The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.
But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.
In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love. Goodreads
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I bought Dearly, Departed on a whim
back in October. A Zombie romance that takes place in the future but a future
that resembles the past? Victorian past? Um, hell yeah. I mean a zombie
romance. I was really excited for it. I tried reading it a couple of times
but just couldn't get into it. I was annoyed with the whole changing point of
views. I'm fine with one... but for, sometimes five? I got annoyed. The only
reason I picked it up was because the other book I was going to read was left
in the car... which then was dropped off and left and the mechanic. A lot of
anger when I woke up to find out it was gone. I said I had no books and my mom
proceeded to look at me then at my bookshelves. So I picked up Dearly,
Departed.
Nora is the usual
character. Doesn't really fit in with society and all that. She's interesting
though. In the beginning I didn't know what to think. It was somewhat slow but
understandable. You can't just open up a book in the middle of the good stuff.
Plot has to be built. Lia Habel did an excellent job of it. And her writing is
one of the best that I've read. She adds so much detail that it feels more like
a movie than a book (which is the absolute best).
All the characters were
interesting. Between Bram's friends or the other POVs. Though the changing kept
annoying me. I've read countless of books where the POV changes, Cassandra
Clare has a million different ones, but for some reason for Dearly, Departed I
would loose focus. I partly blame myself though. I read the ending back in
October.
Bram was my favorite
POV. He never rushed anything with Nora. He was more fascinated by her. She was
a living person. He also wasn't in full-on creeper mode. I also thought he was
sweet. He didn't let being dead hinder him from enjoying anything and basically
said screw you to anyone that told him differently. I think he became my
favorite character in the book. Not because he was supposed to be That Love
Interest, but because he was an extremely interesting character.
Nora wasn't bad. She
sometimes didn't listen to rules (which many characters don't) but if she
needed to, she did. If staying put was important, she would. And to me that was
refreshing. For some reason I feel like authors think in order to be a tough
female character you can't listen to anything. Oh you want me to stay behind because
you actually care about my safety and know I'm not prepared? Too bad. *Causes
about a million people to die and ends up being kidnapped* Nora actually
LISTENS. And it was NICE. She was tough when she needed to be tough and if she
didn't want to listen she turned her head and basically pretended she never
heard any rule being in-placed. Toward the end, maybe the last ten to twenty
pages or so, Nora didn't really feel like her. Something happens and she
becomes... I don't know maybe less tough to me. She almost becomes clingy in a
sense. I'm not sure.
I enjoyed the
plot. The fact that Lia Habel went to in-depth with The Laz was awesome. She
spoke about how it happens and what the body ends up doing. A lot of biology
went into it. Not many authors do that. In some books the author will be like,”
OH, and here's this virus thingy that causes people to die, but looookkkk at
the shiny hot boy. LOOOOOKKKK." Lia Habel really didn't do that. She
focused on the virus, made it extremely thought out too. And the romance was
perfectly well paced. There were no hot and steamy scenes where the angst is so
heavy that the reader can feel it. No. It's courting. That's the best way to
explain it. They admit to liking each other. Give the cute smile or seek the
other out, but put aside their feelings to figure out what's happening. And
that's nice.
I know I will definitely
buy the sequel. Hopefully there are no love triangles and the book isn't the
usual sophomore slump. Many sequels (besides one) have been really good. Don't
let me down because I really enjoyed this book and I don't want it to turn into
the Until I Die series that progressively got worse and I was able to basically
call out the whole plot for the last book. Please, Lia Habel, keep this series
interesting. Make Nora and Bram remain with each other and leave out the whole angst
ridden no-I-can't-be-with-you-because-I'm-a-monster-so-let-me-push-you-away
plot thing.
Overall I liked Dearly,
Departed. A lot of the characters were interesting and weren't annoying at all.
I didn't fully get into it, like the Lux series, but I enjoyed it. It will
definitely be on my third shelf.
If you're looking for a
book that's not confusing and fun to read Dearly, Departed is that book. It's a
really good summer read. And like, you know, ZOMBIE ROMANCE. That's
awesome.
~Lauren
