Fakers, Posers, and the Living Dead

Passing Strange by Daniel Waters

Karen DeSonne has passed as normal her whole life, even though she was just that, “passing.” She never has been a normal girl, not even when she was alive. Even though she has had to “live” with the consequences of her actions, she seems to never learn from them. Here she is a differently biotic being and making the same mistakes as before she killed herself. The only problem is now she is the only zombie that can help her other dead friends. The undead have been forced into hiding and the only way to get them out of their hole is to find the person that really has been doing all the horrible things that the zombie’s are being blamed for. New regulations have the zombies in hiding and it is up to Karen to figure out who is framing them, even if that means dating the biggest anti-zombie zealot Pete Martinsburg. She will have to unravel what’s going on before it’s forever too late.

I have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I wrote down the day that it was going to come out and that morning I went straight to Books A Million to pick up my copy. I was excited to see what was going on with the characters that I had gotten to know through Generation Dead and Kiss of Life. But my main feeling after finishing Passing Strange was disappointment. I just wasn’t as involved in Karen’s story as I was in Phoebe’s. Changing main characters within a series is a risky idea, and I’m not sure that he should have taken that risk. I know exactly why Waters did it, it’s because there was no action with Phoebe, all the action was with the dead, not the living, but somehow it did not translate into the third book as well as I would have liked.

The ending of this book sucked, it all of a sudden became a story to her lost love, her lesbian best friend, WTH??? It just got weird and I didn’t like the change that it made. If he wanted it to be like that, make the entire series like that, a story to Monica, but you can’t just change all of the rules at the end of the book, I want a refund!

Waters also needs to reconsider his editor. I found multiple typing errors in the book. I remember finding them in the other book as well. If a mistake was brought to my attention in my first book, I could possibly forgive it and hope that it has multiple printings so I could rewrite, but in my second? I would fire him so fast his head would spin. If I was an editor, I would read the book I was getting paid for at least 3 times. But, if an author is editing it himself, I think that is very unwise, there is no way you are going to find what another set of eyes will. Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine, I’ll get over it.

So, what did you think, have you read this series? What are your thoughts? Thanks for reading, leave a comment!

2 dead guys, 1 goth girl, the story continues.

Kiss of Life: A Generation Dead Novel by: Daniel Waters

The second book of the Generation Dead series begins right where the first left off. With a surprise ending, I had to quickly find the second installment. I read it within a weekend and now I’m awaiting the 3rd book with baited breath (Passing Strange). Haha, ok, maybe not. But it was a really good book and I have added it to the list of books to come out in 2010. The third book comes out this summer, yet another entertainment avenue to look forward to (Eclipse in Theaters, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows installment #1, and some books to look for- Linger by Maggie Stiefvater and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins).

In the first book, I really appreciated the way the other had us reading from a few different people’s perspective. The second book caries on the way the first left off. We are not left in the dark about what the bad guys are thinking or who’s causing trouble, because we are in his mind and know what he’s doing and thinking.

Kiss of Life was a typical love triangle, one girl, and two guys battling for her affections. Usually during these love wars I can pick sides confidently, but in Kiss of Life I felt very fickle about which guy Phoebe should end up with. I changed my mind at least 3 times throughout the book, and at the end I still wasn’t sure even though Phoebe had made up her mind.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I did find a few typing errors in the book. Things like “The” instead of “They.” It’s something I could ignore, but if I wrote a book and my editor didn’t catch something like that I would be heartbroken.

I don’t have a lot to say about this book, my opinions from the first book stand true in the second. I think its well worth reading. It’s sort of sad at parts and exciting in others. Read it and let me know what you think. Are you excited about Passing Strange, installment number 3 coming out? Let me know, leave a comment!

a gothic poem starts it all, how will it end?

Generation Dead by: Daniel Waters

A Phenomenon has swept across America, where teenagers are dying and aren’t staying dead. The “Living Impaired” or “Differently Biotic” kids are outcasts. They are loathed and feared all over the country. The Administration at Oakvale High are a little more open minded, therefore the Zombies are starting to come to the area. When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it. Adam, her neighbor and long time friend, realizes he has deeper feelings for her than friendship, but is he too late? Has she already fallen in too deep with Tommy? Adam will do anything for Phoebe, but what if the best thing for her is to stand by and watch the woman of his dreams with another guy, a dead guy?

Adam the best friend/neighbor of the story is the guy I was pulling for. This is uncharacteristic of me, usually I pick the main character to be with the girl in the end. Tommy is the Edward Cullen, the Peeta, the Romeo. Instead I liked Adam, and I wanted Phoebe to pick Adam too. My feelings have changed quickly with the ending of the book. I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the second book, since I’ve already read it. Anyway, back to Adam. He is the friend that is always there for her. That will listen to her and is her shoulder to be cry on, Adam is her rock. Tommy is the Zombie boyfriend that should be the one we are rooting for, but there is always the question of his motives. Phoebe is constantly wondering if he likes her for who she really is, or if he likes her because it is a good political move.

What I liked: Perfect timing. This author used such grace when he presented new information. He didn’t rush into every subject within the first few chapters. He let the story flow as needed. For example, I was about half way through the book when the audience was introduced to Phoebe’s parents. At first I thought that was weird, but for a Goth girl that has friends, why would she introduce her parents to us until it was absolutely the right time? I didn’t feel like information was shoved at me within the first few chapters, I felt like we got to know the characters slowly throughout the story. Excellent writing on Waters’ part.

What I didn’t like: If I had one complaint about the book it would have to be that it is a little preachy. The story line is that there are people that are different and like it or not, they are there. We either can embrace them for their differences or we can shun them and for that reason we are not good people. I felt like the entire book we are being forced to love the Zombies just because they are different. I can understand that they were humans and now, even though dead, they are still the same person, but don’t tell me that I have to accept a group of people just because you want me to. I didn’t know if it was a Race issue that Waters’ was trying to get across or if it was just a good story that he wrote. Was this a politically charged book, or just an idea that would help the world if we embraced it in our lives? Again, I didn’t necessarily disagree with him, I just was curious about his motives.

One thing I do know is that I enjoyed this book very much. I hope that you take the time to look it up and read it. I have already finished the second book and the blog is coming. Please leave a comment or don’t, it really doesn’t matter either way. If you read the book let me know what you thought. Did you think it was awesome, or did you think that it was crazy?