Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. True rating is 4.5 stars. Â Plus…this cover is pretty.
The plot of this story is great. Society is split into two factions – victorians and punks and to keep things interesting, Habel decided to add some zombies to the mix. Not all zombies are bad and that includes some of the major characters. No plot giveaways here.
I love the characters in this story. All of them and that never really happens. Nora is strong and follows through with what is important to her. At first I wasn’t sure about Pamela but she grew on me. Bram was strong, protective, open and honest. I also appreciated that both he and Nora were realists. They both understood the hurdles and challenges they would face if everyone survived.
I will admit that at first I was annoyed with all of the switching pov’s as I wanted to focus on Nora and Bram but that too grew on me as it was important to see the different perspectives. I really enjoyed seeing the shift in how Nora perceived Bram and the other zombies. The shift was subtle andI loved Bram’s response/reaction to the change.
I am (eagerly) looking forward to the next book.
Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story picks up shortly after the first book left off.
The main characters are Nora, Bram and their crew of friends and family. There is still a war going on between the Punks and the New Victorians but there are other things going on. Zombies are living among the humans and there is a new strain of the Laz which has everyone worried. There are other things happening as well, groups of vigilantes are attacking zombies and all of these things are creating some very strained relations.
As always, the characters are typically the most important thing for me and as I found with the first book, I still loved all of the characters here and was introduced to some new ones to like as well.
First, the relationship between Nora and Bram has progressed and it works. He loves her and is still super protective but he understands she still needs her freedom and trusts her to take care of herself. Nora is smart and loyal and truly cares for everyone around her.
The other characters are very much the same to those we were introduced to in the first book but there were some new one’s added to the list. Michael is still an idiot/jerk and I’m still torn on how I feel about Vespertine Mink but we learn more about both of them in this book. Pamela is still an important character and she took a bit of a hit mentally and seems to be having a hard time adjusting to a world where it is normal for zombies to be out on the street. I felt a little bad for her and the fact that she felt she couldn’t tell her parents she needed help. I was happy to see the interaction between Pamela and Col/Lord Lopez. I hope that goes somewhere.
Tom, Chas, Coalhouse and Ren are still here along with a number of the other zombies – I was glad everyone still had a place in the story.
Again, there are a lot of switching pov’s – It seemed a bit distracting this time around because again, I really wanted to focus on Bram and Nora. I will say, each chapter and pov is important and I probably wouldn’t have learned some of the things I did if they weren’t there so I can’t fault this.
Overall – great story and I am looking forward to the next book. I am curious to see what happens with Michael and his father as well as Nora and Bram. Considering how this story left off for the two of them, I want to know what they tell everyone (if they do) and what’s in store for them. Plus….zombies. 🙂
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