Warm Bodies

This book rose out of the grave and grabbed me by the ankles. I’ve always loved (and been completely terrified of) zombies. After 28 Days Later scarred me for life (that one scene with the crow and the blood ACK), zombies became somewhat of an obsession. But I always found myself wanting…more. Then this book shambled in my door, and suddenly, I had the twisted, funny, heartwarming zombie fairytale I never knew I needed in my life. It upended the undead genre, and I will love it forever for giving the mix of zombies and romance a big ole bear… show more.

Is this book a bit of a Twilight knockoff trying to capitalize on teens by replacing vampires and werewolves with zombies as the love interest? No! Okay, well…sort of. I love this book because of its darkly humorous take on the whole zombie apocalypse deal. Written in the first-person from the zombie’s perspective, Marion was able to give his main character, R, a lot of…wait for it…life. Coupled with his magnificent use of morbid humor and smooth prose, this book definitely has a lot of bite.

Can’t we all relate to feeling a disconnect to the ‘real world’ in these times of rampant social media and fake news? I know I sometimes slip into zombie mode in my life so I could easily relate to R. Even as a zombie though, he feels wonderfully human as he tries to change his life and looks for a better way. I absolutely fell in love with him for that. You’ll definitely get Romeo and Juliet vibes too so expect some zombie romance too. The movie is fun—the book is better!

Warm Bodies is probably my one exception when it comes to zombie books. It’s unique to see a first-person narration in this genre, since these sorts of stories are usually about humans striving to survive. But there’s so much freshness here. We get to see inside the mind of a zombie attempting to recapture his own humanity, and stumbles upon this intricate romance with an uninfected girl. The writing is lush and poetic, and touches on so many philosophical questions regarding what it means to truly be alive.

I think Warm Bodies is perfect for a more mature audience. Personally, I’ve always been a Romeo and Juliet fan, and I love that Marion was bold enough to put a twist on the story that no one saw coming – the hot-blooded Romeo is transformed into the cold undead R. And yet in a world where violent delights seem to have no end, Julie proves to be the spark to the powder that ignites R’s cold heart once again. Marion’s prose is packed with cynical wit, and the story served as an oddly brilliant medium for tackling the modern… show more.

This was the first “zombie protagonist” book I ever read, and it set the standard for everything else. Narrated by “R,” a zombie who has retained his philosophical mind if not his ability to communicate, the story unspools a zombie apocalypse story from the opposite perspective. R is just trying to get through his new existence and understand his place in the new world order when he meets Julie, a human from a nearby survivor encampment. As an unlikely friendship and even unlikelier romance begins to form, R starts to reclaim some of his humanity – which casts the entire… show more.

This is probably the first book that comes to mind when people think of nontraditional zombies. It’s so popular that it was even turned into a movie. In this book, the protagonist is a zombie who eats the brains of a girl’s boyfriend, taking in his memories. Something in them sparks something inside him, and he begins to regain his humanity bit by bit. This is a love story at heart, so of course, it takes love for him to fully recover. I love a good happily ever after every now and then—especially in a zombie story.