Isaac Marion

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead. Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

Warm Bodies

Alienated from his fellow zombies because of his dislike of having to kill humans and his enjoyment of Sinatra music, "R" meets a living girl who sharply contrasts with his cold and dreary world and who he resolves to protect in spite of her delicious appearance. A first novel. Reprint.

A Novel

Shannon C

Read this long time ago before I knew about Goodreads. I loved it, surprisingly, since I don't like zombies. I also really enjoyed the movie

Ashley Stock

I absolutely ADORE this book and it is by far my new favorite. There are several quotes in this book that just absolutely hit me and I love how they, and this entire book, are written. This is a stunning book and I plan to re-read it over and over through the future.

maddie

i will honestly say that i genuinely dislike this book. at first, it seems really interesting! but as you keep reading, it kind of just gets worse and worse. the plot was boring and cliché, also it’s hard to connect with any of the characters. i hated how i almost had to force myself to finish this book. it’s not absolutely terrible but it’s just very easy to read and it’s also predictable.

A lot more… introspective existential crisis than I expected. Definitely not the funny teen zom-com one would expect from the movie (they thankfully aged down R’s character to a teen, because having a “corporate zombie” adult man forming an attachment to a teenaged girl is shady.) There is also some weird sexual stuff in a few early scenes.

Long & short, I would have DNF’d if not for a reading challenge prompt I had to fulfill (Romeo & Juliet retelling).

Liz Griffin

A lot more… introspective existential crisis than I expected. Definitely not the funny teen zom-com one would expect from the movie (they thankfully aged down R’s character to a teen, because having a “corporate zombie” adult man forming an attachment to a teenaged girl is shady.) There is also some weird sexual stuff in a few early scenes.

Long & short, I would have DNF’d if not for a reading challenge prompt I had to fulfill (Romeo & Juliet retelling).

Colleen

4 Stars
 
I saw the movie version of Warm Bodies first – unusual for me. I had not heard of the book prior to that. The first movie trailers for it frankly made it look like Twilight with zombies which looked terrible and had zero appeal to me. I only ended up watching the movie because my husband wanted to see it. Surprisingly, the movie greatly exceeded my expectations. And when I realized it was based on a book, I decided to check that out as well, although it was awhile before I got around to reading it.
 
Warm Bodes is a post-apocalyptic zombie story. The difference is that this story is told from the perspective of one of the zombies a young man who doesn’t remember his past or even his name but thinks it started with the letter R. He seems to have retained more cognitive function that most other zombies. But though, R’s thoughts are articulate, he can only speak a syllable or two at a time, and he is driven by his zombie urges.
 

  “We may appear mindless, but we aren’t. The rusty cogs of cogency still spin, just geared down and down till the outer motion is barely visible. We grunt and groan, we shrug and nod, and sometimes a few words slip out. It’s not that different from before.”

In this world, if the zombies consume the brains of their victims, they can fleetingly experience the memories and emotions of their victims. R has stumbled along like that for an unknown number of years until one day he meets a human girl and everything changes.
 
I’m not sure who will consider this a spoiler or not: The story is actually a creative retelling of Romeo and Juliet as well as a fun spin on your typical zombie story. Retellings are such a messy battlefield that often leave the original story laying in carnage of what really boils down to authorized fanfiction. A successful retelling needs to build on the original story and/or give it a refreshing new twist. Warm Bodies may not be Pulitzer level writing, but it certainly succeeded at the giving an old story a new twist. But it is not a corny throw away like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies where the author copy-pasted the story and just stuffed in zombies at random times. Warm Bodies is a story that manages to be humorous and insightful at the same time. And it was the author’s debut novel as well.
 
R’s inner monologue is loquacious at times but entertaining and thought-provoking. It brings up questions about what humanity means and what drives us all.
 

  “What is left of us? the ghosts moan, drifting back into the shadows of my subconscious. No countries, no cultures, no wars but still no peace. What’s at our core, then? What’s still squirming in our bones when everything else is stripped.?

Overall, the story was well balanced humor with introspection. There were a few cheesy moments, particularly the iconic balcony scene, but I enjoyed Warm Bodes. It’s short and easy to read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants something a little different.
 
 
*I just noticed that there are sequels to this book. I wonder if they just continue on with the same storyline or if they are each retelling of a different story. I mean, Hamlet with zombies would be kind of awesome…


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

zombxing

read this in middle school and kid me did not appreciate this book enough but its ok because i love it now. looking forward to reading the rest of the series

Izza

Azaura A

Natasha Musa

I love anything to do with zombies; books, movies, comic etc. So of course when I saw Warm Bodies at the bookstore, I thought I'd give it a go. I thought Warm Bodies had a different premise compared to other zombie books. Unfortunately, I found the zombie hero (R) a bit dry and the romance between him and Julie not so exciting. I found myself speed reading through the book. The characters didn't have any impact on me and were not memorable. I liked the idea at the end of how zombies were slowly gaining back some of the human elements but overall the book was just okay.

Angela Guilherme

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I must start by admiting that zombies were never really my thing. Seriously, of all the supernatural creatures, zombies were at the bottom of my list. So I never really paid much attention to this book. Until I saw the movie trailer and I realized it wasn't a Twilight with zombies as I first thought, but it was something else and it had humor. So, when I saw it was available for request on NetGalley, I couldn't resist requesting it. And I was super happy when my request was accepted!

"Warm Bodies" takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where zombies exist, and the living survive in communities living in stadiums. We never find out what happened, cause zombies have no memory and the living don't really talk about the past. We see the world through R's eyes, a nameless zombie who can only remember his name's initial, and with no memory, that lives a normal zombie existence: walks around the airport where he “lives” with the other zombies, tries to have conversations with his best friend M (unsuccessfully, since they both have the inherent speaking difficulty of being a zombie) and, when hunger strikes, he goes into town to hunt.

It's in one of these huntings that everything changes. The group of zombies attacks a group of young people, R eats the brain of a young man, and something very strange happens. R seems to absorb the young man's memories and, without having time to think about it, he does the unthinkable, he saves Julie, the girl the young man loved. From that moment on, R begins to change, to develop feelings for Julie, and protects her at all cost from everything and everyone, and he starts to think that, just because he is dead, it shouldn't mean he can't live...

I liked how the relationship between R and Julie evolved. Unlike what I initially thought, it wasn't creepy at all, on the contrary, it was quite sweet. In a world where humans have lost hope, for the carrier of said hope to be a living-dead was a brilliant irony. And the author excelled at demonstrating how sometimes it's people who commit the biggest attrocities, while the “monsters” are capable of holding on to their humanity.

The book is filled with memorable quotations, the kind that leaves us thinking about them and of how true they are. So make no mistake about it, this is not a light romance between a living and a living-dead, it's a treaty on humankind and on how it's important to keep it even when all hope seems lost.

I'm curious to read the sequel because, not only do I want to know what happens next, I'm also curious to know what happened to make the world the way it is and why did the zombies appeared (I think that's covered in a prequel but I'll have to look it up). And now I really want to see the movie!

Yasmim Linhares

This is one of those books I read 'just because' and then it was soooooo good that I was glad I read it.

Stefanie Sugia

"I don't know why we have to kill people. I don't know what chewing through a man's neck accomplishes. I steal what he has to replace what I lack. He disappears, and I stay. It's simple but senseless, arbitrary laws from some lunatic legislator in the sky. But following those laws keeps me walking, so I follow them to the letter. I eat until I stop eating, then I eat again."
R is a zombie. Although he doesn't remember his name, as well as his previous living life, R is always curious about life. R has a friend named M; and he has been given a zombie wife and zombie children as his family - but nothing feels different. As part of a zombie's life, R also enjoyed the pleasure of eating human - especially the brain. When a zombie eats a brain, the human memories will flash through their minds - making them feel what it's like to live once again. At a time, R ate the brain of a boy named Perry Kelvin, his future would change forever.

It was when R and his fellow Dead are hunting for food, they come across a group of Living outside the fully-protected stadium for humans. While R was enjoying his meal - which was Perry's brain - R saw vivid images of Perry's life, especially the ones with his girlfriend named Julie. And then R realized that Julie is part of the group which are going to be eaten by the other Dead. Although Julie who's terrified suddenly throws a knife at R's face, R slowly smeared a fallen zombie's blood on her face - trying to disguise her as a zombie. Without any words, Julie got dragged by R, back to the airport where the Dead lives. That day, R did something the other Dead had never imagined before: saving a human's life....

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2013/0...

Amy Grieve

Too amazing for words. Isaac Marion is a pure genius! Can't wait for book two!

Asia B.

2.75
Non sono davvero riuscita a capire fino in fondo il libro. Il come siano guariti, il cambio di colore degli occhi, una reazione chimica al voler cambiare? Non comprendo.
Per il resto, carino e simpatico, mi è piaciuto leggere di uno zombie che vuole cambiare che capisce che solo perché si è così e lo stato delle cose è così, non si può aspirare di meglio, e non si può agire per cambiare con la forza di volontà. Questo è il significato sotteso del libro, credo, e mi è piaciuto.
Ma ripeto, avrei voluto più spiegazioni per la cura.

Nicole Lucy O'Loughlin

Really really loved this book xD
The dark comedy really suited my sense of humor and whilst the themes of the novel were a little grim at times it is such a hopeful story. Not many books can make me chuckle but this one somehow achieved it. I really liked the film adaption and although it did the book good justice, I feel the book was better.I prefer the ending to the book than I do to the film because it just felt more fitting to the plot. Highly recommend this book to....everyone!

This review was originally posted on Caity Reads.

I really loved the characters in Warm Bodies, I thought they were beautifully developed and had so much depth. I really loved the writing and the writing style in this book. R is a great main character, and I fell in love with him from the beginning. I loved how different this is from a lot of zombie novels in the sense that the zombies actually had thoughts; I think it definitely raised them from just being things to being actual characters. I think it’s awesome that the novel was written from the point of view of the zombie. It’s a beautiful story, and although it is a bit gruesome (which was enjoyable and fit the story well) it really left an impression.

The long version video review of this book can be found by finding the review on my blog or you can find it here.

Anastaciya

A surprisingly nice book. The story is very touching, and if you like to look deeper for meaning, you can certainly find it in this book.

estefania sanchez sanz

Warm Bodies is the zombie version of Romeo and Juliet, written by Isaac Marion. On one hand there is R, a zombie. On the other hand there is Julie, a human. As Capulet and Montague humans and zombies hate each other and killed each other. The book has had a recent popularity as the movie came out sooner this year.

 R wasn’t the typical zombie, he had thoughts and deep conversations about dead with his friend M. They lived in the ruins of what had been an airport long ago. Sometimes they went hunting in the city, they hunted humans; they ate their flesh and savoured their brain. As there was a special thing about eating brains; they transported them to their own thoughts and memories making them feel a bit less dead. The zombie community was led by the Bonnies, zombies without flesh.
On a hunting R killed and ate Perry. Then he saved Julie, he kept her alive, he listened to her, and they listened to music together. However Julie couldn’t stay at the airport for a long time.

 Warm Bodies was a hilarious fascinating read. It is really different from any book I had read before. Although the story isn’t unique, the turn that is given to it made it so special and entertaining. The characters are really good. R is a very special zombie, nothing like I would expect to read about. The conversations between him and M are really hilarious because of its simplicity. Julie is a great character too. She is a really brave girl however, she isn’t the kind of girl that says that she isn’t strong but then she is. Apart from the characters I think there is something about the way it is written that make it really enjoyable.
Although I found an introduction missed in this book, I missed the fact about the author telling us why did that happened, or how. The thing I dislike the most were the conversations/interruptions that happened with Perry, I found them weird and they made me get lost. Last but not least, the explanation about the zombie plague was impossible to fully understand and came out of nowhere.

 To sum up, Warm Bodies was a fantastic experience. I really enjoy it. I think that anybody who wants something new could enjoy it.

Alienated from his fellow zombies because of his dislike of having to kill humans and his enjoyment of Sinatra music, "R" meets a living girl who sharply contrasts with his cold and dreary world and who he resolves to protect in spite of her delicious appearance. A first novel. 100,000 first printing.

Danielle H.

I am actually surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I am not really a fan of zombies; I have read one zombie novel previous to this one and hated it, and 'The Walking Dead' both bores/disturbs me, so I have no interest in watching it, unlike, it seems, everyone else I know. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because I felt like the last part of the book should have spent more time elaborating and explaining why exactly the changes going on are happening. In my opinion, it just sort of ended, and I feel as though there could have been more there.

Overall, it was a great and quick read. Did it change my views on zombies? Eh, probably not so much. However, I do know I will be eagerly awaiting the release of the movie adaptation in February.

Siobhán

Please don't shoot me!!!!

I just didn't really like it. I found it so boring! Too overhyped (is that a word?? lol)

I wasn't sure what to think about this book when I first heard of it. But, I was looking for something different to read, so I thought what the hell, I'll give it a try. I absolutely devoured this book. (No pun intended.) I could barely put it down. It was a unique story. It's unlike any book I've read before, which, as much as I read, is saying something. All in all, I really enjoyed it. Romanticizing zombies. Huh. I guess it was only a matter of time. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Kenna Armstrong

This book was absolutely amazing. It kept me gripped throughout! I was up at almost three last night because I kept saying "One more chapter!" I recommend this book to anyone who loves the idea of zombies, because this book will blow you away!

Christina Hufford

** spoiler alert **
           It was a good book, a quick read, but ultimately not something I'm going to read again. First person present tense is always a struggle for me, and there was something about the writing style that turned me off. There were certainly some poetic turns of phrase, but to a point where I couldn't really immerse myself in the characters and the plot, as I was so distracted by the writing. There were also some really lazy similes-- like a thrown gauntlet, like Fourth of July fireworks, like this, like that -- that became grating after a while. The dialogue, too, often felt cheesy or trite; everyone constantly asking each other the meaning of life became almost embarrassing. Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace. 

I liked the idea of a zombie gradually regaining life, though! But unfortunately that was the story I was interested in, the revolution, the action plot; not the love story one. That the zombie plague reversed itself through what amounted to the power of love ... Eh. It was a good book, don't get me wrong, and I did enjoy reading it. Just wasn't quite the kind of story I'm interested in.

Warm Bodies

Reviews