Warm Bodies (The Warm Bodies Series)

I think I fell in love with this book even before I started reading. The cover is one of my favorite book covers in a long time. But I was still dubious about the concept. A Zombie Love story? How would this even work? And if it hadn't been recommended to me, I might have given up on it when I saw that the cover had a S. Meyer quote. But trust me, this is about as far from "Twilight with Zombies" as you could possibly get. It's incredibly well written. Isaac Marion says so many startlingly true things about life, humanity and love through the words and thoughts of the dead. It's basically a soft and beautiful love story, mixed with a dark and believable post-apocalyptic world and fantastically dry humor and told in a way and from a point of view I have never read before. Don't let your doubts about "Zombie Love Stories"(or the terrible German cover) fool you: This is a book you don't want to miss.

I was very, very sceptical going into this book because I hate Zombies and I hate love stories but this book is so good. I love Isaac Marion's writing. He might be in the top five of my favorite authors, simply because his writing style is so poetic but still easy to understand and this book also really isn't what you'd expect. Because this book is very critical of our society. The sickness that has caused Zombies to emerge is pretty obviously caused by the greed and hunger for power that is currently ruining our own actual world and it's gloriously portrayed. Julie is also an amazing love interest because she isn't just a love interest. She's badass and strong and has no issues showing when she's weak but she always pushed through and I admire her. R is very philosophical for a zombie and I enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes.

The novel tells the story of R, a zombie who rediscovers humanity when he falls in love with Julie, a survivor. The cental message is the transformative power of humanity and love. It shows that even in hard times, belief in humanity can bring about change, hope and healing. As R regains his humanity piece by piece it becomes clear that empathy and interpersonal relationship is essential to human existence. Isaac Marion's writing style is profound, poetic and full of metaphors. It allows identification with the characters, the inner conflicts and the world they live in, as the story is written from R's perspective.