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Warm Bodies #3
The Living
Before he was a flesh-eating corpse, R was something worse. He remembers it all now, a life of greed and apathy more destructive than any virus, and he sees only one path to redemption: he must fight the forces he helped create. But what can R, Julie, and their tiny gang of fugitives do against the creeping might of the Axiom Group, the bizarre undead corporation that's devouring what's left of America?
It's time for a road trip.
No more flyover country. This time they'll face the madness on the ground, racing their RV across the wastelands as tensions rise and bonds unravel—because R isn't the only one hiding painful secrets. Everyone is on their own desperate search: for a kidnapped daughter, a suicidal mother, and an abused little boy with a gift that could save humanity... if humanity can convince him it's worth saving.
All roads lead home, to a final confrontation with the plague and its shareholders. But this is a monster that guns can't kill. A battle only one weapon can win...
It's time for a road trip.
No more flyover country. This time they'll face the madness on the ground, racing their RV across the wastelands as tensions rise and bonds unravel—because R isn't the only one hiding painful secrets. Everyone is on their own desperate search: for a kidnapped daughter, a suicidal mother, and an abused little boy with a gift that could save humanity... if humanity can convince him it's worth saving.
All roads lead home, to a final confrontation with the plague and its shareholders. But this is a monster that guns can't kill. A battle only one weapon can win...
433 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2018
129 people are currently reading
5753 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Marion
25 books4,372 followersAfter 9 years, 4 books, and 1 pretty good movie, R and Julie's story is about to reach its conclusion.
THE LIVING, book 4 of the Warm Bodies Series, is available now.
isaacmarion.com
THE LIVING, book 4 of the Warm Bodies Series, is available now.
isaacmarion.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
March 15, 2019
Does the world deserve forgiveness? Does it deserve another chance?
I was very conflicted as I read this. The overarching emotion I felt throughout was disappointment. Unlike the rest of the series, this felt like it lacked a real direction. I wasn't sure what the goal was, and what had been the established goal at the end of The Burning World was pretty much entirely forgotten until the climax. Conflicts were often repeated multiple times, or borrowed from previous books, and it left me feeling drained and frankly a little pissed off. A lot of time was spent flipping through perspectives and I felt like I didn't have enough time to feel much of anything for most of them. The scope of this was too big sometimes and the plot was left drowning in it.
We all decide the shape of the world, the sum of all minds together. Change has to be chosen.
But luckily, Marion is an amazing writer, and his way with words and imagery pretty much saved this. R completed his ongoing character arc all for the better and the conclusion was probably the most emotionally heart-wrenching, yet also heart-warming, endings to any series I've ever read. While I flip-flopped between considering DNFing it or framing it on my wall, I think that ultimately, this was a fantastic book that perhaps I will appreciate more on a second read through. And, of course, the themes are so profound and thought provoking. Even the bad guys sometimes manage to pull you in. Overall, I am so glad I read this and even more than that, I'm so glad Isaac finally got to release this book into the world, and I'm more than excited to see what strange paths he follows next.
Every choice has a price. We all owe a debt to this world for the things we take from it, right or wrong, cruel or kind. But these laws are soft, these laws are alive, and sometimes a debt is forgiven.
October 11, 2018
UPDATE: The Living will be released November 13th!! Check out www.IsaacMarion.com to see the cover art AND to ore-order a signed hardcover!
Update: Isaac will be self-publishing The Living with an expected release date of fall 2018. I can’t wait to finally get my hands on this book!
Update: Isaac will be self-publishing The Living with an expected release date of fall 2018. I can’t wait to finally get my hands on this book!
Want to read
November 21, 2018YO MY COVER FINALLY CAME
December 2, 2019
This is the Warm Bodies ending we deserve.
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)
Warm Bodies is a personal favorite of mine; if not in the top ten, then definitely the top twenty. (Hey, the likes of Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler = stiff competition!) Until I met R. and Julie, never did I imagine that a book about the undead could be so beautiful and poetic. Romantic, even, and in a revolutionary, universal heartbeat kind of way.
The Burning World proved a letdown (albeit a teeny tiny one), as Marion traded some of the ardor for action adventure; it felt almost like an intermission between the more important stuff. In all fairness, bridging the gap between the beginning and end of a trilogy is HARD, and the second book in the series is still filled with its share of beautiful, transformative moments. (I challenge you to find a more tragically exquisite scene than when Nora's patient, Mrs. A, pulls herself from the pit of the plague, only to succumb to her injuries after enjoying a few brief moments of her newfound humanity.)
I'm not gonna lie: I was nervous as heck to read The Living (especially right after the dumpster fire that was Fury, the series conclusion to another one of my faves, Menagerie).
Thankfully, The Living is a harmonious marriage of the previous two books: it's got the race-against-time action-adventure chops of The Burning World, with all of the humor, heart, and humanity that made me fall head over heels for Warm Bodies.
The Living picks up immediately after the events of The Burning World, as R., Julie, Nora, Marcus, and (Huntress!) Tomsen flee an imploding NYC. What ensues is a road trip across the United States - including an especially precarious and trippy (as in LSD) journey through the Midwaste - as they try to beat Axiom to Post; save their kids from being assimilated into Axiom's military-industrial complex; continue to spread the Gleam to the Dead and Nearly Living; and confront their pasts.
For Julie, this means finding her Nearly Living mother before she dies a second time; for Nora, it means confronting - and perhaps forgiving - memories she's tried long and hard to repress; and for R., it involves a trip to the basement, and bringing his crimes against humanity - as both the head of the Burners and the heir to the Atvist megacorp - to light. And they're all chasing Tomsen's white whale, BABL, hoping to bring it crashing down, thus opening the lines of communication to humanity.
One of the delights of The Living is watching R. grow and evolve - and with it, his relationship with Julie. There's this wonderful scene where Julie confesses that what first drew her to R. was his distinct lack of a background or baggage. He was a blank canvas on which she could project whatever she needed. Slowly, though, he has become full-fledged person - imperfections and all. R. didn't have much of a choice when he devoured Perry; he was just following the plague's biological imperative. But the towns that were consumed at his behest as a Burner, and the humans devoured by the machine that was Axiom? Those were R.'s doing. How could that young man grow into the monosyllabic zombie that Julie fell in love with? How can she reconcile the man she loves with the person he once was? How can he?
We also learn more about the nature of the plague; in general terms, it's an allegory for the times we live in now, and one that's perhaps more apt today than when the series began. The plague is forced unity and conformity; it is greed and pessimism. It is Axiom (Amazon, Blackwater, Purdue Pharma; Bethany Christian Services, CoreCivic, Wells Fargo): objectifying, tabulating, assimilating, corporatizing, mechanizing, consuming, regurgitating, and reassembling humans, nonhumans, and the natural world. It is apathy and stagnation; bigotry and tyranny. The only way through it? Love - and otter presidents.
The loveliest part of The Living, far and away, is the Library: a subconscious, supernatural, subatomic collective consciousness. A vast, limitless record of everyone and everything that ever has been, and ever will be. Though it has a longstanding policy of steering clear of human affairs, the state of the world has become such that the Library can no longer bear silent witness. This burning world, so desolate yet still so full of potential, needs a nudge. A bit of wisdom. A tiny miracle.
And the so Library whispers, cajoles, and calls out to our protagonists. Well, the older ones; the younger ones, Joan and Alex and Sprout and Addis - they can flit in and out of the stacks at will. They are able to sip and guzzle from the Library's incomprehensible stores of knowledge whenever they like. Perhaps they can even use this wisdom to bend the laws of reality. They are the next generation; our future.
I hope they don't mind, but I'm going to pocket a small piece of the Library, and slip it into my own weird, godless magpie version of "religion, not quite a." There it will rest on the shelves alongside Octavia E. Butlers's Parables duology; Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials; Carl Sagan's starstuff; Aaron Freeman's essay, “You want a physicist to speak at your funeral”; and pieces of Light from Other Stars and The Psychology of Time Travel, by Erika Swyler and Kate Mascarenhas, respectively, and among other things.
It's strange and perhaps a bit confusing, but also as magnificent as all get out. Just roll with it and you'll have an extraordinary time, I promise.
Also awesome and compelling and worth a mention: Nora's reunion with Addis; Nora + Marcus; Tomsen vs. BABL; The Suggestible Universe; Paul Bark (sounds an awful lot like Paul Blart!); Gael + Gebre; random philosophical debates with strangers in dive bars; and the feeling you get when a ghost smiles at you.
Gleam on.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2020/01/14/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)
We are ten thousand generations of humans and millions more of simpler things, a vast history of lives and experiences condensed like an ocean of oil, growing deeper and more refined with each new moment of beauty. We want to ignite. We want to be heat and light. After billions of years, we are running out of patience.
“What we had before is what burned the world down. I’m ready for a whole new everything.”
“Chairs on the ceiling,” Tomsen adds. “An otter for president.”
Gebre looks at us for a moment, then tosses up his hands and turns back to his husband. “Well. Okay.”
Gael erupts with laughter. “You’re out of touch with the youth, old man.”
“I might even agree with them,” Gebre says with a shrug, “but they’re hardly representative of the general population.”
“We might be someday,” Julie says. “Maybe sooner than you think.”
"How do we make a better world without giving up a single piece of the old one? We don’t. We can’t. That’s a fucking stupid question.”
"No way around it, zombies are magic.”
Warm Bodies is a personal favorite of mine; if not in the top ten, then definitely the top twenty. (Hey, the likes of Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler = stiff competition!) Until I met R. and Julie, never did I imagine that a book about the undead could be so beautiful and poetic. Romantic, even, and in a revolutionary, universal heartbeat kind of way.
The Burning World proved a letdown (albeit a teeny tiny one), as Marion traded some of the ardor for action adventure; it felt almost like an intermission between the more important stuff. In all fairness, bridging the gap between the beginning and end of a trilogy is HARD, and the second book in the series is still filled with its share of beautiful, transformative moments. (I challenge you to find a more tragically exquisite scene than when Nora's patient, Mrs. A, pulls herself from the pit of the plague, only to succumb to her injuries after enjoying a few brief moments of her newfound humanity.)
I'm not gonna lie: I was nervous as heck to read The Living (especially right after the dumpster fire that was Fury, the series conclusion to another one of my faves, Menagerie).
Thankfully, The Living is a harmonious marriage of the previous two books: it's got the race-against-time action-adventure chops of The Burning World, with all of the humor, heart, and humanity that made me fall head over heels for Warm Bodies.
The Living picks up immediately after the events of The Burning World, as R., Julie, Nora, Marcus, and (Huntress!) Tomsen flee an imploding NYC. What ensues is a road trip across the United States - including an especially precarious and trippy (as in LSD) journey through the Midwaste - as they try to beat Axiom to Post; save their kids from being assimilated into Axiom's military-industrial complex; continue to spread the Gleam to the Dead and Nearly Living; and confront their pasts.
For Julie, this means finding her Nearly Living mother before she dies a second time; for Nora, it means confronting - and perhaps forgiving - memories she's tried long and hard to repress; and for R., it involves a trip to the basement, and bringing his crimes against humanity - as both the head of the Burners and the heir to the Atvist megacorp - to light. And they're all chasing Tomsen's white whale, BABL, hoping to bring it crashing down, thus opening the lines of communication to humanity.
One of the delights of The Living is watching R. grow and evolve - and with it, his relationship with Julie. There's this wonderful scene where Julie confesses that what first drew her to R. was his distinct lack of a background or baggage. He was a blank canvas on which she could project whatever she needed. Slowly, though, he has become full-fledged person - imperfections and all. R. didn't have much of a choice when he devoured Perry; he was just following the plague's biological imperative. But the towns that were consumed at his behest as a Burner, and the humans devoured by the machine that was Axiom? Those were R.'s doing. How could that young man grow into the monosyllabic zombie that Julie fell in love with? How can she reconcile the man she loves with the person he once was? How can he?
We also learn more about the nature of the plague; in general terms, it's an allegory for the times we live in now, and one that's perhaps more apt today than when the series began. The plague is forced unity and conformity; it is greed and pessimism. It is Axiom (Amazon, Blackwater, Purdue Pharma; Bethany Christian Services, CoreCivic, Wells Fargo): objectifying, tabulating, assimilating, corporatizing, mechanizing, consuming, regurgitating, and reassembling humans, nonhumans, and the natural world. It is apathy and stagnation; bigotry and tyranny. The only way through it? Love - and otter presidents.
The loveliest part of The Living, far and away, is the Library: a subconscious, supernatural, subatomic collective consciousness. A vast, limitless record of everyone and everything that ever has been, and ever will be. Though it has a longstanding policy of steering clear of human affairs, the state of the world has become such that the Library can no longer bear silent witness. This burning world, so desolate yet still so full of potential, needs a nudge. A bit of wisdom. A tiny miracle.
And the so Library whispers, cajoles, and calls out to our protagonists. Well, the older ones; the younger ones, Joan and Alex and Sprout and Addis - they can flit in and out of the stacks at will. They are able to sip and guzzle from the Library's incomprehensible stores of knowledge whenever they like. Perhaps they can even use this wisdom to bend the laws of reality. They are the next generation; our future.
I hope they don't mind, but I'm going to pocket a small piece of the Library, and slip it into my own weird, godless magpie version of "religion, not quite a." There it will rest on the shelves alongside Octavia E. Butlers's Parables duology; Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials; Carl Sagan's starstuff; Aaron Freeman's essay, “You want a physicist to speak at your funeral”; and pieces of Light from Other Stars and The Psychology of Time Travel, by Erika Swyler and Kate Mascarenhas, respectively, and among other things.
It's strange and perhaps a bit confusing, but also as magnificent as all get out. Just roll with it and you'll have an extraordinary time, I promise.
Also awesome and compelling and worth a mention: Nora's reunion with Addis; Nora + Marcus; Tomsen vs. BABL; The Suggestible Universe; Paul Bark (sounds an awful lot like Paul Blart!); Gael + Gebre; random philosophical debates with strangers in dive bars; and the feeling you get when a ghost smiles at you.
Gleam on.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2020/01/14/...
November 29, 2018
My enjoyment of this book may have been lessened because I read The Burning World so long ago, and this is basically “part 2” of that story. That said, it kinda felt like I jumped in the middle of a narrative, but that’s expected! It just was hard to do! I recommend reading them back to back, definitely. Some of the concepts in this were a little too “out there” for what I usually go for, and one scene in particular was a little silly, but overall it acts as a solid conclusion to the series. Just... don’t go in expecting a big name reveal for R! I may have to reread The Burning World and The Living one day to truly appreciate them together! 4/5 Stars.
November 25, 2018
Honestly - I don't know how I felt about this book.
The first book was light and humorous, the second not as much and this one definitely not. So it wasn't what I was expecting. Also - I didn't even understand it.
So...I don't know.
The first book was light and humorous, the second not as much and this one definitely not. So it wasn't what I was expecting. Also - I didn't even understand it.
So...I don't know.
Want to read
February 11, 2017This book will be released the same year as The Burning World (a.k.a. the second book in the series)? Amazing.
April 23, 2022
I really enjoyed this series. It's over now and I'm happy about that too. To finally see the ending of such a unique story. I was absolutely obsessed with book one. But the story got darker as it went on. The more revealed about R's past, the less I liked the book. It's still a good series, but I'm not happy with some of the details. All in all though a good read and I would recommend it to all Romance, and Zombie genre lovers.
November 14, 2018
Finished reading: November 13th 2018
"It's easier to fall than to climb, and yet against all logic, life keeps rising."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Zola Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
Want to read
April 18, 2018Publishers, please publish faster. I'm dying of cliffhanger.
December 25, 2022
Even more lovely on a second read. So many more connections make themselves known. I will likely read this series several more times.
________
Let’s be real, if you’re looking at a review for the fourth book in a series, you’ve already decided whether or not you’re going to read it. If you enjoyed the preceding three books, you’ll like this one.
The prose is just as good and the characters are just as flawed and wonderful. It’s not perfect. It goes off on tangents. The Library is still kind of an odd concept, but lovely in its way.
If you’ve come this far, just finish the series.
Joan and Alex are not my offspring. They have none of my genetic material and I have never seen the woman who birthed them. I did not even raise them, never filled their heads with my words and ways like little Arks of the Covenant, commanding them to carry me forever. So I find it wondrous that I love them anyway. These tiny strangers who bumped into me in an airport, looked up at me and smiled. Like so much of love, this is a miracle. A small act of defiance against nature’s brutal physics.
________
Let’s be real, if you’re looking at a review for the fourth book in a series, you’ve already decided whether or not you’re going to read it. If you enjoyed the preceding three books, you’ll like this one.
The prose is just as good and the characters are just as flawed and wonderful. It’s not perfect. It goes off on tangents. The Library is still kind of an odd concept, but lovely in its way.
If you’ve come this far, just finish the series.
Joan and Alex are not my offspring. They have none of my genetic material and I have never seen the woman who birthed them. I did not even raise them, never filled their heads with my words and ways like little Arks of the Covenant, commanding them to carry me forever. So I find it wondrous that I love them anyway. These tiny strangers who bumped into me in an airport, looked up at me and smiled. Like so much of love, this is a miracle. A small act of defiance against nature’s brutal physics.
Read
February 2, 2016I think I want to finish it in a peaceful sorroundings.
January 7, 2019
I just finished The Burning World. I love R no matter what, and I cannot wait for last book to come out! yay!
November 18, 2018
The Warm Bodies series and the story of a zombie filled with love has come a long way since it made its first appearance in the world. Evolving from a sort of existential Romeo and Juliet story featuring zombies into a cautionary-tale-turned-uncanny-commentary on the current world climate and now to a beacon of hope, this series encapsulates every aspect of the human condition. It may have been pitched as a story about zombies and survival, but The Living proves it’s so much more than that.
The Living by Isaac Marion is an impressive feat of storytelling that puts this epic tale to rest in the most thought-provoking and organic way. Spanning multiple generations, thousands of miles, and several planes of existence, The Living shows us all what it really means to be alive and how to exist in the world we wish to see.
Read my full review on Hypable.com.
The Living by Isaac Marion is an impressive feat of storytelling that puts this epic tale to rest in the most thought-provoking and organic way. Spanning multiple generations, thousands of miles, and several planes of existence, The Living shows us all what it really means to be alive and how to exist in the world we wish to see.
Read my full review on Hypable.com.
November 19, 2018
The final installment of the Warm Bodies series is deeply thought provoking and intense
Everything comes to head in this fourth and final book in the series. Relationships are questioned, people are lost and found, old identities are discovered and new ones are forged. In the end, this series is ultimately a story about the power of choice, hope, willpower and humanity. Once you believe something is true, that belief can take over and bend reality, literally in the case of the Warm Bodies series.
If you want literature full of action, romance, drama and horror, this series is a no brainer. But there is more to this series than just those things, it is also very philosophical, offering a unique perspective on death, life and the afterlife.
I highly recommend this book and the ones before it.
Everything comes to head in this fourth and final book in the series. Relationships are questioned, people are lost and found, old identities are discovered and new ones are forged. In the end, this series is ultimately a story about the power of choice, hope, willpower and humanity. Once you believe something is true, that belief can take over and bend reality, literally in the case of the Warm Bodies series.
If you want literature full of action, romance, drama and horror, this series is a no brainer. But there is more to this series than just those things, it is also very philosophical, offering a unique perspective on death, life and the afterlife.
I highly recommend this book and the ones before it.
November 19, 2018
Amazing!!
I love this book and loved the story. Very good and hopeful conclussion to the series. One of the best books of 2018!
I love this book and loved the story. Very good and hopeful conclussion to the series. One of the best books of 2018!
December 21, 2018
I received this book from Smith Publicity Publishing for honest review!
Give me Zombie!
This is not my type of reading but was happy to received this cuz it was so good. Know I have to read more books of his and read more action packed books.
Wow what a surprising read. Couldn’t put it down and enjoyed every minute of it. Has a nice flow right from the end of the other books to this book. Just when I thought it was ending you turned and keep the reader at the edge of their chair.
Keep up the great work. Can’t wait for the next adventure.
I highly recommend this book.
Great Action Pack!
This was my first time reading anything from this author. This was a awesome read. It was fast read! Just how I like it. I couldn't put it down at all and I was so hooked in the story. One setting read! It was a good fantastic read! That is something I think everybody dreams about.
Like who wouldn't!
The writing was good! I love the setting and theme in the storyline. I love the characters!
I highly recommend everybody read and get this books!
Everything comes to head in this fourth and final book in the series. Relationships are questioned, people are lost and found, old identities are discovered and new ones are forged. In the end, this series is ultimately a story about the power of choice, hope, willpower and humanity. Once you believe something is true, that belief can take over and bend reality, literally in the case of the Warm Bodies series.
If you want literature full of action, romance, drama and horror, this series is a no brainer. But there is more to this series than just those things, it is also very philosophical, offering a unique perspective on death, life and the afterlife.
I highly recommend this book and the ones before it.
Give me Zombie!
This is not my type of reading but was happy to received this cuz it was so good. Know I have to read more books of his and read more action packed books.
Wow what a surprising read. Couldn’t put it down and enjoyed every minute of it. Has a nice flow right from the end of the other books to this book. Just when I thought it was ending you turned and keep the reader at the edge of their chair.
Keep up the great work. Can’t wait for the next adventure.
I highly recommend this book.
Great Action Pack!
This was my first time reading anything from this author. This was a awesome read. It was fast read! Just how I like it. I couldn't put it down at all and I was so hooked in the story. One setting read! It was a good fantastic read! That is something I think everybody dreams about.
Like who wouldn't!
The writing was good! I love the setting and theme in the storyline. I love the characters!
I highly recommend everybody read and get this books!
Everything comes to head in this fourth and final book in the series. Relationships are questioned, people are lost and found, old identities are discovered and new ones are forged. In the end, this series is ultimately a story about the power of choice, hope, willpower and humanity. Once you believe something is true, that belief can take over and bend reality, literally in the case of the Warm Bodies series.
If you want literature full of action, romance, drama and horror, this series is a no brainer. But there is more to this series than just those things, it is also very philosophical, offering a unique perspective on death, life and the afterlife.
I highly recommend this book and the ones before it.
February 12, 2024
4.5 stars for the last emo zombie book and I loved it.
I loved how Marion ended this series and how the only question left unanswered was the “what comes next?” This was action packed. It had me going through all sorts of emotions, shocked to giggling, and don’t even get me started on his writing. Absolute poetry (which makes sense now since he has a poetry book 👀).
But I am really happy I read these as an adult. The concepts, action, and language is all very mature so I don’t think 13 y/o Ellie would’ve been able to wrap her head around what happened here. But 23 y/o Ellie does and it was a masterpiece. I’m so happy to have made my way to the end, and that it didn’t end the way I was anticipating.
I’ll miss this story 🥹❤️🧟♂️
I loved how Marion ended this series and how the only question left unanswered was the “what comes next?” This was action packed. It had me going through all sorts of emotions, shocked to giggling, and don’t even get me started on his writing. Absolute poetry (which makes sense now since he has a poetry book 👀).
But I am really happy I read these as an adult. The concepts, action, and language is all very mature so I don’t think 13 y/o Ellie would’ve been able to wrap her head around what happened here. But 23 y/o Ellie does and it was a masterpiece. I’m so happy to have made my way to the end, and that it didn’t end the way I was anticipating.
I’ll miss this story 🥹❤️🧟♂️
March 23, 2019
The Living is probably the least memorable of the books in the Warm Bodies trilogy, not because it’s bad—in fact, the quality across all of Marion’s books has been remarkably consistent—but because it feels so much like a long conclusion rather than a story in and of itself. It also certainly didn’t help matters that I read The Burning World a couple of years ago and am fuzzy on the details; though, if I want to excuse myself a little bit, I think there’s an argument to be made that The Living isn’t necessarily about plot specifics so much as it is about characters and the humans of the world—living and dead—bonding together to build a new tomorrow, but I’ll leave that for the readers of the book to decide.
There’s very little I have to say about The Living because basically all I could say about it is what I said about its predecessors. It is not as simple and memorable as Warm Bodies, but it’s also not as dreary and epic as The Burning World, and it ends up being a somewhat safe combination of the two that continues with the characters fleeing from the crazy dangers and attacks that exist in this post-apocalyptic universe, all while trying to advocate for humanity and the idea that the world can be rebuilt. It’s way less of a thriller than The Burning World, but the stakes feel higher than they did in Warm Bodies’s more self-contained narrative. At times, it risks becoming a little too grand and operatic in terms of its preaching about humanity—those “we” sections about the “library” of humanity always feel pretentious and long-winded to me, but that’s been an issue I’ve had throughout the series—but it’s also grounded enough in the individual character relationships and good old R’s narration for it to become tedious.
If my lack of extended commentary implies that The Living is boring or underwhelming, I want to clarify that it is absolutely neither of these things. It’s as engaging and intellectual of a read as the rest of this series, and I remain so very impressed by how Marion could tell a zombie love story and have it turn neither into gory, Walking Dead-style action nor pulpy romantic shlock. More than anything, this series is an exploration of humanity and what it means to be alive, and what it means to live in a world that is filled with horrors at every turn—horrors that we often contribute to, no less. It’s not a direct allegory or “message book”—which Marion explicitly clarifies in the book’s preface—but it’s still incredibly relevant and timely, which actually makes it all the more rewarding that it never gives way to nihilism and remains doggedly optimistic, with its characters fighting tooth and nail for a new, better world because they truly believe that humanity, even after all of its evil and destruction, is capable of creating it.
And that’s what I really took away from the Warm Bodies series—not a paranormal romance (though I imagine that’s what most of the world—certainly the pop culture one—will remember it as), but a musing on mankind and a bittersweet presentation of a world that has literally killed itself and then manages to bring itself back to life. At one point in the novel, R mentions how maybe it’s not the worst thing to hit rock bottom or “die” because it allows you to rethink things and rebuild your life from the ground up, and his character’s evolution proves that. Warm Bodies didn’t necessarily need to become a trilogy, but the richness that it added to R’s character and his post-plague experience actually made Marion’s message about rebirth and possibility all the more poignant. This is a unique, ambitious series unlike anything you’ll ever read and, in an increasingly cynical world, R and Julie’s story is welcome indeed.
(And, though I seldom like to talk about authors’ actions outside of their work or in relation to the book, I will say, in regards to Marion’s hellish publishing experience after The Burning World’s underperformance, that I have so much respect for him for ensuring that The Living was released into the world so that fans would have the closure that he promised them. Not every author cares so passionately about their work that they would do that; I wish more were. I appreciate his commitment to his readers, and to the characters and the story he dreamed up, and am very glad that I got—at last—to read this book.)
3.25 stars.
There’s very little I have to say about The Living because basically all I could say about it is what I said about its predecessors. It is not as simple and memorable as Warm Bodies, but it’s also not as dreary and epic as The Burning World, and it ends up being a somewhat safe combination of the two that continues with the characters fleeing from the crazy dangers and attacks that exist in this post-apocalyptic universe, all while trying to advocate for humanity and the idea that the world can be rebuilt. It’s way less of a thriller than The Burning World, but the stakes feel higher than they did in Warm Bodies’s more self-contained narrative. At times, it risks becoming a little too grand and operatic in terms of its preaching about humanity—those “we” sections about the “library” of humanity always feel pretentious and long-winded to me, but that’s been an issue I’ve had throughout the series—but it’s also grounded enough in the individual character relationships and good old R’s narration for it to become tedious.
If my lack of extended commentary implies that The Living is boring or underwhelming, I want to clarify that it is absolutely neither of these things. It’s as engaging and intellectual of a read as the rest of this series, and I remain so very impressed by how Marion could tell a zombie love story and have it turn neither into gory, Walking Dead-style action nor pulpy romantic shlock. More than anything, this series is an exploration of humanity and what it means to be alive, and what it means to live in a world that is filled with horrors at every turn—horrors that we often contribute to, no less. It’s not a direct allegory or “message book”—which Marion explicitly clarifies in the book’s preface—but it’s still incredibly relevant and timely, which actually makes it all the more rewarding that it never gives way to nihilism and remains doggedly optimistic, with its characters fighting tooth and nail for a new, better world because they truly believe that humanity, even after all of its evil and destruction, is capable of creating it.
And that’s what I really took away from the Warm Bodies series—not a paranormal romance (though I imagine that’s what most of the world—certainly the pop culture one—will remember it as), but a musing on mankind and a bittersweet presentation of a world that has literally killed itself and then manages to bring itself back to life. At one point in the novel, R mentions how maybe it’s not the worst thing to hit rock bottom or “die” because it allows you to rethink things and rebuild your life from the ground up, and his character’s evolution proves that. Warm Bodies didn’t necessarily need to become a trilogy, but the richness that it added to R’s character and his post-plague experience actually made Marion’s message about rebirth and possibility all the more poignant. This is a unique, ambitious series unlike anything you’ll ever read and, in an increasingly cynical world, R and Julie’s story is welcome indeed.
(And, though I seldom like to talk about authors’ actions outside of their work or in relation to the book, I will say, in regards to Marion’s hellish publishing experience after The Burning World’s underperformance, that I have so much respect for him for ensuring that The Living was released into the world so that fans would have the closure that he promised them. Not every author cares so passionately about their work that they would do that; I wish more were. I appreciate his commitment to his readers, and to the characters and the story he dreamed up, and am very glad that I got—at last—to read this book.)
3.25 stars.
December 30, 2018
I have been waiting for a book titled The Living by Isaac Marion ever since I closed the back cover of Warm Bodies clear back in November 2011, when I was on Thanksgiving break and had just discovered the most magical thing a person could possibly have the privilege to discover: a truly meaningful, life changing book.
It took seven years and two unexpected other books from that moment until now for me to finally be able to hold and pore over a book called The Living by Isaac Marion and it is so surreal to me that I've just said those words and that those words are true.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't want to talk too much about the plot at hand, mostly because it would spoil its priors, but also because I'm incredibly caught up in the pathos and ethos of it all, because I can't believe I've reached this incredibly surreal reality wherein this series is, unbelievably, over.
Instead, I'll just say this much: this book is Isaac Marion at his best. He has grown so much over the years and it's absolutely magical that he managed put together a narrative that so perfectly paralleled his evolution as a writer. He started with his rise to fame in Warm Bodies, which details a corpse learning what it means to be alive. Then he wrote a bit of a love letter to the world itself in The New Hunger as he backtracked and discovered what made Warm Bodies so good. Then he took a brave, bold new direction in The Burning World, which follows our protagonists as they learn that being radical dreamers come at great cost, ironic for a book that ultimately came crashing to the ground financially with its beautiful wax wings melted into nothingness. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, like a zombie learning how to live again, Isaac Marion picked himself up and published the finale, perhaps not the way he planned, but eventually as promised.
He came back from the dead in almost the most literal (and perhaps the most literary) way and that is, for certain, the greatest metaphor ever turned into fact, especially when you're talking about the story of a zombie so filled with love he had no choice but to live, just like Isaac Marion, a man so filled with love, he had no choice but to tell this story.
And I can't help but feel nothing but grateful for that. Thank you, Isaac, for this story, this journey, these characters. I am so proud of you as a writer and as a man and I will never, ever, ever forget the wisdom you've imparted upon me through these books. I will be waiting eagerly to see what you do with your second life. You couldn't possibly disappoint me.
It took seven years and two unexpected other books from that moment until now for me to finally be able to hold and pore over a book called The Living by Isaac Marion and it is so surreal to me that I've just said those words and that those words are true.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't want to talk too much about the plot at hand, mostly because it would spoil its priors, but also because I'm incredibly caught up in the pathos and ethos of it all, because I can't believe I've reached this incredibly surreal reality wherein this series is, unbelievably, over.
Instead, I'll just say this much: this book is Isaac Marion at his best. He has grown so much over the years and it's absolutely magical that he managed put together a narrative that so perfectly paralleled his evolution as a writer. He started with his rise to fame in Warm Bodies, which details a corpse learning what it means to be alive. Then he wrote a bit of a love letter to the world itself in The New Hunger as he backtracked and discovered what made Warm Bodies so good. Then he took a brave, bold new direction in The Burning World, which follows our protagonists as they learn that being radical dreamers come at great cost, ironic for a book that ultimately came crashing to the ground financially with its beautiful wax wings melted into nothingness. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, like a zombie learning how to live again, Isaac Marion picked himself up and published the finale, perhaps not the way he planned, but eventually as promised.
He came back from the dead in almost the most literal (and perhaps the most literary) way and that is, for certain, the greatest metaphor ever turned into fact, especially when you're talking about the story of a zombie so filled with love he had no choice but to live, just like Isaac Marion, a man so filled with love, he had no choice but to tell this story.
And I can't help but feel nothing but grateful for that. Thank you, Isaac, for this story, this journey, these characters. I am so proud of you as a writer and as a man and I will never, ever, ever forget the wisdom you've imparted upon me through these books. I will be waiting eagerly to see what you do with your second life. You couldn't possibly disappoint me.
November 14, 2018
"So f*ck no, I'm not ready. For any of this, but I know I have to do it." Me going into this book because I'm so sad that this story is over, I really just want to go back to the first book and read it all again.
This is the conclusion to R's story, but it's also a story about saving the world, finding yourself and how fucked up society really is.
I really love how Marion started the book by saying that this was never supposed to be a political book and that he'd finished the story long before the world went down the path it has now and how in this case life imitates art, and not in a good way. Whether or not he wanted it to be political, it is a brilliant piece of societal criticism, the entire trilogy and the prequel are. Marion weaves in this fantastical element of zombie-ism to get to what's really wrong with society and it works so damn well.
I was not the biggest fan of the second book, that's no a secret. I thought the plot revolved too much around personal issues, the characters changed on way I didn't want and understand and some of the additional cast was just not for me. However, Marion's writing always makes up for everything. The guy could write up a report of the most boring stuff on earth and I'd still be captivated. He just has that kind of poetic writing.
Anyway, pretty much all of the issues I had with the second book were resolved in this one. The plot was a lot less convoluted, the characters were still growing but in ways I could understand and appreciate and even though the situations sometimes resolved a little too smoothly, the pacing was really good. There was never a moment when I was bored or wondered why a scene was in the book. There are also a lot more POVs than in the other books because we switched between R and this collective of humanity (which was then used to change to the POV of another character).
Like is said, the writing is smooth and beautiful and poetic to the point where you just comfortably slide into the story and never want to leave.
Okay, that's not true. This book includes a lot of sexist language, simply because the big evil (aka Axiom) is sexist and insane and hateful. The language was upsetting but it was there for a reason and it really put the focus on just how deranged these people really are.
We also got a lot more insight into R's past and the church he helped build.
"How wonderful, to be an angel. To be created perfect, not broken, not designed to crave evil and set on loose on a path to Hell. To be born good, a child of innate worth who does not have to hate himself to be loved."
This is from a new character we got to follow- the new head of the church R built, his former best friend and an overall awful human being.
"No matter how many wars erupted, you kept provoking more, kept raising armies and smashing them together like toys, kept hating and hurting and devouring each other until you finally broke the universe. You reached the very bottom and you drilled right through, and a new kind of death bubbled up to meet you."
(see what I mean about the writing?) This is from one of R's sermons. I really loved to see the contrast between his old self- ready to spew his (bs) thoughts into the world and his nowaday self- reluctant to talk unless it's to change the world.
"But life isn't a story that the world is telling me. It's a conversation, and I've been listening long enough. It's time for me to speak."
But with all those truths and memories coming to R, his relationship with Julie is still being tested. "Time rounded my memories like beach pebbles until they seemed too smooth to hurt anyone, but now that I'm hurling them at Julie I can feel their jagged edges."
I'm not at all a fan of relationship drama in books, but all the problems Julie and R faced and all the talks they had about them just seemed so realistic and understandable that I couldn't even really bring myself to be annoyed. They were necessary for their relationship and character growth.
Which brings us to the other characters. Marion writes strong female characters. He writes realistic, relatable, hurt, broken, badass, brave, desperate, powerful, strong female characters with all their flaws and weaknesses and strengths. I love Julie and Nora, their friendship is amazing and the two as individuals are also amazing. They're different characters who handle things differently, who talk openly about their pasts, who aren't afraid of their scars (both visible and invisible) and no matter what, they push through. This book does what other YA books fail to do: it shows how people break and put themselves back together and how they're traumatized, how they cope in unhealthy ways, how they sometimes can't find their way back alone. These characters have been through hell and you can always tell and not just because you know it's a dystopian setting, but because these characters how you and tell you.
Julie will always be one of my favorite characters because she somehow managed to pull back from being a broken, suicidal, not good human being to a kind, hopeful, strong woman who can somehow always find the strength to keep going.
Marcus is also just a great character. I'm really sad we only got so "little" Marcus/Nora time because I just love their dynamic. Also M is hilarious "You skinny bitches can't hold your lead." and "Bullet sponge coming through".
Addis and the other kids were really nice kids to have around in a book, no whining, no annoying, just quiet, well-behaved, freaking brilliant kids.
Tomsen was a little too weird for me personally but she was also obviously brilliant and I like her in small doses, I just know I could never go on a road trip with someone like that.
Abram is still my least favorite character, even though I finally understood why he was around. He worked really well in this book and since we were mostly focusing on his thoughts and his struggles, he wasn't as insufferable as in The Burning World.
Overall I can just say that the characters are always well-rounded, believable people and even when you don't like them you can appreciate them for what they're bringing into the story.
Also the married gay couple who randomly adopted a dead kid and called him Rover and kept "arguing" were just precious. "History was a long time ago, love" and then they proceed to discuss utopia with the ragtag bunch of people they meet at maybe the last diner on earth and are just like "well okay then" (I wish they'd gone with them).
But the main reason I'll always love these books is the grip Marion has on society and what's wrong with it and how it sometimes even goes against human nature. It's how you come out of these books where so many humans do such awful things and you still somehow believe that humans are good at heart. It's how he manages to write 4 books about zombies without falling into any clichés, without making his story anything remotely like a zombie story. These books are not about the horror, the action, the fight scenes, the blood and gore and angst, it's honestly simply about these characters who are only ever trying to save themselves and each other and once they've kind of managed that, decide that maybe they can kind of save the world too.
I still cannot believe that the publisher dropped this beautiful series, that so many people stopped after Warm Bodies because these books and Marion are brilliant. Not just his writing, not just his characters but his honest and still somehow hopeful look on the world.
I really hope he keeps writing because this man deserves so much recognition and love and all of the book deals in the world.
I will be buying a copy of this book, probably next month because I can't not own this (stupid expensive shipping). Also thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as my first ever requested book (did I join Netgalley simply for this book because I saw that it was on there when I Googled the book? You bet.). So this was really exciting for me, not just because this is one of my favorite series ever and because I've waited for this book for what felt like forever and because I was really worried that it might not get released.
"Do you really think your bumbling human errors- no matter how colorful- disqualify you from life? Or even happiness? Look around you!" Right back at you, Mr. Marion, right back at you.
(I also now really hope that somewhere there's this human collective and this beautiful library and we'll get to live there once we're dead. I don't believe in God but I'll hope for something like that because maybe someday that'll save us all.)
Merged review:
So f*ck no, I'm not ready. For any of this, but I know I have to do it." Me going into this book because I'm so sad that this story is over, I really just want to go back to the first book and read it all again.
This is the conclusion to R's story, but it's also a story about saving the world, finding yourself and how fucked up society really is.
I really love how Marion started the book by saying that this was never supposed to be a political book and that he'd finished the story long before the world went down the path it has now and how in this case life imitates art in a bad way. Whether or not he wanted it to be political, it is a brilliant piece of societal criticism, the entire series is. Marion weaves this fantastical element of zombie-ism into a YA setting to get to what's really wrong with society and it works so damn well.
I was not the biggest fan of the second book, that's not a secret. I thought the plot revolved too much around personal issues, the characters changed in ways I didn't want and understand and some of the additional cast was just not for me. However, Marion's writing always makes up for everything. The guy could write up a report of the most boring stuff on earth and I'd still be captivated. He just has that kind of poetic writing.
Anyway, pretty much all of the issues I had with the second book were resolved in this one. The plot was a lot less convoluted, the characters were still growing but in ways I could understand and appreciate and even though the situations sometimes resolved a little too smoothly, the pacing was really good. There was never a moment when I was bored or wondered why a certain scene had been included. There are also a lot more POVs than in the other books because we switched between R and this collective of humanity (which was then used to change to the POV of another character). That gives the reader a lot more insight into the workings of the story and just tied it all up beautifully.
Like is said, the writing is smooth and beautiful and poetic to the point where you just comfortably slide into the story and never want to leave.
Okay, that's not true. This book includes a lot of sexist language, simply because the big evil (aka Axiom) is sexist and insane and hateful. The language was upsetting but it was there for a reason and it really put the focus on just how deranged these people really are.
We also got a lot more insight into R's past and the church he helped build.
"How wonderful, to be an angel. To be created perfect, not broken, not designed to crave evil and set on loose on a path to Hell. To be born good, a child of innate worth who does not have to hate himself to be loved."
This is from a new character we got to follow- the head of the church R built, R's former best friend and an overall awful human being.
"No matter how many wars erupted, you kept provoking more, kept raising armies and smashing them together like toys, kept hating and hurting and devouring each other until you finally broke the universe. You reached the very bottom and you drilled right through, and a new kind of death bubbled up to meet you."
(see what I mean about the writing?) This is from one of R's sermons. I really loved to see the contrast between his old self- ready to spew his (bs) thoughts into the world and his nowaday self- reluctant to talk unless it's to change the world.
"But life isn't a story that the world is telling me. It's a conversation, and I've been listening long enough. It's time for me to speak."
But with all those truths and memories returning to R, his relationship with Julie is still being tested. "Time rounded my memories like beach pebbles until they seemed too smooth to hurt anyone, but now that I'm hurling them at Julie I can feel their jagged edges."
I'm not at all a fan of relationship drama in books, but all the problems Julie and R faced and all the talks they had about them just seemed so realistic and understandable that I couldn't even really bring myself to be annoyed. They were necessary for their relationship and character growth.
Which brings us to the other characters. Marion writes strong female characters. He writes realistic, relatable, hurt, broken, badass, brave, desperate, powerful, strong female characters with all their flaws and weaknesses and strengths. I love Julie and Nora, their friendship is amazing and the two as individuals are also simply great. They're different characters who handle things differently, who talk openly about their pasts, who aren't afraid of their scars (both visible and invisible) and no matter what, they push through. This book does what other YA books fail to do: it shows how people break and put themselves back together and how they're traumatized, how they cope in unhealthy ways, how they sometimes can't find their way back alone. These characters have been through hell and you can always tell and not just because you know it's a dystopian setting, but because these characters show and tell you.
Julie will always be one of my favorite characters because she somehow managed to pull back from being a broken, suicidal, not good human being to a kind, hopeful, strong woman who can somehow always find the strength to keep going.
Marcus is also just a great character. I'm really sad we only got so "little" Marcus/Nora time because I just love their dynamic. Also M is hilarious "You skinny bitches can't hold your lead." and "Bullet sponge coming through".
Addis and the other kids were really nice kids to have around in a book, no whining, no annoying, just quiet, well-behaved, freaking brilliant kids.
Tomsen was a little too weird for me personally but she was also obviously brilliant and I like her in small doses, I just know I could never go on a road trip with someone like that.
Abram is still my least favorite character, even though I finally understood why he was around. He fit really well into this book and since we were mostly focusing on his thoughts and his struggles, he wasn't as insufferable as in The Burning World.
Overall I can just say that the characters are always well-rounded, believable people and even when you don't like them you can appreciate them for what they're bringing into the story.
Also the married gay couple who randomly adopted a dead kid and called him Rover and kept "arguing" were just precious. "History was a long time ago, love" and then they proceed to discuss utopia with the ragtag bunch of people they meet at maybe the last diner on earth and are just like "well okay then" (I wish they'd gone with them).
But the main reason I'll always love these books is the grip Marion has on society and what's wrong with it and how it sometimes even goes against human nature. It's how you come out of these books where so many humans do such awful things and you still somehow believe that humans are good at heart. It's how he manages to write 4 books about zombies without falling into any clichés, without making his story anything remotely like a zombie story. These books are not about the horror, the action, the fight scenes, the blood and gore and angst, it's honestly simply about these characters who are only ever trying to save themselves and each other and once they've kind of managed that, decide that maybe they can kind of save the world too.
I still cannot believe that the publisher dropped this beautiful series, that so many people stopped after Warm Bodies because these books and Marion are brilliant. Not just his writing, not just his characters but his honest and still somehow hopeful look on the world.
I really hope he keeps writing because this man deserves so much recognition and love and all of the book deals in the world.
I will be buying a copy of this book, probably next month (stupid expensive shipping from the US) because I can't not own this book. Also thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as my first ever requested book (did I join Netgalley simply for this book because I saw that it was on there when I googled the book? You bet.). So this was really exciting for me, not just because this is one of my favorite series ever and because I've waited for this book for what felt like forever and because I was really worried that it might not get released but also because I got to read this book in an entirely new setting.
"Do you really think your bumbling human errors- no matter how colorful- disqualify you from life? Or even happiness? Look around you!" Right back at you, Mr. Marion, right back at you.
(I also now really hope that somewhere there's this human collective and this beautiful library and we'll get to live there once we're dead. I don't believe in God but I'll hope for something like that because maybe someday that'll save us all.)
This is the conclusion to R's story, but it's also a story about saving the world, finding yourself and how fucked up society really is.
I really love how Marion started the book by saying that this was never supposed to be a political book and that he'd finished the story long before the world went down the path it has now and how in this case life imitates art, and not in a good way. Whether or not he wanted it to be political, it is a brilliant piece of societal criticism, the entire trilogy and the prequel are. Marion weaves in this fantastical element of zombie-ism to get to what's really wrong with society and it works so damn well.
I was not the biggest fan of the second book, that's no a secret. I thought the plot revolved too much around personal issues, the characters changed on way I didn't want and understand and some of the additional cast was just not for me. However, Marion's writing always makes up for everything. The guy could write up a report of the most boring stuff on earth and I'd still be captivated. He just has that kind of poetic writing.
Anyway, pretty much all of the issues I had with the second book were resolved in this one. The plot was a lot less convoluted, the characters were still growing but in ways I could understand and appreciate and even though the situations sometimes resolved a little too smoothly, the pacing was really good. There was never a moment when I was bored or wondered why a scene was in the book. There are also a lot more POVs than in the other books because we switched between R and this collective of humanity (which was then used to change to the POV of another character).
Like is said, the writing is smooth and beautiful and poetic to the point where you just comfortably slide into the story and never want to leave.
Okay, that's not true. This book includes a lot of sexist language, simply because the big evil (aka Axiom) is sexist and insane and hateful. The language was upsetting but it was there for a reason and it really put the focus on just how deranged these people really are.
We also got a lot more insight into R's past and the church he helped build.
"How wonderful, to be an angel. To be created perfect, not broken, not designed to crave evil and set on loose on a path to Hell. To be born good, a child of innate worth who does not have to hate himself to be loved."
This is from a new character we got to follow- the new head of the church R built, his former best friend and an overall awful human being.
"No matter how many wars erupted, you kept provoking more, kept raising armies and smashing them together like toys, kept hating and hurting and devouring each other until you finally broke the universe. You reached the very bottom and you drilled right through, and a new kind of death bubbled up to meet you."
(see what I mean about the writing?) This is from one of R's sermons. I really loved to see the contrast between his old self- ready to spew his (bs) thoughts into the world and his nowaday self- reluctant to talk unless it's to change the world.
"But life isn't a story that the world is telling me. It's a conversation, and I've been listening long enough. It's time for me to speak."
But with all those truths and memories coming to R, his relationship with Julie is still being tested. "Time rounded my memories like beach pebbles until they seemed too smooth to hurt anyone, but now that I'm hurling them at Julie I can feel their jagged edges."
I'm not at all a fan of relationship drama in books, but all the problems Julie and R faced and all the talks they had about them just seemed so realistic and understandable that I couldn't even really bring myself to be annoyed. They were necessary for their relationship and character growth.
Which brings us to the other characters. Marion writes strong female characters. He writes realistic, relatable, hurt, broken, badass, brave, desperate, powerful, strong female characters with all their flaws and weaknesses and strengths. I love Julie and Nora, their friendship is amazing and the two as individuals are also amazing. They're different characters who handle things differently, who talk openly about their pasts, who aren't afraid of their scars (both visible and invisible) and no matter what, they push through. This book does what other YA books fail to do: it shows how people break and put themselves back together and how they're traumatized, how they cope in unhealthy ways, how they sometimes can't find their way back alone. These characters have been through hell and you can always tell and not just because you know it's a dystopian setting, but because these characters how you and tell you.
Julie will always be one of my favorite characters because she somehow managed to pull back from being a broken, suicidal, not good human being to a kind, hopeful, strong woman who can somehow always find the strength to keep going.
Marcus is also just a great character. I'm really sad we only got so "little" Marcus/Nora time because I just love their dynamic. Also M is hilarious "You skinny bitches can't hold your lead." and "Bullet sponge coming through".
Addis and the other kids were really nice kids to have around in a book, no whining, no annoying, just quiet, well-behaved, freaking brilliant kids.
Tomsen was a little too weird for me personally but she was also obviously brilliant and I like her in small doses, I just know I could never go on a road trip with someone like that.
Abram is still my least favorite character, even though I finally understood why he was around. He worked really well in this book and since we were mostly focusing on his thoughts and his struggles, he wasn't as insufferable as in The Burning World.
Overall I can just say that the characters are always well-rounded, believable people and even when you don't like them you can appreciate them for what they're bringing into the story.
Also the married gay couple who randomly adopted a dead kid and called him Rover and kept "arguing" were just precious. "History was a long time ago, love" and then they proceed to discuss utopia with the ragtag bunch of people they meet at maybe the last diner on earth and are just like "well okay then" (I wish they'd gone with them).
But the main reason I'll always love these books is the grip Marion has on society and what's wrong with it and how it sometimes even goes against human nature. It's how you come out of these books where so many humans do such awful things and you still somehow believe that humans are good at heart. It's how he manages to write 4 books about zombies without falling into any clichés, without making his story anything remotely like a zombie story. These books are not about the horror, the action, the fight scenes, the blood and gore and angst, it's honestly simply about these characters who are only ever trying to save themselves and each other and once they've kind of managed that, decide that maybe they can kind of save the world too.
I still cannot believe that the publisher dropped this beautiful series, that so many people stopped after Warm Bodies because these books and Marion are brilliant. Not just his writing, not just his characters but his honest and still somehow hopeful look on the world.
I really hope he keeps writing because this man deserves so much recognition and love and all of the book deals in the world.
I will be buying a copy of this book, probably next month because I can't not own this (stupid expensive shipping). Also thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as my first ever requested book (did I join Netgalley simply for this book because I saw that it was on there when I Googled the book? You bet.). So this was really exciting for me, not just because this is one of my favorite series ever and because I've waited for this book for what felt like forever and because I was really worried that it might not get released.
"Do you really think your bumbling human errors- no matter how colorful- disqualify you from life? Or even happiness? Look around you!" Right back at you, Mr. Marion, right back at you.
(I also now really hope that somewhere there's this human collective and this beautiful library and we'll get to live there once we're dead. I don't believe in God but I'll hope for something like that because maybe someday that'll save us all.)
Merged review:
So f*ck no, I'm not ready. For any of this, but I know I have to do it." Me going into this book because I'm so sad that this story is over, I really just want to go back to the first book and read it all again.
This is the conclusion to R's story, but it's also a story about saving the world, finding yourself and how fucked up society really is.
I really love how Marion started the book by saying that this was never supposed to be a political book and that he'd finished the story long before the world went down the path it has now and how in this case life imitates art in a bad way. Whether or not he wanted it to be political, it is a brilliant piece of societal criticism, the entire series is. Marion weaves this fantastical element of zombie-ism into a YA setting to get to what's really wrong with society and it works so damn well.
I was not the biggest fan of the second book, that's not a secret. I thought the plot revolved too much around personal issues, the characters changed in ways I didn't want and understand and some of the additional cast was just not for me. However, Marion's writing always makes up for everything. The guy could write up a report of the most boring stuff on earth and I'd still be captivated. He just has that kind of poetic writing.
Anyway, pretty much all of the issues I had with the second book were resolved in this one. The plot was a lot less convoluted, the characters were still growing but in ways I could understand and appreciate and even though the situations sometimes resolved a little too smoothly, the pacing was really good. There was never a moment when I was bored or wondered why a certain scene had been included. There are also a lot more POVs than in the other books because we switched between R and this collective of humanity (which was then used to change to the POV of another character). That gives the reader a lot more insight into the workings of the story and just tied it all up beautifully.
Like is said, the writing is smooth and beautiful and poetic to the point where you just comfortably slide into the story and never want to leave.
Okay, that's not true. This book includes a lot of sexist language, simply because the big evil (aka Axiom) is sexist and insane and hateful. The language was upsetting but it was there for a reason and it really put the focus on just how deranged these people really are.
We also got a lot more insight into R's past and the church he helped build.
"How wonderful, to be an angel. To be created perfect, not broken, not designed to crave evil and set on loose on a path to Hell. To be born good, a child of innate worth who does not have to hate himself to be loved."
This is from a new character we got to follow- the head of the church R built, R's former best friend and an overall awful human being.
"No matter how many wars erupted, you kept provoking more, kept raising armies and smashing them together like toys, kept hating and hurting and devouring each other until you finally broke the universe. You reached the very bottom and you drilled right through, and a new kind of death bubbled up to meet you."
(see what I mean about the writing?) This is from one of R's sermons. I really loved to see the contrast between his old self- ready to spew his (bs) thoughts into the world and his nowaday self- reluctant to talk unless it's to change the world.
"But life isn't a story that the world is telling me. It's a conversation, and I've been listening long enough. It's time for me to speak."
But with all those truths and memories returning to R, his relationship with Julie is still being tested. "Time rounded my memories like beach pebbles until they seemed too smooth to hurt anyone, but now that I'm hurling them at Julie I can feel their jagged edges."
I'm not at all a fan of relationship drama in books, but all the problems Julie and R faced and all the talks they had about them just seemed so realistic and understandable that I couldn't even really bring myself to be annoyed. They were necessary for their relationship and character growth.
Which brings us to the other characters. Marion writes strong female characters. He writes realistic, relatable, hurt, broken, badass, brave, desperate, powerful, strong female characters with all their flaws and weaknesses and strengths. I love Julie and Nora, their friendship is amazing and the two as individuals are also simply great. They're different characters who handle things differently, who talk openly about their pasts, who aren't afraid of their scars (both visible and invisible) and no matter what, they push through. This book does what other YA books fail to do: it shows how people break and put themselves back together and how they're traumatized, how they cope in unhealthy ways, how they sometimes can't find their way back alone. These characters have been through hell and you can always tell and not just because you know it's a dystopian setting, but because these characters show and tell you.
Julie will always be one of my favorite characters because she somehow managed to pull back from being a broken, suicidal, not good human being to a kind, hopeful, strong woman who can somehow always find the strength to keep going.
Marcus is also just a great character. I'm really sad we only got so "little" Marcus/Nora time because I just love their dynamic. Also M is hilarious "You skinny bitches can't hold your lead." and "Bullet sponge coming through".
Addis and the other kids were really nice kids to have around in a book, no whining, no annoying, just quiet, well-behaved, freaking brilliant kids.
Tomsen was a little too weird for me personally but she was also obviously brilliant and I like her in small doses, I just know I could never go on a road trip with someone like that.
Abram is still my least favorite character, even though I finally understood why he was around. He fit really well into this book and since we were mostly focusing on his thoughts and his struggles, he wasn't as insufferable as in The Burning World.
Overall I can just say that the characters are always well-rounded, believable people and even when you don't like them you can appreciate them for what they're bringing into the story.
Also the married gay couple who randomly adopted a dead kid and called him Rover and kept "arguing" were just precious. "History was a long time ago, love" and then they proceed to discuss utopia with the ragtag bunch of people they meet at maybe the last diner on earth and are just like "well okay then" (I wish they'd gone with them).
But the main reason I'll always love these books is the grip Marion has on society and what's wrong with it and how it sometimes even goes against human nature. It's how you come out of these books where so many humans do such awful things and you still somehow believe that humans are good at heart. It's how he manages to write 4 books about zombies without falling into any clichés, without making his story anything remotely like a zombie story. These books are not about the horror, the action, the fight scenes, the blood and gore and angst, it's honestly simply about these characters who are only ever trying to save themselves and each other and once they've kind of managed that, decide that maybe they can kind of save the world too.
I still cannot believe that the publisher dropped this beautiful series, that so many people stopped after Warm Bodies because these books and Marion are brilliant. Not just his writing, not just his characters but his honest and still somehow hopeful look on the world.
I really hope he keeps writing because this man deserves so much recognition and love and all of the book deals in the world.
I will be buying a copy of this book, probably next month (stupid expensive shipping from the US) because I can't not own this book. Also thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as my first ever requested book (did I join Netgalley simply for this book because I saw that it was on there when I googled the book? You bet.). So this was really exciting for me, not just because this is one of my favorite series ever and because I've waited for this book for what felt like forever and because I was really worried that it might not get released but also because I got to read this book in an entirely new setting.
"Do you really think your bumbling human errors- no matter how colorful- disqualify you from life? Or even happiness? Look around you!" Right back at you, Mr. Marion, right back at you.
(I also now really hope that somewhere there's this human collective and this beautiful library and we'll get to live there once we're dead. I don't believe in God but I'll hope for something like that because maybe someday that'll save us all.)
December 3, 2018
I am so glad I got to read this epic ending to the Warm Bodies series!
It's so beautifully written and it is a strong reminder for me to not be afraid of my external reality. The reality is always mouldable. Just be true to yourself and what you really want.
It's so beautifully written and it is a strong reminder for me to not be afraid of my external reality. The reality is always mouldable. Just be true to yourself and what you really want.
February 5, 2019
Before i review this i have to send out a heartfelt thank you to Isaac Marion, not only for writing this amazing series but for never giving up, i feel so honoured to own this book i know what you went through to put it in my hands and its not often an author will put so much love and dedication into their fans and I'm incredibly grateful that you did you're awesome!!!
So now on to the review i loved this!!! It was everything i was hoping for and more not only is Isaac Marion an incredible writer he has a phenomenal imagination, this beautiful rotted world he has created is unlike anything else i have ever read, he really takes you to these places and i am completely invested in these characters. The ending had a completely satisfying conclusion and although I'm sadly pretty sure this is the end i hope its not the last i hear of these characters . One thing i do know with absolute certainty though is that whatever Issac writes in the future I'm 100% buying it people who haven't read this are definitely missing out!!!
So now on to the review i loved this!!! It was everything i was hoping for and more not only is Isaac Marion an incredible writer he has a phenomenal imagination, this beautiful rotted world he has created is unlike anything else i have ever read, he really takes you to these places and i am completely invested in these characters. The ending had a completely satisfying conclusion and although I'm sadly pretty sure this is the end i hope its not the last i hear of these characters . One thing i do know with absolute certainty though is that whatever Issac writes in the future I'm 100% buying it people who haven't read this are definitely missing out!!!
July 17, 2019
Have you ever just finished a book because you’ve gone too far in the series to just quit? Yeah...😏 I gave three stars Very generously. I know how hard Mr. Marion worked to get this manuscript to his waiting fans. There were great parts of the book, the final chapters, for example, were beautiful. Unfortunately, all of the political and angry anti-church rants were very distracting, disappointing, and difficult for me to push through. I’m sorry I can’t give the good in this book more stars, the entertaining ‘meat’ scenes, for me, were just too few and far between.
February 4, 2019
I'm so happy I read to the end of this series. <3
You can read my review of the Warm Bodies series here: https://thebookishaustin.tumblr.com/p...
You can read my review of the Warm Bodies series here: https://thebookishaustin.tumblr.com/p...
January 20, 2019
4.5 ☆
A beautiful conclusion to an outstanding series. I don't regret spending 40€ on a physical copy, so I guess you could say I really enjoyed it.
A beautiful conclusion to an outstanding series. I don't regret spending 40€ on a physical copy, so I guess you could say I really enjoyed it.
February 21, 2023
3.5⭐️
« I am not a lone aberration in a heritage of cruelty. I am another step. »
I am not sure how I feel about The Living.
All I know is: I am still a bit confused. I’m not sure I understand this book. What exactly was this “we” whose point of view we kept reading, rather randomly at that? What is the logic behind the changes and the sudden end of the plague? Why was ADDIS of all people so important in the end? Or R’s zombie children? What made THEM special out of all of the infected? I have just as many questions as I did when I started the second book, and I don’t know that it’s a good thing.
I still really like the writing, and that’s this series saving grace in my opinion. It almost made reading this series worth it. Warm Bodies started as something too simple, little more than a love story, and the author tried to make it evolve from there into something much darker and mature, to expand it into something I can’t quite comprehend yet. This is still so vague in my head. Am I missing the point? Or was that the author’s intent? Do I need to re-read?
Anyway. Putting that aside for a minute.
It was actually really interesting to read more about R’s past, and to see him heal and become this new, better version of himself. I think I actually liked this more than the second book, despite the confusion. R was more active, more focused on fixing the world here. I didn’t like Julie more (she’s not that great of a character at all and R is very biased) but she was somehow useful too. And for those who were in it for the love story and who still care about that - don’t worry, they do get their happy ending after all. Although that conclusion made very little sense.
« I am not a lone aberration in a heritage of cruelty. I am another step. »
I am not sure how I feel about The Living.
All I know is: I am still a bit confused. I’m not sure I understand this book. What exactly was this “we” whose point of view we kept reading, rather randomly at that? What is the logic behind the changes and the sudden end of the plague? Why was ADDIS of all people so important in the end? Or R’s zombie children? What made THEM special out of all of the infected? I have just as many questions as I did when I started the second book, and I don’t know that it’s a good thing.
I still really like the writing, and that’s this series saving grace in my opinion. It almost made reading this series worth it. Warm Bodies started as something too simple, little more than a love story, and the author tried to make it evolve from there into something much darker and mature, to expand it into something I can’t quite comprehend yet. This is still so vague in my head. Am I missing the point? Or was that the author’s intent? Do I need to re-read?
Anyway. Putting that aside for a minute.
It was actually really interesting to read more about R’s past, and to see him heal and become this new, better version of himself. I think I actually liked this more than the second book, despite the confusion. R was more active, more focused on fixing the world here. I didn’t like Julie more (she’s not that great of a character at all and R is very biased) but she was somehow useful too. And for those who were in it for the love story and who still care about that - don’t worry, they do get their happy ending after all. Although that conclusion made very little sense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2022
This is my least favourite book in the series. There's a lot in this book that I can appreciate, but there's also a lot that I simply did not vibe with or enjoy.
For me, personally, I struggled a lot with the pacing, setting and the logic in this story. I never really had a grasp of where they were and what they were really up to. A lot of things were just too convenient and the characters traveling across the country and going to different places just seemed too easy.
I did like the ending though. Especially that one part that kinda brought us back to where it all started.
For me, personally, I struggled a lot with the pacing, setting and the logic in this story. I never really had a grasp of where they were and what they were really up to. A lot of things were just too convenient and the characters traveling across the country and going to different places just seemed too easy.
I did like the ending though. Especially that one part that kinda brought us back to where it all started.
March 26, 2019
I waited so long for this book and so was extremely nervous about how it would turn out, but it is without a doubt, the best book of the series!! Each book builds on the last. The writing and characters grow. The storyline becomes more complex and exciting with each chapter and there was nothing here that I didn't like. This is a unique world with a unique way of storytelling and I loved every minute of it.
January 5, 2019
Wow. WOW! That’s all I can say for the ending of R and Julie’s story. So amazing!
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