Review – Dearly, Beloved

Title: Dearly, Beloved

Author: Lia Habel

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: September 25, 2012

ISBN-13: 978-0345523341

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Can the living coexist with the living dead?

That’s the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.

Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety.

Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren’t the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder’s crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.

As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora’s scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of “The Laz” and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus—and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.

Review:

There’s a new Lazarus virus. It’s sourced to Patient Zero. His capture sparks an anti-life movement by the zombies called The Change. Meanwhile there’s a group of young bloods out to prove their mettle by killing zombies at will. As Nora’s father desperately tries to find the cure for this new strain of the disease, Bram and Nora get caught in the web of strife that sweeps New Victoria.

Of The Changed, I really liked Laura. She was brave despite being beaten down several times by those stronger then her. She was kind and generous. I also loved her flowers. I thought that was a really nice touch. I wish there had been illustrations of her with her flowers on her body. Between herself and Dog, I think they stole the show.

Nora and Bram don’t really grow as characters. That doesn’t mean they aren’t any more enjoyable to read about, but their romance became rather monotonous. There wasn’t any real spice to it. I expected something more to it. It does progress towards the end of the book. I was just disappointed that there wasn’t any real conflict like there might be in a more realistic situation.

We find Michael Allister involved with The Murder. I enjoyed reading about Allister because he struck me as particularly well-developed for an antagonist. While there weren’t many surprises when it came to Michael it still gave me great pleasure to read about him anyway. The clashes he had with Nora were extremely entertaining.

There’s enough resolution in this book to satisfy. There’s also an opening for the next in the series. I’m looking forward to the next book with bated breath!

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