2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Zoo by James Patterson, the first book in the Zoo series.

Pages: 395 pages

Length: 1 Month (October)

Participants: D.L., Eirelyn.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

I'm excited to start this one! My mom, sister-in-law, & niece have all read this & loved it. I have read so many Patterson novels, but somehow I never got around to this one before now. :D

Eirelyn wrote: "I'm excited to start this one! My mom, sister-in-law, & niece have all read this & loved it. I have read so many Patterson novels, but somehow I never got around to this one before now. :D"

Hi, there. I am a bit addicted to Patterson's books. They're always super fast-paced. And yes, I don't know how I've missed reading this one before. Glad I'll finally get to tackle it in October. I look forward to our discussion.

I love how fast-paced his books are! And the short chapters! It's so easy to keep saying, "Just one more chapter" with his books, and then before you know it, you're halfway through! XD

I've seen most of the tv show of Zoo, but I haven't finished it. But I've heard that it's quite different from the book, so hopefully it'll be kind of like a brand new tale. :D

The short chapters are my favorite thing! ^^ lol

I will start this probably Saturday. Looking forward to discussing it.

I am still reading Firestarter but hope to finish that one up soon & start this one. :D I'm looking forward to it as well!

I am joining! I love JP and have been looking forward to this book.

Yay, Donna. Welcome! :D

I just finished my other buddy read, so I should be starting this one soon. :D

Eirelyn wrote: "Yay, Donna. Welcome! :D"

Thank you!!

@Donna, you're welcome. :D

I just started this today but am only a couple chapters in so far. XD I'm excited to really get into it!

I am slightly over halfway through. I just started Part 4 with the (view spoiler)[5-year time jump (hide spoiler)]. I feel like it's moving along really quickly, but I wanted to see more (view spoiler)[animal-related stuff in that first section. Maybe there will be more in the second half, though. I think the whole concept of the animals acting abnormally is so interesting & I want to see more of how the different species act, rather than finding out just in narration (hide spoiler)].

I finished the book and oh my gosh! It was so good!! That's the kind of thriller I like!

I am seriously behind. I had so many challenge books to read this month that I got bogged down. But I believe I can read & finish it this weekend. I can't wait to discuss it :)

I just finished! :D

(view spoiler)[Part of me wanted a happier ending. I wanted them to figure it out & actually fix it. But, especially after seeing how the world has reacted to our own global pandemic, this was definitely the most realistic ending possible. Humans (especially "first world" humans, and even more especially, Americans) are far more concerned with day-to-day luxuries & creature comforts than with doing what we all know we should be doing. And thus...the pandemic lives on when it would be so simple to stop it. The characters in this book knew exactly what to do to stop it, but they chose not to. It's sad, really, that this is the way humans are. So while it was an incredibly realistic ending, it left me feeling a little hopeless in some ways. (hide spoiler)]

But I was very glad to see (view spoiler)[the book jump around to all of the different locations around the world, to see individuals dealing with the attacks. I had been hoping for more of that before the time jump, so I was glad to see a lot of it after the jump. (hide spoiler)]

Now, I want to re-watch the series (& actually finish it this time). :D