Rot & Ruin
Ratings46
Average rating4.1
[3.75] After the misogynistic dumpster fire that was Zombie Rules by David Achord, I was determined to find better zombie books. This is on a much better track. I don't love it, and I don't hate it either. It presents some interesting questions about the humanity of the undead, and the ethics of a society post-collapse.
It's a perfect example of a YA book that can be enjoyed by adults. YA books often are allowed a bit more creativity and character depth and emotion than adult thrillers, so you really get a feel for how a horrific post-apocalypse might be with this one.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
I'm very torn about this book. One part of me really enjoyed it, and the other was tempted to throw it at a wall with some force. The cover is very appealing, and immediately alerts the reader as to what they will be reading about (ahem- zombies). As a zombie apocalypse book, it was decent. It did its job as portraying zombies as zombies and the characters reacted accordingly. With that said, there were some sub-plots that made the book kind of confusing.
Now, let me tell you the most anger-invoking part of the book. When Tom Imura falls off of the car into a horde of zombies, we all thought he was a goner, right? I mean, really. There's no way, no way, that he could have survived falling into a mass, a riot, of hungry zombies who just surged toward him and obscured Benny's view of him. He's dead, right?
WRONG.
Instead, Tom smelled like zombies because of Benny's slip-up, hid under a car for an extended amount of time without food or water, and then crawled out, alive, and tracked Benny down. With nothing to go off of. Because, you know, logic doesn't matter when you're writing a fiction novel.
Anyways, it was a pretty good book and I'll get around the reading the second one sometime.
When you have completed one series by an aether and start another there are some benchmarks you expect him to meet. In Jonathan's case you expect it to be fast, fairly logical and full of heart. Rot and Ruin delivers on all of them and with some miles to spare. The world is well crafted and explanations for Zombies left open to interpretation. We may learn more in later books but the seeding for the future is done and some interesting protagonists to build on. let's see where this one goes.
