My Favorite Zombie Series

Numbers

"Numbers" by Rachel Ward (#1 in series)
Hardcover: 325 pages
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic Inc. (February 1, 2020)

Book Description:
Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head.  That number is a date: the date they will die.

Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships.  Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance.  But while they're waiting to ride the Eye Ferris Wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number.  Today's number.  Today's date.  Terrorists are going to attack London.  Jem's world is about to explode!

This book was really good and believable.  I imagine there are people out there that have this ability and choose not to face up to it or ignore it.  Anyway, I really like this book.

You really are just getting to know the characters when the ferris wheel incident happens, and then the books takes on a different turn.  Because Jem can see everyone's death date, there are some inevitable moments in the story.  You'll find yourself wishing differently, but it's going to happen.

This is the first book in this series, the second one "The Chaos" having just been released.  I'm waiting for that one to read.  The ending of "Numbers" leads me to believe that "The Chaos" will also be a good book.  I'll just have to wait and see.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the delay in my review of the book "Numbers".  My time has been crazy lately.  I'm almost at the end, and the book is great so far!  The review should be a good one.

I wore green today like the good Irish girl that I am.  Hope you had a great one!

In My Stack

Matched

"Matched" (Trilogy #1) by Ally Condie
Hardcover: 366 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (November 30, 2010)

Book Description:
Cassia has always trusted the society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe.  So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate...until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.


The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander.  But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

One of my favorite book series is the "Hunger Games" books.  This book, "Matched" reminds me a lot of that particular book series.  If you enjoyed the "Hunger Games" trilogy I'm sure you'll love this one.  The writing and overall feel of the story is really great and unique.  I absolutely love books about what our society would be like if something altered it in the future.

You can relate to Cassia in that this is the only life she's known up til now.  Anything different for her is a new discovery.  Not following the rules has never been done before, and she can see both sides clearly now.  She is torn between two people that she comes to love, one that she's known since childhood, the other the "mistake" she comes to know.  She slowly realizes that this is something that others have experienced, but nobody talks about.  Perhaps other things have been lied about or covered up as well.

This is a great beginning to a trilogy, and I wish I didn't have to wait until the next one comes out: "Crossed" (November 1, 2011).

This World We Live In

"This World We Live In" (Last Survivors #3) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Hardcover: 239 pages
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (April 1, 2010)

Book Description:
It's been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth's climate.  Miranda and her two brothers spend their days scavenging for food and household items, while their mother stays at home and desperately tries to hold on to the ordinary activities of their previous life.  But they all know that nothing is truly normal in this surreal new world they live in.


The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda's father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow.  One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda's complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship.  Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

Since this book was (I believe) the last in this series, I wanted to read it.  This book could have been much better and was only told through Miranda's eyes.  Since Alex was introduced in the last book I thought that there would be entries from his point of view.  Nope.

The story picks up where the first book left off in the life of Miranda and her family.  Then Alex and the rest of the new characters enter the picture. There are interesting aspects of how they have adapted and coped in this wasteland of a world, but mostly the book is about the battle that Miranda and Alex go through with each other.  There is a marriage, more deaths and more starvation in this last book although a different type of ending.  The ending makes me mad.  I wish it was different, and that's all I'm going to say about that.  This book should be read if you read the first two.  You'll be a little disappointed, but not much.

The Dead and the Gone

"The Dead and the Gone" (Last Survivors #2) by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Hardcover: 321 pages
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (January 1, 2008)

Book Description:
Susan Beth Pfeffer's "Life as We Knew It" enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event -- an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin on horrific climate changes.  Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales.  When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.


With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.

This book was almost as good as the first one.  Alex Morales and his family are in New York City when this all happens and you see just how different their lives are and what effects this has on them in this setting.  City life is a far cry from suburban life when catastrophic events happen.  There is much more death and struggle in this book, although starvation is what really ties these books together.  I certainly would not want to live in New York City myself if something like this ever happened.  More people, more death, less food, fewer options.  An overall good book.