Glitch by Brenda Pandos (Indie)

Glitch (Lost in Time #1)
Brenda Pandos
Pub.: January 31, 2014

Perfect world. Lies. Blue eyes.

When a mysterious guy from the forbidden zone sneaks an illegal slip of paper to a beautiful young girl from Brighton, she must decide if she should turn him in or follow what the note says.

Eighteen-year-old Abigail has no trouble following Brighton’s rules. For one, she’s OCD about checking her Date of Death clock latched to her wrist, making sure her decisions never shorten her timeline, and two, she enjoys the peace Brighton has to offer. In no way would she bring on another attack that destroyed earth’s inhabitants. But when her best friend returns from her Advice Meeting--a glimpse into the future--shocked and won’t tell Abby what’s happened, Abby is worried what awaits her glimpse. The stranger with blue eyes knows something, but does Abby dare enter the forbidden zone to get answers? Or is she doomed to live the life set in her glimpse? 

On her eighteenth birthday, Abby decides to meet her future self in a once in a lifetime meeting despite the warning from a curious rebel who snuck inside city walls to warn her against it. Guess she should've listened. Before now, her leap year birthday kept her off their radar, which was advantageous since she was destined to be someone the government would love to sink their claws into. Turns out Abby is an oracle just like her future self, but they gain their prophetic sights by literally jumping through time. Her future self did a good job hiding her younger self, but now that Abby's on the radar again, that mysterious guy has to step in and sneak her out of the city before it's too late.

 

Glitch actually surprised me. It seemed a mix of Delirium and the movie In Time with a splash of zombies for good effect. A fish out of water story, a good chunk of this novel dealt with Abby learning how to deal with rebel life without the luxuries she was used to and trying to figure out what was truth and what was fiction, because at times, even the rebels seemed a little dishonest. I enjoyed watching her fall for a pair of brothers but I have to admit I was rooting for a particular one to win her heart! This novel had a little bit of everything - romance, danger, corrupt government, even time travel and a zombie infection fighting to spread and take over again. Enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to the follow-up Switch.

Novel provided by author for honest review.

Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick (ARC)

Monsters (Ashes #3)
Ilsa J. Bick
Exp. Pub.: Sept. 10, 2013

The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now.

When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse-until the doctors found the monster in her head.

She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death.

Now, with no hope of rescue-on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit-she discovers a new and horrifying truth.

The Change isn't over.
The Changed are still evolving.
And...they've had help.

  

When Ashes first came out, I was a little slow to pay attention. Once I read it, I beat myself across the head because I LOVED it! Nobody knew what was happening, other than people within a certain age range (kids) were turning into Chuckies (aggressive little zombies), the older adults were all of a sudden just dead, and the elderly were spared, but they became easy prey for the hungry Chuckies. For some reason, a handful of kids didn't turn - which included three that met within a national park - Alex, Tom and Ellie. All three had lost everything, but together they formed a new family and found a reason to fight for their lives. Unfortunately, by the end of Ashes, tragedy ripped them apart.

 

Unfed by Kirsty McKay (ARC)

UNFED (UNDEAD #2)
Kirsty McKay
Pub: August 2, 2013

The good news: Bobby survived her Undead school trip. Bad news: her best mate, Smitty, is missing. Bobby knows she's got to find him even if it means risking it all and going out into the starving-zombie-infested wastelands again. Even if it means taking fellow survivors including a couple of old frenemies along for the ride. And even if the zombies are not the only ones who are chasing them this time.

Check out my review of Undead (Undead #1) here.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Forget the wild animals that have gone all zombie on your @ss, and the carrion birds of prey ready to pick you clean long before your dead, the zombies themselves are smarter this time around.

Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick (ARC)

Shadows (Ashes #2)
Ilsa J. Bick
Exp. Pub: September 25, 2012 TODAY!!!

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.

Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.

Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.

Grundgy and Gritty. If a zombie book hasn't gotten you to cringe in disgust and splatter your skin with goosebumps yet, this one will.

Undead by Kirsty McKay (ARC)

Undead
Kirsty McKay
Exp. Pub.: Sept. 1, 2012

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.

The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty.

Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back.

But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.

Bloody Freakin' Zombtastic! Love, love love! What does the new girl, the rebel-without-a-cause, a nerd and a social snob have in common? They've each become the diner's new red plate special.

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (ARC)

Every Other Day
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publication: Dec 27, 2011

Synopsis: Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human. And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely.
Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.
When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

It feels like it's been a while but I finally read a book that dug its claws into my arm and wouldn't release its grasp until the very end. Kudos to Ms. Barnes. I am surprised that the description is lacking quite a bit what this book is about cause Kali practically takes care of helping the human pretty early on in the novel. Although the popular girl getting bitten by the Chupacabra puts everything into motion, the novel seemed more focused on how Kali develops a psychic link with another non-human named Zev and seeks to rescue him from his white-walled prison within the depths of a genetic engineering conglomerate (where, as the last sentence of the synospis states, she learns the reasoning behind her condition.)

I do have to say this. Although I really enjoyed Every Other Day, there were soooo many holes and inconsistencies that I couldn't even keep up with the count after awhile. Here's just a few: (SPOILER ALERT) 

1. In a world where vampires, hellhounds, zombies, dragons exist and are sometimes even protected by extinction laws, no one seems to be able to wrap their little head around the notion that Skylar has some psychic abilities - they all think she's crazy for even thinking it's possible, even though she predicts things correctly time after time. Really?

2. Company men spend the entire day chasing down Kali to retrieve the research specimen within her, but when they cause her friend Bethany to crash the car, the men don't take Kali or the specimen...they just leave her in the road to die (which of course she can't) Or can she? See #3.

3. We're told over and over again that Kali can't die, can't be poisoned, can't feel pain, can't even be hurt, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So why is it when she's taking on her superwoman form did she feel the poisonous effects and eventually pass out from zombie bites, or feel pain when she had the run-in with the manticore? Little confusing. Especially since having the chupacabra within her actually made her stronger!

4. Okay, this one isn't actually a hole but it just screamed at me when I saw it. Near the end of the novel when Kali entered the Chimera building I suddenly couldn't get the movie Resident Evil out of my head. The facility description and the mutant monsters inside were all a little too familiar, and Kali suddenly came off as a lighter version of Alice advancing her way through the Umbrella Corporation.

(END SPOILER)

All said and done, the action in this book and the rantings coming off Bethany and Skylar are what really kept me going. And I know this story made me say huh? quite a bit cause the author would contradict something that was already said and done, but I still couldn't put my ereader down. And for me that's what I consider a successful book. It hooked me from the beginning and kept me hooked all the way through. I actually did like Ms. Barnes as a writer and will definitely check out some of her work in the future - I just hope her next novel doesn't leave me feeling Things That Make You Go Hmmm.

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

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.