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The Hate Contagion
What do you do when everyone is trying to eat you?
Amy and Jacqueline, aka Jack, are two young lovers trying to figure that out. Traversing a zombie-like, post-apocalyptic America, they're hoping to find Jack's family, preferably still alive and uninfected.
Amy and Jack are confronted by diseased cannibals who are very much alive and hungry, but not nearly as dangerous as the uninfected humans who may have conscious thought, but ill-intent. Struggling to remain sane in an insane world, Amy reflects back on the time before the hate contagion spread. She remembers her troubled relationship with Jack, who could not come out to an intolerant and judgmental family.
Amy writes about both her past and present in the journal she keeps in an effort to hold onto the pieces of herself that barely seem real anymore.
Amy and Jacqueline, aka Jack, are two young lovers trying to figure that out. Traversing a zombie-like, post-apocalyptic America, they're hoping to find Jack's family, preferably still alive and uninfected.
Amy and Jack are confronted by diseased cannibals who are very much alive and hungry, but not nearly as dangerous as the uninfected humans who may have conscious thought, but ill-intent. Struggling to remain sane in an insane world, Amy reflects back on the time before the hate contagion spread. She remembers her troubled relationship with Jack, who could not come out to an intolerant and judgmental family.
Amy writes about both her past and present in the journal she keeps in an effort to hold onto the pieces of herself that barely seem real anymore.
321 pages, Paperback
Published December 14, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 16, 2022
First review!
A zombie contagion, but not really. More of a coming of age / memoir / diary / allegory / parable / philosophy / fable… you get the idea.
The author paints an unreal zombie apocalypse hellscape situation, as utterly real and believable, excellently crafted. The periodic transitions into backstory, before the hate, with Amy musing about life, her place in it, what’s it all mean, how does a person live, slowly bring more and more color to the characters and story, are perfectly juxtaposed with the bleak (but strangely much more simple and straightforward realities) of the present: the hate. Mindlessly consuming everything around it, out of pure hunger.
The dialog was fluid. The “flashback” parts of the book felt like a portal back to being in your 20s in the early 2000s. Rock clubs. Social media barely existed. Most people talked face to face. I know I sound like a boomer here, but I’m not that old. Things really have just changed THAT much in even the last 15 years…. Which is maybe some kind of a subtext to the novel itself, but I don’t know, I’m not that smart lol.
The backstory between Amy and Jack took an interesting turn towards the end, as the back story finally caught up to present day. It was unexpected and subtly recontextualized things.
The best friend / band drummer Mulch storyline was excellently done too.
Sometimes, to be who you really are, I guess maybe the whole world has to end.
And maybe with the hate, first it consumes everything around it, and then itself.
A zombie contagion, but not really. More of a coming of age / memoir / diary / allegory / parable / philosophy / fable… you get the idea.
The author paints an unreal zombie apocalypse hellscape situation, as utterly real and believable, excellently crafted. The periodic transitions into backstory, before the hate, with Amy musing about life, her place in it, what’s it all mean, how does a person live, slowly bring more and more color to the characters and story, are perfectly juxtaposed with the bleak (but strangely much more simple and straightforward realities) of the present: the hate. Mindlessly consuming everything around it, out of pure hunger.
The dialog was fluid. The “flashback” parts of the book felt like a portal back to being in your 20s in the early 2000s. Rock clubs. Social media barely existed. Most people talked face to face. I know I sound like a boomer here, but I’m not that old. Things really have just changed THAT much in even the last 15 years…. Which is maybe some kind of a subtext to the novel itself, but I don’t know, I’m not that smart lol.
The backstory between Amy and Jack took an interesting turn towards the end, as the back story finally caught up to present day. It was unexpected and subtly recontextualized things.
The best friend / band drummer Mulch storyline was excellently done too.
Sometimes, to be who you really are, I guess maybe the whole world has to end.
And maybe with the hate, first it consumes everything around it, and then itself.
November 8, 2022
A fantastic debut author that has a fresh take on the well worn apocalyptic zombie novel. I really enjoyed the way this book's unique characters wend their way across country encountering problems of love and survival that didn't feel stale. It jumps between the past (pre-zombie pandemic) and the present and credit to the author for zigging when you expect them to zag. It was heartfelt, clever, and utterly unpredictable. The ending caught me by surprise, which was in itself a surprise in this genre.
January 14, 2022
Very well written. Easy to read. Interesting concept.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews