Emma tended to act first and think later. But then the world went sideways, she was bitten by her zombified sister, and ended up being poked and prodded like a rat in a government lab.
And then, miraculously, she was cured.
Well, mostly.
Trapped between two worlds and belonging to neither, Emma must now curb her curiosity if she hopes to ever fit in. But she can't help noticing that the soldiers running Camp Kennan are hiding some serious secrets... like who's really to blame for the zombie apocalypse."
Melissa has a terrible Hello Kitty addiction, uses obscure words in everyday conversation and loves libraries even though she is incapable of returning books on time. She may or may not have a plan in place for the coming zombie apocalypse.
*(I received a digital copy of Cured by the author herself in exchange for a fair and honest review)*
Oh my god! This book was amazing. Reading the blurb for it, I had originally thought it had a bit of The Walking Dead or even the Newsflesh trilogy vibe to it. Then I got to reading it and was immediately pulled in.
It was fresh and different. One of the things I loved is the fact that zombie movies in Hollywood and/or mainstream were mentioned. Usually, in anything that involves a zombie apocalypse - no one has ever heard of a zombie. Add the fact that it took on what could or would happen if you cured a zombie and not just the typical bite-turn-kill, rinse and repeat of all zombie stories.
Another thing that I loved is the nanites. I'm a web developer, with an IT background, so my nerd came out a little bit with reading about the Cure versions and what they were developed to do, how they were coded to work, etc. In a futuristic world - I could totally see something like that happening!
I like the twist with James and I kind of saw it coming. I mean, really, you couldn't have a love story without both not being human. That's another thing I didn't get - it was transmitted similar to a STD so it was always "no physical contact," "no sex." Um. Condoms? Hell, they were both "post-zombie" and still used condoms! I guess it was one of those "condoms aren't 100% guaranteed to protect against STDs," so it wasn't a guarantee to protect against transmitting the nanites.
I kind of expected Lawrence to be involved somehow, and I am interested in reading the prequel novella to get a bit of the backstory on how it all played out. I have a feeling of who might be responsible for the rogue vaccine and the feral humans, though, so c'mon sequel!
There are a few inconsistencies that I am going to chalk up to editing (since I believe this is an ARC), but the one thing that really gets me is that Emma says she was bitten when she was 16, and then said she's 18 now based off her birthday and when Z-Day occurred. But later on, she says she was in college. Unless she went to college at an exceptionally young age...
For once, there's a book with a female heroin that can stand up for herself and doesn't need the help of others do it. Doesn't back down or take any shit. Emma's my new favorite character. The cliffhanger was a little abrupt, but it leaves so many possibilities open for a sequel. Overall, the concept was brilliant, the plot intriguing, lots of action that didn't overdo it, and several laughs along the way.
I enjoyed this book.The author has a talent for world building and creating well developed characters.I found myself caring about the fate of Emma.I was pleased that the author has a unique take on the genre.The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger which is to be expected in a series.I would recommend this book to any fan of the zombie genre.I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book and the new and different take on how the Zombie Apocolypse started. Emma is a very strong female lead character and exhibits qualities that make the reader root for her. There are many questions along the way as to how it started initially, who did it and how much of the world was truly affected. Some, but not all these questions are answered and the book leaves us with a cliffhanger! That said, I will continue this series when the next book is available. In the meantime, I will be reading the novella that is a prequel in this universe.
Soooooo, I just read the book, and can I say that it was f*cking amazing. God, oh God, finally a book were the female character (Emma) is actually thinking!!!
“How was it fair that I was a human to the zombies when I was a zombie to the humans?”
Storyline Let's talk about the story. So it's about the world after Z-day, there was a outbreak an people turned into zombies. You can easily recognise a zombie or someone who is in Transition (after getting bitten by a zombie the time it takes for you to actually change into one). In the first chapter you're immediately pulled into the story. Emma just got cured from zombiesme and finds herself in a medical facility with doctors taking notes of everything she does. Because she is the first zombie the doctors could fully cure without the zombies going batshit crazy. Nobody quite understands why she survived the Cure they had given her. Slowly she starts to win the doctors over and they start treating her more like a human. Besides taking constant blood form her they also test her in the gym. And after a while they let her join the human refugee camp. The more I read the book the more I liked it, I liked the way Emma thought, I liked that she bargained and thought about other people like her who could be cured in the future, I liked that she wasn't selfish. And the end had me sitting on the end of my chair, it was quite unexpected and I can't wait for the second book.
Characters Emma: Oh my freaking god, what did I love this girl. After reading so much books about female heroes who are not coming up for themselves and are always acting upon emotion (without thinking!!!). Emma was a blessing, she was strong, stubborn and she came up for the weak. She was smart and she bargained and bluffed. I didn't really see any flaw at the way her character was made. She had flashbacks at het old life, she thought about her parents and their shared memories. This is what made her believable and what gave her character depth. And oh god, her humor is so much like my own.
"“Breakfast!” she chirped. “You’ve got to be hungry. C’mon, it’s a good time to meet everyone.” Oh god. She was one of those chipper morning people. Kill me now.”
“Then I snapped its neck. My skill at neck-snapping was getting seriously disturbing. ”
“Beside the door, in one of those glass cases, was a fire axe. Oh, baby. In that moment, I’d never seen anything sexier.”
James: James was okay. You didn't really get to know him in this book, not that I didn't like him, there is just not much to stay.
Skippy: I liked him, and not only because his name reminds me of a happy dolphin. The way he was and the way he acted towards Emma was cute, he showed her actually some respect and was nice to her.
Harrison: In the prequel we got to read a few pages from his POV so I understood it him a little bit better, he's one of the doctors who is trying to find the Cure. You can't really describe his character. You know when you have one of those persons who are immediately the villain because it looks like they're the top dog and because they are rude AF and sometimes a little bit of a pervert. Yeahh...that is what he is.
Lawrence: Ugh, one word, Ugh! Oh gosh, o gosh. What did I hate this guy. There was a point in the book where she was eavesdropping their conversations just after something had happened to her, and just the way he talks about her makes me want to hit him. Totally anti-feminist talk!! I was like f*cking cheering with my pompoms for the woman in the Council who were standing up for her (and for woman rights). These kind of people get you killed, because of how ignorant they are of their surroundings. He's being such a jerk towards her. Just read the book and tell me afterwards if you want to hit him just as bad as I want.
Statement I really like the book and I recommend you to read it. It is something new and fresh from the chicklit, vampires and werewolf things I usually read. I've personally never read a zombie apocalypse book, only watched movies about them, and I thought it wouldn't work out well. But the moment I read the first chapters I was sold. The story explains what is happening and how, and you'll soon find out that it's more than you think it is. It's not the; you got patient zero and a virus turning the whole humanity into zombies cliché. It has a new twist in it which makes the story only better.
I like my zombie apocalypse stories to have a little more meat to them than just the standard fight to stay alive mentality and this book delivers on that something extra. The characters are ridiculously appealing and the world building is superb, but the repetitive text and covering the same ground over and over again got in the way of the forward progress of the story.
Overall the conspiracies of the world surrounding the survivors in Malltopia was very engaging and fast paced. I will definitely want to come back for the sequel.
I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.