This book was good. Really good. I'm a total zombie fanatic so when
this one popped up I had to get my hands on it as quick as I could.
Despite it's thickness it was definitely a fast read for me. The
plot was pretty good, but had some inconsistencies that made me
blink twice. Although the book stated that the living impaired was
only limited to the USA (such as the quote below):
First: "Apparently neither did teenagers in Uzbekistan, Burkina
Faso, Sweden, or Papua New Guinea for some reason. But kids from
Oklahoma, Rockaway Beach, the Big Apple, Arkansas, or the Big Easy
all bore at least a chance of winding up living impaired as long as
they croaked during the teen delicate years"
YET you get this later on in the novel: "And there are two dead
kids in Canada now".
um..ok? so..is it a phenomenon worldwide? or is it only in North
America? last time I checked Canada wasn't part of the States. Was
it a spur of the moment for the author to have the living impaired
issue spread throughout the continent? This bugged me. A lot.
Although it didn't take me away from the novel but this sort of
mistake does look bad. Perhaps I'm being too picky, but to me, the
error is rather obvious and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Especially when you have this (via the Amazon website) from the
back cover of the novel:
All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some
teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to
life, but they are no longer the same-they stutter, and their
reactions to everything are slower. Termed "living impaired" or
"differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a
society that doesn't want them.
Consistency, please. Either have it all over the world, or in one
country or continent and stick with it. Don't change it around to
suit your purposes.
I will praise the characters in the novel though. They were all
different, and each had a distinct personality (even the living
impaired did!). Out of all the characters, I liked Karen DeSonne.
She stood out to me as the most mature, and even though she didn't
have a big role in this book, I felt as if I wanted to know more
about her, and her side of the story. On the other hand, I really
hated Pete. Now I know the characters in this book are very close
to their stereotypes (you have a Goth, some jocks, some of the
popular girls, etc) but Pete is your typical Jock Jerk (notice the
caps yes?). Everything about him was so vile I almost wanted to
clean my eyes out whenever he leaves a scene. He sums up everything
I hated about these kinds of guys in high school. He's just so
horrible you either want to spit in his eye or punch him in the
face, or both if you're feeling extra generous.
As to the Phoebe/Adam/Tommy triangle, I'm not sure what to say. I
like both Adam and Tommy so I'm not sure which "Team" I should root
for. The ending of this book shocked me and I didn't see it coming,
which means, obviously, I will be reading the second book of this
series. Readers will see obvious comparisons and ideas drawn from
the Civil Rights movement (which may be good and may encourage
readers to read more on the issue). Despite its flaws, I still
found it a great read - it's perfect for teens but also equally
enjoyable to those of other age ranges as well.