Before I even start trying to tackle this review, I have something to confess: me and horror we don't get along.
I mean, we tried, it tried, I gave it my all, but at the end of the day, it all turned out to be a thing of "irreconcilable differences" between us.
We were both young when we first saw each other, me so innocent and naive, and it so shiny and tempting, staring back at me from a hidden spot in the shelves of my family's home personal library.
How could I have known back then that a simple book of scary stories for children would've sent me in a spiral of fear and terror, that I would spend several months sleeping with the lights on. LOL.
Suffice to say, as you can imagine, ever since those days, I've stayed the hell away from horror books and movies. Thank you...but no, thank you.
Don't get me wrong. It's not about taste.
It's just that I'm a chicken (and proud of it).
So, you can picture the expression on my face and my first response when the author reached me through my DMs, offering me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Horror? Moi? No way.
Recalling my days as a sweet summer child too scared to even be left out alone in the dark, my first reaction was to say that I don't usually read horror. Which is 100% true.
But the author insisted that this book was not so much about horror but instead about survival, and eventually I gave in. Because, why not? What was there for me to lose in trying, after all? Sleeping with the lights on for a couple of months or for the rest of my life? Fear therapy sessions?
You see, I might chicken out a little from time to time, but still I face my fears and look at horror in the eye, like the friends or lovers we never came to be.
And 'cause I always push myself harder and higher, willing and daring to venture far away from my comfort zone.
One thing people should know about me is that I never back down from a challenge. Ever.
And I'm glad I didn't, cause this book turned out to be a surprise I wasn't expecting at all.
I recognize talent when I see it, and there are skills in here. There's an innate gift to weave words with each other to create powerful, conveying sentences.
In a world of books with jarring, unrealistic dialogues; people descriptions delivered like Interpol's profiles; and descriptions of places more typical of TripAdvisor blurbs or other tourist sites than of places that give the feeling of being real and tangible, however unrealistic they may be, this book is a small rarity. A true gem.
Characters—they don't talk much (and rightly so, 'cause at the end of the world and fighting for your own survival, what else can words be but superfluous?) , but when they do, they feel real, like you and me. Like normal people do speak, something most books nowadays tend to forget and miss so easily.
Places also feel real and palpable. The author does a great job creating an apocalyptic world where, in truth, the only thing left is to survive and continue existing, even if you can no longer remember the reasons why. At times, most of the times actually, the setting reminded me of the gloomy landscapes and dense atmosphere of Cormac McCarthy's "On the Road."
But what surprised me even more is the incredible humanity that permeates its pages.
A reflection on what humanity is and what we cling to when we've lost everything and there's nothing left to fight for. How do you protect the ones you love from an inevitable fate? Can you allow yourself to have hope in a world whose days are numbered and that will never know better dawns? Why keep fighting, keep breathing, if there's no reason to do so?
It's also not every day's business that you come across a book daring to analyze what goes through a zombie's head.
Books and films have gifted us over the years with more human and less monstrous versions of vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's creature... but they've almost never done so with a zombie.
Until now.
Is there something beyond death? What does a creature that is neither entirely alive nor entirely dead cling to? Can love and the bond that unites us with those we loved in life cross time and space and even surpass and survive death?
These are all questions that linger throughout the whole narrative, looming over every page, from the beginning to the very end.
It's worth mentioning that there's no connecting thread throughout the book, a detail that could bother certain readers more accustomed to other types of stories, plot-driven ones.
But this is more a book of and about characters and their vicissitudes in a world that is no longer what it once was, rather than a book with a conflict that drives a plot. It makes sense for the book to focus on the characters, because what conflict could there be at the end of the world? A search for a cure? A deus ex machina salvation?
If the end of the world were ever to happen, there would be no other option but to keep walking and keep breathing, with the longing and the memory of better days gone by. We human beings are stubborn creatures by nature, and if there's one thing we can be sure of, it's that we will keep walking and fighting until tomorrow never comes again. Until there's not a living, breathing cell in our bodies.
All in all, a very solid book, with really good bones, that could serve as a draft for the development of other interesting stories. On a personal note, I would very much like to know more about characters like Allie or Ash.
There's a little repetition here and there, but nothing a good editor can't fix. After all, this is a self-published book, so stuff like this is expected to happen without the team and resources a well-known publishing house can offer (or not. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Del Rey; you know damn well I'm talking about you.)
Again, and like I've said somewhere up above, I'm still kindly surprised about this book.
It is a curious, unpredictable twist of fate that this humble book turned out to have so much heart and soul locked within its words.
That is this little one that reminded us all what is truly important: that it's kindness, empathy, and the memories we hold of those we have loved that make us humans, without resorting to long, unending, drawn-out soliloquies.
Those who work in fashion usually say that less is more most of the time.
Perhaps it's about time authors and publishing houses start remembering that and applying it too, here in literature. A back to basics. Maybe one day.
By now, it's the opinion of this reader that it seems like once again, David overturned Goliath. What a sight to behold.
What a glorious day to be alive.
My deepest gratitude to Biale Drageo, who offered me this free copy in exchange for an honest review. I hope I did it justice.
All words and opinions expressed here are my own.
Quality based rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3,5 stars)
Liked based rating: ⭐⭐⭐