Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel (ARC)

Dearly, Departed
Lia Habel
Publication: October 18, 2011

Synopsis: Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

I almost didn't bother finishing this one. I guess I envisioned a dystopian-zombie book to have a lot of action in it. So when I was 50% done with Dearly, Departed I found myself asking 'Why am I still reading this?' There had been a little bit of action but mostly it was just dialogue. I didn't mind the multiple points of view, or the idea that zombies could be tamed, but I seriously wanted the nontamed zombies to burst through the doors and start killing off all the characters just so I wouldn't have to hear them talk anymore.

So why did I keep reading? Luckily I was late getting to this ARC. If I hadn't noticed Dearly, Departed getting an average of 4 stars on GoodReads, I don't think I would've bothered to finish this novel. The high ratings peaked my curiosity cause I just wasn't seeing it. So...I stuck it out. Sure enough, I finally did see why it was getting decent ratings. Unfortunately, what I considered to be the bread and butter of this novel didn't begin until I hit about 69%...and Dearly, Departed is a looong book at 470 pages so I really had to force myself to read a lot before I felt like it was worth the read.

So in hindsight, the first 68% of this book - eh. The last 32% - freakin' awesome. If you can stand to read the first part, all the better for you. But if you can't, just skip ahead...you're not missing anything you won't figure out as you read the end.

The one positive aspect about this novel: Bram. I would have completely given up on this novel regardless of posted ratings if this one character hadn't been worth reading about. And maybe Pamela, who managed to turn into a kick-ass zombie-killer in a pettycoat.

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.