Zombies have wiped out humans, leaving scattered enclaves of survivors and rotting food supplies. A little girl is locked in a basement, protected from all the evils. It’s obvious that she’s extremely dangerous, and also maybe relatively ordinary. Like Pandora.
There’s a rule in nature—you can’t have your cake and eat it too. This rule is fundamentally broken in the book. What are the zombies doing to cause an apocalypse? Eating people or turning them into zombies? Pick one. Once a person is eaten, they cannot turn into a zombie because nothing is left. M.R. Carey doesn’t pick one and goes all-in, and then adds even more absurdity to the zombie mechanics. The final result looks like a movie script with scenes written to impress rather than to make sense.
The book is undeniably very engaging and interesting. Melanie is a highly likable main character. Easy 5*/5, and something you can read in one sitting. I’ve already bought the second part and plan to read it after a short break. The zombie mechanics, however, are so unconvincing that I took one star from the Goodreads review and ended with a fair 4*/5.
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