 2013
I rate it 5 stars . It was full of surprises and unexpected turns that give it a great potential and I am expecting more from this achieving novel. And I speak for a lot of people We Want More of recently turned Liliox and the gang in their fight to save themselves not knowing how important they are to saving the human race. Can you pull off a series? I say absolutely!!
December 29, 2013
Admittedly, my first zombie book, but I quite liked it. The plot was fast paced yet kept me guessing, and the characters were both well developed and quite relateable. Without giving anything away, the ending makes me think, and I like that. It seems open for a sequel but not desperate for one, enough to leave it up to the reader without feeling unfinished. Though there's potential there....
November 22, 2013
This book only got good in the last 2 chapters i found it a difficult read it had too many different characters point of views. Bit boring took me 4 weeks to read it and im not a slow reader it just didnt capture my attention
November 14, 2015
I thought the book was awesome so great. Fully got into it then it ended and I threw it across the room. I wanted closure any subtle ending was wasted on me. :(
December 5, 2016
Actual rating: 3.5/5
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews