Title: Rot & Ruin
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Genre: Horror
Ratings:
3.5 (I'd friend this book on facebook)(Randi)
2 (I'd give this book an Awkward Hug) (Becky)
Twice Baked Thursday is an original weekly meme created here at Cardigans, Coffee and Bookmarks. This feature was created because Randi and I (Becky), often read the same books and have very different opinions about them. When we read the same book we do a joint review on it, showing both sides with a different colored font for each person. Please feel free to join us and link to our blog in your post, and also use the widget below to link your own double review to our page.This week's book is Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry.
Randi's view: 3.5 Stars. I liked this book. It was about much more than I thought it would be. Was it? My thought: flesh-eating zombies, teenage boy, blahblahblah. Sounds about like what I read... SO much more. The worldbuilding really impressed me. Though I haven’t read many zombie novels, the zoms in Benny’s world really made me think about zombies differently. It gave them a face, granted a desiccated and rotting one, but a face nonetheless. To take a quote from Tom, “Every dead person out there deserves respect. Even in death. Even when we fear them. Even when we have to kill them. They aren’t ‘just zoms,’ Benny” (62). I could see that the author was trying to look at zombies in an original, compassionate way, but I didn't buy it. The epiphany Benny has about zombies having once been human seemed obvious from the beginning. What scared me the most about this book was who was scary…as Benny learned, the real monsters were the living. That’s the creepiest thing about post-apocalyptic books for me, at least the ones that I’ve really liked (Ashfall, The Knife of Never Letting Go) – how quickly people turn on each other for survival – and sometimes just for fun. Sickening, really. I agree, but I felt like the book had a lead up to showing us how evil the antagonists were that it never delivered. We don't see "Gameland" where the kids are forced to fight zombies, so to me (despite the endless monologuing of the 'bad guys') their cruelty was never fully realized. I have to agree with Randi, the world-building in this story was strong. I didn't find it as stunningly original, however. I read zombie novels like it is nobody's business, and to me this felt like a poor man's version of The Reapers are the Angels, by Alden Bell. The struggle to understand the meaning of zombies is a theme found in pretty much every zombie book I've ever read, and I wasn't convinced that Benny understood it in a way that was unique.
Characters? I liked Benny, though I thought for the main
character he could have been a little less bratty I'll say. And I could’ve done without the whole romance
angle; it didn’t really work for me, and I didn’t feel like it was very
authentic. The kiss was a complete anticlimax. I loved Tom, though I kept forgetting he was in his mid-thirties. In
my mind, he was swoon-worthy (that’s not to say that men in their thirties
aren’t, cuz they totally are! Love you, husband!). (Also, his “zombie card” at
the back of the book? Totally not swoon-worthy AT ALL. I was kind of
disappointed. I’ll just go on picturing him how I want. Anyway, he was a
badass.) The author clearly WANTED us to think he was a badass. He was kind of a Mary Sue, though. No flaws, except his exceptionally aggravating tendency to call Benny "Kiddo" every other sentence. What was up with Benny's all-consuming hatred of Tom simply for running away from his zombie parents on the first night? Pretty much everyone responded that way...it felt like a really forced reason for conflict. (Benny didn't know that the reason for Tom running away until the end, silly billy!)
Lilah? Eh, I’m lukewarm about her, but I guess that’s kind of the point. Nix? Loved her name, totally felt for her, but again, kinda lukewarm on that one. We didn’t really get a lot from Benny’s other friends. And the bounty hunters didn’t really scare me, just disgusted me. Okay, they did scare me when I think about the fact that there really are people as heartless and cold as this in the world today!Yeah, I think all the characters were flat as cardboard. For me the biggest flaw was that the action didn't really begin until 225 pages into the story. I had to force myself to keep reading. For the first half of the book, Benny just follows other people and listens to their stories, and I think Maberry should have just let us see the story through the other characters' eyes (flashbacks) rather than having us read about Benny listening to them.
Lilah? Eh, I’m lukewarm about her, but I guess that’s kind of the point. Nix? Loved her name, totally felt for her, but again, kinda lukewarm on that one. We didn’t really get a lot from Benny’s other friends. And the bounty hunters didn’t really scare me, just disgusted me. Okay, they did scare me when I think about the fact that there really are people as heartless and cold as this in the world today!Yeah, I think all the characters were flat as cardboard. For me the biggest flaw was that the action didn't really begin until 225 pages into the story. I had to force myself to keep reading. For the first half of the book, Benny just follows other people and listens to their stories, and I think Maberry should have just let us see the story through the other characters' eyes (flashbacks) rather than having us read about Benny listening to them.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I’m looking forward to reading
the rest of the trilogy? Ew Series? Had it not been for the last 50 pages or so, I
probably wouldn’t have liked the book quite as much, but it brought me CLOSURE.
See what I did there? ;) You clever, clever girl! There was definitely a jaw-dropping moment in there.
Love being caught off-guard like that. I am really struggling to figure out what you were surprised by. This story was predictable at every turn. Also, the epilogue ALMOST made me tear
up…but not quite. Final thought? Definitely worth a read, even if you’re not a
fan of typical zombie books.
Overall, I give this 2 stars: I'd give this book an awkward hug. I most likely won't continue the series.
Overall, I give this 2 stars: I'd give this book an awkward hug. I most likely won't continue the series.
Excellent joint post, ladies! I really like your exclusive meme, it's so unique and interesting. I love how you both gave your opinion of this- it gave me a better understanding to determine if this book is for me. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leanne! We wanted to do something a little different. :) Definitely feel free to join in!
DeleteHi girls, nice post - similar to our Same Book Second Look we've been running for a while now. It's fun taking a dual point of view, isn't it. I loved the book/trilogy myself. Benny's character growth was great. Lot's more action in #2.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by The Paperback Princesses.
Hey! thanks for taking a look at our blog! I went to your page (lovely blog btw) and I was hunting around for the "same book second look" you mentioned to make sure we didn't trod on any toes. I couldn't find it. If you get a chance, I'd love a link. Thanks again!
ReplyDelete