Monday, October 22, 2012

Review: Dearly Departed (#1)


Summary (from Goodreads)Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

Review: This is probably one of the toughest books for me to read thus far. It's got steampunk elements, zombies, a mysterious government, and a human/zombie love interest. Sounds perfect, right? Unfortunately Dearly Departed fails to really excite readers. The multiple viewpoints comes off as confusing, rather than bringing the readers more into the New Victorian world. All in all, it's a hit or miss. Readers will either love it or dislike it.


Formats: e-book, hardcoverpaperback, audiobook

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5 comments:

  1. Actually I really enjoyed this one so I disagree that it fails to excite readers, but I'm sad you didn't like it more.

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    1. Man, I'm sad I didn't like it more too! I think it's one of those books that you either like or it fall flat, I can't really pin point why, either. :-/

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  2. O sounds like a pass. Thanks for your honesty.

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  3. I'm struggling with multiple POVs more and more lately. I don't mind a dual POV, but if I'm forced to go back and forth between more than 2 characters I get frustrated and just want to return to the ones that most interest me. I'm thinking I'll pass on this one for now, there are so many other books out there I'm DYING to read:)

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    1. YES YES YES. I think you aptly hit the nail on the head, the multiple viewpoints can get confusing and thus, frustrating. It's all about who we identify with most anyway.

      Read on, sista!

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